LOCATION BURNHAM            ME+NH NY

BURNHAM SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid, frigid, shallow Histic Humaquepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Burnham muck, in a nearly level, very stony, forested area. (Colors are for moist soil.)

Oa1--0 to 4 inches; black (10YR 2/1) muck (sapric material); moderate very fine and fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine, and few medium and coarse roots; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Oa2--4 to 13 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) muck (sapric material); weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; common very fine, and few fine and medium roots; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the O horizon is 8 to 16 inches.)

Bg--13 to 18 inches; gray (N 5/0) channery silt loam; weak thick platy structure; firm; few very fine and fine roots; many coarse prominent olive (5YR 5/3) masses of iron accumulation; 10 percent channers, 5 percent cobbles; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 16 inches thick).

Cdg1--18 to 34 inches; olive gray (5Y 4/2) channery silt loam; weak thick platy structure; firm; many coarse prominent dark gray (N 4/0) iron depletions and many medium prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; 15 percent channers; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (16 to 49 inches thick).

Cdg2--34 to 65 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) channery silt loam; weak medium platy structure; firm; many medium distinct gray (5Y 5/1) iron depletions and many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; 20 percent channers; neutral.

TYPE LOCATION: Piscataquis County, Maine; Town of Sangerville; 0.8 mile east of South Sangerville Road on West Road and 50 feet on north side of road; USGS Sangerville topographic quadrangle; lat. 45 degrees 40 minutes 30 seconds N. and long. 69 degrees 55 minutes 35 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 13 to 25 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. The weighted average of clay in the particle-size control section is 10 to 18 percent. Rock fragment content ranges from 5 to 35 percent throughout. Rock fragments are mainly channers and gravel with some cobbles and stones. Stones and boulders cover from 0 to 15 percent of the surface. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam or loam throughout the mineral soil. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly alkaline throughout the soil except for the O and A horizons, where present, which range from extremely acid to slightly acid.

The O horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2. It is muck or mucky peat. It has weak or moderate very fine to medium granular structure or it is massive.

The A horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2. It has granular structure or it is massive. Consistence is very friable or friable.

The Eg horizon, where present, is neutral or has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is massive or has platy, granular or prismatic structure. Consistence is slightly sticky and slightly plastic when wet and friable or firm when moist.

The Bg horizon is neutral or has hue of 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 0 to 2. It has platy, granular, subangular blocky or prismatic structure. Consistence is slightly sticky and slightly plastic when wet and friable or firm when moist.

The Cdg horizon is neutral or has hue of 2.5Y to 5GY, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 0 to 3. It has prismatic or platy structure, or it is massive. Consistence is slightly sticky and slightly plastic when wet, and firm or very firm when moist.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Nahma, Peacham, Pleine(T), Rollaway(T), Sabattis, Sago, Waucedah and Witbeck series. Nahma soils have limestone bedrock within 40 inches. Peacham soils have less than 10 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Pleine, Rollaway, Sabattis, Sago, Waucedah and Witbeck soils lack dense basal till.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Burnham soils are on glaciated uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. The soils formed in dense glacial till derived mainly from slate and other dark colored sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. The climate is humid and cool temperate. The mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 44 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 46 inches. The frost-free season ranges from 80 to 130 days. Elevation ranges from 120 to 2200 feet above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bangor, Chesuncook, Dixmont, Elliottsville, Howland, Monarda, Monson, Penquis, Plaisted, Telos, Thorndike, Winnecook and Wonsqueak soils. The Bangor, Chesuncook, Dixmont, Howland, Plaisted and Telos soils are better drained soils at higher elevations in the landscape. Elliottsville, Monson, Penquis, Thorndike and Winnecook soils are better drained, shallower to bedrock soils at higher elevations in the landscape. Monarda soils are in a similar position as the Burnham soils, but are better drained and do not have a histic epipedon. Wonsqueak soils are in depressions and large concave areas and have thicker accumulations of organic matter.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained. Permeability is moderately slow to moderately rapid in the organic surface, moderately slow in the subsoil, and slow or very slow in the substratum.

USE AND VEGETATION: Forest. Common tree species include balsam fir, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, northern white cedar, black spruce, red spruce, black ash, tamarack, and red maple. Forest ground cover is mainly sphagnum moss, cinnamon fern, interrupted fern and sensitive fern.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine. (MLRA's 143, 144B and 146) The series is of large extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Waldo County, Maine, 1940.

Remarks: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

a. Histic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 13 inches (Oa horizons).
b. Frigid temperature regime.
c. Aquic conditions - redox features at the mineral soil surface and throughout the profile.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Source of data used in establishing the taxonomic classification and range of characteristics is Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, Technical Bulletin 137, 1990.

Soil Interpretation Record Numbers for the Burnham series are: Burnham, ME0038; and Burnham, stony, ME0057.