LOCATION WALPOLE CT+MA NH NY RI VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Aeric Endoaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Walpole sandy loam - forested, 2 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oe--0 to 1 inch; black (10YR 2/1) moderately decomposed forest plant material. (1 to 3 inches thick)
A--1 to 7 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 8 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Bg--7 to 21 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) sandy loam; massive; friable; common fine and few medium roots in the upper part of the horizon and few fine roots in the lower part; 10 percent gravel; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4 and 10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
BC--21 to 25 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) gravelly sandy loam; massive; friable; 20 percent gravel; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) iron depletions; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the B horizons is 14 to 24 inches.)
C1--25 to 41 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) very gravelly loamy sand; single grain; very friable; 30 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 40 inches thick)
C2--41 to 65 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very gravelly sand, few brown (10YR 5/3) streaks; single grain; loose; 35 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Windham County, Connecticut; town of Killingly, 400 feet north along North Shore Drive from the intersection with Connecticut Route 101, 500 feet east of North Shore Drive; USGS Danielson topographic quadrangle; latitude 41 degrees 50 minutes 58 seconds N. and longitude 71 degrees 54 minutes 28 seconds W., NAD 27
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to sand or loamy sand substratum layers range from 18 to 28 inches. Rock fragments range from 0 to 25 percent by volume in the solum and from 0 to 50 percent in individual layers of the substratum. Typically, 70 percent or more of the rock fragments are rounded gravel. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral throughout.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Disturbed pedons have a Ap horizon 5 to 10 inches thick with value of 2 to 4 and chroma of 1 to 3. Dry value is 6 or more. The A or Ap horizon is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or very fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak or moderate granular structure and is friable or very friable.
Some pedons have an Eg horizon with hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture and structure are similar to the A horizon.
The B horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4. Chroma of 3 or 4 is limited to subhorizons and chroma of 1 or 2 is in some subhorizon within a depth of 20 inches. The horizon has distinct or prominent redoximorphic features. Fine-earth texture is sandy loam or fine sandy loam with more than 50 percent fine or coarser sand. Structure is weak granular or weak subangular blocky, or the horizon is massive. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. The horizon has distinct or prominent redoximorphic features. Texture is similar to the B horizon. Structure is weak subangular blocky or the horizon is massive.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4. Texture of individual layers ranges from loamy fine sand to coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series currently in the same family.
The Busti, Fredon, Lamson, Leicester, Massena, Moosilauke, Neversink, Newstead, Norwell, Punsit, Raypol, Red Hook, Ridgebury, Scarboro, Stafford, Stissing, Sudbury, Sun, and Wareham series are similar soils in related families. Busti, Lamson, Leicester, Massena, Neversink, Newstead, Punsit, Red Hook, Ridgebury, Stissing, and Sun soils are coarse-loamy. Norwell, Ridgebury and Stissing soils have a dense substratum. Fredon and Raypol soils are coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal. Moosilauke soils are frigid. Scarboro soils have a histic epipedon. Stafford and Wareham soils do not have a cambic horizon. Sudbury soils have matrix chroma of 3 or more in the B horizon to a depth of 20 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Walpole soils are nearly level and gently sloping soils in shallow drainageways and low-lying areas on terraces and plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. The soils formed in sandy glaciofluvial and stratified drift materials derived mainly from crystalline rocks. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 54 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 37 to 50 inches, and the growing season ranges from 120 to 190 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Agawam, Branford, Canton, Charlton, Deerfield, Enfield, Hartford, Haven, Hinckley, Gloucester, Leicester, Manchester, Merrimac, Ninigret, Occum, Pootatuck, Raypol, Rippowam, Ridgebury, Scarboro, Stissing, Sudbury, Tisbury, and Windsor soils. The excessively drained Hinckley, somewhat excessively drained Merrimac, and the moderately well drained Sudbury soils are common drainage associates. Agawam, Branford, Enfield, Haven, Ninigret, and Tisbury soils are better drained terrace associates that are loamy over stratified sand and gravel. The well drained Canton and Charlton soils and the somewhat excessively drained Gloucester soils are on nearby till uplands. Deerfield, Hartford, Manchester, and Windsor soils are coarse-textured soils on nearby glaciofluvial landforms. Occum, Pootatuck, and Rippowam soils are on flood plains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Surface runoff is slow. Permeability is moderately rapid in the solum and rapid or very rapid in the substratum. Walpole soils have a water table at or near the surface much of the year.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are wooded. Cleared areas are used for hay and pasture. Drained areas are used for silage corn and hay. Common trees are red maple, white oak, white ash, aspen, elm, white pine, and hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Late Wisconsin glaciofluvial landforms in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, eastern New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont; MLRAs 101, 142, 144A, and 145. Walpole series has been correlated in some published surveys in Maine, but after conducting temperature studies, Maine no longer recognizes the mesic soil temperature regime. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Windham County, Connecticut, 1947.
REMARKS: This revision reflects a slight change in the official type location.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 7 inches (Oe and A horizons).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 7 to 25 inches (Bg and BC horizons).
3. Aquic moisture regime - indicated by chroma of 2 in Bg horizon but with chroma too high within 30 inches (chroma of 4 in BC horizon) to qualify for Typic Endoaquepts.
4. Endoaquepts subgroup based on saturation to a depth of 200 cm from the mineral soil surface.
5. Aeric great group based on matrix color and chroma of 3 or more in one subhorizon between the Ap and 75 cm. (BC horizon).
6. Particle-size class - averages sandy in the control section from 10 to 40 inches; does not meet contrasting criteria.