LOCATION ABENAKI NHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, active, frigid Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Abenaki very fine sandy loam, in a nearly level grass hayfield. (Colors are for moist soil unless stated otherwise.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) very fine sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--7 to 18 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) very fine sandy loam; weak medium and coarse granular structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Bw2--18 to 23 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) very fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 9 to 30 inches.)
2C1--23 to 30 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; few very fine and fine roots in upper 4 inches; 55 percent gravel; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
2C2--30 to 38 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 35 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary.
2C3--38 to 50 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 45 percent gravel; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
2C4--50 to 65 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 40 percent gravel, 2 percent cobbles; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Coos County, New Hampshire; Town of Jefferson, 250 feet west northwest of the confluence of Garland and Stalbird Brooks; latitude 44 degrees 26 minutes 35 seconds N. and longitude 71 degrees 30 minutes 42 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 18 to 35 inches, and corresponds to the depth to the contrasting material. Rock fragment content ranges from 0 to 5 percent in the solum; and from 0 to 65 percent in individual horizons in the contrasting material with a weighted average of 35 percent of more within 40 inches from the surface. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid in the solum, and from strongly acid to neutral in the contrasting material.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is loam, silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. Texture is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 8. Texture ranges from fine sand to coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in this family. The Cloquet series is in a closely related family. Cloquet soils are from outside of Region R. They have E and Bh horizons and have a superactive cation exchange activity class.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Abenaki soils are on nearly level alluvial terraces of small, gravel-bottom rivers and brooks. Mean annual temperature ranges from 40 to 45 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 50 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cohas, Colton, Metallak and Ondawa series. The moderately well drained Metallak and poorly drained Cohas soils are in a drainage sequence with the Abenaki soils, and are in lower positions on alluvial terraces. Colton soils have spodic horizons, textures in the B horizon ranging from loamy sand to coarse sand, and are on adjacent glacial outwash terraces. Ondawa soils are in similar landscape positions, but have coarse-loamy particle-size control sections, and have organic carbon content decreasing irregularly with depth.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Abenaki soils are well drained. Permeability is moderate in the solum and rapid or very rapid in the underlying contrasting material. Surface runoff is slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Almost all the acreage is used for row crops, hay, or pasture. Wooded areas are in eastern white pine, red pine, red spruce, or white spruce.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: New Hampshire and New York; MLRAs 143 and 144B. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Coos County, New Hampshire, 1999.
REMARKS: 1. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the typical pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 7 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 7 to 23 inches (Bw horizon).
c. Strongly contrasting particle-size class - the zone from 10 to 23 inches is coarse-loamy, and the zone from 23 to 40 inches is sandy-skeletal.
2. The Abenaki series was formerly mapped as Ondawa Variant in New Hampshire. 1300 acres of this soil are correlated as Ondawa Variant in Carroll County, New Hampshire.