LOCATION SKOWHEGAN MEEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, isotic, frigid Aquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Skowhegan loamy fine sand - forested (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oa--0 to 2 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2.5/2) sapric material; moderate very fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; contains a few polished sand grains; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
A--2 to 4 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) loamy fine sand; weak to moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
E--4 to 7 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) loamy fine sand; weak fine to medium granular structure; friable; common roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
Bs1--7 to 13 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) loamy fine sand; weak fine granular structure; friable; many roots; contains few slightly firm dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) concretions 0.25 to 0.5 inch in diameter; nearly all sand grains are coated; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 7 inches thick)
Bs2--13 to 20 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loamy fine sand; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; few roots; a few slightly firm concretions 0.25 to 0.5 inch in diameter having reddish brown (5YR 4/4) interiors; numerous dark colored sand grains; common medium distinct gray (10YR 5/1) iron depletions; common medium distinct brown (10YR 5/3) and common medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses or iron accumulation; strongly acid; gradual irregular boundary. (5 to 8 inches thick)
C1--20 to 32 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) loamy sand grading to olive (5Y 5/4) in the lower part; single grain; loose; slightly firm in place; numerous dark colored sand grains (15-25%); few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the upper part; common medium prominent brown (7.5YR 4/4) masses or iron accumulation and common medium distinct grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) iron depletions in the lower part; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 15 inches thick)
C2--32 to 65 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) and gray (5Y 5/1) sand; single grain; loose; contains a few small gray (5Y 5/1) silt and very fine sand lenses 0.5 inch to 3 inches thick near the top of the horizon; numerous dark minerals and unstained quartz grains; common fine faint grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) iron depletions; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Somerset County, Maine; town of Madison; 0.5 mile south of Maine Route 148 on Shusta Road, 200 yards south of an abandoned barn; USGS Madison East topographic quadrangle; about lat. 44 degrees 47 minutes 31 seconds N. and long. 69 degrees 51 minutes 7 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 15 to 24 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Coarse fragments throughout the soil are less than 1 percent by volume. Reaction is very strongly acid or strongly acid in the solum and strongly acid to moderately acid in the substratum.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, with value and chroma of 2 to 4. The Ap horizon, where present, has a hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 2 to 4. It is commonly loamy fine sand but ranges from sand to fine sandy loam. It has weak or moderate, fine or medium granular structure.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 5 to 7 and chroma of 1 or 2. It is commonly loamy fine sand but ranges from sand to fine sandy loam. It has weak or moderate, fine or medium granular structure.
The upper B horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 5 and chroma of 2 to 8. It is mainly loamy fine sand but includes fine sand and sand. It has weak or moderate, fine granular structure.
The lower B horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 6. It is mainly loamy fine sand but includes fine sand and sand. It has weak, fine or medium granular structure or is single grain. Consistence is friable, very friable or loose.
The C horizon is neutral or has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 0 to 4. I is loamy sand, sand or loamy fine sand. Consistence is friable or loose with the silt or very fine sand lenses being slightly firm in place.
COMPETING SERIES: The Croghan series is in a similar family. The Croghan soils are sand or loamy sand in the particle-size control sections and lack the high content of dark minerals.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Skowhegan soils are on outwash plains and stream terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. The soils formed in glacial outwash material of nearly uniform fine and medium sand sizes derived mainly from slate, phyllite, and other dark colored metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. The climate is humid and cool temperate. Mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 44 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 44 inches. The frost-free season ranges from 80 to 140 days. Elevation ranges from 150 to 1200 feet above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Adams, Berkshire, Charles, Cornish, Fryeburg, Lovewell, Masardis, and Stetson soils. The Adams soils are somewhat excessively drained soils in higher positions on the landscape. The Berkshire soils formed in glacial till on adjacent till plains and ridges. The Charles, Cornish, Fryeburg, and Lovewell soils are on floodplains. The Masardis and Stetson soils are better drained and have more than 35 percent gravel in the particle-size control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well and somewhat poorly drained. Permeability is moderately rapid or rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the soil is wooded. Common tree species include white pine, balsam fir, red spruce, white spruce, and sugar maple. Cleared areas are used mostly for hay and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Somerset County, Maine. (MLRA's 143 & 144B) The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Somerset County, Maine, 1966.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in the typical pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 4 inches.
b. Albic horizon - the zone from 4 to 7 inches.
c. Spodic horizon - the zone from 7 to 13 inches.
d. Aquic conditions - redoximorphic features within 30 inches of the mineral soil surface (Bs2 horizon - 13 to 20 inches).
ADDITIONAL DATA: The Soil Interpretation Record number for the Skowehgan series is ME0015.