LOCATION COLRAIN VT+MAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, frigid Humic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Colrain fine sandy loam, on a south-facing slope of 15 percent in a pasture. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; 2 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
Bw--6 to 13 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; 5 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
BC1--13 to 24 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common roots; 5 percent rock fragments; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
BC2--24 to 33 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) fine sandy loam; massive; friable; few roots; 10 percent rock fragments; weathered fragments of limestone; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the BC horizon is 3 to 17 inches.)
C--33 to 65 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) fine sandy loam; massive; friable; few roots; 10 percent rock fragments; weathered fragments of limestone; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Orange County, Vermont; Town of Topsham; about 0.6 mile southwest of Topsham Four Corners, approximately 200 feet south of road into field; latitude 44 degrees 5 minutes 55 seconds N., longitude 72 degrees 14 minutes 10 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 14 to 36 inches. Rock fragments are mostly pebbles and cobbles and range from 0 to 20 percent in the solum and from 0 to 35 percent in the substratum. Reaction ranges from strongly acid through neutral in the solum and from moderately acid through neutral in the C horizon.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is fine sandy loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular. Consistence is friable or very friable.
A thin E horizon is present in some pedons.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR and value and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is fine sandy loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The BC horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 8. Texture is fine sandy loam, sandy loam or loamy fine sand in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have thin layers of loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand. Structure is massive or weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or very friable.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in the same family. The Berkshire, Buckland, Longrie, Stowe, Tunbridge, and Vershire soils are in related families. Berkshire, Longrie and Tunbridge soils have spodic horizons, and Longrie and Tunbridge soils are moderately deep to bedrock. Buckland and Stowe soils have densic materials in the substratum. Vershire soils are moderately deep to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Colrain soils are on level to very steep glaciated uplands. They are on broad plains and on the tops and side slopes of mountains, hills, ridges, and knolls. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. The soils formed in loamy glacial till derived mainly from interbedded siliceous limestone and mica schist. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 50 inches, and the mean annual temperature ranges from 40 to 44 degrees F. The frost free season ranges from 90 to 135 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Buckland, Cabot, Peacham, Stowe, Tunbridge, and Woodstock soils. The moderately well drained Buckland soils, poorly drained Cabot soils and very poorly drained Peacham soils are in a drainage sequence with the Colrain soils. Stowe soils are on similar landscapes and have densic materials in the substratum. Tunbridge and Woodstock soils are on bedrock controlled landforms. Tunbridge soils are moderately deep to bedrock and Woodstock soils are shallow to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested. Sugar maple, beech, yellow birch, white birch, ash, white and red spruce, balsam fir and hemlock are major species. Areas that have been cleared of stones and are being farmed are used mainly for hayland and pasture. A small acreage of corn is grown for silage.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Vermont and Massachusetts (MLRA 143 and 144B). The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Massachusetts, 1929.
REMARKS: 1. The classification is updated to the 7th edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy with this revision. The previous classification was coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid Entic Haplorthods.
2. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Umbric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 6 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 6 to 13 inches (Bw horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL data is available for the following pedons: S59VT-9-5 (SSIR 20); S59VT-9-6 (SSIR 20)