LOCATION MARLOW NH+MA ME NY VT
Established Series
Rev. SALP-SHG-RFL
05/2015
MARLOW SERIES
The Marlow series consists of well drained soils that formed in loamy lodgment till on hills and mountains in glaciated uplands. They are moderately deep to a dense substratum and very deep to bedrock. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum, and moderately high or moderately low in the dense substratum. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1180 mm, and mean annual temperature is about 6 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Oxyaquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Marlow fine sandy loam, on an east facing 12 percent slope, in a very stony forested area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 5 cm; slightly decomposed plant material. (O horizon thickness is 0 to 15 cm.)
A--5 to 13 cm; very dark gray (N3/0) fine sandy loam; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 5 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 10 cm thick)
E--13 to 20 cm; gray (N5/0) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; 5 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 10 cm thick)
Bs1--20 to 38 cm; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) fine sandy loam; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 5 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bs2--38 to 48 cm; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 8 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizon is 8 to 64 cm.)
BC--48 to 84 cm; olive (5Y 5/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; common fine roots; 15 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 36 cm thick)
Cd--84 to 165 cm; olive gray (5Y 5/2) fine sandy loam; moderate medium plates; very firm; 12 percent rock fragments; thin lenses of gray (5Y 5/1) segregated fine sand on faces of peds; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Grafton County, New Hampshire; Town of Littleton; located about 2.9 km northeast of NH-116 on Mann Hill Road, and 270 meters southeast of the road; USGS Bethlehem, NH topographic quadrangle; latitude 44 degrees, 19 minutes, 23 seconds N. and longitude 71 degrees, 44 minutes, 36 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the mineral solum and depth to densic materials from the mineral surface range from 50 to 100 cm. Depth to bedrock is greater than 165 cm. Rock fragments are dominantly gravel with some cobbles and stones, and range from 5 to 35 percent throughout the solum and up to 40 percent in the substratum. The silt content in the solum and underlying till averages less than 50 percent, but ranges to 50 percent or more in the upper 25 cm of the solum. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid throughout.
The O horizons, where present, consist of slightly, moderately, and/or highly decomposed organic material.
The A horizon, where present, is neutral or has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 0 to 4. Texture is dominantly fine sandy loam or loam, but includes very fine sandy loam and silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have an Ap horizon that has colors and textures similar to the A horizon.
The E horizon, where present, is neutral or has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 0 to 2. Texture is dominantly fine sandy loam or loam, but includes very fine sandy loam or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Some pedons have a Bhs horizon up to 10 cm thick that has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 to 3.
The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 8.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6.
Texture of the B and BC horizons is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Some pedons have a friable C horizon up to 20 cm thick that has color and texture similar to the underlying Cd layer.
The Cd layer has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction. It is massive or has plates of geogenic origin. Consistence is firm or very firm. Loose or friable segregated sand lenses with a horizontal orientation compose up to 20 percent of the densic materials. The lenses are typically coarse, medium, or fine sand ranging from 2 to 25 mm thick.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Becket,
Mundal,
Mundalite and
Plaisted series. Becket soils have greater than 20 percent sandy lenses or strata in the Cd horizon. Mundal soils are moderately well drained. Mundalite soils have a spodic horizon greater than 46 cm thick. Plaisted soils average greater than 50 percent silt in the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Marlow soils are on nearly level to steep slopes in glaciated uplands. They are typically on convex backslopes, footslopes, and toeslopes. The soils formed in loamy lodgment till derived mainly from schist, gneiss, phyllite, and granite. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. The mean annual precipitation is 790 to 1640 mm, and the mean annual temperature is 2 to 7 degrees C. The frost-free period ranges from 90 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from about 2 to 800 meters above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Berkshire,
Colonel,
Monadnock,
Peacham,
Peru,
Pillsbury,
Sunapee, and
Tunbridge soils. Berkshire, Monadnock, Sunapee, and Tunbridge soils formed in supraglacial till and do not have a dense substratum. In addition, Tunbridge soils are moderately deep to bedrock. Marlow soils are in a drainage sequence with the moderately well drained Peru soils, somewhat poorly drained Colonel soils, somewhat poorly and poorly drained Pillsbury soils, and very poorly drained Peacham soils.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum and moderately high or moderately low in the densic materials.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are wooded. The common trees are sugar maple, eastern white pine, balsam fir, red spruce, white spruce, white ash, yellow birch, paper birch, and red pine. Areas cleared of stones are used mainly for hay and pasture and some cultivated crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. MLRAs 143 and 144B. The series is extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cheshire County, New Hampshire, 1939.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 20 cm (Oi, A, and E horizons).
Albic horizon - the zone from 13 to 20 cm (E horizon).
Spodic horizon - the zone from 20 to 38 cm (Bs1 horizon).
Densic materials - the zone from 84 to 165 cm (Cd layer).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data for Marlow and similar soils is available through the National Cooperative Soil Survey Soil Characterization Database: http://ncsslabdatamart.sc.egov.usda.gov/
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.