LOCATION COLTON NY MA ME NH VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, isotic, frigid Typic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Colton gravelly loamy sand, on a 3 percent, west facing slope, in a pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap-- 0 to 7 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; 25 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick.)
E-- 7 to 8 inches; pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) gravelly loamy sand; single grain; loose; few fine roots; 25 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt irregular boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick.)
Bhs-- 8 to 11 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) gravelly loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; weakly cemented, 20 percent very firm masses; friable; few fine roots; 30 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick.)
Bs-- 11 to 16 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) gravelly loamy sand; weak fine and very fine granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; 30 percent gravel and cobbles; very strongly acid; gradual irregular boundary. (5 to 17 inches thick.)
BC-- 16 to 22 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 35 percent gravel; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 28 inches thick.)
C-- 22 to 72 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) stratified extremely gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 70 percent gravel; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Franklin County, New York; 0.4 mile east and 1.1 miles south of the Village of Burke, at the junction of unnamed N-S and E-W roads. USGS Burke, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 44 degrees, 53 minutes, 23 seconds N. and Longitude 74 degrees, 9 minutes, 34 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 18 to 45 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Rock fragments, mainly gravel and cobbles, range from 5 to 55 percent in the surface and subsurface layers, from 15 to 55 percent in the subsoil, and from 35 to 70 percent in the C horizon.
Some undisturbed pedons have an O horizon that has hue of 5YR to 10YR or is neutral, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 0 to 4. It is up to 8 inches thick.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR to 5YR, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is sand, loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has granular structure or it is structureless. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid unless limed. Some pedons have a thin A horizon with chroma of 0 to 3.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is coarse sand, sand, loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand or coarse sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have thin horizons of fine sandy loam. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid.
The Bhs, or Bh, horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is coarse sand, sand, loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have thin horizons of fine sandy loam. It has granular or subangular blocky structure, or it is massive. It is very friable or friable, with or without cemented masses. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid.
The Bs horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. Texture is coarse sand, sand, loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons are coarse sandy loam in the upper part. Some pedons have thin horizons of fine sandy loam. It has granular or subangular blocky structure, or it is massive or single grain. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid.
The BC horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture is coarse sand, sand, loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand in the fine-earth fraction. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid. Some pedons have a CB horizon with properties similar to the BC.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 7, and chroma of 2 to 6. It is composed of gravel, cobbles, or stones with coarse sand, loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, or sand in the interstices and has varying degrees of stratification. Reaction is very strongly acid to slightly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Hermon, Masardis, and Stetson series. Hermon soils formed in till and are not stratified in the lower part of the substratum. Marsardis soils have rock fragments usually dominated by slate and phyllite, and have a loamy mantle greater than 10 inches thick. Stetson soils have loamy B horizons.
Constable, Success, and Trout River series are similar soils in related families. Constable and Success soils have ortstein. Trout River soils are Entic.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Colton soils are on glacial outwash terraces, plains, kames, and eskers. Slope ranges from 0 to 70 percent. The soils formed in water-sorted sand, gravel, cobbles, and stones of predominantly granite rocks with lesser amounts of sandstone. Mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 46 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 50 inches, and mean annual frost-free days ranges from 90 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 5 feet to 3000 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Adams, Becket, Constable, Duane, Hermon and Worth soils. Adams soils are on nearby sand plains. Becket, Hermon, and Worth soils formed in glacial till and are on nearby uplands. Constable soils are common associates where ortstein layers are prominent. Duane soils are moderately well drained and on lower, nearby landscapes.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Excessively drained. The potential for surface runoff is very low to medium. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or very high in the solum and very high in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Large areas are idle and support seedling birch and pine, bracken fern, and blueberries. Farmed areas are used mainly for grass hay or pasture with some corn and oats. Forests include sugar maple, eastern white pine, red pine, and white spruce.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine, New Hampshire, Northern New York, and Vermont. MLRAs 141, 142, 143, 144A, and 144B. The series is extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: St. Lawrence County, New York, 1925.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in the typical pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 7 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Albic horizon - the zone from 7 to 8 inches (E horizon).
c. Spodic horizon - the zone from 8 to 16 inches (Bhs and Bs horizons).