LOCATION SWANTON ME+MA NH NY OH VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over clayey, mixed over illitic, superactive, nonacid, frigid Aeric Epiaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Swanton fine sandy loam on a 1 percent slope in a hayfield. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) fine sandy loam, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; many roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
Bg1--7 to 10 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; common roots; few medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses or iron accumulation; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)
Bg2--10 to 18 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; few roots; few medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick)
Eg--18 to 22 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) sandy loam; weak thick platy structure; friable; many coarse distinct olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
2Cg1--22 to 30 inches; olive (5Y 5/3) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; thin films and dark stains on peds; films of olive gray (5Y 5/2) on faces of peds; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation on interiors of peds; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. ( 0 to 10 inches thick)
2Cg2--30 to 40 inches; olive (5Y 4/3) silty clay; weak medium platy structure parting to moderate very fine angular blocky; firm; few films in pores and on faces of peds; black stains on faces of peds; films of light gray (5Y 7/2) and few fine distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) masses of iron accumulation on faces of peds; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
2Cg3--40 to 65 inches; olive (5Y 4/3) silty clay; weak very thick platy inherited structure; firm; few dark gray (5Y 4/1) films on faces of peds; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Androscoggin County, Maine; Town of Durham; 1200 feet northeast of the intersection of Maine Route 136 and Quaker Meeting House Road; USGS Lisbon Falls South topographic quadrangle; about lat. 43 degrees 57 minutes 2 seconds N. and long. 70 degrees 7 minutes 3 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the underlying fine-textured material ranges dominantly from 20 to 40 inches with a few pedons ranging to 18 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Consistence is very friable or friable in the coarse-loamy mantle and are absent below. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral in the coarse-loamy mantle and from moderately acid to moderately alkaline below.
The Ap horizon, or A horizon where present, has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam. It has weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular structure.
The Eg horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2. It is very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam. It has weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular structure.
The B horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4 and has distinct and prominent redox concentrations. It is fine sandy loam or sandy loam, but some pedons have thin loamy fine sand subhorizons. It has weak, very fine or fine granular or moderate medium subangular blocky structure.
The E' horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 or 3 and has faint to prominent redox concentrations. The E' horizon is fine sandy loam or sandy loam, but some pedons where the horizon is thin are loamy fine sand. It has weak fine granular or weak or moderate, thin to thick platy structure.
The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5GY, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 0 to 4. Redox concentrations are faint to prominent, but may be absent in the lower part. The 2C horizon is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. It has weak or moderate, thin to very thick platy or weak or moderate, very fine to medium subangular or angular blocky structure, all of which is inherited from the parent material, or the horizon is massive.
COMPETING SERIES: Swanton is currently the only series in this family. Gogomain soils are in a closely related family from outside of Region R. They have free carbonates within a depth of 60 inches and receive less annual precipitation.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Swanton soils are in depressional areas on marine and lake plains, outwash plains, or deltas. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. The soils formed in loamy outwash or lacustrine deposits underlain by fine-textured lacustrine and marine deposits. The climate is humid and cool temperate. The mean annual temperature ranges from 40 to 46 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 48 inches. The frost-free season ranges from 90 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 5 to 900 feet above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Adams, Buxton, Elmwood, Lamoine, Melrose, Scantic and Whately soils are sandy and are better drained. Buxton, Lamoine and Scantic soils have a finer-textured mantle. Elmwood and Melrose soils are better drained. Whately soils are very poorly drained.
DRAINED AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained and poorly drained. Permeability is moderately rapid in the coarse-loamy mantle and slow or very slow in the clayey substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used mainly for hay and pasture and some row crops. The remaining areas are mostly forested and the common tree species are eastern white pine, white spruce, and red spruce. Hemlock, gray birch, red maple, sugar maple, balsam fir, and tamarack also are present to a lesser extent.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio* and Vermont. (MLRA's 100,* 101,* 142, 143, 144A, 144B.) The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Essex County, New York, 1954.
REMARKS: 1. *Swanton soils have a frigid temperature regime and will not be maintained in MLRA 100 and 101 when these areas are updated. 2. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 7 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 7 to 18 inches (Bg1 and Bg2 horizons).
c. Aquic conditions - redoximorphic features at 7 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: The Soil Interpretation Record Number for the Swanton series is ME0017.