LOCATION HITCHCOCK NH+VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Hitchcock silt loam, on a southeast-facing 30 percent slope in a forested site. (Colors are for moist soil.)
0i--0 to 2 inches; fibric material comprised of slightly decomposed leaves and twigs.
Ap--2 to 8 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
E--8 to 10 inches; gray (10YR 6/1) silt loam; massive; very friable; many fine and medium roots; very strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
Bw1--10 to 15 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine and common medium roots; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bw2--15 to 21 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine and few medium roots; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 8 to 25 inches.)
C1--21 to 33 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silt loam; massive; friable; few fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
C2--33 to 65 inches; olive gray (5Y 4/2) silt; massive; firm; few fine roots above 43 inches; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Grafton County, New Hampshire; Town of Orford, 1.75 miles northeast of the village of Orford, 300 feet east of NH-10; latitude 43 degrees 55 minutes 25 seconds N, and longitude 72 degrees 06 minutes 45 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 15 to 30 inches. Rock fragments are less than 5 percent throughout the soil. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid throughout, unless limed. Matrix chroma of 2 is inherited from the parent material and is not indicative of aquic conditions.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Dry value is 6 or more. Udisturbed pedons have an A horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam.
The E horizon is neutral or has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 6 or 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 8. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium, granular or subangular blocky.
Some pedons have a BC horizon with hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is similar to the Bw horizon. Structure is similar to the Bw horizon or it is massive.
The C horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. The C horizon is massive or has weak or moderate, medium to very thick plates. Texture of the C horizon is very fine sandy loam, silt loam, or silt. Thin or very thin strata of loamy very fine sand, silty clay loam, or silty clay can be present in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Poocham and
Unadilla series. Poocham soils have thinner sola and are on slopes of 25 percent or greater. Unadilla soils have moderately rapid or rapid permeability below a depth of 40 inches.
Bridgehampton soils may be in the same family when classified to the 8th edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy.
Bridgehampton soils formed in outwash material and have thicker sola.
The Belgrade, Charlton, Chatfield, Dutchess, Enfield, Hartland, Melrose, and Scio series are in related families. Belgrade and Scio soils have redox depletions of chroma 2 or less within a depth of 24 inches. Charlton, Chatfield and Dutchess soils are coarse-loamy. Enfield soils are coarse-silty over sandy or sandy skeletal. Hartland soils have base saturation of 60 percent or more. Melrose soils are underlain by clay below a depth of 18 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hitchcock soils are on terraces or lake plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. The soils formed in wind or water deposited materials. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 45 inches, and mean annual air temperature ranges from 45 degrees to 50 degrees F. The growing season ranges from 110 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the moderately well drained Dartmouth, the somewhat poorly and poorly drained Raynham, the poorly drained Binghamville, and the poorly and very poorly drained Birdsall soils on associated landscapes. The Agawam, Enfield, Haven, Ninigret, Subdury, and Tisbury soils are in similar terrace positions, but formed in loamy over sandy materials. The Deerfield, Merrimac, and Windsor soils are in similar terrace positions, but formed in sandy or gravelly material. The Hadley, Limerick, Occum, Ondawa, Podunk, Pootatuck, Rippowam, Rumney, and Winooski soils are on adjacent flood plains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderately slow or slow in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of less than 15 percent slopes have been cleared of trees and are used for growing hay, pasture, and corn. Some areas are used for potatoes, sweet corn, vegetables and other cash crops. Woodlands are white, red, and black oaks, sugar maple, ash, black, yellow, and white birches, beech, white pine, and hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont; MLRA 144A and 145. The series is of limited extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Grafton County, New Hampshire, 1987. The name is from the old glacial lake which contributed to the formation of this soil.
REMARKS: 1. Classification is updated to the 8th edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy with this revision. 2. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 10 inches (Oi, A and E horizons). b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 10 to 21 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons).