LOCATION BRIDGEHAMPTON RIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Bridgehampton silt loam - idle field, 1 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; few pebbles; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
Bw1--8 to 16 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few pebbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--16 to 24 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 12 to 20 inches.)
E--24 to 32 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silt loam; massive; very friable; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron concentration; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 11 inches thick)
B'w1--32 to 38 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) silt loam; massive; very friable; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
B'w2--38 to 41 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) very fine sandy loam; massive; very friable; few fine distinct grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) iron depletions; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the B'w horizons is 4 to 25 inches.)
2C--41 to 65 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 40 percent gravel and 15 percent cobbles; common silt caps on rock fragments; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Washington County, Rhode Island; town of Charlestown, on the eastern edge of the U.S. Naval Air Station auxiliary landing field.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 56 inches and corresponds closely to the depth to contrasting glacial drift. Depth to bedrock is commonly more than 10 feet. Rock fragments less than 3 inches in diameter range from 0 to 5 percent by volume in the solum. Stony pedons have 5 to 15 percent cobbles and stones in the solum. Rock fragments range from 5 to 70 percent by volume in the substratum and are mostly gravel. Unless limed, reaction ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Dry value is 6 or more. Undisturbed pedons have a thin A horizon with value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2. The Ap or A horizon is silt loam or very fine sandy loam. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 through 6. It is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or silt. Structure is weak subangular blocky or the lower part of the horizon is massive. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 1 through 3. Some pedons have faint or distinct mottles. Texture is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or silt. Structure is weak subangular blocky or the horizon is massive. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The B'w horizon has hue of 5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 7, and chroma of 4 through 8. Some pedons have faint or distinct mottles. Texture is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or silt. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The 2C horizon has hue of 5YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 7, and chroma of 2 through 6. Many pedons have high chroma iron stains on rock fragments in the upper part of the horizon. Fine-earth texture ranges from sandy loam through sand. Sandy loam and loamy sand are typical textures in glacial till materials and loamy sand and sand are typical in stratified glaciofluvial materials. The horizon is massive or single grain, and is loose, very friable, or friable. Some pedons have thin firm layers.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Hitchcock, Poocham, and Unadilla series. Hitchcock, and Poocham soils have a solum thickness less than 40 inches thick. Unadilla soils have a reaction class that typically is neutral and ranges to slightly alkaline in the substratum and also do not have a bisequal horizon sequence, Bw-E-B'w in the subsoil.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bridgehampton soils are nearly level to steep and are on outwash terraces, plains, and upland glaciated landforms. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent, but commonly are 0 to 8 percent. These soils formed in thick silty deposits underlain by stratified sand and gravel or coarse-textured glacial till. Parent materials are derived mainly from gneiss, granite, and schist rocks with some sandstone, conglomerate, and shale. Mean annual temperature ranges from 47 to 54 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 42 to 50 inches, and the growing season ranges from 135 to 195 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Broadbrook, Canton, Charlton, Enfield, Hartland, Haven, Narragansett, Rainbow, Raynham, Scio, Tisbury, Unadilla, and Wapping series on nearby landscapes. All of these soils do not have a Bw-E-B'w horizon sequence in the subsoil. Additionally, Broadbrook and Rainbow soils have a thinner solum and a dense substratum. Canton, Charlton, and Riverhead soils are coarser-textured. Raynham soils are poorly drained.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained and moderately well drained. Surface runoff is slow to rapid. Permeability is moderate in the silty solum and moderately rapid to very rapid in the coarse-textured substratum. Because of the strongly contrasting texture of the substratum, the solum is commonly saturated in the lower part in the winter, spring, and after heavy rains.
USE AND VEGETATION: Much of the acreage is used for cultivated crops, hay, and pasture. Common crops are potatoes and silage corn. Some areas are used for sod farming and for nursery stock. A few areas are in community development or are wooded. Common trees are red, white, and black oak, white ash, red maple, white pine, and red pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Rhode Island; MLRA 144A. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Suffolk-Nassau Counties, New York, 1928.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 8 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 8 to 41 inches (Bw, E, and B'w horizons).
3. Albic horizon - the zone from 24 to 32 inches (E horizon).
4. Coarse-silty particle-size class - average of the control section from 10 to 40 inches.
5. Bisequal horizon sequence - the zone from 8 to 41 inches (Bw-E-B'w).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data are available for two pedons S58RI-5-2 and S58RI-5-3. Engineering test data are available for three pedons S67NY-52-3, S67NY-52-4, and S67NY-52-5.