LOCATION LUDLOW CT+MA
Established Series
Rev. MFF-SMF
12/2012
LUDLOW SERIES
The Ludlow series consists of moderately well drained soils formed in loamy lodgment till. They are very deep to bedrock and moderately deep to a densic contact. They are nearly level to strongly sloping soils on till plains, hills, and drumlins. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum and low to moderately high in the substratum. Mean annual temperature is about 50 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is about 47 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Aquic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Ludlow silt loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes, in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 255 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) silt loam, pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) dry; weak coarse granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 8 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--8 to 20 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silt loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; 10 percent gravel; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bw2--20 to 26 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) silt loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; 12 percent gravel; common medium distinct pinkish gray (5YR 6/2) iron depletions and common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron concentration; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 12 to 37 inches.)
Cd--26 to 65 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) gravelly loam; weak thick platy structure; very firm, brittle; thin patchy silt films and black (10YR 2/1) manganese coatings on some plates; 20 percent gravel and cobbles; few fine distinct reddish gray (5YR 5/2) iron depletions; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Middlesex County, Connecticut; town of Middletown, 400 feet southwest of the intersection of Bush Hill Road and Laurel Grove Road. USGS Middletown topographic quadrangle, latitude 41 degrees 30 minutes 56 seconds N., longitude 72 degrees 40 minutes 41 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 20 to 40 inches and typically corresponds to the depth to the dense substratum. Depth to bedrock is commonly more than 6 feet. Rock fragments range from 5 to 25 percent by volume in the solum and from 5 to 35 percent in the substratum. Except where the surface is stony, the fragments are mostly subrounded gravel and typically makeup 60 percent or more of the total rock fragments. Unless limed, reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid.
The Ap horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. Dry value is 6 or more. Undisturbed pedons have a thin A horizon with value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 to 3. The Ap or A horizon is loam, silt loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak or moderate granular structure. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The Bw horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. It has iron depletions within a depth of 12 to 24 inches. The Bw horizon is loam, silt loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak subangular blocky structure or it is massive. Consistence is friable or very
friable.
Some pedons have a thin E horizon below the B horizon. It has hue of 5YR to 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Typically, it is coarser-textured than the overlying B horizon.
The Cd horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 6. It commonly has redoximorphic features. Texture is loam, silt loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. The horizon has weak or moderate, medium to very thick plates, or it is massive. Consistence is firm or very firm.
COMPETING SERIES:
Watchaug is the only soil in the same family. Watchaug soils do not have a dense substratum.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ludlow soils are nearly level to strongly sloping and are on till plains, hills, and drumlins. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent. The soils formed in acid till derived mostly from reddish sandstone, shale, and conglomerate with some basalt. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 52
degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 50 inches, and the growing season ranges from 130 to 185 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Berlin,
Branford,
Broadbrook,
Cheshire,
Ellington,
Hartford,
Holyoke,
Manchester,
Menlo,
Narragansett,
Penwood,
Rainbow,
Wapping, Watchuag,
Wethersfield,
Yalesville, and
Wilbraham soils on nearby landscapes.
The well drained
Wethersfield, poorly drained
Wilbraham, and the very poorly drained
Menlo soils are associated in a drainage sequence.
Berlin soils are on lacustrine terraces.
Branford,
Ellington,
Hartford,
Manchester, and
Penwood soils are on nearby outwash terraces and are underlain by stratified sand and gravel.
Broadbrook soils are well drained and are yellower.
Holyoke soils have bedrock within a 10 to 20 inch depth.
Cheshire and
Narragansett soils are well drained and do not have a dense substratum.
Rainbow soils have hue yellower than 7.5YR in the B horizon.
Wapping soils do not have a dense substratum.
Yalesville soils have bedrock at a depth of 20 to 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is negligible to high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum and low to moderately high in the substratum. Ludlow soils have a seasonal high water table.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used mostly for hay or pasture. Some areas are used for cultivated crops, vegetables, or orchards. Scattered areas are used for community development. Some areas are wooded. Common trees are red, white, and black oak, hickory, ash, red maple, sugar maple, red cedar, and white pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Glaciated uplands in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and in southeastern New York; MLRA's 144A and 145. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hampden County, Massachusetts, 1949.
REMARKS: Cation exchange activity class placement based upon a review of similar and associated soils. Ludlow soils were previously classified as Aquic Dystrochrepts and before that as Typic Fragiochrepts.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 8 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 8 to 26 inches (Bw horizon).
3. Aquic feature - iron depletions are within a 24 inch depth (Bw2 horizon).
4. Dense till substratum - the zone from 26 to 65 inches (Cd horizon).
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.