LOCATION GRAVESEND NYTentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, hyperthermic Typic Udorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Gravesend coarse sand on a large smoothed landfill on a 3 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soil unless noted differently.)
A-- 0 to 2 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) coarse sand; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common medium and coarse roots throughout and many fine throughout; 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
Bw-- 2 to 8 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) coarse sand; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and medium roots throughout; 2 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
C1-- 8 to 20 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) coarse sand; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine roots throughout; many coarse faint olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) and common coarse prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 16 inches thick)
2C2-- 20 to 80 inches; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) extremely cobbly coarse sand; single grain; loose; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; 15 percent gravel-sized rock fragments; 15 percent cobble-sized biodegradable fragments including cardboard and paper; 40 percent cobble sized non-biodegradable fragments including metal, concrete, glass, and rubber; many coarse prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Queens County, New York: From the intersection of Cross Bay Blvd. and 165th Avenue 1500 feet west on 165th Avenue until interception with 81th street. Then 250 feet south on a path into Spring Creek Park, Gateway National Recreation Area; USGS Jamaica, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 40 degrees, 38 minutes, 52.1 seconds N. and Longitude 73 degrees, 50 minutes, 49 seconds W. (Rockwell GPS Receiver); NAD 1983.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the landfill materials is generally more than 5 feet. The anthrotransported material may be any geologic deposit ranging from outwash, coastal plain sediments, alluvial sediment, or sediment from coastal waterways. The thickness of the anthrotransported soil cap over the upper garbage layer ranges from 7 to 24 inches. Rock fragments in the soil cap range from 1 to 30 percent and the texture includes fine sand or coarser. Reactions in the fill cap range from extremely acid to slightly alkaline. Reaction in the garbage layers is estimated to be neutral. Sea shell fragments may be present in some pedons.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR through 2.5Y, value of 2 through 6 and chroma of 1 through 4. Typically they are structureless or have weak subangular blocky structure. Consistence is very friable or loose.
The E horizon, if present, has hue of 10YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. Typically they are single grained or show a weak very fine subangular blocky structure. Consistence is very friable or loose.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 and 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. Typically they are structureless or have very fine subangular blocky structure. Typically iron oxidation mottles are present. Consistence is very friable or loose.
The C horizons have hue of 10YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 7, and chroma of 1 through 6. It is massive or single grained. Consistence is very friable or loose.
The 2C layers of garbage contain anthrotransported soil and rock material as well as household waste, paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, rubber, leather, carpet, clothing, shoes, organic waste, tires, unburned coal, and plastic bags. There is a smaller component of construction materials such as gypsumboard, concrete, brick, lumber, steel, and asphalt, plus small amounts of coal ash. Household objects range from gravel to stone sized, and construction materials range from gravel to boulder size. There is a distinction between material that will hold water, allow roots to penetrate, and those that will decompose versus those that will act like a rock fragment. Examples of rock like fragments are glass, plastic, rubber, tires, and construction debris (except lumber). Generally, the anthropogenic fill is similar to the soil cap over the uppermost garbage layer. Coarse fragments (natural and manufactured) range from 35 to 75 percent. Consistence is very friable to firm. Some intermittent layers or materials such as plastic act as a barrier to root and water movement.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series within the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gravesend soils are on nearly level to very steep modified landforms in landfills. These soils formed in a mixture of household and anthrotransported soil material, with a cap of anthrotransported soil material that is relatively clean of refuse. The anthrotransported soil material is dominantly from locally excavated materials such as alluvium, outwash, coastal plain sediments, or dredged sediments from coastal waterways. Dominant coarse fragments are sea shells or human manufactured items with smaller amounts of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, basalt, and quartzite pebbles. Slope ranges from 0 to 50 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 50 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 61 to 85 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Barren (T), Bigapple (T), Centralpark (T), Fortress (T), Greatkills (T), Jamaica (T), Tilden (T) and Verazano (T) soils. Barren (T), Bigapple (T), Centralpark (T), Fortress (T), Jamaica (T), Tilden (T), and Verazano (T) soils do not have garbage within the series control section. Greatkills (T) soils are comprised mainly of loamy fill instead of sand.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: The soils are well drained. The potential for surface runoff is very low to low on vegetated slopes less than 20 percent, and medium on vegetated slopes 20 percent and greater. The potential for surface runoff is one class more rapid where the soil is unvegetated or the surface is protected from erosion. Permeability is rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are generally covered with common reed and mugwort. A few hardwoods such as black locust, tree of heaven (Ailanthus), black cherry, and boxelder become established in areas that do not burn on a frequent basis. Reclamation is unlikely in areas where the soil cap is less than two feet thick, where soil or garbage occur on surface, or where common reed is unmanaged. Recreational use is also unlikely under these conditions.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils occur on modified landscapes in and near major urbanized areas of the Northeast. MLRA 149B. The soils of this series are small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES PROPOSED: Queens County, New York; 1995.
REMARKS: (1) Redoximorphic features have inherited their colors by type of deposition and oxidation.
(2) Complete characterization data collected for soil cap as pedon S97NY081-008.
(3) Manufactured objects that act like rock and coarse fragments make up more than 65 percent of the total rock fragments in the particle size control section. Anthrotransported soil make up about one third of the volume of the soil/garbage mixture.
(4) Lab data is not available on the garbage subsoil because of possible hazardous material content.
(5) According to the New York City Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Hazardous Waste Remediation many landfill areas were unregulated at the time of filling and may contain chemicals that are toxic to plant roots. In addition, some areas develop anaerobic conditions in the subsoil due to methane gas emissions. Some pedons contain pockets of air where organic garbage has decomposed, and are subject to collapses under heavy equipment or weight.
(6) A soil temperature data is available at the 4 inch and the 20 inch depths.
(7) The internal soil temperature has been modified by high levels of biological activity and garbage undergoing rapid decomposition. The classification as hyperthermic is debatable. Lab data supports the hyperthermic soil temperature classification. The area would typically be mesic.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 2 inches.
b. Non-cambic pedogenic horizon - the zone from 2 to 8 inches.
c. The classification of this series is provisional until new Taxonomic classifications are developed for Anthropogenic soils.