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New Jersey Featured Soil
Rockaway
Series
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The Rockaway Series was established as a soil series in 1939 in the Black Rock
Forest Area of Orange County, New York. Rockaway first appeared in a USDA soil
survey publication in New Jersey in the “Soil Survey of Passaic County, New
Jersey”, published in 1975. Currently, Rockaway is mapped only in New Jersey,
encompassing approximately 108,000 acres in the northern part of the state. It
is named after the Town of Rockaway in Morris County, New Jersey.
Rockaway soils formed in parent material consisting of Wisconsinan-age till
derived from the granite and gneiss bedrock types found in the New Jersey
physiographic province known as the “Highlands”. A typical soil profile of
Rockaway soils shows development of both argillic and fragipan horizons.
Rockaway soils are predominately wooded; however, some areas have been cleared
for farming. Precautions need to be taken to prevent erosion on steeper slopes.
Stones and boulders are commonly found on the ground surface and can present
limitations for growing crops and using farming and construction equipment. The
landscape picture above shows the typical land use of Rockaway soils. Rockaway
soils are often associated with areas of rock outcrops and soils that are
shallow or moderately deep to bedrock, which may create limitations for urban
development.
Soil highlights for the Rockaway Series
In the three diagrams below, the black circle (or ellipse) shows the
range of drainage class, depth to bedrock, and depth to seasonal high water
table for the Rockaway series.
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table:
Not rated as hydric
Important Farmland Classification:
Prime
Can be Prime Farmland or Farmland of Statewide Importance if not
limited by slope or surface stoniness
Flooding:
None
For more detailed information:
For information on Important Farmland Soils (which include the designations
of Prime, Statewide and Local) refer to the
web soil survey.
The criteria are explained, and you can print Adobe Acrobat pdf files of maps of
your area of interest.
The
Official Series Description Web Page has a collection of descriptions of
soil properties for each series in the entire country.
The National Soils Web Page has a wealth
of information if you wish to learn more about the rating systems used to
describe soil and the classification of soils.
Glossary:
- Argillic horizon - a
mineral soil horizon characterized by the accumulation of clay.
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- Depth to bedrock
- The distance from the surface of the soil to solid
rock that underlies the soil and other unconsolidated material. In some
cases this material is exposed at the surface. Five depth phases are
identified: very shallow, shallow, moderately deep, deep, and very deep.
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- Drainage class - Refers to the frequency and duration of wet periods
under conditions similar to those under which the soil formed. This is a
qualitative measurement. Seven classes of natural soil drainage are
recognized: very poorly drained, poorly drained, moderately well drained,
well drained, somewhat excessively drained, somewhat poorly drained, and
excessively drained.
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- Fragipan – subsurface mineral
soil horizon characterized by high bulk density, hard or very hard
consistence when dry, and brittleness when moist. This horizon can restrict
root penetration and impede downward water movement in a soil.
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- Hydric Soil
- Soils that formed under conditions of saturation, flooding
or ponding long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic
(lacking oxygen) conditions in the upper part. These soils will have water
tables close to the surface of the soil.
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- Parent material
- The primary material (both mineral and organic) from
which the soil was formed.
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- Soil horizons
- a layer of soil, approximately parallel to the soil
surface
- The O horizon is an organic layer, which forms above the mineral
soil - consisting of material from plants and animals.
- The A horizon is the surface layer where organic mater accumulates
and is intermixed with the mineral fraction.
- The B horizon is called the subsoil, there is evidence of an
alteration by mineral or chemical accumulation and / or movement through
the soil profile, often soil structure develops.
- The C horizon is called the substratum, it is relatively
little affected by biological activity and soil forming processes (pedogensis)
it can be like or unlike the A and B horizons above it.
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- Soil Series
- The lowest category in the U.S. system of taxonomy,
analogous to a species in classification of plants and animals. Soils that
comprise a soil series have horizons that are similar in thickness and
arrangement. They will also share close similarities in physical, chemical,
and mineralogical makeup.
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- Till - Dominantly unsorted and
unstratified drift, generally unconsolidated and deposited directly by a
glacier without subsequent reworking by meltwater, and consisting of a
heterogeneous mixture of clay, silt, sand, gravel, stones, and boulders;
rock fragments of various lithologies are imbedded within a finer matrix
that can range from clay to sandy loam. Till of the Wisconsinan continental
glacier were deposited approximately 20,000 years ago.
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- Water Table
- The upper limit of the part of the soil (or underlying
material) wholly saturated with water.
Other Soils - Past Features
< Back to Soils
Last Modified:
February 05, 2010
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