LOCATION SURPLUS ME NH NY

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

SURPLUS SERIES

The Surplus series consists of very deep, moderately well drained and somewhat poorly drained soils on mountain side slopes. These soils formed in dense 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. Slope ranges from 3 to 45 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 1 degree C and mean annual precipitation is about 125 centimeters at the type location.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic Aquic Haplocryods

TYPICAL PEDON: Surplus sandy loam, on a northeasterly slope of 15 percent in a very stony forested area. (Colors are for moist soil.)

Oa -- 0 to 18 centimeters; black (5YR 2/1) sapric material; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and common fine and medium roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (The O horizon is 8 to 18 centimeters thick.)

E -- 18 to 28 centimeters; brown (7.5YR 5/2) sandy loam; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and fine roots; 5 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 20 centimeters thick.)

Bhs -- 28 to 33 centimeters; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; massive; very friable; few very fine and fine roots; weakly smeary; 5 percent gravel; sand grains coated; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 20 centimeters thick.)

Bs1 -- 33 to 51 centimeters; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) (75 percent) and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) (25 percent) fine sandy loam; massive; very friable; few very fine and fine roots; 5 percent gravel; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bs2 -- 51 to 66 centimeters; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; moderate thin platy structure; very friable; few very fine and fine roots; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 2/4) coatings on 10 percent of faces of peds; common medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; 15 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizons are 15 to 51 centimeters thick.)

BC -- 66 to 84 centimeters; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly sandy loam; moderate medium platy structure; friable; 15 percent loamy sand lenses; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 2/4) coatings on 10 percent of faces of peds; common medium faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; 10 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 30 centimeters thick.)

Cd -- 84 to 165 centimeters; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) sandy loam; moderate thick platy structure; firm; 10 percent gravel; dark red (2.5YR 3/6) and reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) coatings on faces of peds and in old root channels; very thin to thick fine sandy loam and loamy sand lenses; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Franklin County, Maine, Township D; about 1.5 miles southwest from the West Branch Swift River along the Byron-Township D line and northwest about 0.5 mile; USGS Houghton, ME topographic quadrangle; Latitude 44 degrees, 45 minutes, 17 seconds N. and Longitude 70 degrees, 44 minutes, 10 seconds W., NAD 1927.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 41 to 89 centimeters. Depth to bedrock is more than 152 centimeters. Rock fragment content ranges from 3 to 30 percent throughout the mineral soil. The rock fragments are dominantly gravel and channers. Stones and boulders cover 0 to 15 percent of the surface. The soil ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid in the mineral solum, and is very strongly acid or strongly acid in the substratum. The organic surface layer is usually extremely acid.

The Oa horizon, or Oe horizon where present, has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 or 2.

The E horizon is neutral or has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 5 to 7, and of chroma 0 to 2. It is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Consistence is very friable or friable.

The Bhs horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value and chroma of 2 to 3. The Bh horizon, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value and chroma of 2 to 3. It is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam or 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. Consistence is very friable or friable.

The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Consistence is friable or firm.

The Cd horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction but lenses of loamy fine sand or loamy sand occur in some pedons. Any structural aggregation of soil particles is considered to be inherited from the parent material. Consistence is firm or very firm.

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

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Surplus soils are in high elevation valleys and on smooth side slopes of mountain ridges. The slope gradient ranges from 3 to 45 percent. The soils formed in dense till. The mean annual temperature ranges from 0 to 5 degrees C and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 102 to 152 centimeters. The frost-free season ranges from 30 to 90 days. Elevation ranges from 700 to 1615 meters above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are principally the Bemis and Sisk soils, but also the Enchanted, Ricker, and Saddleback soils. Bemis soils are poorly drained soils on concave positions of the nearby landscape. Sisk soils are well drained soils generally on steeper slopes than Surplus soils, or on slightly convex positions. Enchanted soils are well drained soils typically on steeper slopes with more rock fragments than Surplus soils. Ricker and Saddleback soils are on convex positions. Ricker soils are thin organic soils over bedrock. Saddleback soils are shallow to bedrock.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained and somewhat poorly 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, striped maple and red maple commonly grow at the lower elevations.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and western Maine, 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: 1. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

a. Albic horizon - the zone from 18 to 28 centimeters (E horizon).
b. Spodic horizon - the zone from 28 to 51 centimeters (Bhs and Bs1 horizons).
c. Cambic horizon - the zone from 51 to 84 centimeters (Bs2 and BC horizons).
d. Aquic conditions - Redoximorphic features at 33 centimeters below the mineral soil surface.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.