LOCATION COLRAIN VT+MA
Established Series
Rev. JAA-RLM-SHG
01/2013
COLRAIN SERIES
The Colrain series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loamy glacial till on glaciated uplands. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 50 inches, and the mean annual temperature is about 43 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, frigid Humic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Colrain fine sandy loam, on a south-facing slope of 15 percent in a pasture. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; 2 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
Bw--6 to 13 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; 5 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
BC1--13 to 24 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common roots; 5 percent rock fragments; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
BC2--24 to 33 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) fine sandy loam; massive; friable; few roots; 10 percent rock fragments; weathered fragments of limestone; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the BC horizon is 3 to 17 inches.)
C--33 to 65 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) fine sandy loam; massive; friable; few roots; 10 percent rock fragments; weathered fragments of limestone; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Orange County, Vermont; Town of Topsham; about 0.6 mile southwest of Topsham Four Corners, approximately 200 feet south of road into field; latitude 44 degrees 5 minutes 55 seconds N., longitude 72 degrees 14 minutes 10 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 14 to 36 inches. Rock fragments are mostly pebbles and cobbles and range from 0 to 20 percent in the solum and from 0 to 35 percent in the substratum. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral in the solum and from moderately acid to neutral in the C horizon.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is fine sandy loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular. Consistence is friable or very friable.
A thin E horizon is present in some pedons.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR and value and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is fine sandy loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The BC horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 8. Texture is fine sandy loam, sandy loam or loamy fine sand in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is fine sandy loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have thin layers of loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand. Structure is massive or weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or very friable.
COMPETING SERIES: These include the
Finland (T) and
Vershire soils. Finland soils have less precipitation and are colder within the range. Vershire soils are moderately deep to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Colrain soils are on level to very steep glaciated uplands. They are on broad plains and on the tops and side slopes of mountains, hills, ridges, and knolls. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. The soils formed in loamy glacial till derived mainly from interbedded siliceous limestone and mica schist. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 50 inches, and the mean annual temperature ranges from 40 to 44 degrees F. The frost free season ranges from 90 to 135 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Buckland,
Cabot,
Peacham,
Stowe,
Tunbridge, and
Westminster soils. The moderately well drained Buckland soils, poorly drained Cabot soils and very poorly drained Peacham soils are in a drainage sequence with the Colrain soils. Stowe soils are on similar landscapes and have densic materials in the substratum. Tunbridge and
Woodstock soils are on bedrock controlled landforms. Tunbridge soils are moderately deep to bedrock and Westminster soils are shallow to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested. Sugar maple, beech, yellow birch, white birch, ash, white and red spruce, balsam fir and hemlock are major species. Areas that have been cleared of stones and are being farmed are used mainly for hayland and pasture. A small acreage of corn is grown for silage.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Vermont and Massachusetts (MLRA 143 and 144B). The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Massachusetts, 1929.
REMARKS: The classification was previosuly updated to the 7th edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy. The previous classification was coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid Entic Haplorthods.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Umbric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 6 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 6 to 13 inches (Bw horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL data is available for the following pedons: S59VT-9-5 (SSIR 20); S59VT-9-6 (SSIR 20)
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.