LOCATION HOLLIS CT+MA NH NJ NY
Established Series
Rev. MFF-SMF-SJM-DCP
05/2016
HOLLIS SERIES
The Hollis series consists of well drained and somewhat excessively drained soils formed in a thin mantle of till. They are shallow to bedrock. They are nearly level to very steep upland soils on bedrock-controlled hills and ridges. Slope ranges from 0 through 60 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Depth to hard bedrock ranges from 25 to 50 cm. Mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C, and mean annual precipitation is about 1205 mm.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Hollis gravelly fine sandy loam, 3 to 15 percent slopes, forested. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 3 cm; slightly decomposed plant material.
Oa--3 to 5 cm; black (10YR 2/1) highly decomposed plant material; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and very fine roots; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the O horizons is 0 to 10 cm.)
A--5 to 18 cm; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) gravelly fine sandy loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine, very fine, medium, and coarse roots; 10 percent gravel, 5 percent channers; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 15 cm thick)
Bw1--18 to 25 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots, common medium roots; 10 percent gravel, 10 percent channers; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--25 to 41 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) gravelly fine sandy loam; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine and very fine roots, common medium roots; 10 percent gravel, 5 percent channers; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 18 to 48 cm.)
2R--41 cm; schist bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Middlesex County, Connecticut, town of East Hampton, 1000 feet due west of Connecticut Route 196 and 3200 feet due north of Connecticut Route 151; USGS Moodus, CT topographic quadrangle, Latitude 41 degrees 31, minutes 28, seconds N., Longitude 72 degrees, 29 minutes, 48 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to bedrock range from 25 to 50 cm. Rock fragments commonly range from 5 through 35 percent by volume, but some pedons have less than 5 percent rock fragments. The fragments are mostly subrounded gravel, except where the surface is stony. The soil has 20 percent or more silt in the particle-size control section. Unless limed, reaction ranges from extremely acid through moderately acid in the organic horizons and very strongly acid through moderately acid in the mineral horizons.
The O horizon, where present, ranges from slightly decomposed to highly decomposed plant material.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction. Consistence is friable or very friable.
Some pedons have a BA horizon with colors similar to the A horizon and other properties similar to the Bw horizon.
The Bw horizon commonly has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, and includes 7.5YR when a high ratio of ammonium oxalate extractable iron to dithionite-citrate extractable iron (greater than 0.15) exists, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 through 8. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction. The Bw horizon has granular or subangular blocky structure. Consistence is friable or very friable.
Some pedons have a thin BC or C horizon with color like the Bw horizon, except it includes hue of 5Y. Texture, structure, and consistence are similar to the Bw horizon.
Some pedons have a thin 2Cr horizon that is typically weathered schist and moderately cemented.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the
Holyoke series. Holyoke soils formed in a thin mantle of till derived mainly from basalt and red sandstone, conglomerate, and shale, and typically overly basalt, red sandstone, conglomerate, or shale bedrock.
The
Cleveland,
Kearsarge, and
Brimfield series are in closely related families. Cleveland soils have less than 20 percent silt in the particle-size control section and lack a 2R horizon. Kearsarge soils lack a 2R horizon and have rock fragments of phyllite, slate, or schist. Brimfield soils formed in parent materials derived from sulfur bearing schist and have a ratio of ammonium oxalate extractable iron to dithionite-citrate extractable iron of less than 0.15. They have pedogenic iron contents of greater than 1 percent throughout the pedon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hollis soils are nearly level to very steep soils on bedrock controlled hills, modified by glacial processes. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. The soils formed in a thin mantle of till derived from local bedrock of schist, granite, and gneiss. Mean annual temperature ranges from 7 to 13 degrees C and mean annual precipitation ranges from 910 to 1295 mm, but the range includes as low as 660 mm in some places east of Adirondack Mountains in the Champlain Valley of New York. The growing season ranges from 115 through 185 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Brimfield,
Acton,
Broadbrook,
Brookfield,
Canton,
Charlton,
Chatfield,
Essex,
Gloucester,
Hibernia,
Leicester,
Montauk,
Narragansett,
Paxton,
Rainbow,
Ridgebury,
Rockaway,
Scituate,
Sutton,
Wapping,
Whitman, and
Woodbridge soils on nearby landscapes. All are very deep upland soils formed in till except for the Brimfield and Chatfield soils. Acton, Rainbow, Rockaway, Scituate, Sutton, Wapping, and Woodbridge soils are moderately well drained. The Broadbrook, Brookfield, Canton, Charlton, Essex, Montauk, Narragansett, and Paxton soils are well drained. Chatfield soils have bedrock within a depth of 50 to 100 cm. Gloucester soils are somewhat excessively drained. Hibernia, Leicester, and Ridgebury soils are somewhat poorly drained or poorly drained soils in drainageways or low lying areas.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained and somewhat excessively drained. Surface runoff is negligible to very high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly forested. Small areas with few rock outcrops are cleared of stones and used for cultivated crops, but most cleared areas are in hay or pasture. Scattered areas are used for community development. Common trees are northern red, white, black, and chestnut oak, hickory, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, and gray and black birch.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Glaciated uplands in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and eastern New York. MLRAs 101, 142, 144A, and 145. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Nashua Area, New Hampshire, 1909.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 18 cm (O and A horizons).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 18 to 41 cm (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons).
3. Lithic contact - hard bedrock at 41 cm (2R horizon).
4. Particle-size control section - the zone from 30 to 41 cm.
5. Loamy (coarse-loamy) particle-size class - the control section from 30 to 41 cm averages less than 35 percent clay in fine-earth fraction and the soil is in a Lithic subgroup.
6. Lithologic discontinuity - till with rock fragments from mixed sources overlying single kind of hard bedrock at 41 cm.
ADDITIONAL DATA: M.S. Thesis work by Shawn McVey, University of Connecticut, 2006. Full characterization data for sample no.1999CT005001, 2000CT007004, S2002CT005001, S2002CT005004, S2002CT005005, S2002CT005006, S1998NY061001, S2000NY119001. Partial characterization data for sample no. S99NY061003 and S99NY061003A-3D. Analyzed by the NSSL, Lincoln, NE.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.