LOCATION MUNDAL VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Oxyaquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Mundal fine sandy loam, on a west-facing slope of 18 percent, in a wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 2 inches; fibric material. (0 to 8 inches.)
A--2 to 3 inch; black (5YR 2.5/1) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; 10 percent rock fragments, 5 percent less than 3 inches; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
E--3 to 5 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many roots; 10 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
Bhs1--5 to 10 inches; very dusky red (2.5YR 2.5/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; many roots; 14 percent rock fragments; moderately smeary; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary.
Bhs2--10 to 18 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common roots; 14 percent rock fragments; moderately smeary; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary.
Bs--18 to 27 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) interfingering; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm, brittle; few roots; 14 percent rock fragments; weakly smeary; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (combined thickness of the spodic horizon is 18 to 35 inches).
Cd1--27 to 59 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) gravelly fine sandy loam; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) interfingers on faces of peds; moderate thick platy structure; firm, brittle, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few roots on prism faces; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) and reddish brown (5YR 4/3) masses of iron accumulation on prism faces; 20 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 40 inches thick)
Cd2--59 to 92 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; massive; firm; 20 percent rock fragments; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Windham County, Vermont; town of Wilmington, 1,000 feet east of Route 100, 420 feet south of Higley Road, and 100 feet north of sugar house; latitude 42 degrees, 58 minutes, 30 seconds north and longitude 72 degrees, 50 minutes, 15 seconds west.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum and depth to densic contact range from 20 to 30 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from extremely acid through moderately acid in the solum and strongly acid through slightly acid in the Cd horizon. Rock fragments are gravel, cobbles, and stones and range from 0 to 25 percent in the solum and 5 to 50 percent in the Cd horizon. Typically, the spodic horizon is thicker than 18 inches. If the Bh horizon is more than 4 inches thick the total thickness of the spodic horizon may be less than 18 inches.
The A horizon is neutral or has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is loam or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The E horizon is neutral or has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 0 to 3. It is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bhs horizon is neutral or has hue of 10R to 7.5YR, with value and chroma of 3 or less. It is strongly or moderately smeary.
Some pedons have a Bh horizon with hue of 10R to 10YR. It typically has value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 0 to 2, but higher values and chromas are allowed.
The Bs horizon has hue of 10R to 10YR, with value and chroma of 3 or more.
The B horizons are loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. The Bhs and Bs horizons are moderately or weakly smeary.
Some pedons have a transitional BC horizon. Where present, this horizon is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loamy fine sand in the fine-earth fraction.
The Cd horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have thin lenses of loamy sand. It is massive or has weak to strong, coarse or very coarse prismatic structure separating to weak or moderate, thick or very thick platy. Consistence is firm or very firm.
COMPETING SERIES: The Beckett, Marlow, Mundalite and Plaisted soils are in the same family. In these soils the duration of saturation in the subsoil is less than Mundal soils. The Beckett, Marlow and Plaisted soils have spodic horizons less than 18 inches thick. The Beckett soils have in 20 to 80 percent of the substratum textures of loamy fine sand or coarser. The Plaisted soils have more than 10 percent clay in the particle size control section.
The Crary, Chesuncook, Howland, Peru and Skerry soils are in related families. These soils have a spodic horizon less than 18 inches thick or a Bh horizon less than 4 inches thick. Chesuncook soils have more than 10 percent clay in the particle size control section. Howland soils have more than 50 percent silt in the mineral solum.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Mundal soils are on gently sloping to very steep glaciated uplands. Slopes range from 3 to 60 percent. The soils formed in compact, loamy glacial till of Wisconsin age that is derived mainly from schist, gneiss, granite, or anorthosite. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 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 to 2,500 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Houghtonville, Worden, and Wilmington soils. The Houghtonville soils occupy similar positions on the landscape but do not have a dense substratum. The Worden soils are somewhat poorly drained and are on foot slopes, toe slopes, or in depressions. The Wilmington soils are poorly drained and are in depressions and drainageways.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. A perched water table is above the Cd horizon from autumn to spring. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderately slow or slow in the Cd horizon. Estimated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high in the solum and moderately low in the densic materials.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested. The common trees are white ash, American beech, paper birch, yellow birch, red maple, sugar maple, balsam fir, white pine, red spruce, and white spruce. A few areas have been cleared and are used for hay or pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Vermont. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Windham County, Vermont, 1984.
REMARKS: 1. The classification is changed from coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid Aquic Haplorthods to coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Oxyaquic Haplorthods with this revision to comply with Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 7th, 8th and 9th editions. The competing series section was re-written accordingly.
2. It is recognized the Cd from 27 to 59 inches has contradictory characteristics. It is described as having platy structure yet has roots and iron accumulation on faces of prisms. This was not resolved at this revision in light of the historical record of the development of the series as follows:
In 1979 the layer was described as having: weak coarse prismatic separating to moderate thick platy structure; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) interfingers on ped faces; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) and reddish brown (5YR 4/3) prism faces; common patchy clay films on ped faces; and few roots on prism faces. In 1983 the coarse prismatic structure was revised to very coarse. In 1984 prismatic structure was removed but evidenced by color of, and roots along prism faces. Previous documentation of clay films was removed. In 1993 the soil was re-classified from Typic Haplorthod to Aquic Haplorthod and the colors originally described as those of the prism faces were referred to as masses of iron accumulation on prism faces. The 1993 revised description does not include abundance, size and contrast of these masses.
In 1979 the layer from 57 to 90 inches was described as having weak, medium and coarse angular blocky structure, friable consistence and few thin patchy clay films on ped faces and bridging sand grains. In 1984 its designation was changed from C to Cr2; structure deleted and replaced with massive; consistence changed from friable to firm; and documentation of clay films deleted. In 1986, the Cr1 and Cr2 were revised to Cd1 and Cd2 and the range in characteristics originally developed for the C horizon was deleted.
3. The type location description varies from that in the published soil survey of Windham County. Neither description places the site in the map unit noted in the taxonomic descriptions. For this reason, the addition of grid coordinates was not attempted with this revision.
4. The diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 3 inches (A and E horizons). b. Spodic Horizon - contained in the zone from 3 to 25 inches (Bh and Bs horizons). It is assumed the spodic horizon contains spodic materials as defined in The Keys to Soil Taxonomy.
The following are remarks from the previous revision, 09/93.
1. As originally proposed, the Mundal series was classified as thixotropic Cryic Fragiorthods. Further study indicated the temperature regime of these soils is frigid.
2. The Mundal series was reclassified in 1993 from coarse-loamy mixed frigid Typic Haplorthods to coarse-loamy mixed frigid Aquic Haplorthods to conform to The Keys To Soil Taxonomy, 1992 edition.
3. Albic horizons are often hard to locate because tree throws and other disturbances have destroyed the albic horizons in many areas of Mundal soils. When found, albic horizons are often thin, discontinuous, and located within 4 inches of the soil surface.
ADDITIONAL DATA: This series is based on field profile descriptions and laboratory data from New York and Vermont. NSSL data is available for the typical pedon S79VT25-2(1-5) and for pedon S79VT-25-3(1-4).