LOCATION CAESAR NHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, mesic Typic Udipsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Caesar loamy sand, on a one percent slope, in a forested area of white pine. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
0i---1 inch to 0, mat of pine needles. (0 to 4 inches thick)
Ap---0 to 5 inches, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and common medium roots; 2 percent fine pebbles; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--5 to 13 inches, strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine and medium
roots; 2 percent fine pebbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--13 to 18 inches, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sand; single grain; few fine and medium roots; 5 percent fine pebbles; moder- ately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of Bw horizon 8 to 22 inches)
C--18 to 60 inches, variegated pale olive (5Y 6/3) and light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) coarse sand; single grain; loose; 8 percent fine pebbles; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Cheshire County, New Hampshire, town of Swanzey,
150 feet south of Sawyer feet s Crossing Road; .7 mile east of inter- section of N.H. Rte. 10 and Sawyer's Crossing Road. USGS Keene quadrangle 72 degrees 18 feet 32 inches x 42 degrees 54 feet 08 inches
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 15 to 35 inches. Rock fragment range from 0 to 20 percent in the solum and
0 to 30 percent in the substratum. Rock fragments are less than
10 inches in diameter. Generally, they are fine pebbles, but
cobbles can range to 5 percent. Reaction ranges from extremely
acid to moderately acid in the solum and from very strongly acid
to slightly acid in the substratum.
Some pedons have an 0e or 0a horizon that is neutral or has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 4 and chroma of 0 to 2.
The A horizon is neutral or has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2
to 4 and chroma of 0 to 3. Texture is loamy fine sand, loamy
sand, loamy coarse sand, fine sand, sand, coarse sand, or their gravelly analogs.
The E horizon, where present, has hue 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to
7 and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is loamy sand, sand, coarse sand,
or their gravelly analogs.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and
chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is loamy sand, sand, coarse sand, or
their gravelly analogs.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is sand, coarse sand, very coarse sand,
or their gravelly analogs.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 5 to 7 and chroma of
2 to 6. Texture is coarse sand or very coarse sand, or their gravelly analogs. Sand textures occur in some horizons up to 5 inches thick.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Abscota,
Chute,
Dabney,
Hodge,
Oakville,
Penwood,
Perks,
Plainfield,
Sarpy,
Suncook,
Tyner,
Westport and
Windsor series in the same family. Abscota, Chute, Hodge and Sarpy soils are slightly acid to moderately alkaline throughout. Oakville, Plainfield and Windsor soils are dominantly sand or fine sand in the control section. Penwood soils have hue
of 5YR in the B horizon. Dabney, Perks, Suncook and Westport
soils do not have B horizons. Tyner soils have sola more than 36 inches thick.
The
Adams,
Carver,
Colonie,
Eastchop,
Eastport,
Grayling,
Lakin,
Ottokee, and
Plymouth series are similar soils in related famil-
ies. Adams, Eastport, and Grayling soils have frigid temperature regimes. Colonie, Lakin and Ottokee soils have lamellae. Carver, Eastchop, and Plymouth soils are formed in minerals resistant to weathering.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Caesar soils are nearly level to very steep soils on outwash plains and terraces. Slope gradients range from
0 to 60 percent. The soils formed in sand, coarse sand, and very coarse sand that contain less than 30 percent coarse fragments,
most of which are fine gravel. Mean annual temperature ranges
from 45 to 50 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 50 inches. Average frost-free period ranges from 90 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing
Windsor
and
Suncook soils and the
Agawam,
Deerfield,
Merrimac,
Occum,
Pootatuck,
Rippowam,
Scarboro, and
Wareham soils. The competing Windsor soils often occupy adjacent landscapes and the Suncook
soils are on adjacent flood plains. Merrimac and Agawam soils
that have more silt in the solum are on nearby terraces. The moderately well drained Deerfield soil, poorly drained Wareham
soils and very poorly drained Scarboro soil are in depressional
areas in the landscape. The well drained Occum, the moderately
well drained Pootatuck, and the poorly drained Rippowam soils are
on adjacent floodplains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Permeability is very rapid. The gray color in the C horizon reflects parent
material and not soil wetness.
USE AND VEGETATION: Forested areas contain white pine, red pine, hemlock and some hardwoods such as red oak. Cleared areas are
used for pasture or for hayland. A few areas are cropped.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: New Hampshire. The series is of small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES PROPOSED: Cheshire County, New Hampshire, 1984, and is
named after Mt. Caesar in the town of Swanzey.
REMARKS: This soil is not considered to be prime farmland because
of low available water capacity.
The horizon and features considered diagnostic for the pedon described are as follows:
1) Ochric epipedon from 0 to 5 inches (Ap).
2) Color B horizon from 5 to 18 inches (Bw1, Bw2).
3) Other features include a mesic soil temperature
regime and a udic moisture regime.