LOCATION WESTMINSTER MA+CT
Established Series
Rev. ANA-DAF-MFF
01/2013
WESTMINSTER SERIES
The Westminster series consists of shallow, somewhat excessively drained soils formed in a thin mantle of till derived mainly from schist. Depth to hard bedrock ranges from 10 to 20 inches. These soils are on bedrock controlled hills, ridges and plateaus. Slope ranges from 3 to 75 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Mean annual temperature is about 42 degrees F and mean annual precipitation is about 45 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, active, frigid Lithic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Westminster loam, on a 15 percent northwest facing slope, in a very stony forested area (colors are for moist soil).
Oe--0 to 1 inches; moderately decomposed plant material.
A--1 to 5 inches; black (5YR 2.5/1) loam; moderate and strong, fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 5 percent rock fragments of channers and gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
Bw--5 to 19 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; common medium roots, 2-inch mat of medium and coarse roots immediately above bedrock; 10 percent rock fragments of channers and gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (9 to 16 inches thick)
R--19 inches; dark gray schist bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Franklin County, Massachusetts; Town of Buckland; about two miles southwest of the village of Shelburne Falls, about 250 feet east of Bray Road at a point about 4230 feet north along Bray Road from the Buckland-Ashfield town boundary. Latitude 42 degrees 34 minutes 37.3 seconds N., longitude 72 degrees 45 minutes 23 seconds W., in woodland, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to bedrock range from 10 to 20 inches. Rock fragments are schist with small amounts of gneiss, granite and phyllite. Gravel ranges from 5 to 25 percent by volume throughout the soil and channers range from 0 to 10 percent. Stones range from 0 to 15 percent in the A horizon and from 0 to 3 percent in the Bw horizon. Unless limed, reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid throughout.
The A horizon is neutral or has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2, 2.5, or 3 and chroma of 0 to 2. Texture is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam or their gravelly or channery analogues. Structure is weak to strong, fine or medium granular. Consistence is friable or very friable. Some pedons have thin incipient E and/or Bhs horizons.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is loam, fine sandy loam or their gravelly or channery analogues. In some pedons, texture includes sandy loam in the lower part of the B horizon. Structure is weak, fine to medium subangular blocky or granular or is massive. Consistence is friable or very friable.
Some pedons have a thin BC or C horizon with properties similar to the Bw horizon except the range in hue includes hue of 2.5Y.
The R layer is typically dark mica schist bedrock but in some places is gneiss or granite.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Hawksnest,
Irona,
Insula and
Woodstock series.
Hawksnest soils have rock fragments that are primarily sandstone, shale and siltstone and have redder subsoils.
Irona soils have rock fragments that are primarily sandstone.
Insula soils have rock fragments that are primarily granite and gabbro and have an albic horizon.
Woodstock soils have rock fragments that are primarily light colored schist, granite or gneiss.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Westminster soils are on glaciated, bedrock controlled uplands. Slope ranges from 3 to 75 percent. The soils developed in a thin mantle of glacial till and frost fractured rock fragments derived principally from local bedrock of dark colored schist with small amounts of gneiss and granite. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 50 inches; mean annual air temperature ranges from 39 to 46 degrees F. and the frost-free season ranges from 100 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Ashfield,
Millsite,
Peacham,
Pillsbury and
Shelburne soils.
Ashfield,
Peacham, Pillsbury and Shelburne soils are very deep upland soils formed in dense glacial till. Ashfield soils are moderately well drained, Pillsbury soils are somewhat poorly drained and poorly drained, Peacham soils are very poorly drained, and Shelburne soils are well drained.
Millsite soils are moderately deep.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained. Internal drainage is rapid. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high. Surface runoff is negligible to very high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested. Common trees are white pine, red spruce, yellow birch, sugar maple, beech, fir, white ash, basswood, oak and hemlock. Some small areas with few rock outcrops are cleared of stones and used as cropland but most cleared areas are in hay, pasture or are used as brush land.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Massachusetts and Connecticut, between the Berkshire Hills and the Connecticut River: MLRA 144B. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Originally established in York County, Maine in 1946.
REMARKS: Series was made inactive in 1976 and reactivated for Soil Survey of Hampden and Hampshire Counties, Western Part Massachusetts. Re-established in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, 1991.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 5 inches (Oe and A horizons).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 5 to 19 inches (Bw horizon).
3. Lithic contact - bedrock at 19 inches from the soil surface (R horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available for pedon no. S62MA-011-001 and S62MA-011-002 from the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.