LOCATION LIM CT +MA NHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid, mesic Fluvaquentic Endoaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Lim very fine sandy loam on a nearly level flood plain with herbaceous and shrubby vegetation at an elevation of about 615 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 6 inches; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) very fine sandy loam; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many very fine and common fine and medium roots; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 9 inches thick)
Bg1--6 to 11 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very fine sandy loam; massive; friable; common fine and medium roots; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and common fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation and common fine prominent light olive gray (5Y 6/2) iron depletions; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Bg2--11 to 15 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) very fine sandy loam; massive; friable; few fine, medium and coarse roots; few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) few fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation and few fine prominent light olive gray (5Y 6/2) iron depletions; common pieces of slightly decomposed herbaceous plant materials; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Bg3--15 to 22 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) silt loam; massive; friable; few fine roots; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; common pieces of slightly decomposed herbaceous plant materials; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.
Bg4--22 to 29 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) and olive gray (5Y 5/2) fine sandy loam; massive; friable; many coarse prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6 and 10YR 5/8) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; common pieces of slightly decomposed herbaceous plant materials; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizons is 12 to 30 inches.)
CBg--29 to 42 inches; gray (5Y 5/1 and 5Y 6/1) loamy fine sand; massive; very friable; few medium prominent brown (7.5YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; few pieces of slightly decomposed herbaceous plant materials; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Cg1--42 to 50 inches; olive gray (5Y 5/2) sand; loose; many fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; single grain; few pieces of slightly decomposed herbaceous and woody plant materials; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.
Cg2--50 to 57 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) loamy sand; single grain; loose; few thin black (10YR 2/1) silt loam lenses high in organic matter; few pieces of slightly decomposed herbaceous and woody plant materials; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.
Cg3--57 to 65 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) sand; single grain; loose; few slightly decomposed pieces of herbaceous and woody plant materials; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Litchfield County, Connecticut, town of Canaan; 975 feet west of Route 126 at a point 765 feet south of the intersection of Sand Road and Route 126 (1425 feet southwest of the junction of Connecticut Route 126 and Sand Road), on the east side of Hollenbeck River. USGS South Canaan topographic quadrangle, latitude 41 degrees 58 minutes 25 seconds N., longitude 73 degrees 21 minutes 42 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The depth to the coarse-textured layers ranges from 24 to 40 inches. Gravel ranges from 0 to 5 percent by volume in the surface layer, from 0 to 15 percent in the subsoil, and from 0 to 50 percent in the sandy substratum. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral in the A horizon and from strongly acid to neutral in the B and C horizons. Some subhorizon is moderately acid, slightly acid, or neutral within a depth of 40 inches.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam. It has weak or moderate granular structure and is friable or very friable.
The Bg horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Typically there are redoximorphic features. Texture in the upper part of the B horizon is commonly silt loam or very fine sandy loam, but includes loam with more than 65 percent silt plus very fine sand. Texture in the lower part of the B horizon is sandy loam or fine sandy loam, with more than 50 percent fine and coarser sand. Included in some pedons are thin Ab horizon strata.
The BC or CB horizons, where present, have hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture ranges from very fine sandy loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loamy fine sand, loamy sand, fine sand, sand, and coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. Included in some pedons are thin Ab horizon strata.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture ranges from loamy fine sand to coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. The underlying sandy layers are typically single grain and loose. Consistence is friable or very friable. The thickness and number of subhorizons is variable and corresponds to the thickness and variability of the alluvial deposits. Included in some pedons are thin Ab horizon strata.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Briscot, Hockinson, and Rippowam soils. Briscot and Hockinson soils are from outside LRR R.
Briscot and Hockinson soils have mean winter temperatures more than 32 degrees F. and mean summer precipitation less than 12 inches; the difference between mean summer soil temperature and mean winter soil temperature averages less than 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Rippowam soils have textures coarser than loam with less than 65 percent silt plus very fine sand in upper part of the subsoil.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lim soils are nearly level soils on flood plains along low gradient rivers and streams. They are in relatively low areas. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. The soils formed in recent alluvium derived from a variety of crystalline and sedimentary rocks. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 54 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 50 inches, and the growing season ranges from 120 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Rippowam soils and the Agawam, Bash, Enfield, Hadley, Haven, Hinckley, Limerick, Merrimac, Ninigret, Occum, Pootatuck, Raypol, Raynham, Saco, Suncook, Tisbury, Windsor, and Winooski soils on nearby landscapes. Lim soils occupy similar positions as poorly drained Limerick soils which are in a drainage sequence with well drained Hadley, moderately well drained Winooski, and very poorly drained Saco soils. Agawam, Enfield, Haven, Hinckley, Merrimac, Ninigret, Tisbury, and Windsor soils are better drained soils on nearby outwash terraces. Occum soils are well drained loamy flood plain associates. Suncook soils are excessively drained sandy soils on flood plains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Surface runoff is negligible or low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity ranges from moderately low to moderately high in the solum and high or very high in the substratum. These soils flood frequently typically in the spring of each year.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in brushy woodland. Common trees are white pine, red maple, willow, poplar, and alder. A few areas are cleared and used for hay or pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Floodplains of streams and rivers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire; MLRA's 144A and 145. The series is of small extent. This soil has been previously correlated in Maine. Soil temperature studies have resulted in not recognizing the mesic soil temperature regime in Maine.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rockingham County, New Hampshire, l986.
REMARKS: This revision reflects change in classification and general updating. Cation exchange activity class placement is based upon a review of limited lab data and similar and associated soils.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 6 inches (A horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 6 to 29 inches (Bg1, Bg2, Bg3 and Bg4 horizons).
3. Fluvaquentic subgroup has an irregular decrease in organic carbon with depth and organic carbon which is greater than 0.2 percent within 1.25 meters.
4. Nonacid reaction class the zone from 10 to 40 inches has neutral soil reaction (0.01 M CaCl2 (1:2))(Bg1, Bg2, Bg3 and Bg4 horizons).