LOCATION NEWFIELDS NHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Newfields fine sandy loam, on a nearly level slope in a wooded area. The surface is covered by a 1 inch layer of leaves and twigs. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; light grayish brown (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine and medium, and common coarse roots; 5 percent gravel; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--9 to 20 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) fine sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; common medium and few coarse roots; 10 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--20 to 28 inches; olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) fine sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; common fine and few medium roots; 10 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 5 to 30 inches.)
BC--28 to 35 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) fine sandy loam; massive; friable; few fine and medium roots; 5 percent gravel; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and many medium distinct light gray (5Y 7/2) iron depletions; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
2C1--35 to 43 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) gravelly loamy sand; massive; friable; 25 percent gravel; many medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) and common fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation, and many medium distinct light gray (5Y 7/2) iron depletions; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 30 inches thick)
2C2--43 to 64 inches; pale olive (5Y 6/3) gravelly loamy sand; massive; friable; 25 percent gravel; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation and many medium faint light gray (5Y 7/2) iron depletions; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Rockingham County, New Hampshire; Town of Atkinson, 300 feet south of Province Hill Road from a point on Province Hill Road .35 mile northeast of the intersection of Salem Road and Province Hill Road; latitude 42 degrees 49 minutes 20 seconds North, longitude 71 degrees, 8 minutes, 50 seconds West, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 15 to 36 inches. Depth to bedrock is typically greater than 60 inches. Rock fragments range from 0 to 30 percent in the solum and 5 to 60 percent in the substratum. Rock fragments are dominantly granite, gneiss, schist, and quartzite gravel. Reaction ranges from extremely acid through slightly acid.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. Some pedons have an A horizon that has value of 2 to 3 and chroma of 1 to 3. Some pedons have an E horizon that has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture of the Ap, A and E horizons is fine sandy loam, loam, sandy loam, or very fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. Texture is dominantly fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction, but includes thin subhorizons of sandy loam and very fine sandy loam in the upper part, with the weighted average of coarse-loamy material containing less than 50 percent fine or coarser sand.
The BC horizon has color and texture similar to the Bw horizon.
The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is loamy sand, loamy fine sand, fine sand, or sand in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have lenses of sand and gravel. Structure is weak thin platy or the horizon is massive. Consistence is very friable or friable, but may contain thin subhorizons with firm consistence.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in the same family. The Agawam, Branford, Canton, Deerfield, Haven, Narragansett, Scituate, and Sutton series are in related families. Agawam, Branford, and Haven soils have either stratified sand or sand and gravel in the series control section. The Canton and Narragansett soils do not have redoximorphic features. Deerfield soils have sandy textures in the solum. Scituate and Sutton soils have coarse-loamy particle-size control sections.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Newfields soils are nearly level to moderately steep soils of glaciated uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. The soils formed in a fine sandy loam cap over acid sandy glacial till of Wisconsin age derived mainly from granite, gneiss, or quartzite. The till generally contains cobbles and stones with some boulders. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 50 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from 47 to 52 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Canton, Leicester, Montauk and Scituate soils. Newfields soils are in a drainage sequence with the well drained Canton soils and the poorly drained Leicester soils. Montauk soils have a dense substratum and are in higher positions on the landscape. Scituate soils have a dense substratum and are in similar positions on the landscape.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff ranges from slow to rapid. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are presently forested although some areas were tilled at one time. Common species are northern red oak, eastern white pine, and red maple.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern New Hampshire. The series is of small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rockingham County, New Hampshire, 1986.
REMARKS: These soils were previously mapped as Acton in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. The Acton series is sandy-skeletal. The permeability of this soil is assessed as moderate because the underlying materials typically have platy structure or are massive, which seems to slightly restrict the downward flow of water in observed pedons.
This series has been classified to the 6th edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy with this revision. The former classification was coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Typic Dystrochrepts.
The diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 9 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 9 to 35 inches (Bw1, Bw2, BC horizons).
3. The strongly contrasting particle - size classes (fine sandy loam textures from 10 to 35 inches and gravelly loamy sand from 35 to 64 inches).