LOCATION BUCKLAND VT+MA NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, frigid Aquic Dystric Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Buckland loam, on a 4 percent northwest facing slope, in a hayfield. (Colors are for moist soils unless otherwise noted)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) dry; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; many very fine and fine roots; 3 percent rock fragments; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--8 to 14 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 3/3) fine sandy loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) dry; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; 2 percent rock fragments; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--14 to 21 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) silt loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; few fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 1 percent rock fragments; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
Bw3--21 to 25 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) fine sandy loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) masses of iron accumulation and few fine faint grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 1 percent rock fragments; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.
(combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 6 to 23 inches)
Cd--25 to 65 inches; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) loam; weak thick platy structure in the upper part, massive below; firm; few medium distinct dark brown (10YR 3/3) and dark yellowish brown masses of iron accumulation, and very dark gray iron depletions in the matrix; 5 percent rock fragments; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Windsor County, Vermont, Town of Barnard; 150 feet west of North Road and 1.7 miles south of the Royalton town line. Latitude 43 degrees 45 minutes 25 seconds North, longitude 72 degrees 32 minutes 17 seconds West, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum ranges from 20 to 36 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 65 inches. Coarse fragments range from 0 to 25 percent. Fragments are mainly phyllite, schist, and metamorphosed limestone. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to neutral. Texture is loam, silt loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam or their gravelly or channery analogues.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular. Consistence is very friable or friable. Undisturbed pedons have an A horizon that has properties similar to the Ap horizon.
The upper part of the Bw horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. The lower part of the Bw horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 2 to 4, with iron depletions in the matrix. Matrix chroma of 2 in the Bw horizon is inherited from the parent material and is not indicative of wetness. Structure is weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable.
Some pedons have a BC horizon that has colors and textures similar to that of the lower part of the Bw horizon. It is up to 8 inches thick.
The Cd horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, values of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. Structure is weak or moderate, thin to thick platy or is massive. Consistence is firm or very firm.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. The Bomoseen, Eelweir, Fullam, Georgia, Kalurah, and Minoa series are in related families. Bomoseen, Georgia, and Minoa soils have a mesic temperature regime. Eelweir soils formed in glaciofluvial material. Fullam soils have an ochric epipedon. Kalurah soils formed in calcareous, friable till.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Buckland soils are gently sloping to very steep soils on upland sideslopes. Slope ranges from 3 to 50 percent. The soils formed in dark colored till derived mainly from phyllite and schist. Small amount of limestone have contributed to the character of the till in places. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 46 inches and the mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 46 degrees F. The frost free season ranges from 70 to 135 days. Elevations range from 400 to 2500 feet above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cabot, Peacham, Dummerston, Shelburne and Vershire soils. The well drained Dummerston, Shelburne, and Vershire soils are in higher positions on the landscape. The poorly drained Cabot soils and the very poorly drained Peacham soils are in depressions and drainageways.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid depending on slope. Permeability is moderate above the dense till and slow in the dense till.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested. The dominant species of trees are sugar maple, beech, yellow birch, white ash, white pine, and hemlock. White and red spruce, northern white cedar and balsam fir also are common in the northern range of the series. Areas presently farmed are used for hayland and pasture. A small acreage of corn is grown for silage.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Vermont, Massachusetts and New York; MLRA 143 and 144B. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Massachusetts, 1929.
REMARKS: 1. The classification is updated with this revision to Coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, frigid Aquic Dystric Eutrudepts. The former classification was Coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid Aquic Haplumbrepts. The type location of this series has been moved to Windsor County, Vermont.
2. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Umbric epipedon - the zone from the soil surface to a depth of 14 inches (Ap and Bw1 horizons).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 8 to 25 inches (Bw1, Bw2, and Bw3 horizons).
c. Eutrudepts feature - base saturation by NH4OAc of 60 percent or more in one or more horizons at a depth between 10 and 30 inches from the mineral soil surface (Bw1 horizon).
d. Aquic Dystric features - redox depletions with a chroma of 2 or less within 30 inches of the mineral soil surface (Bw2 horizon) and no free carbonates within 40 inches of the mineral soil surface.