LOCATION MORRIS PA+NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Aeric Fragiaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Morris channery loam-woodland. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
0e--0 to 1 inch; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) humus mat overlain by thin leaf litter.
A--1 to 5 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) channery loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many roots; 25 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 8 inches thick)
Bw1--5 to 9 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) channery loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; nonsticky, nonplastic; many roots; 20 percent rock fragments; few medium faint brown (10YR 5/3) redoximorphic depletions; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--9 to 16 inches; pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) channery loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; nonsticky, nonplastic; common roots; 20 percent rock fragments; common medium distinct light brown (7.5YR 6/4) redoximorphic concentrations and gray (N 5/0) redoximorphic depletions; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 6 to 20 inches.)
Bx1--16 to 43 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) channery loam; gray (N 6/0) faces of prisms; moderate very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium platy and blocky; very firm, brittle, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few roots along prisms; common faint clay film in pores and few faint clay films on faces of peds; 15 percent rock fragments; common medium distinct gray (N 6/0) redoximorphic depletions; strongly acid; diffuse wavy boundary. (15 to 40 inches thick)
Bx2--43 to 66 inches; reddish gray (5YR 5/2) channery loam; gray (N 6/0) faces of prisms; moderate very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate thick platy; few faint clay films in pores and few faint clay films on faces of peds; common faint black coatings on plates; 25 percent rock fragments; common medium distinct gray (N 6/0) redoximorphic depletions and light brown (7.5YR 6/4) redoximorphic concentrations; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Pike County, Pennsylvania; Blooming Grove Township, 1 1/4 miles west of village of Blooming Grove.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is greater than 40 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 10 to 22 inches. Depth to bedrock is 60 inches or more. Rock fragments of angular or rounded sandstone, siltstone or shale range from 10 to 40 percent in the A and Bw horizons, and from 15 to 50 percent in the Bx and C horizons. They average less than 35 percent in the control section. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the upper part of the solum, and strongly acid to slightly acid in the lower part of the solum.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 1 through 4. In uncultivated areas, the A horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam or silt loam.
The Bw horizon above 20 inches has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 7, and chroma of 1 through 6. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam or silt loam. Some pedons have Bg of Eg horizons above the fragipan. The B horizon has redoximorphic features having chroma of 2 or less, or has chroma of 1 or less if redoximorphic features are absent within a depth of 20 inches from the surface. A subhorizon, from about 6 to 30 inches, has in 50 percent or more of the matrix chroma of 3 or more, or chroma of 2 if there are no redoximorphic concentrations.
The Bx horizon has hue of 2.5YR through 7.5YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 6. Faces of prisms range in hue from 2.5YR through 10YR, value from 5 through 7, and chroma from 1 through 3. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam.
Some pedons have a C horizon colors are similar to the Bx horizon. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam or silt loam.
COMPETING SERIES: The Scriba series is currently the only soil in the same family. Scriba soils have more than 45 percent sand in the particle-size control section. The Rexford series was in the same family, but has not been classified for CEC activity class. Rexford soils have stratified materials in the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Morris soils are in till plains and slightly concave uplands. Slopes are dominantly 2 to 15 percent but range from about 0 to 25. The soils formed in firm glacial till derived from reddish sandstone, siltstone and shale. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 32 to 50 inches; mean air temperature ranges from 46 degrees to 50 degrees F.; and the frost free period ranges from about 120 to 165 days. Elevation ranges from 300 to 1700 feet above sea-level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Norwich, Wellsboro, and Lackawanna soils which are in a drainage sequence with Morris soils. Lackawanna soils do not have redoximorphic features above the fragipan. Norwich soils are poorly drained and occur in nearby lower depressions or flat broader areas of the till plain. Arnot, Lordstown, and Oquaga soils are on nearby bedrock controlled landforms. These soils have bedrock within 40 inches of the surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from very low through medium. Permeability above the fragipan is moderate and is slow or very slow in the fragipan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas have been cleared but much is now idle. Hay, pasture, and small grains are the principal crops, but some areas are cropped to corn. Red maple, elm, hemlock, black ash, sugar maple, white pine, and oaks are the dominant trees in wooded areas.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern New York, northern Pennsylvania, and northwestern New Jersey. MLRA's 127 and 140. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Chenango River Project, New York, 1936.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of about 5 inches (A horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 5 inches to a depth of 16 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons).
3. Fragipan - the zone from 16 inches to a depth of about 66 inches (Bx1 and Bx2 horizons).
4. Aquepts Suborder - the zone from 9-16" (Bw2 horizon) faces of peds are 2 chroma with redox concentrations
5. Aeric Subgroup - chroma of 3 or more in 50 percent or more of the matrix in a horizon between the Ap and a depth of 30 inches (Bx1 horizon)
Soil Interpretation Record No: PA0018, PA0019