LOCATION CHESUNCOOK ME+VT
Established Series
Rev. KJL-LRF-WDH
09/2014
CHESUNCOOK SERIES
The Chesuncook series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils on till plains, hills, ridges, and mountains. These soils formed in dense glacial till. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum, and low to moderately high in the dense substratum. Slope ranges from 3 to 45 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 4 degrees C, and mean annual precipitation is about 1092 mm at the type location.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Aquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Chesuncook silt loam, on a 9 percent northeast-facing slope in a very stony forested area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oa--0 to 3 centimeters; black (5YR 2/1) highly decomposed plant material; weak fine granular structure; many very fine and few medium and coarse roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 10 centimeters thick.)
E--3 to 10 centimeters; pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) silt loam; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and few fine, medium and coarse roots; 10 percent gravel and channers, 2 percent cobbles and 1 percent stones; extremely acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 10 centimeters thick.)
Bhs--10 to 13 centimeters; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) silt loam; moderate very fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine, and few medium and coarse roots; 10 percent gravel and channers, 3 percent cobbles and 1 percent stones; very strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 10 centimeters thick.)
Bs1--13 to 27 centimeters; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silt loam; moderate very fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine, and few medium and coarse roots; 10 percent gravel and channers, 3 percent cobbles and 1 percent stones; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bs2--27 to 45 centimeters; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and fine, and few medium roots; 15 percent gravel and channers, 3 percent cobbles and 1 percent stones; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizon is 10 to 45 centimeters.)
BC--45 to 53 centimeters; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) gravelly loam; weak medium platy structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; common medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation and few medium distinct grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) iron depletions; 20 percent gravel and channers, 3 percent cobbles and 1 percent stones; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 20 centimeters thick.)
Cd--53 to 165 centimeters; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) gravelly loam; strong very coarse prisms parting to weak very thick plates; very firm; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) faces of prisms which are separated by a thin layer of strong brown (7.5YR 5/6); common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation and common coarse faint light olive gray (5Y 6/2) iron depletions; 25 percent gravel and channers, 3 percent cobbles and 1 percent stones; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Piscataquis County, Maine; Township of Shirley; 2.1 miles northwest of West Shirley Bog outlet; USGS Bald Mtn Pond, ME topographic quadrangle; Latitude 45 degrees, 22 minutes, 27 seconds N. and Longitude 69 degrees, 43 minutes, 16 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the mineral solum ranges from 50 to 70 centimeters. Depth to bedrock is more than 165 centimeters. The weighted average of clay in the particle-size control section is 10 to 18 percent. Rock fragment content ranges from 5 to 25 percent in the A, E and B horizons, from 10 to 35 percent in the BC horizon, and from 10 to 35 percent in the Cd layer. Rock fragments are mainly gravel, with stones and cobbles ranging from 0 to 20 percent throughout the mineral soil. Stones and boulders cover from 0 to 15 percent of the surface. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the solum and from very strongly acid to neutral in the substratum. Redoximorphic features are deeper than 41 centimeters from the mineral soil surface.
The Oa horizon has hue of 10YR to 5YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Some pedons have Oi and/or Oe horizons.
Some pedons have an Ap or A horizon with hue of 10YR, and value and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 6 or 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The Bh horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. The Bhs horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, with value and chroma of 2 to 3. The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture in the fine-earth fraction of the B horizons is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The BC horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture in the fine-earth fraction is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. Consistence is friable or firm.
The E' horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2. Texture in the fine-earth fraction is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. Consistence is friable or firm.
The Cd layer has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 6. It is massive or has platy or prismatic geogenic structural units.Texture in the fine earth fraction is silt loam or loam. Any soil structural units in the Cd horizon are considered to be geogenic. Consistence is firm or very firm.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Crary,
Dixfield,
Dixmont,
Howland,
Peru,
Skerry,
Sunapee, and
Worden series. Crary soils have a thin aeolian or water deposited mantle. Dixfield, Howland, Peru, and Skerry soils have less than 10 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Dixmont and Sunapee soils lack densic contact. Worden soils have less than 10 percent clay in the particle-size control section and have a Bh horizon more than 4 inches thick.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Chesuncook soils are on upland till plains, hills, ridges and mountains. Slope ranges from 3 to 45 percent. The soils formed in dense glacial till derived mainly from slates and other dark colored sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. The climate is humid and cool temperate. The mean annual temperature ranges from 3 to 7 degrees C, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 864 to 1168 mm. The frost-free season ranges from 80 to 130 days. Elevation ranges from 91 to 762 m above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Burnham,
Elliottsville,
Monarda,
Monson, and
Telos soils. Burnham, Monarda and Telos are wetter soils that formed in similar material but are in lower positions on the landscape or are less sloping. Elliottsville soils are moderately deep to bedrock and are in higher positions on the landscape. Monson soils are shallow to bedrock and are on higher knolls on the landscape.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum, and low to moderately high in the dense substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly forest. Common tree species include red maple, sugar maple, American beech, paper birch, yellow birch, red and white spruce, and balsam fir.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine and Vermont. MLRA's 143, 144B, and 146. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County Area and Part of Somerset County soil survey, 1992.
REMARKS: Mineral solum thickness was narrowed with revision, 10/08, to ensure single family placement. The competing series section was revised accordingly. It is recognized that in historic correlation, some pedons now have a shallow depth class. This could done through MLRA update.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - 0 to 3 centimeters (Oa horizon).
2. Albic horizon - the zone from 3 to 10 centimeters (E horizon).
3. Spodic horizon - the zone from 10 to 27 centimeters (Bhs and Bs1 horizons).
4. Cambic horizon - the zone from 27 to 53 centimeters (Bs and BC horizons).
5. Densic contact - very firm, dense till at a depth of 21 inches.
6. Aquic Conditions - redoximorphic features at 42 centimeters below the mineral soil surface.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Source of data used in establishing taxonomic class and range in characteristics is Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, Technical Bulletin 155, 1994; NRCS Characterization Data; and composite data from the Field Appraisal of Resource Management Systems compiled by Dr. Paul R. Hepler, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, Maine.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.