LOCATION HOUGHTONVILLE VT+NH NY
Established Series
Rev. SHG-CAW
11/2015
HOUGHTONVILLE SERIES
The Houghtonville series consists of very deep, well drained soils on glaciated uplands. They formed in loamy till. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid. Slope ranges from 3 to 70 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 50 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 43 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Typic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Houghtonville fine sandy loam, on a 26 percent east facing slope in a wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 2 inches; slightly decomposed plant material. (0 to 8 inches thick)
A--2 to 6 inches; black (10YR 2/1) fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium and common coarse roots; 10 percent rock fragments; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
E--6 to 8 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/2) fine sandy loam; weak very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine and medium and common coarse roots; 10 percent rock fragments; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bhs--8 to 11 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) fine sandy loam; weak very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and medium and few coarse roots; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately smeary; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 22 inches thick)
Bs1--11 to 25 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) cobbly fine sandy loam; weak very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many medium and few fine and coarse roots; 15 percent rock fragments; moderately smeary; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bs2--25 to 29 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) cobbly fine sandy loam; weak very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; 15 percent rock fragments; weakly smeary; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
C--29 to 65 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) cobbly fine sandy loam; weak medium platy structure parting to weak very fine subangular blocky; friable; few fine and medium roots; 20 percent rock fragments; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Windsor County, Vermont; Town of Ludlow; 2200 feet east of the Rutland County line and 800 feet south of Mountain Road on Okemo Mountain at an elevation of 2360 feet; Latitude 43 degrees 24 minutes 47 seconds N., longitude 72 degrees 44 minutes 08 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 18 to 42 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid throughout the soil. Rock fragments are mostly pebbles and cobbles and range from less than 5 percent to 50 percent in individual horizons, but the weighted average is less than 35 percent. Clay averages less than 18% in the particle-size control section.
The A horizon is neutral or has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The E horizon is neutral or has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Some pedons have a Bh horizon that is neutral or has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 0 to 2.
The Bhs horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, and value and chroma of 3 or less.
The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, and value or chroma of 4 or more.
The B horizon is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. It is moderately or weakly smeary.
Some pedons have a BC horizon that has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is silt loam, fine sandy loam, or loamy fine sand in the fine-earth fraction.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Berkshire,
Groveton,
Rawsonville, and
Tunbridge series. Berkshire soils have a spodic horizon less than 17 inches thick, a Bhs and/or Bh thickness of less than 4 inches, and are generally at lower elevations than Houghtonville soils. Groveton soils formed in glaciofluvial material. Rawsonville and Tunbridge soils are moderately deep to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Houghtonville soils are on gently sloping to very steep glaciated uplands. They are on mountain side slopes, mountain tops, mountain ridges, hill tops, and hill slopes. Slope ranges from 3 to 70 percent. The soils formed in loamy till of Wisconsin age that is derived mainly from schist, gneiss, granite, or anorthosite. Mean annual precipitation ranges from about 40 to 60 inches, and the mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 44 degrees F. The frost-free season ranges from about 60 to 120 days. Elevation is typically between about 1,500 and 2,500 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Hogback,
Mundal,
Rawsonville,
Wilmington, and
Worden soils. The shallow Hogback soils and moderately deep Rawsonville soils are in similar positions on the landscape as Houghtonville soils. Mundal soils are moderately well drained, have a dense substratum and are in similar positions on the landscape. Worden soils are somewhat poorly drained, have a dense substratum, and are in lower positions of sloping uplands or at the base of slopes. Wilmington soils are poorly drained, have a dense substratum, and are on nearly level to sloping concave or depressional upland areas.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested. The common trees are American beech, white ash, yellow birch, paper birch, sugar maple, red spruce, white spruce, and balsam fir. A few areas have been cleared and are used for hay or pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Vermont and New York; MLRAs 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: 1. The type location is moved from Windham County, VT to Windsor County, VT with this revision. 2. The spodic horizon, especially the Bhs, exhibits some "thixotropic like" properties, i.e., smeariness, high organic carbon content, high effective clay percentage, high K value, and fragile nature (easily damaged by use). 3. The diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 6 inches (O and A horizons).
b. Albic horizon - the zone from 6 to 8 inches (E horizon).
c. Spodic horizon - the zone from 8 to 25 inches (Bhs and Bs1 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL lab data is available for pedon S84VT-23-18.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.