LOCATION RIVERHEAD NY MA NJ PAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Riverhead sandy loam, on a 2 percent slope in an area used for recreation. (Colors are for moist broken soil).
Ap-- 0 to 12 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots in upper part; moderate to strong platy structure in firm plow pan in lower 4 inches; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 13 inches thick.)
Bw-- 12 to 27 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy loam; very weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine granular; friable; few fine roots; many fine pores; less than 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (12 to 24 inches thick.)
BC1-- 27 to 32 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loamy sand; very weak fine granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; 10 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick.)
2BC2-- 32 to 35 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly loamy sand; massive; friable; few fine roots; 30 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick.)
2C1-- 35 to 40 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sand; single grain; loose; 10 percent fine gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
2C2-- 40 to 65 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) coarse and medium sand stratified with 2-inch layers of gravel, 8 to 24 inches apart; single grain; loose; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Suffolk County, New York; Town of Brookhaven, "Camp Wilderness of Boy Scouts of America", 0.9 mile south of New York Highway 25, 0.3 mile north of junction of County Road 21 with Longwood Road. USGS Bellport, NY topographic quadrangle, Latitude 40 degrees, 52 minutes, 7 seconds N. and Longitude 72 degrees, 56 minutes, 7 seconds W. NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum is from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Rock fragments, primarily gravel, range from 0 to 35 percent in the A horizon; 0 to 35 percent in the B horizon; and 5 to 40 percent in the C horizon. Some C horizons, below 40 inches, range from 5 to 60 percent rock fragments.
The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. Some pedons have a thin A horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate granular and consistence is friable or very friable. Reaction ranges from extremely acid through moderately acid.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, with value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. Texture is sandy loam or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction with more than 50 percent fine sand and coarser. It has weak subangular blocky structure or it is massive. Consistence is friable or very friable. Reaction ranges from extremely acid through moderately acid. Some pedons have a thin AB or BA horizon.
The BC and 2BC horizons have hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. Textures are loamy sand, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction with coarser texture restricted to the 2BC horizon. They have weak granular or subangular blocky structure or they are massive. Consistence is friable or very friable. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid.
The C or 2C horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 7, and chroma of 3 through 6. Texture is coarse sand, sand, or loamy sand in the fine-earth fraction or it is stratified sand and gravel. Layers of loamy fine sand are present in some pedons. Some pedons also have a loamy 3C horizon below 40 inches with fine-earth textures of sandy loam or fine sandy loam. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through neutral. Neutral reactions are restricted to depths greater than 30 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: The Ashe, Brookfield, Buladean, Cardigan, Charlton, Chestnut, Delaware, Dutchess, Edneyville, Flatbush (T), Foresthills (T), Gallimore, Greenbelt (T), Hazel, Lordstown, Newport, Soco, St. Albans, Stecoah, Steinsburg, and Yalesville series are in the same family. Ashe, Cardigan, Hazel, Sharpcrest (T), Soco, Steinsburg, and Yalesville soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock. Brookfield, Charlton, Dutchess, and St. Albans soils formed in deep glacial till and do not have stratified sand and gravel C horizons. Buladean and Stecoah soils have paralithic contacts at 40 to 60 inches. Chestnut soils have a paralithic contact at 20 to 40 inches. Delaware soils have less than 50 percent fine sand and coarser in the B horizon. Edneyville soils are underlain by saprolite derived from granite and gneiss and do not have stratified sand and gravel C horizons. Flatbush (T) soils are anthropogenic soils formed in fly ash. Foresthills(T) and Greenbelt(T) soils are anthropogenic soils with surface layers of loamy fill. Gallimore soils are deeper than 50 inches to the bottom of the cambic horizon. Lordstown soils are moderately deep. Newport soils have very dense substrata. Sharpcrest (T) soils do not have an OSD on file to compete.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Riverhead soils are nearly level to steep soils on outwash plains, valley trains, beaches, and water-sorted moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 50 percent. The soils developed in 20 to 40 inches of water-sorted sandy loam or fine sandy loam relatively low in gravel content over stratified gravel and sand. Mean annual temperature ranges from 48 to 55 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 38 to 55 inches, and mean annual frost-free days ranges from 135 to 220 days. Elevation ranges from 50 to 1350 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bridgehampton, Carver, Chenango, Enfield, Haven, Hempstead, Hoosic, Mineola, Montauk, Plymouth, and Sudbury soils. Bridgehampton, Enfield, Haven, and Hempstead soils contain more silt in the layers above the stratified sand and gravel and, in addition, Hempstead soils have thicker dark surface layers. Chenango and Hoosic soils are loamy- skeletal and sandy skeletal, respectively. Mineola soils have thicker dark surfaces and more sand in the subsoil. Montauk soils are closely associated on morainic landforms but have firm till substrata. Plymouth and Carver soils are sandy throughout. Sudbury soils are moderately well drained.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is low to medium. Permeability is moderately rapid in the solum and very rapid in the substratum. In pedons that have a loamy substratum, permeability of the substratum below 40 inches is rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils have been cleared and are used for crops, or are in suburban development. Principal crops are potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, corn, and hay. Native vegetation is black, white, and red oaks; American beech; and sugar maple.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern New York, Long Island and northern New Jersey; possibly southern New England. MLRA 101, 140, 144A, 148, and 149B. The series is of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Suffolk County, New York, 1970.
REMARKS: The diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 12 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 12 to 27 inches (Bw horizon).
3. Typic Dystrudepts - base saturation (by ammonium acetate) is less than 60 percent in all subhorizons at depths between
10 and 30 inches.
4. Udic soil moisture regime.
The activity class is estimated.
The concept of discontinuities in an outwash material is a debated concept. Some descriptions in the past have noted several
different discontinuities.