LOCATION SISK ME NH NY VT

Established Series
Rev. LRF-THB-KJL
03/2011

SISK SERIES

The Sisk series consists of very deep, well drained soils on side slopes of mountain ridges. These soils formed in dense glacial till. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the organic surface layer and the mineral solum and low to moderately high in the substratum. Mean annual temperature is about 1 degree C and mean annual precipitation is about 127 centimeters at the type location.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic Oxyaquic Humicryods

TYPICAL PEDON: Sisk silt loam, on a moderately steep southwest slope, in a very stony forested area. (Colors are for moist soil.)

Oa -- 0 to 5 centimeters; very dusky red (2.5YR 2/2) sapric material; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine, common medium and coarse roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 18 centimeters thick.)

E -- 5 to 8 centimeters; weak red (2.5YR 5/2) silt loam; moderate very fine granular structure; very friable; moderate very fine, common fine and medium and few coarse roots; 10 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 15 centimeters thick.)

Bhs -- 8 to 13 centimeters; dusky red (2.5YR 3/2) silt loam; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine, common fine and medium and few coarse roots; weakly smeary; 10 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary.

Bs1 -- 13 to 20 centimeters; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silt loam; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and fine and few coarse roots; 10 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bhs and Bh horizon is 10 to 15 centimeters.)

Bs2 -- 20 to 41 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; common very fine and few fine and medium roots; 10 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (18 to 51 centimeters thick.)

BC -- 41 to 56 centimeters; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) gravelly loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; 10 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 30 centimeters thick.)

Cd -- 56 to 165 centimeters; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak medium and thick platy structure; firm; few fine reddish brown (5YR 4/4) oxide coatings on faces of peds; 10 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Oxford County, Maine; Bowmantown Township (T4R6); about 790 meters in elevation on a southwest aspect near the beginning of Gold Brook, about 2.8 miles northeasterly from Abbie Pond and about 0.3 mile from the United States and Canadian border; USGS Twin Peaks, ME topographic quadrangle; Latitude 45 degrees, 20 minutes, 07 seconds N. and Longitude 70 degrees, 57 minutes, 15 seconds W., NAD 1927.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 51 to 91 centimeters. Rock fragment content ranges from 5 to 30 percent throughout the mineral soil. Stones and boulders cover from 0 to 15 percent of the surface. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid throughout.

The O horizons have hue of 2.5YR through 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2.

The A horizon, when present, has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is very fine sandy loam or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak or moderate, very fine or fine granular structure.

The E horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.

The Bhs horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, with value and chroma of 2 or 3. The Bh horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR to 10YR, value and chroma of 2 to 3. The Bh and Bhs horizons are silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Consistence is very friable or friable.

The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam or sandy loam in the fine earth fraction. The B horizon is very friable or friable.

The BC horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4. It is loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine earth fraction. It is very friable or friable.

The Cd horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is loam, fine sandy loam or sandy loam in the fine earth fraction. All structure in the Cd is considered to be geogenic and is inherited from the parent material. Consistence is firm or very firm.

COMPETING SERIES: These are currently no other series in the same family.

The Gallup and Kulshan are in related families. Gallup and Kulshan soils are influenced by volcanic ash.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sisk soils are in high elevation valleys and on side slopes of mountain ridges at elevations greater than 700 meters. Slope ranges from 12 to 60 percent. The soils formed in dense till. The mean annual temperature ranges from 0 to 6 degrees C and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 102 to 152 centimeters. The frost-free season ranges from 30 to 90 days. Elevations range from 700 to 1600 meters above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are principally the Bemis, Saddleback and Surplus soils, but also the Enchanted, Mahoosuc and Ricker soils. Bemis soils are on concave positions in the nearby landscape. Saddleback soils are shallow to bedrock and on convex positions. Surplus soils are moderately well drained and somewhat poorly drained and typically are on gentler slopes than Sisk soils, or are on concave positions. Enchanted soils are typically on smooth steeper slopes and have more than 35 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section. Mahoosuc soils are organic soils overlying rubble on the nearby landscape. Ricker soils are thin organic soils over bedrock on convex positions.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the organic surface layer and the mineral solum and low to moderately high in the substratum.

USE AND VEGETATION: Forest. Balsam fir, mountain paper birch, red spruce and American mountain ash grow throughout the elevation range. Yellow birch, mountain maple and striped maple commonly grow at the lower elevations.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mountains of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. MLRA 143. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Grafton County, New Hampshire, 1987.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

a. Albic horizon - the zone from 5 to 8 centimeters (E horizon).
b. Spodic horizon - the zone from 8 to 20 centimeters (Bhs and Bs1 horizons).
c. Humic feature - have more than 6 percent organic carbon throughout the upper 10 centimeters of the spodic horizon.
d. Oxyaquic feature - a thin perched water table directly above the Cd horizon for 1 month or more per year in 6 or more out of 10 years.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.