A HYPOTHETICAL CATSKILL CATENA AND CONTROLS ACTING ON SOIL FORMATION

The Catskill Formation (Devonian) in Pennsylvania contains several types of paleosols and associated facies across the landscape which may be used to develop a hypothetical soil catena. These paleosols and associated facies reveal a range of soil forming controls that inhibit soil maturity in lowland regions and promote maturity in the upland regions.

Paleosols in the Sherman Creek Mbr, represent nearshore environments, and are Entisols to Inceptisols. These paleosols are poorly developed and may exhibit evidence of colonization by a single generation of plants followed by marine incursion, flooding from upland sources, and/or calcareous nodule layers representing fluctuations in the local water level. Facies associations of these paleosols include sheet flood sandstone beds, thin multistoried sandstone consisting of medium-high sinuosity channels, and interfingering with marine deposits. Paleosols in the overlying Duncannon Mbr, considered upland environments, are more commonly vertic, well developed, and are colonized by many, larger flora. The upper horizons of these paleosols may be truncated due to erosion by larger meandering low sinuosity channels, may contain transported and in situ calcareous nodules, and exhibit evidence of internal mixing and homogenization. Facies associations of these paleosols include widespread and massive multistoried channel sandstone packages, adjacent wetlands, and coarser-grained deposits.

The high rate of deposition in low-lying nearshore environments such as those represented in the Sherman Creek Mbr prevents well developed soil formation. The low sinuosity and erosion by streams in upland environments promotes well developed soils. Soils adjacent to upland streams erode and contribute to the material found in some lowland deposits. A hypothetical catena may be useful in identifying the location of facies associations and may be applicable to other deposits associated with mountain building processes.