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Moisture Characteristics of Pennsylvania Soils: III. Parent Material and Drainage Relationships¹

ABSTRACT

Available moisture (W_A), assumed as the difference between moisture contents of ‘undisturbed cores’ equilibrated at atm of tension and of < 2-mm sieved samples equilibrate at 15 atm of tension and expressed on a volume basis, was determined on horizons collected from 207 profiles in 27 Pennsylvania counties. Weighted means of W_A, coarse fragments, sand, silt, and clay were calculated for A, B, and C horizons and for 0–30, 30–60, 60–90, and 90–120-cm depth increments for each soil profile, and the profiles grouped according to parent material and drainage class.

Parent material groups showed the following relative amounts of cumulative W_A: aeolian > alluvium > limestone > till > shale > sandstone > glacial-fluvial. Differences in W_A are related to textural relationships and coarse fragment contents, with W_A decreasing with increasing amounts of clay, sand, and coarse fragments. W_A generally decreased with increasing depth within each parent material group with the relative amounts of W_A within horizons as follows: A > B > C. Within a parent material group, content of coarse fragments was the most important factor determining W_A content within the soil profiles. Cumulative W_A also tended to increase as soils became more poorly drained and decreased with depth within each drainage class. Differences in the drainage were usually related to the parent material from which the soil developed. Therefore, differences in parent material should be the primary consideration when estimating W_A and the effect of drainage conditions upon W_A should only be considered when these differences occur within a parent material group.

¹ Authorized for publication on April 16, 1970 as paper no. 3763 of the Journal Series of the Pennsylvania Agr. Exp. Sta., University Park, Pa. Presented before the American Society of Agronomy, June 17, 1970. Beltsville, Md.

² Associate Professors and Professor of Soil Genesis and Morphology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa., respectively.

Received for publication May 4, 1970. Accepted for publication September 29, 1970.