LOCATION MALONE NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, nonacid, frigid Aeric Epiaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Malone loam - on a 1 percent concave west facing slope in a young forest stand. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap-- 0 to 10 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine, many medium, and common coarse roots; 2 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles; slightly acid; diffuse wavy boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick.)
Bw-- 10 to 19 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and many very fine roots; common fine and medium tubular pores; 25 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles and stones; common medium faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation, and few fine distinct grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) areas of iron depletion; slightly acid; clear irregular boundary. (5 to 25 inches thick.)
Bg-- 19 to 25 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) gravelly sandy loam; weak medium and coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; firm; few fine medium and coarse tubular pores; 10 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles and stones; common medium distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; very slightly effervescent in lower part; neutral; gradual irregular boundary. (0 to 14 inches thick.)
Cd-- 25 to 72 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) gravelly sandy loam; weak thick plate-like divisions, firm; few fine and medium tubular pores; 20 percent gravel; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in upper part; slightly effervescent, slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: St. Lawrence County, New York; Town of Potsdam, 55 feet northwest of a point on Ellis Road that is 0.6 miles west of the junction of Ellis Road and W. Potsdam Road. USGS Morley, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 44 degrees, 40 minutes, 38 seconds N. and Longitude 75 degrees, 07 minutes, 49 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum ranges from 18 to 38 inches. Depth to carbonates range from 18 to 50 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Limestone or dolomite limestone rock fragments, gravel, cobbles, and channers range from 5 to 35 percent by volume in the solum and 5 to 50 percent in the substratum.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Reaction is moderately acid or slightly acid, unless limed. Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Reaction is moderately acid to neutral.
The Bw horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value 3 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction. Reaction is slightly acid or neutral.
The Bg horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction, with thin subhorizons of silty clay loam or silt loam in some pedons. Reaction is slightly acid or neutral.
Some pedons have a BC horizon with hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction, with thin subhorizons of silty clay loam or silt loam in some pedons. Reaction is slightly acid to slightly alkaline.
The Cd horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Reaction ranges from neutral through moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family.
The Brayton, Cowhorn, Ensley, and Monarda series are in related families. Brayton soils have a Cd within 20 inches and no carbonates above 50 inches. Cowhorn soils have few or no rock fragments. Ensley soils have a matrix that is 1 or 2 chroma in all subhorizons above 30 inches, have a slightly higher clay content in the solum, and developed in regions with a mean annual precipitation of 34 inches or less. Monarda soils have episaturation and do not have carbonates within a depth of 50 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Malone soils are nearly level to strongly sloping and are on till plains. They formed in till deposits derived mainly from limestone and dolomite with some component of sandstone and gneiss. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent. Mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 45 degrees F., the mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 50 inches, and the frost-free period ranges from 100 to 150 days. Elevation ranges from 300 to 2000 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Grenville, Hogansburg, Kalurah, Ogdensburg, and Pyrities series. Grenville, Hogansburg, Kalurah, and Pyrities soils are on higher more convex topographic positions than Malone soils and have udic moisture regimes. Ogdensburg soils are moderately deep to bedrock and are on similar topographic positions on nearby bedrock controlled landscapes.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from high or very high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high in the mineral surface and the subsoil, and low to moderately high in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in crops or used for pasture. Hay and corn are the principal crops. Wooded areas support a variety of hardwoods which include red maple, birch, elm, northern white cedar, and aspen.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The St. Lawrence Valley and Champlain Valley of Northern New York and possibly Vermont. MLRA's 101, 142, and 143. The series is of minor extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: St. Lawrence County, New York, 1990.
REMARKS: Previous classification placed the Malone series in the great group Haplaquepts. Because of changes in the 5th edition of 'Keys to Soil Taxonomy,' this soil now classifies in the great group Epiaquepts.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 10 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 10 to 25 inches (Bw and Bg horizons).
c. Aquepts suborder - the zone between 19 and 20 inches having 50 percent or more chroma of 2 or less and redoximorphic features. (Bg horizon).
d. Aeric subgroup feature - the zone from 10 to 19 inches has a hue of 10YR in 50 percent or more of the matrix and a value and chroma, moist, of 3 or more. (Bw horizon).
e. Nonacid feature - the pH is greater than 5.0 throughout the control section.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Pedon S81NY89-25 described in Cornell Agronomy Memo 83-4 - Physical, Chemical, and Mineralogical Data for 19 Soil Series from St. Lawrence County, New York, January 1983, is nearby and similar to the typifying pedon.