LOCATION CHARLTON CT +MA NH NY RIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Charlton fine sandy loam - forested, very stony, at an elevation of about 560 feet. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oe--0 to 1 inch; black (10YR 2/1) moderately decomposed forest plant material. (0 to 2 inches thick)
A--1 to 4 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; 5 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)
Bw1--4 to 7 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak coarse granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 5 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--7 to 19 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; 10 percent gravel and cobbles; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw3--19 to 27 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; massive; very friable; few medium roots; 15 percent gravel and cobbles; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 14 to 36 inches.)
C--27 to 65 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) gravelly fine sandy loam with thin lenses of loamy sand; massive; friable, some lenses firm; few medium roots; 25 percent gravel and cobbles; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: New Haven County, Connecticut; town of Middlebury, 3800 feet along Long Meadow Road from the intersection with South Street, 450 feet southeast along a gravel road and 50 feet west of the gravel road, 400 feet northeast of Long Meadow Pond, in a wooded area. USGS Naugatuck topographic quadrangle, latitude 41 degrees 29 minutes 50 seconds N., longitude 73 degrees 6 minutes 31 seconds W., NAD 27
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 20 to 38 inches. Depth to bedrock is commonly more than 6 feet. Rock fragments range from 5 to 35 percent by volume to a depth of 40 inches and up to 50 percent below 40 inches. Except where the surface layer is stony, the fragments are mostly subrounded gravel and typically make up 60 percent or more of the total rock fragments. Unless limed, reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. Disturbed pedons have an Ap horizon with value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 to 4. The A or Ap horizon is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak or moderate granular structure and is friable or very friable.
Some pedons have a thin E horizon below the A horizon. It has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture, structure, and consistence are like the A horizon.
The upper part of the Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR and value and chroma of 4 to 6. The lower part of the Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y and value and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture of the Bw horizon is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam with less than 65 percent silt plus very fine sand in the fine earth fraction. It has weak granular or subangular blocky structure, or it is massive. Consistence is friable or very friable.
Some pedons have a BC horizon with value and chroma like the lower part of the Bw horizon, but includes hue of 5Y. The BC horizon commonly has texture, structure, and consistence like the Bw horizon but the range includes non-pedogenetically derived structure appearing in the form of thin plates.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction, with pockets or thin lenses of loamy sand. The horizon is massive or is non-pedogenetically derived, appearing in the form of thin plates. Consistence commonly is very friable or friable but in some pedons includes firm.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Ashe,
Brookfield,
Buladean,
Cardigan,
Chestnut,
Delaware,
Dutchess,
Edneyville,
Foresthills (T),
Gallimore,
Greenbelt (T),
Hazel,
Lordstown,
Newport,
Riverhead,
Soco,
St. Albans,
Stecoah,
Steinsburg, and
Yalesville series. Ashe, Buladean, Chestnut, Edneyville, Gallimore, Soco, and Stecoah, soils are commonly used in MLRAs outside of LRRs R and S.
Ashe and Hazel soils formed in residuum and are less than 40 inches to bedrock. Brookfield soils have 5YR or redder hue in the B horizon. Buladean soils have sola less than 40 inches thick. Cardigan soils formed in till derived from phyllite or slate and are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock. Chestnut soils have weathered bedrock at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Delaware soils have less than 5 percent rock fragments in the lower sola and substratum. Rock fragments in the Dutchess soil are dominantly phyllite, slate, or shale. Edneyville soils formed in residuum and have a C horizon of saprolite. Foresthills (T) soils have 7.5YR or redder lower B horizon. Gallimore soils have a cambic horizon that is more than 50 inches deep. Greenbelt (T) soils formed in transported soil material. Lordstown soils are less than 40 inches to bedrock. Newport soils have a dense substratum. Riverhead soils are stratified in the substratum. Soco and Stecoah soils formed in residuum derived from sedimentary rocks. St. Albans soils have less silt and very fine sand. Steinsburg and Yalesville soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Charlton soils are nearly level to very steep soils on till plains and hills. Slope ranges from 0 to 50 percent. The soils formed in acid till derived mainly from schist, gneiss, or granite. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 52 degrees F., mean annual precipitation commonly ranges from 37 to 49 inches, but the range includes as low as 26 inches in some places east of Adirondack Mountains in the Champlain Valley of New York. The growing season ranges from 115 to 185 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Brookfield soils and the Acton, Essex, Hollis, Leicester, Rainbow, Ridgebury, Wapping, Whitman, and Woodbridge soils on nearby landscapes.
The moderately well drained Sutton and the poorly drained Leicester soils are associated in a drainage sequence. Acton and Wapping soils are moderately well drained. Essex soils have a sandy particle-size control section and a dense substratum. Hollis soils have bedrock within a depth of 10 to 20 inches. Rainbow and Woodbridge soils are moderately well drained with a dense substratum. Ridgebury soils are poorly drained and have a dense substratum. Whitman soils are very poorly drained with a dense substratum.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is negligible to medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Areas cleared of stones are used for cultivated crops, specialty crops, hay, and pasture. Many scattered areas are used for community development. Stony areas are mostly wooded. Common trees are red, white, and black oak, hickory, sugar maple, red maple, black and gray birch, white ash, beech, white pine, and hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Glaciated uplands in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island; MLRAs 142,144A, and 145. The series is of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1922.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 4 inches (Oe & A horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 4 to 27 inches (Bw horizons).
3. Particle-size class - coarse-loamy in the control section from 10 to 40 inches.