LOCATION BELGRADE MA+CT NH NY VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, active, mesic Aquic Dystric Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Belgrade silt loam - on a 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 8 meters. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very fine sandy loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; very weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--9 to 20 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine roots; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 32 inches thick)
BC--20 to 30 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) very fine sandy loam; massive; very friable; few very fine roots; common prominent distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and gray (5Y 5/1) iron depletions; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
C1--30 to 42 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) very fine sandy loam; massive; very friable; many medium and coarse prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation, and gray (5Y 6/1) iron depletions; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
C2--42 to 65 inches; gray (5Y 6/1) loamy very fine sand; massive; very friable; common lenses of fine sand; many coarse prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Essex County, Massachusetts; Town of Amesbury, 3.2 miles southwest of Amesbury Village, 550 feet north of Pleasant Valley Road and 700 feet east of Amesbury-Merrimac town line. Lat. 42 degrees 49 minutes 30 seconds N., and long. 70 degrees 58 minutes 04 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 44 inches. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral in the solum and from moderately acid to slightly alkaline in the C horizon; however, some subhorizon between depths of 10 and 30 inches is moderately acid to neutral. Redox depletions with a chroma of 2 or less are within a depth of 24 inches (60 cm). Gravel content ranges from 0 to 5 percent to a depth of 40 inches and 0 to 30 percent below 40 inches.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. Dry value is 6 or more. It is silt loam or very fine sandy loam. Undisturbed areas have an A horizon with colors and textures similar to the Ap.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Some pedons have lower Bw horizons with hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6, with common or many redoximorphic features. The Bw horizon is typically silt loam or very fine sandy loam but includes loamy very fine sand. Structure is weak coarse prismatic, weak fine subangular blocky or weak or moderate, fine or medium granular, or the horizon is massive. Consistence ranges from firm to very friable.
The BC horizon, where present, has characteristics similar to those of the lower Bw horizons.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or loamy very fine sand in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have thin strata of loamy fine sand, fine sand, or silt. Below a depth of 40 inches some pedons have unconforming strata of sand or sand and gravel, or very thin strata or varves of contrasting material. The C horizon has common to many redoximorphic features. It is usually massive, but some pedons have platy structure. Consistence ranges from firm to loose.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. The Bridgehampton, Boxford, Dartmouth, Enfield, Georgia, Hartland, Raynham, Scio, Suffield, Tisbury, Unadilla, and Wapping are similar soils in related families. Boxford soils are fine. Georgia soils are coarse-loamy. Suffield soils are coarse-silty over clayey. Bridgehampton, Dartmouth, Enfield, Scio, Tisbury, Unadilla, and Wapping soils have base saturation of less than 60 percent in the upper 30 inches. In addition, Enfield and Tisbury soils have sand and gravel within a depth of 40 inches. Hartland soils do not have redox depletions within a depth of 24 inches. Raynham soils have dominant chroma of 2 or less within a depth of 20 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Belgrade soils are nearly level to moderately steep soils on glaciolacustrine terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. The upper part of the soil formed in water or wind deposited material high in silt and very fine sand. The material below 40 inches is variable and ranges from gravelly sand to silt. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 52 degrees F. and mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 47 inches. The frost free season ranges from 135 to 195 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Belgrade soils are in a drainage sequence with the well drained Hartland, poorly drained Raynham, and very poorly drained Birdsall soils. Agawam, Deerfield, Enfield, Haven, Merrimac, Ninigret, Sudbury, Tisbury, and Windsor soils are on nearby glacial outwash landforms. Hadley, Limerick, Occum, Pootatuck, Rippowam, and Winooski soils are on nearby flood plains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is negligible to high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum and moderately low to high in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cleared and are used mainly for growing grasses, and legumes for hay or pasture, and for silage. Some areas are used for growing potatoes, sweet corn, vegetables, and other crops and some areas are used as urban land. Common trees in woodlots are white, red and black oak, hickory, sugar maple, red maple, ash, tulip, black birch, yellow birch, beech, white pine, and hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont (MLRAs 142, 144A, 144B, 145, and 149B). The soil is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hartford County, Connecticut, 1959.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the soil surface to a depth of 9 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 9 to 30 inches (Bw and BC horizon).
3. Coarse-silty feature - the zone from 10 to 40 inches contains less than 15 percent sand that is coarser than very fine sand, including gravel, and about 5 to 10 percent clay (Bw, BC and Cl horizons).