LOCATION DANFORTH MEEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, isotic, frigid Typic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Danforth, channery silt loam, on a 20 percent northeasterly slope in a very stony wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oa--0 to 5 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) sapric material; moderate fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine and common medium and coarse roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
E--5 to 9 inches; pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) channery silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; common very fine and few fine, medium and coarse roots; 25 percent channers and 5 percent flagstones; extremely acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)
Bh--9 to 12 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) channery very fine sandy loam; moderate very fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and fine and few medium and coarse roots; 20 percent channers and 5 percent flagstones; extremely acid; abrupt broken boundary.
Bs1--12 to 17 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) channery fine sandy loam; moderate fine and medium granular structure; very friable; common very fine and fine and few medium and coarse roots; 20 percent channers and 10 percent flagstones; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bs2--17 to 22 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and few fine and medium roots; 25 percent channers and 20 percent flagstones; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the B horizons is 6 to 19 inches.)
BC--22 to 32 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) and pale olive (5Y 6/4) very channery fine sandy loam; massive; friable; few very fine roots; 25 percent channers and 10 percent flagstones; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
C--32 to 65 inches; olive (5Y 5/3) and grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) very channery sandy loam; massive; very friable; few very fine roots to about 48 inches; 25 percent channers, 20 percent flagstones and 10 percent stones; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Somerset County, Maine; Spencer Township (T3 R5); 0.4 mile west of Lost Pond and on the south side of a logging road; USGS King and Bartlett Lake topographic quadrangle; lat. 45 degrees 21 minutes 15 seconds N. and long. 70 degrees 18 minutes 00 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 16 to 35 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Rock fragment content in individual horizons of the particle-size control section ranges from 15 to 65 percent, but the weighted average is more than 35 percent by volume. In some pedons rock fragments in the C horizon range up to 80 percent. The rock fragment content of the upper 10 inches of the mineral soil ranges from 5 to 55 percent. Stones and boulders cover up to 15 percent of the surface. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid in the solum and from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the C horizon.
The Oa horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 2 to 3 and chroma of 1 or 2. It has weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular structure or it is massive. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The Ap or A horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. It is very fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has moderate or strong, very fine to medium granular structure. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 5 to 7 and chroma of 1 or 2. It is very fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak very fine or fine granular or thin platy structure or it is massive. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The Bh horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR with value of chroma of 3 or 4. Some pedons have a Bhs horizon with hue of 2.5YR or 5YR with value and chroma of 2 or 3. They have weak or moderate very fine or fine granular structure. Consistence is very friable or friable. They are silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bs horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, with value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 4 to 8. It has weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular structure. Consistence is very friable or friable. It is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, with value and chroma of 4 to 6. It is fine sandy loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak fine granular structure or it is massive. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 2 to 4. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, coarse sandy loam or loamy sand in the fine-earth fraction. It is single grain or massive. Consistence is loose to very friable.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in this family. Winnecook is the only other series in a related family within Region R (Winnecook soils may be in the same family after they are assessed for isotic minerology). Winnecook soils are moderately deep to bedrock. The Blandburg(T), Larrupin, Littlejohn and Pitcher series are closely related series from outside Region R. Blandburg(T) soils have a solum greater than 35 inches thick and formed in material from weathered sandstone. Larrupin and Pitcher soils have a volcanic ash mantle and are less acid. Littlejohn soils are moderately deep to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Danforth soils are on till plains and on the lower sloeps of ridges. Slope ranges from 3 to 45 percent. The soils formed in glacial till derived from slate and fine-grained metasandstone and lesser amounts of granite, gneiss, or schist. The climate is humid and cool temperate. The mean annual temperature ranges from 37 to 44 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 46 inches. The frost-free season ranges from 80 to 130 days. Elevation ranges from 300 to 2500 feet above the mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Chesuncook, Daigle, Elliottsville, Masardis, Monarda, Monson, Peacham, Perham, Shirley(T), Telos, Thorndike and Winnecook soils. Chesuncook, Daigle, Perham, Telos and Monarda soils are on smoother landscapes and they have dense glacial till substratums. Elliottsville and Winnecook soils are moderately deep to bedrock and Monson and Thorndike soils are shallow to bedrock and these soils are in higher positions on the landscape. Masardis soils are somewhat excessively drained and are on adjacent glaciofluvial land forms. Peacham soils are very poorly drained and are in lower depressional positions on the landscape. Shirley soils are moderately well drained and somewhat poorly drained and are in lower positions on the landscape.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate in the solum and is moderately rapid or rapid in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Forest. Common tree species include balsam fir, red spruce, paper birch, red maple, eastern white pine, American beech, yellow birch and sugar maple.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine (MLRAs 143, 144B & 146). The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Piscataquis County, Maine, Southern Part, 1994.
REMARKS: 1. The Danforth series was proposed as a tentative series in Aroostook County, Maine 1942 but was never correlated. 2. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Albic horizon - the zone from 5 to 9 inches (E horizon).
b. Spodic horizon - the zone from 9 to 17 inches (Bh and Bs1 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil interpretation record numbers for the Danforth series are: Danforth, ME0054 and Danforth, stony, ME0055.