LOCATION BOSCAWEN NH +CTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, frigid Typic Udorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Typical pedon of Boscawen fine sandy loam, on a 6 percent east facing slope in a gravel pit at an elevation of about 400 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Oe-- 0 to 0.5 inches (0 to 1 cm.); brown (7.5YR 4/2) moderately decomposed plant material. (0 to 3 inches thick)
A-- 0.5 to 6 inches (1 to 14 cm.); dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) fine sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; 5 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)
Bw-- 6 to 10 inches (14 to 24 cm.); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; 10 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 34 inches thick)
C1-- 10 to 24 inches (24 to 60 cm.); light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) very gravelly loamy sand; single grain; loose; 40 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles in stratified layers; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
C2-- 24 to 35 inches (60 to 90 cm.); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 55 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
C3-- 35 to 65 inches (90 to 165 cm.); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; 35 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Merrimack County, New Hampshire; Town of Boscawen; 1800 feet west of U.S. Route 3 and 950 feet south of Stirrup Iron Road, in the State Forest Nursery. USGS Webster quadrangle; latitude 43 degrees 22 minutes 15 seconds North, longitude 71 degrees 39 minutes 36 seconds West; NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 6 to 40 inches. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to strongly acid in the solum, and very strongly acid to moderately acid in the substratum. Rock fragments are dominantly gravel and range from 5 to 50 percent in the solum and from 35 to 75 percent in the substratum.
The O horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is commonly moderately decomposed plant material but the range includes slightly decomposed plant material and highly decomposed plant material.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is fine sandy loam or sandy loam or their gravelly or very gravelly analogues. Structure is granular or subangular blocky.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy sand, or their gravelly or very gravelly analogues in the upper part of the Bw at depths less than 10 inches. Texture below 10 inches is loamy sand or its gravelly or very gravelly analogues. Structure is granular or subangular blocky.
Some pedons have a BC horizon that has colors similar to the Bw horizon. Texture is very gravelly or extremely gravelly loamy sand, sand, and coarse sand.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is very gravelly or extremely gravelly loamy sand, fine sand, sand or coarse sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Emmert, Stonelake, and Yellowdog series. All of these soils are from outside of Region R and receive less than 34 inches of annual rainfall.
Emmert soils are less acid in the subsoil and substratum. Stonelake soils have a Bt horizon with clay bridging. Yellowdog soils are moderately deep to sandstone bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Boscawen soils formed in glaciofluvial deposits consisting of sand, gravel, and cobbles of granite, gneiss, schist, or amphibolite. Boscawen soils are on terraces, kames, eskers, and outwash plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 70 percent. Mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 46 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 50 inches. The frost-free season ranges from 90 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Champlain, Croghan, and the Henniker(T) soils on nearby landscapes. Champlain and Croghan soils are on nearby sandy outwash plains and have less than 15 percent gravel. Chichester(T), Hopkinton(T), and Henniker(T)soils. Chichester and Hopkinton soils are on till uplands. Henniker(T) soils are on till uplands and are underlain by densic material.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively and excessively drained. Runoff is negligible to medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or very high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly forested. Dominant tree species include pitch pine, white oak, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock and red oak. Understory species typically consist of bracken fern, lowbush blueberry, and wintergreen. Some areas are mined for sand and gravel.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Late Pleistocene glaciofluvial landforms in New Hampshire and Connecticut (and possibly Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont). The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: State of Connecticut, 2003.
REMARKS: Boscawen soils were previously included with Colton series (Sandy-skeletal, isotic, frigid Typic Haplorthods) and Hinckley series (Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Typic Udorthents) soils in mapping.
Diagnostic features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 6 inches (Oe and A horizons).
2. Entisols - the zone from 6 to 10 inches does not meet the thickness criteria for a cambic horizon (Bw horizon).
3. Sandy-skeletal particle size class (sandy textures and greater than 35 percent rock fragments in the 10 to 40 inch control section: C1, C2 and C3 horizons).