LOCATION PENNICHUCK NHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Dystric Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Pennichuck channery fine sandy loam on a 7 percent slope in a hayfield (colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap---0 to 9 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) channery fine sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine roots; 20 percent channers and 5 percent gravel; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--9 to 16 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; few medium and fine roots; 20 percent channers and 10 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--16 to 21 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very channery fine sandy loam; massive; friable; few medium and fine roots; 30 percent channers and 10 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
Bw3--21 to 24 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery fine sandy loam; massive; friable; few medium and fine roots; 30 percent channers and 5 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 9 to 30 inches)
C--24 to 36 inches; a mass of phyllite fragments with thin yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam coatings; massive; friable; few medium and fine roots; 80 percent channers and flagstones; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
R--36 inches; gray, unweathered phyllite bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, in the town of Hollis, 1,300 feet west of the intersection of Main Street and Love Lane and 175 feet north of Love Lane.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 15 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches.
Rock fragment content in the solum is 10 to 50 percent channers and 0 to 15 percent gravel. Rock fragment content in the C horizon is 30 to 75 channers and 5 to 15 percent flagstones. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to neutral throughout the soil.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. In forested areas, the A horizon may have hue of 7.5YR or 5YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 3. Texture is dominantly fine sandy loam or very fine sandy loam, but includes loam or sandy loam in the fine earth fraction.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is fine sandy loam, loam, or sandy loam in the fine earth fraction.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine earth fraction, but some pedons have loamy coarse sand immediately above the bedrock.
COMPETING SERIES: The Cates series is the only other series in the same family. Cates soils are from outside of Region R. They formed in residuum from siltstone.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pennichuck soils are on glaciated, rolling uplands. Slope ranges from 3 to 25 percent. They formed in loamy till. Lithology of the till is generally similar to that of the local phyllite bedrock. The climate is humid temperate. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 47 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 47 degrees to 54 degrees F. The growing season is 130 to 195 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Canton, Hinckley, Hollis, Hoosic, and Bernardston soils. Canton soils are on similar landforms but have contrasting textures and are very deep. Hinckley and Hoosic soils are on nearby glaciofluvial landforms, are underlain by stratified sand and gravel and are very deep. Hollis soils are shallow and are somewhat excessively drained. Bernardston soils are on similar landforms, are underlain by dense till and are very deep to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Surface runoff is moderate to high. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Gently sloping areas are used for row crops, truck, farming, grassland, and orchards. Sloping areas are used as orchards, grassland, and woodland. Forested areas are mostly eastern white pine, northern red oak, white oak, and red maple, and sugar maple.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: New Hampshire; MLRA 144A. The series is not extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Eastern Part. 1980
REMARKS: 1. The classification is updated with this revision to Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Dystric Eutrudepts. 2. diagnostic horizon and features in this pedon are: a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 9 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 9 to 24 inches (Bw1, Bw2, and Bw3 horizons).
c. Base saturation 60 percent or more in some subhorizons between 10 and 30 inches.
d. Lithic contact at 36 inches (R).