LOCATION HOWLAND ME+NHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Aquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Howland silt loam, on a 3 percent southwest-facing slope in a very stony wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oa--0 to 1 inch; black (10YR 2/1) sapric material; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
E--1 to 2 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam; weak very thin platy structure; very friable; common very fine and fine roots; 5 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
Bh--2 to 4 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) silt loam; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine, common medium and few coarse roots; 5 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
Bs1--4 to 13 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine, common medium and few coarse roots; 5 percent gravel, 3 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bs2--13 to 17 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) gravelly silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and fine and few medium and coarse roots; 15 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizon is 6 to 13 inches.)
BC1--17 to 21 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) gravelly silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and few fine and medium roots; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; 15 percent gravel, 3 percent cobbles and 1 percent stones; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
BC2--21 to 25 inches; olive (5Y 5/3) gravelly silt loam; weak medium platy structure; friable; few very fine roots; common coarse faint light olive gray (5Y 6/2) iron depletions; 15 percent gravel, 3 percent cobbles and 1 percent stones; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the BC horizon is 8 to 16 inches.)
Cd--25 to 65 inches; olive (5Y 4/3) gravelly silt loam; weak coarse and very coarse prismatic structure; very firm; common coarse prominent light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) iron depletions; 20 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles and 3 percent stones; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Piscataquis County, Maine; Medford Township, 100 feet south of Lake View Plantation town line, 20 feet west of trail; USGS Milo North topographic quadrangle; lat. 45 degrees 18 minutes 52 seconds N. and long. 68 degrees 55 minutes 15 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to the dense basal till ranges from 20 to 33 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. The weighted average of clay in the particle-size control section is less than 10 percent. Silt content is 50 percent or greater. Texture of the fine-earth fraction in the mineral solum is silt loam and it is silt loam or loam in the substratum. Rock fragment content ranges from 5 to 30 percent throughout the mineral soil with the majority being pebble size. Stones and boulders cover 0 to 15 percent of the surface. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to slightly acid in the solum and very strongly acid to slightly acid in the substratum.
Some areas have an Ap horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3 or, an A horizon with hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. They have weak or moderate, fine granular structure and consistence is very friable or friable.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. It has weak very fine granular or weak very thin or thin platy structure. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The Bh horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 2 to 4. Some pedons have a Bhs horizon that has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, with value and chroma of 2 or 3. The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. The B horizons have weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular or weak very fine or fine subangular blocky structure. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The BC horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Redoximorphic features are in some part of the horizon. The BC horizon has weak fine granular or subangular blocky or weak to strong, thin or medium platy structure. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The Cd horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. It has weak to strong medium or thick platy or weak coarse and/or very coarse prismatic structure or the horizon is massive. All structure in the Cd horizon is considered inherited from the parent material. Consistence is firm or very firm.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Chesuncook, Colonel, Crary, Dixfield, Dixmont, Mundal, Peru, Skerry, Sunapee, Telos and Worden series. Chesuncook and Telos soils have more than 10 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Colonel, Dixfield, Peru, Skerry and Sunapee soils have less than 50 percent silt in the particle-size control section. Crary soils have a thin aeolian or water deposited mantle. Dixmont soils do not have dense basal till. Mundal and Worden soils have a spodic horizon greater than 18 inches thick or a Bh horizon greater than 4 inches thick.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Howland soils are on drumlins and till ridges. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent but commonly is less than 15 percent. The soils formed in dense glacial till derived mainly from phyllite, slate, metasandstone and some granite. The climate is humid and cool temperate. The mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 44 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 46 inches. The frost-free season ranges from 90 to 130 days. Elevation ranges from 300 to 2200 feet above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Burnham, Monarda, Penquis, Plaisted and Thorndike soils. The Burnham and Monarda soils are wetter and are in lower positions on the landscape. The Penquis, Plaisted and Thorndike soils are in higher topographic positions on the landscape and are better drained.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderately slow or slow in the dense substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly forested. Common tree species include red spruce, white spruce, balsam fir, red maple, hemlock and paper birch. Areas cleared of trees and stones are used mainly for hay and pasture. A few areas are used for cultivated crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and Northern Maine and Northern New Hampshire; MLRA's 143, 144B and 146. The series is of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Aroostook County, Maine, 1960.
REMARKS: 1. This revision reflects a change in classification to coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid Aquic Haplorthods to conform with Keys to Soil Taxonomy, sixth edition, 1994. 2. Some soils formerly mapped as the Howland series will be included with the Telos or Colonel series. 3. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Albic horizon - the zone from 1 to 2 inches (E horizon).
b. Spodic horizon - the zone from 2 to 13 inches (Bh and Bs1 horizons).
c. Aquic feature- redoximorphic features within 30 inches of the mineral soil surface.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Source of data used in establishing taxonomic class and range in characteristics is Technical Bulletin 46, Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, March 1971.
Soil Interpretation Record numbers for the Howland series are: Howland, ME0005; and Howland, stony, ME0006.