LOCATION SHELBURNE MA+CT VT

Established Series
Rev. RJS
01/2013

SHELBURNE SERIES

The Shelburne Series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in loamy glacial till. They are gently sloping to very steep soils on glaciated uplands. The till is derived principally from micaceous schist and some siliceous limestone. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is typically moderately high or high in the solum and moderately low in the substratum.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, frigid Oxyaquic Dystrudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Shelburne fine sandy loam on an east-facing 32 percent slope in a very stony woodland at an elevation of about 335 meters. (Colors are for moist soil).

A--0 to 20 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine, fine and medium, and few coarse and very coarse roots; 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (15 to 22 centimeters thick)

Bw1--20 to 44 centimeters; olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) fine sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine, medium and coarse roots; 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (7 to 32 centimeters thick)

Bw2--44 to 61 centimeters; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine, medium and very coarse roots; 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (10 to 38 centimeters thick)

Bw3--61 to 66 centimeters; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 10 to 56 centimeters.)

Cd1--66 to 104 centimeters; olive gray (5Y 4/2) sandy loam; moderate medium platy structure; very firm; 12 percent gravel, 2 percent cobbles; few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.

Cd2--104 to 120 centimeters; olive gray (5Y 4/2) sandy loam; moderate thick platy structure; firm; 5 percent gravel; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.

Cd3--120 to 166 centimeters; olive gray (5Y 5/2) loam; moderate medium platy structure; firm; 10 percent gravel; moderately acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Franklin County, Massachusetts; town of Shelburne; located about 350 feet meters south of the intersection of Little Mohawk Road and Patten Road and 2260 feet west of Little Mohawk Road in woodland; 42 degrees 36 minutes 27.1 seconds N., 72 degrees 41 minutes 46.1 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 41 to 76 centimeters. Rock fragments consist of 5 to 30 percent gravel, 0 to 10 percent cobbles, and 0 to 15 percent stones throughout. Reaction of the surface layer is very strongly acid or strongly acid when not limed. B horizon reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid and the C horizon is strongly acid or moderately acid. Occasional remnants of siliceous limestone (ghosts), are a common feature of the C horizon of some pedons. Fine earth texture is loam, fine sandy loam or sandy loam throughout.

The Ap horizon hue is 10YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. A horizons have similar hue, value ranges from 2 to 4 and chroma from 1 to 3. Some pedons have thin E and Bh horizons below the A.

Bw horizon hue is 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 2 to 4. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable.

The Cd horizon hue is 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 2 to 4. Structure is platy or the horizon is massive. Consistence is firm or very firm.

COMPETING SERIES: These include the Canterbury (T), Fullam, Lanesboro, and Stowe series. Canterbury (T) soils developed in materials derived from granite, gneiss, and lighter colored schist. Fullam soils have a zone within 60 cm. of the soil surface that is, for more than 50 percent of the time, saturated throughout the 70 days following the spring solstice. Lanesboro soils formed in materials derived from slate and phyllite. Stowe soils have an umbric epipedon and formed in materials derived from granite and schist.

The Ashfield, Buckland, Marlow and Paxton series are similar soils in related families. Ashfield and Buckland soils are moderately well drained; Marlow soils have spodic horizons; and Paxton soils are warmer.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Shelburne soils are gently sloping to very steep soils on glaciated hills and ridges. Slopes range from 3 to 50 percent. The soils formed in a thin mantle of loamy glacial till underlain by dense, loamy, strongly acid to slightly acid till derived from micaceous schist and some siliceous limestone. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 965 millimeters to 1219 millimeters; mean annual air temperature is 6 to 8 degrees Celsius; mean annual growing season is 100 to 130 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The moderately well drained Ashfield and Buckland series and the poorly drained Cabot series are in a drainage sequence with Shelburne soils. Other soils on nearby landscapes include the Marlow and Colrain soils which both have a spodic horizon and the moderately deep Millsite soils on bedrock controlled ridges and knolls.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is typically moderately high or high in the solum and moderately low but may range to the very low end of moderately high in the dense substratum. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid in the solum and slow in the dense substratum.

USE AND VEGETATION: Largely wooded with maples, beech, birch, white pine and hemlock the most common trees. Some areas are cropped to support dairy farming and a few areas are in urban uses.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West central Massachusetts and Vermont. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Massachusetts, 1929.

REMARKS: Shelburne series was previously classified as Typic Fragiochrepts. The separation between the proposed Canterbury and Shelburne is under review.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:

Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 20 centimeters (A horizon).
Cambic horizon - the zone from 20 to 66 centimeters (Bw horizons).
Densic materials - the zone from 66 to 166 centimeters (Cd horizons).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.