LOCATION PEMI NHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, active, nonacid, frigid Typic Epiaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Pemi silt loam - hayfield. (Colors are for moist soils.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silt loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Bg1--6 to 11 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silt loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common fine roots; common medium distinct gray (5Y 6/1) iron depletions; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bg2--11 to 18 inches; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) silt loam; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; friable; few fine roots; few fine prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and common coarse faint gray (5Y 6/1) iron depletions; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bg3--18 to 25 inches; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) very fine sandy loam; moderate medium and coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium granular; friable; common medium prominent light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) masses of iron accumulation and common coarse faint gray (5Y 6/1) iron depletions; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizon is 11 to 36 inches.)
Cg--25 to 65 inches; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) silt; moderate medium platy structure; friable; many coarse prominent light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) masses of iron accumulation and common medium faint light gray (5Y 7/1) iron depletions; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Grafton County, New Hampshire; Town of Plymouth, 2.75 miles northwest of the confluence of the Baker River and Pemigewasset River, 0.55 miles north of the Baker River, 0.15 miles east of dirt road. Latitude 43 degrees 47 minutes 05 seconds N., longitude 71 degrees 44 minutes 08 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 18 to 40 inches. Rock fragments range from 0 to 5 percent. Reaction ranges from strongly acid through slightly acid in the solum and from strongly acid through neutral in the substratum.
Some pedons have an O horizon that is neutral or has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 0 to 2.
It is up to 3 inches thick.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 1 to 4. Dry color is 6 or more. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam.
Some pedons have an A horizon with hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is similar to the Ap horizon.
Some pedons have an E horizon that is neutral or has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam.
The Bg horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam.
The Cg horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silt, silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or loamy very fine sand. Thin or very thin strata of loamy fine sand, fine sand, silty clay loam, or silty clay may be pre[sent below 40 inches. Structure is massive or weak or moderate, thin to thick platy.
Some pedons have a C horizon below 30 inches with hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture and structure of the C horizon are similar to the Cg horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: The are no series in the same family. The Binghamville, Birdsall, Burnham, Medomak, Raynham, Roundabout, Saco, and Swanville series are similar soils in related families. Binghamville soils have a mesic soil temperature regimes. Birdsall soils have an umbric epipedon. Burnham soils are coarse-loamy and have more rock fragments throughout. Medomak and Saco soils have umbric epipedons and an irregular decrease in organic carbon content. Raynham, Roundabout, and Swanville soils have a horizon between a depth of 10 and 30 inches with chroma higher than 2 in 50 percent or more of the matrix and Swanville soils are fine-silty.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pemi soils are on nearly level to gently sloping terraces or lake plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. They formed in medium textured lacustrine sediments of Wisconsin age. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 45 inches, and mean annual air temperature ranges from 40 to 47 degrees F. The growing season ranges from 80 to 130 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Biddeford, Charles, Cornish, Fryeburg, Kinsman, Lovewell, Naumberg, Medomak, Nicholville, Ondawa, Podunk, Roundabout, Rumney, Salmon, Scantic, Searsport, and Swanville soils. Pemi soils are in a drainage sequence with the well drained Salmon, moderately well drained Nicholville, and somewhat poorly and poorly drained Roundabout and Swanville soils. Biddeford, Kinsman, Naumburg, Scantic, and Searsport soils are in similar positions on the landscape. Biddeford and Scantic soils formed in clayey material and Kinsman, Naumburg, and Searsport soils formed in sandy material. Charles, Cornish, Fryeburg, Lovewell, Medomak, Ondawa, Podunk, and Rumney soils are on adjacent floodplains and have an irregular decrease in organic matter.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Permeability is moderate in the solum, and moderately slow or slow in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used mainly for hay and pasture. In forested areas, the principle tree species are balsam fir, red spruce, red maple, and gray birch. White spruce, eastern white pine, hemlock, and tamarack are also present to a lesser extent.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: New Hampshire and possibly Vermont; MLRA 143 and 144B. The series is of limited extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Grafton County, New Hampshire, 1987.
REMARKS: 1. The Pemi series replaces some soils formerly mapped Binghamville that have a frigid soil temperature regime. 2. This series has been classified to the 8th edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy. The former classification was coarse-silty, mixed, nonacid, frigid Typic Haplaquepts.
3. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 6 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 6 to 25 inches (Bg horizon).