LOCATION PENQUIS ME
Established Series
Rev. LRF-KJL-WDH-NRB
12/2015
PENQUIS SERIES
The Penquis series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils on till plains and ridges. These soils formed in glacial till derived principally from phyllite, calcareous metasiltstone and metasandstone, and metalimestone. Permeability is moderate. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 5 degrees C, and mean annual precipitation is about 1118 mm at the type location.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Typic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Penquis silt loam, on an easterly slope of 8 percent in a wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--0 to 3 cm; moderately decomposed needles; many very fine and fine roots; strongly acid. (0 to 3 cm thick)
Ap--3 to 20 cm; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; moderate very fine and fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine common fine and medium and few coarse roots; 5 percent channers; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 30 cm thick)
Bs1--20 to 30 cm; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) silt loam; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and fine and few medium and coarse roots; 10 percent channers; strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary.
Bs2--30 to 38 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and medium and few fine roots; 10 percent channers; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizon is 10 to 30 cm.)
BC--38 to 66 cm; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) channery silt loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine and medium and common very fine roots; 20 percent channers; some rock fragments can be crushed to very fine sand and silt; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 33 cm thick)
C--66 to 84 cm; olive (5Y 5/4) channery silt loam; weak thin platy structure; friable; few very fine and medium roots; 20 percent channers, 5 percent cobbles; some rock fragments can be crushed to very fine sand and silt; few weathered rock fragments of olive (5Y 5/3); strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 43 cm thick)
R--84 cm; hard bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Piscataquis County, Maine; town of Sangerville; 0.3 mile east of Flanders Road and 200 feet south of power line; USGS Sangerville topographic quadrangle; lat. 45 degrees 09 minutes 44 seconds N, and long. 69 degrees 16 minutes 37 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock ranges from 51 to 102 cm and solum thickness ranges from 46 to 76 cm. It is silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. The weighted average of clay is 4 to 10 percent and that of silt is greater than 55 percent in the particle-size control section. Rock fragments are predominantly channers and cobbles with a few stones and range from 5 to 35 percent throughout the soil. Fragments that can easily be crushed to silt and very fine sand are common. Stones cover up to 3 percent of the surface. Reaction in unlimed areas is very strongly acid to moderately acid in the solum and strongly acid or moderately acid in the substratum.
The O horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, with value of chroma of 3 or 4. It dominantly has granular structure and is very friable or friable.
The E horizon, where present, has a hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. It has weak very fine granular or weak very thin or thin platy structure. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The Bhs horizon, where present, has a hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, with a value of 2.5 or 3 and chroma of 2 or 3.
The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. It has granular or subangular blocky structure and is very friable or friable.
The BC horizon has hue of 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. It has granular or subangular blocky structure and is very friable or friable.
The C horizon has hue of 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It has platy or massive structure. It is friable or firm.
The R layer is phyllite, calcareous metasiltstone and metasandstone, or metalimestone.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Bangor,
Berkshire,
Dekapen,
Elliottsville,
Groveton,
Houghtonville,
Potsdam,
Revel,
Tunbridge and
Welcome series in the same family. The Bangor, Berkshire, Groveton, Houghtonville, and Potsdam soils are more than 102 cm deep to bedrock. Revel and Welcome soils have a xeric moisture regime. In addition, Dekapen soils are moderately deep over basal till, Revel soils are moderately deep to a paralithic contact and Welcome soils are deep to a paralithic contact. Elliottsville soils have less crushable rock fragments throughout. Tunbridge soils have less silt and less crushable rock fragments throughout.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Penquis soils are on glacial till knolls and ridges. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. The soils formed in a moderately deep mantle of glacial till derived principally from phyllite, calcareous metasiltstone and metasandstone, and metalimestone. The climate is humid and cool temperate. Mean annual temperature ranges from 4 to 7 degrees C and mean annual precipitation ranges from 991 to 1168 mm. The frost-free season ranges from 100 to 140 days. Elevations range from 91 to 671 meters above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Abram,
Bangor,
Dixmont,
Howland,
Monarda,
Plaisted,
Thorndike, and
Winnecook soils. Abram and Thorndike soils are shallower to bedrock and are on higher knolls within the landscape. Bangor and Plaisted soils are in deeper pockets in the bedrock. Dixmont and Howland soils are more than 40 inches to bedrock and are located in positions down slope that receive runoff. Monarda soils are more than 40 inches to bedrock, poorly drained and located in concave positions below the bedrock controlled knolls. Winnecook soils are on similar positions but have more rock fragments.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high throughout the soil.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used for potatoes, oats, corn silage, hay or pasture. Other areas have reverted to forest or were left in forest. Major tree species include red maple, red spruce, white spruce, balsam fir, paper birch, yellow birch, and some eastern white pine, sugar maple and northern white cedar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Maine. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Piscataquis County, Maine, Southern Part, 1994.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 20 cm (Oe and Ap horizons).
2. Spodic horizon - the zone from 20 to 30 cm (Bs1 horizon).
3. Lithic contact - bedrock at 84 cm.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.