LOCATION GROVETON NH+VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Typic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Groveton fine sandy loam, on a 4 percent west facing slope in a forested area. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--0 to 1 inch; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moderately decomposed plant material; common very fine and fine roots; abrupt smooth boundary.
Oa--1 to 2 inches; black (10YR 2/1) highly decomposed plant material; common very fine and fine roots; abrupt smooth boundary. (combined thickness of the O horizon is 0 to 4 inches)
E--2 to 4 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) fine sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine, fine, and medium roots; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
Bhs--4 to 5 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) fine sandy loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
Bs--5 to 14 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) fine sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 18 inches thick)
BC--14 to 29 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) fine sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 15 inches thick)
C1--29 to 36 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) loamy sand; massive; very friable; 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
C2--36 to 42 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) coarse sand; massive; loose; 14 percent gravel; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
C3--42 to 65 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) fine sand; massive; very friable; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Coos County, New Hampshire; Town of Northumberland, northwest of the Village of Groveton; 2500 feet west of the southern intersection of Brown Road and US Route 3, and 250 feet north of Brown Road, adjacent to borrow pit; USGS Groveton topographic quadrangle; latitude 44 degrees 36 minutes 18 seconds north, and longitude 71 degrees 32 minutes 08 seconds west, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 36 inches. Coarse fragments range from 0 to 5 percent by volume in the surface and upper part of the subsoil and from 0 to 14 percent in the lower part of the subsoil and in the substratum. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to very strongly acid in the solum, and from slightly acid to strongly acid in the substratum.
The O horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 or 2.
Some pedons have an A or Ap horizon that is up to 4 inches thick. The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. The A or Ap horizon is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam.
The E horizon, where present, is neutral or has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam.
The Bhs horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam. Structure is fine or medium granular or subangular blocky and consistence is friable.
The Bs horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam. Structure is fine or medium granular or subangular blocky and consistence is friable or very friable.
The BC horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loamy fine sand. Structure is weak granular or subangular blocky and consistence is friable or very friable.
The upper part of the C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loamy sand. The lower part of the C horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Chroma of 2 is related to the color of the parent material and is not indicative of wetness. Texture ranges from fine sandy loam to coarse sand. It is massive or single grain, and the consistence is very friable or loose.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Berkshire, Houghtonville, Rawsonville and Tunbridge series. Berkshire soils have more rock fragments in the control section and formed in loamy till. Houghtonville soils have Bhs and/or Bh horizons that are more than 4 inches thick. Rawsonville and Tunbridge soils are moderately deep.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Groveton soils are on terraces adjacent to flood plains and on glaciolacustrine landforms dominated by micaceous and siliceous materials with variable amounts of phyllites. Slope is dominantly 0 to 15 percent, but ranges to 60 percent on escarpments. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 50 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 42 to 46 degrees F., and the mean growing season ranges from 90 to 110 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Adams, Colton, Croghan, Madawaska, Naumburg, Nicholville and Salmon soils. Adams soils are somewhat excessively drained and are sandy. Colton soils are sandy-skeletal. Croghan, Madawaska, and Nicholville soils are moderately well drained and are in lower positions on the landscape. Croghan soils are sandy, Madawaska soils are coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy skeletal and Nicholville soils are coarse-silty. Naumburg soils are somewhat poorly and poorly drained, are sandy, and are in lower positions on the landscape. Salmon soils are coarse-silty.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderate or moderately rapid in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Dominantly either forested or cropland. Where these soils are used for cropland, silage corn, hay, and pasture are the main crops. Forest vegetation includes balsam fir, red spruce, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, northern red oak, and paper birch.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont; MLRA 143 and 144B. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Grafton County, New Hampshire, 1935.
REMARKS: 1. The type location is moved from Grafton County NH to Coos County NH to better reflect the classification of the series as spodosols. 2. Classification is updated to Coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Typic Haplorthods with this revision. The former classification was Coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid Typic Haplorthods. 3. The diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 4 inches (O and E horizons).
b. Spodic horizon - the zone from 4 to 5 inches (Bhs horizon).