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Soils are grouped by similar properties and behaviors
Named for a town, landmark or feature
› Example: Titusville Series
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Has a description of each soil series
› Each description has information about that series and a description of the soil profile

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Every soil survey has a map index of the listed county
Has the location of major towns, state highways and some country roads

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Aerial photograph
Also shows main land types and roads
Town names and municipal boundaries are shown to pinpoint the exact location of a property
Have boundaries of soil series

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Andover Loam
Arents-Urban Land Complex
Atkins Silt Loam
Braceville Loam
Brinkerton Silt Loam
Buchanan Loam
Canadice Silty Clay Loam
Caneadea Silt Loam
Cavode Silt Loam
Clymer Loam
Cookport Loam
Dumps, Industrial Waste
Dumps, Mines
Ernest Silt Loam
Fluvaquents, Coal Overwash
Fredon Loam
Frenchtown Silt Loam
Gilpin Silt Loam
Gilpin Channery Silt Loam
Gilpin-Upshur Complex
Gilpin-Weikert Channery Silt
Loam
Gilpin-Wharton Silt Loam
Gilpin-Wharton Complex
Gresham Silt Loam
• Hazleton Channery Loam
• Hazleton Loam
• Hazleton and Gilpin Soils
• Monongahela Silt Loam
• Philo Loam
• Pits, Sand and gravel
• Pope Loam
• Riverhead Sandy Loam
• Tilsit Silt Loam
• Titusville Silt Loam
• Titusville and Riverhead Soils
• Udorthents, Acid Material, Gently Sloping
• Udorthents, Acid Material, Moderately Steep
• Udorthents, Acid Material, Very Steep
• Udorthents, Calcareous Material, Moderately
Steep
• Udorthents, Calcareous Material, Very Steep
• Urban land- Ernest Complex
• Urban land- Gilpin Complex
• Vandergrift- Cavode Silt Loams
• Wharton Silt Loam
• Wheeling Silt Loam

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There are other additional information within the engineering properties and other charts
All of these properties are needed when planning development of a piece of land
Also contains information on limitations for septic tanks, basements and roadways
It allows one to determine:
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Depth to seasonal high water tables
Depths to bedrock
Land use limiting factors

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Alluvial Fan- low outspread mass of soil and/or rock deposited by a stream shaped like an open fan (triangle) or cone.
Commonly found at the mouth of streams where they enter a larger valley.
Bench- a nearly level to gently sloping platform generally a bedrock controlled erosional surface on a mountainside or hillside.

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Bog- A waterlogged swampy area consisting of mostly organic material, such as mosses, sphagnum, sedges and woody materials.
Colluvium- soil material that has accumulated at a footslope of a ridge or mountain side to due to mass soil movement or landslide.
Depression- a relatively sunken part of the
Earth’s surface. A low lying area surrounded by higher ground, such as a sinkhole .

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Drainageway- a general term used to describe a long narrow water course that at sometime has concentrated water flow, but lacks a channel or has a small defined channel. Water flow intermittent.
Drift(glacial)- a general term applied to all material transported and deposited by glacial ice. The term applies to deposits that no longer contains glaciers
Flood Plain- a near plain that boarders a stream and is subject to flooding. Soil material has been deposited by stream overflow and deposition.

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Footslope- a gentle to moderate sloping area at the base of a side slope or mountain slope .
Head slope- a concave surface at the end of a drainageway
Interfluve- a broad upland area or ridge top between two valleys or waterways that sheds water into those valleys or water ways

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Karst- topography with sink holes and under ground drainage formed in limestone, general has few if any streams except those formed by large springs.
Local Alluvium- soil deposited in drainage ways and on footslopes by sheet, rill, and gully erosion of adjacent and nearby slopes created by storm runoff rather than by overflowing streams
Loess- soil material transported and deposited by wind and predominately of silt size

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Mountain- the natural land rising more than
1000ft above the low lands
Mountain slope- the side slope of a mountain between summit and the foot
Nose slope- the projecting end of a interfluve generally convex contours up and down slope
Piedmont- in the United States the piedmont is a low plateau extending from New Jersey thru Pennsylvania to Alabama and lying east of the Appalachian

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Plateau- a relatively large flat area at high elevations near the summit and general 330ft above adjacent low lying areas
Residuum- unconsolidated weathered or partly weathered soil material that accumulates in place by disintegration of bedrock
Side Slope- a slope between a drainage way and summit or interfluve
Sinkhole- a closed depression formed in limestone by solution of the bedrock and formed by the collapse of the overlying soil

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Stream Terrace- A platform in a stream valley parallel to the stream representing an abandoned flood plain at higher elevation than current day flood plans
Summit- the topographically highest position with a plain to convex nearly level to the sloping surface
Upland- a general term for higher ground in contrast to valley, flood plain, or other low lying ground
Valley- an elongated relatively large external drained depression of the Earth primarily formed between mountains by erosion or glacial activity

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The structure is a naturally occurring arrangement of soil particles in the aggregated that result from the soil forming process
The structure is described in three terms
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Grade
Size
Shape

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Structureless- no units observable in a hand sample or close observation
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Sand is an example “structureless single grain” soil where the individual grains area loose and don’t form aggregates
“Structureless massive” is a continuous layers of soil that do not show aggregates in place or in a hand sample
Dense glacial till and the interior of some fragipans are massive single unit showing no development

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Weak- structural units are barely observable in place or in hand sample
Moderate- units are well formed and evident in place or in a hand sample
Strong- units are distinct and separate easily when disturbed

Granular
(mm)
Very fine(very thin)
Fine(thin)
Medium
Course
(thick)
Very
Course(very thick)
<1
1-2
2-5
5-10
>10
Prismatic
(mm)
<10
10-20
20-50
50-100
>100
Angular and subangular blocky
(mm)
<5
Platy
(mm)
<1
5-10
10-20
20-50
>50
1-2
2-5
5-10
>10

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Granular- the individual unites are approximately spherical or polyhedral and are curved or very irregular faces, common in surface horizons
Prismatic- units are elongated vertically with flat to rounded vertical surfaces, tops are general flat, common structure of fragipans
Subangular blocky- unites are somewhat rounded block like or with flat to slightly rounded polyhedral surfaces, common in subsurface horizons
Angular blocky- units are block like with sharp edges, common in heavy textured subsurface horizons
Platy- the units are flat and plate like and usual oriented horizontally, common in compacted surfaces and plough pans

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Soil begins with solid rock
Forces of nature have turned rock into soils
Weathering- the natural process where rock is broken into smaller pieces
› Heat and water help with the weathering process

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Made of 4 substances
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45% mineral particles
5% organic matter
› 50% air and water
Composition of Soil
Mineral
Matter
Organic
Matter
Air
Water

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Arrangement and properties of the various soil layers
Layers are:
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Top soil- top layer, most nutrient rich
Sub soil- little or no organic matter is present
Parent material- lower layer from which the top and sub soils have developed

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Soils are grouped according to:
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› agronomic use- ex: good wheat soil, poor corn soil
Color- ex: black soil, red soil
Organic Matter Content- ex: mineral soil, muck soil
Texture- ex: sandy, loam
› Moisture Condition- ex: wet soil, dry soil

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Removal of soil material by wind or water moving over the land
Natural process and most hills and valleys are the product of water
2 different types:
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Sheet and rill- removal of top soil from a field; soil washes from field in thin layers or sheets from small channels or rills
Gully- deep ditches cut by flowing water

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Preventing or stopping erosion
Best way to control erosion is to keep the soil covered
Done with living plants, or mulch of dead plant residue such as crop residue or dead leaves
Preparing the land for planting in a way that leaves crop residue on the soil surface is called conservation tillage

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Current concern about soil compaction is in the top layer (plow layer) and in the sub soil because of damage to soil structure by soil compaction
Damage is caused by
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Larger and heavier farm equipment
Increased specialization in crop production
Increased traffic and tillage necessary for application and incorporation of fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides
Earlier seed bed preparation and planting when soils are often wet and susceptible to compaction

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Size, shape and arrangement of the soil particles and pores determine the ability of a soil to retain water
Larger pores conduct more water more rapidly than smaller pores