LOCATION RIPPOWAM CT +MA NH NY RI VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid, mesic Fluvaquentic Endoaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Rippowam fine sandy loam in woodland at an elevation of about 435 feet. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 5 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 9 inches thick)
Bg1--5 to 12 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bg2--12 to 19 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine and medium roots; many medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizons is 6 to 27 inches.)
BCg1--19 to 24 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) sandy loam; massive; friable; few fine and medium roots; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
BCg2--24 to 27 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) sandy loam; massive; friable; few fine and medium roots; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the BCg horizons is 0 to 8 inches.)
Cg1--27 to 31 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) loamy sand; single grain; loose; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
Cg2--31 to 65 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 35 percent gravel; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Fairfield County, Connecticut; town of Redding, 100 feet south of Cross Highway and 100 feet east of Little River. USGS Botsford Quadrangle; latitude 41 degrees 18 minutes 32 seconds N. and longitude 73 degrees 21 minutes 57 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The difference between mean summer soil temperature and mean winter soil temperature is at least 25 degrees F. or more. Depth to the coarse-textured substratum layers commonly is from 20 to 40 inches but can range to a depth of 45 inches. Gravel ranges from 0 to 15 percent by volume in the solum and from 0 to 40 percent in the sandy substratum. Some pedons have up to 10 percent cobbles in the coarse-textured substratum. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral with some subhorizon being moderately acid, slightly acid, or neutral within a depth of 40 inches.
Some pedons have an O horizon that is highly decomposed, moderately decomposed, or slightly decomposed plant material. It has hue of 5YR to 10YR and value and chroma of 3 or less.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam. It typically has weak or moderate granular structure but some pedons have subangular blocky structure. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The Bg horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2 and typically has redoximorphic features. Texture of the Bg horizon is dominantly fine sandy loam or sandy loam. The Bg horizon is massive or has weak granular or subangular blocky structure. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The BCg horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 4 and typically has redoximorphic features. Texture of the BCg horizon is dominantly fine sandy loam or sandy loam. The BCg horizon is massive or has weak granular or subangular blocky structure. Consistence is friable or very friable.
Included in some pedons are thin Ab horizons with characteristics similar to the A horizon.
The C horizon or layer has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4. Texture ranges from loamy fine sand to coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. The C horizon is typically single grain and loose. Some pedons have thin loamy strata and/or extremely gravelly strata in the lower part of the C horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no soils currently in the same family. Briscot, Holderton, and Lim soils are in related families. Briscot soils are from outside LRR R.
Briscot soils are dominantly fine sandy loam or finer to a 60-inch depth and the difference between mean summer soil temperature and mean winter soil temperature is less than 25 degrees F. Holderton soils have an active cation exchange activity class and have textures finer than loamy fine sand in the substratum. Lim soils have a texture to a depth of at least 18 inches that is commonly silt loam or very fine sandy loam but includes loam with more than 65 percent silt plus very fine sand.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Rippowam soils are nearly level soils on flood plains along rivers and streams. They are in low areas. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. The soils formed in recent alluvium derived mostly from granite, gneiss, and schist. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 54 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 50 inches, and the growing season ranges from 115 to 190 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Agawam, Enfield, Hadley, Haven, Hinckley, Lim, Limerick, Merrimac, Ninigret, Occum, Pootatuck, Saco, Suncook, Tisbury, Windsor, and Winooski soils on nearby landscapes. The well drained Occum and the moderately well drained Pootatuck soils are associated in a drainage sequence. Agawam, Haven, Enfield, Hinckley, Merrimac, Ninigret, Tisbury, and Windsor soils are better drained soils on outwash terraces. Hadley soils are well drained silty floodplain associates. Suncook soils are excessively drained sandy soils on floodplains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Surface runoff is negligible to low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity ranges from moderately high or high in the loamy upper part and high or very high in the underlying sandy materials. These soils typically flood in the spring of each year. Rippowam soils have a water table at or near the surface much of this year.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in brushy woodland. Common trees are red maple, willow, and alder. A few areas are cleared and used for pasture or hay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Floodplains in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, eastern New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont; MLRAs 142, 144A, 145. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fairfield County, Connecticut, 1979.
REMARKS: This revision reflects conformance to a change in soil taxonomy based on a revision to the definition of the cambic horizon made in 1999. Cation exchange activity class placement determined from a review of limited lab data and similar or associated soils.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 5 inches (A horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 5 to 27 inches (Bg1, Bg2, BCg1, and BCg2 horizons). Evidence of alteration is in the form of description of subangular blocky structure and inferred absence of rock structure to a depth of 27 inches.
3. Particle-size class - averages coarse-loamy in the control section from 10 to 40 inches.