LOCATION PLYMOUTH NY+MAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mesic, coated Typic Quartzipsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Plymouth loamy sand, on a nearly level slope in a wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 4 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loamy sand; very weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; many clean white sand grains; 5 percent fine gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
Bw1--4 to 10 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loamy sand; single grain and very weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine roots; material like A horizon is 20 percent of the mass; 5 percent fine gravel; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bw2--10 to 17 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loamy sand; single grain; loose; common fine roots; 5 percent fine gravel; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bw3--17 to 27 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) loamy sand; massive; very friable; few roots; 10 percent fine gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 19 to 32 inches.)
2C--27 to 70 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) gravelly coarse sand; 30 percent gravel 1 inch and less in diameter; single grain; loose; few very fine roots; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Suffolk County, New York; Heckscher State Park.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Bedrock is at depths greater than 60 inches. The content of rock fragments, mostly gravel and cobbles, ranges from 2 to 30 percent in individual horizons of the solum and 15 to 50 percent in the sub stratum but no more than 35 percent in an individual layer within a depth of 40 inches. The soil ranges from extremely acid through strongly acid throughout.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 through 5, and chroma of 1 through 3. It is loamy coarse sand, sand, loamy sand, coarse sandy loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak granular structure, or is massive. Some pedons have a thin E horizon below the A horizon.
The B horizon has hue of 5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 through 8, with hue as red as 5YR restricted to subhorizons. It is coarse sand to loamy fine sand in the fine-earth fraction. It has very weak or weak subangular blocky structure, or is structureless. It is very friable or loose. Some pedons have a BC horizon 1 to 7 inches thick.
The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 through 7, and chroma of 2 through 6. It is sand or coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: The Evesboro, Vanderlip, and Schaffenaker series are in the same family. Evesboro soils formed in marine sediments and have a lower rock fragment content throughout the soil. Vanderlip soils formed in residum and have rock fragments that are dominantly soft angular sandstone or quartzite. Schaffenaker soils are underlain with bedrock at 20 to 40 inches.
The Carver, Galestown, Hartford, Hoosic, Merrimac, Oakville, Otisville, Penwood, Plainfield, and Windsor series are similar soils in related families. Carver soils are dominated by coarser sand and have a lower rock fragment content in the substratum. Oakville, Penwood, Plainfield, and Windsor soils have mixed mineralogy. Galestown soils have an argillic horizon. Hartford, Hoosic, and Merrimac soils have a cambic horizon. Otisville soils have a higher content of rock fragments in the subsoil.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Plymouth soils are nearly level to steep soils on glaciofluvial plains and uneven moderately hilly moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. The soils formed in acid, coarse textured material derived largely from siliceous rocks. The underlying sands and gravel extend to great depths. Annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 56 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 49 to 52 degrees F., and mean annual growing season ranges from 180 to 220 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the moderately coarse textured Riverhead, the medium textured Haven and the deep silty Bridgehampton soils. Carver soils are extensively associated with the coarser range of the Plymouth series.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Runoff is slow to moderate. Permeability is rapid in the solum and very rapid in the underlying substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Small areas are used for cropland. Most areas are in woodland, or are used for urban and suburban development. Principal trees are white and black oak, pitch pine, and scrub oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Long Island, New York, Massachusetts, and northern New Jersey. The soils are of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 1911.
REMARKS: The series was inactivated in 1961, and was reactivated in 1969. The soil was previously classified as siliceous mesic Typic Udipsamments. Data from New York and Massachusetts show less than 10 percent weatherable minerals.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are: 1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 4 inches (A horizon).
2. Quartzipsamments great group - the determinant fraction (0.02 to 2 mm) is more than 90 percent resistant minerals.