LOCATION DUMMERSTON VT+CT MA
Established Series
Rev. JAA-RLM-DAF
11/2013
DUMMERSTON SERIES
The Dummerston series consists of very deep, well drained soils on glaciated uplands. They formed in loamy till. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Slope ranges from 3 through 70 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 42 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 43 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, frigid Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Dummerston silt loam, on a 30 percent southeast-facing slope in a wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi -- 0 to 2 inches; slightly decomposed plant material. (0 to 5 inches thick)
A -- 2 to 5 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; 10 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick.)
Bwl -- 5 to 11 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) channery silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; 20 percent rock fragments, mostly channers; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 12 inches thick.)
Bw2 -- 11 to 17 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) channery silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; 25 percent rock fragments, mostly channers; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw3 -- 17 to 32 inches; olive (5Y 4/4) channery silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common roots; 25 percent rock fragments, mostly channers; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw2 and Bw3 horizons is 9 to 30 inches.)
C1 -- 32 to 37 inches; dark olive gray (5Y 3/2) channery loam; massive; friable; 25 percent rock fragments, mostly channers; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
C2 -- 37 to 65 inches; dark olive gray (5Y 3/2) channery loam; massive; firm; 30 percent rock fragments, mostly channers; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Windham County, Vermont; Town of Vernon, 1700 feet north of the Vermont-Massachusetts state line and 6350 east of the Guilford town line. Latitude 42 degrees, 45 minutes, 18 seconds N. and Longitude 72 degrees, 32 minutes, 37 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid. Rock fragments are mostly channers and range from 5 through 30 percent in the A horizon, 5 through 40 percent in the Bw horizon, and 10 through 50 in the C horizon, but average less than 35 percent in the particle-size control section.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 through 3. Dry value is 6 or more in horizons that are more than 7 inches thick. It is loam, silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Some pedons have a thin E horizon.
Some pedons have a thin Bs horizon or a thin BC horizon.
The upper part of the Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 6. The lower part of the Bw horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 6. The Bw horizon is loam, silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 1 through 4. It is silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or very fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Bice,
Elka,
Flatiron,
Haights,
Lombard,
Millsite, and
Mongaup series. Bice soils have rock fragments that are primarily granite and gneiss. Elka soils have redder hue and have rock fragments that are primarily sandstone, siltstone, and conglomerate. Haights soils formed in alluvium or outwash material. Lombard soils are moderately deep to saprolite. Millsite soils are moderately deep to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Dummerston soils are on glaciated uplands. They are on hill tops, ridge tops, shoulders, and back slopes. Slope ranges from 3 to 70 percent. The soils formed in loamy till of Wisconsin age that is derived mainly from phyllite, slate, schist, shale, or interbedded phyllite and limestone. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to more than 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
Macomber,
Taconic,
Hubbardton,
Lanesboro,
Buckland,
Fullam, and
Brayton soils. The moderately deep Macomber, the shallow Taconic, and the very shallow Hubbardton soils are in slightly higher positions on the landscape than the Dummerston soils. The well drained Lanesboro soils are in the same landscape position as Dummerston soils and are moderately deep to a densic contact. The moderately well drained Buckland and Fullam soils are on back slopes and foot slopes. The poorly drained Brayton soils are on toeslopes and depressions.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Runoff is low to high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested. Common trees are eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, northern red oak, white oak, hickory, red maple, sugar maple, white ash, American beech, paper birch and black cherry. Cleared areas are used for hay, pasture, or corn silage.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts. MLRA 143 and 144B. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Windham County, Vermont, 1984.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 5 (Oi and A horizons).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 5 to 32 inches (Bw horizons).
c. Typic Dystrudepts feature - the base saturation (by ammonium acetate) is less than 60 percent in all subhorizons between the depths of 10 to 30 inches below the soil surface.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Full characterization data for sample no. S84VT023003, S82VT003033, and S68VT003003. Partial characterization data available for sample no. S88VT005802 and S88VT005814. Analyzed by the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.