LOCATION POMPTON NJ+MA NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Aquic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Pompton very fine sandy loam - idle field. (Colors are for moist soils.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very fine sandy loam; moderate medium granular structure; very friable; many roots; common fine pores; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 8 inches thick)
Bw1--7 to 17 inches, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common roots; common fine pores; many clean grains; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--17 to 25 inches, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam, weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common roots; common fine pores; many clean grains; common fine prominent distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) and distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and common fine distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) iron depletions; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 7 to 34 inches thick)
BC--25 to 34 inches, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) and olive gray (5Y 5/2) gravelly sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few roots; 30 percent pebbles with few cobblestones; common fine and medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
2C--34 to 48 inches, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) stratified very gravelly loamy sand; single grain; loose; 45 percent pebbles and cobblestones; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 18 inches thick)
3C--48 to 72 inches, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) stratified sand and gravel; single grain; loose; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Passaic County, New Jersey, Township of West Milford; in idle field at a point 520 feet northeast of intersection of Cross Road and New Jersey State Route 23. USGS Newfoundland quadrangle; latitude 41 degrees, 3 minutes, 14 seconds N, longitude 74 degrees, 26 minutes, 38 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 24 to 40 inches. Rock fragments range from 0 to 35 percent through the solum and from 0 to 75 percent in individual horizons in the C horizon. The particle-size control section averages less than 35 percent coarse fragments. Rounded pebbles are dominant but angular pebbles and rounded or angular cobblestones and stones also occur. Rock fragments are primarily composed of granitic gneiss with lesser amounts of sandstone, shale and quartzite. Mineralogy is dominated by quartz, feldspars, and micas, with lesser amounts of dark opaque minerals. Depth to low chroma iron depletions ranges from 15 to 24 inches. Reaction is very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout unless limed.
The A horizons have hues of 7.5YR or 10YR, values of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. They are sandy loam to silt loam and gravelly analogues. They have weak to moderate fine or medium granular structure and are friable to very friable. Uncultivated areas have A horizons 1 to 5 inches thick.
A BA horizon up to 6 inches thick is present in some pedons. The B horizons have hues of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, values of 4 to 6 and chroma of 3 to 6. Some pedons have chroma 2 in the lower part of the B. They have yellowish red (5YR 5/6) to yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) and gray (10YR 6/1) to olive (5Y 4/3) redoximorphic features. The BA and Bw horizons are fine sandy loam, sandy loam or gravelly or cobbly analogues and the BC horizons are sandy loam, loamy sand or gravelly or cobbly analogues. The B horizons have fine or medium subangular blocky to moderate subangular blocky or granular structure. They are friable to very friable.
The C horizons have hues of 7.5YR to 5Y, values of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 6. They are stratified and texture ranges from sand to sandy loam or gravelly and cobbly analogues. The transition zone between contrasting textures is more than 5 inches thick.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Chautauqua, Pittstown, Rainbow, Sutton, Wapping, Wilbraham, and Woodbridge series. Chautauqua and Wapping soils have more than 60 percent silt plus very fine sand in the subsoil. Pittstown, Rainbow, Wilbraham, and Woodbridge soils have a densic contact. Sutton spoils do not have a lithologic discontinuity.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pompton soils are nearly level to sloping soils on broad outwash plains deltaic deposits and in slightly concave drainageways that dissect outwash terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent, but are commonly 0 to 5 percent. The soils developed in water sorted sandy and gravelly materials dominated by granitic gneiss with lesser amounts of many other kinds of materials. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 50 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 52 degrees F. The frost-free days range from 140 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Boonton, Haledon, Preakness, Riverhead, and Rockaway soils on nearby landscapes. Riverhead soils are well drained and Preakness soils are poorly drained. Boonton, Haledon and Rockaway soils are on uplands.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained and somewhat poorly drained. Permeability is moderately rapid in the solum and rapid or very rapid in the substratum. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high in the solum and high or very high in the substratum. Surface runoff is very low or low. The ground water table is within 12 inches of the surface in the late winter and early spring and following periods of extended rainfall.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are wooded or in idle fields and used for residential or industrial development sites. Native vegetation is largely in woodland dominated by birch, oak, and ash with some hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts; MLRA 144A. The series is of moderate extent with approximately 14,000 acres, (10,000 in New Jersey).
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Morris County, New Jersey, 1971.
REMARKS: Cation exchange activity class was determined from a review of available data and/or similar soils.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Cambic horizon - from 7 to 34 inches (Bw1, Bw2, and BC horizons).
2. Aquic feature - low chroma iron depletions from 17 to 25 inches (Bw2 horizon).