LOCATION DIXFIELD ME+VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Aquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Dixfield fine sandy loam, on an 8 percent north-facing slope in a very stony wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oa--0 to 1 inch; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) sapric material; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine and common medium roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
E--1 to 4 inches; gray (5YR 6/1) fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine and common medium roots; 5 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
Bhs--4 to 7 inches; very dusky red (2.5YR 2/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine and common medium roots; 5 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
Bs1--7 to 12 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; 5 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bs2--12 to 20 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; moderate fine granular structure; friable; few very fine, fine and medium roots; 5 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizon is 3 to 19 inches thick.)
BC--20 to 25 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; common fine and medium distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) iron depletions, and common fine and medium faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) and few fine and medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; 10 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 15 inches thick)
Cd--25 to 65 inches; olive (5Y 5/3) gravelly fine sandy loam; very firm; few fine faint light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) iron depletions, and common medium distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) and few fine and medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; 10 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; strong very coarse prisms parting to moderate thin and medium plates;very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Franklin County, Maine; Coplin Plantation; 0.5 mile on logging road which is the first left past Nash Stream on gravel road going south from Maine Route 16, 4.5 miles west of Stratton Village, 200 feet north of logging road; USGS Black Nubble topographic quadrangle; lat. 45 degrees 04 minutes 55 seconds N. and long. 70 degrees 28 minutes 44 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the mineral solum ranges from 20 to 36 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Texture is most commonly fine sandy loam, but the range includes sandy loam and loam in the fine-earth fraction. The weighted average of clay in the particle-size control section is less than 10 percent. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to slightly acid in the solum and from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the substratum. Rock fragments are predominantly gravel, channers, and cobbles with a few stones, and typically range from 5 to 30 percent throughout the mineral soil; in some pedons rock fragment content is less than 5 percent in A, E and/or Bhs horizons. Stones and boulders cover from 0 to 15 percent of the surface. Redoximorphic features in the BC and CB horizons (where present) are 16 inches or deeper from the mineral soil surface.
The Oa horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It has weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular structure. Some pedons have an Oe and, or Oi horizon.
The A or Ap horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR to 10YR, with value and chroma of 2 to 4. It has weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular structure. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. It has weak or moderate, fine or medium granular or weak thin platy structure. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The Bhs horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, with value and chroma of 2 to 3. The Bh horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 2 to 5 and chroma of 2 to 6. They have weak or moderate, very fine or fine granular or subangular blocky structure. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. It commonly has weak or moderate, very fine to medium granular structure. Some pedons have subangular blocky structure. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The BC horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. It has weak or moderate, fine or medium, granular or subangular blocky structure, or it is weak or moderate, thin to thick platy. Some pedons have weak or moderate, coarse or very coarse prismatic structure. Consistence is friable or firm. Some pedons have a CB horizon with characteristics similar to the BC horizon.
The Cd horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It has weak or moderate, thin to very thick plates or has moderate or strong, coarse or very coarse prisms which in some pedons parts to weak or moderate, thin to thick plates, or the horizon is massive. Arrangement of soil particles into aggregates in the Cd horizon is considered inherited from the parent material. Consistence is firm or very firm. Loose or friable segregated sand lenses with a horizontal orientation that are layered within a loamy matrix constitute 0 to 20 percent of the fabric of the till.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Chesuncook, Colonel, Crary, Dixmont, Mundal, Peru, Skerry, Sunapee, Telos and Worden series. Chesuncook and Telos soils have a weighted average of more than 10 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Colonel soils have redoximorphic features between depths of 7 to 16 inches from the mineral soil surface. Crary soils have a thin aeolian or water deposited mantle. Dixmont and Sunapee soils lack dense glacial till. Mundal soils have a spodic horizon greater than 18 inches thick or a Bh horizon greater than 4 inches thick. Peru soils have been mapped to cover both moderately well and somewhat poorly drained conditions. Skerry soils have between 20 to 80 percent segregated sand lenses in the substratum. Worden soils are somewhat poorly drained and have a Bh horizon greater than 4 inches thick.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Dixfield soils are on drumlins and glacial till ridges. Slope ranges from 0 to 50 percent, but commonly is less than 20 percent. The soils formed in dense glacial till of Wisconsin Age derived mainly from mica schist, granite, phyllite, and gneiss. The climate is humid and cool temperate. The mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 46 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 48 inches. The frost-free season ranges from 90 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 5 to 2500 feet above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Berkshire, Colonel, Lyman, Marlow, Monadnock and Tunbridge soils. The Berkshire, Marlow, Monadnock, and Tunbridge soils are in higher topographic positions on the landscape and are better drained. Colonel soils are somewhat poorly drained and are in lower positions on the landscape. Lyman soils are shallow to bedrock and are on higher knolls on the landscape.
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 forest. Common tree species include sugar maple, red maple, white ash, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, paper birch, yellow birch, red spruce, white spruce, and balsam fir. Areas cleared of stones are used mainly for hay and pasture. A few areas are used for cultivated crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine and Vermont. The series is of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Oxford County, Maine, 1987.
REMARKS: 1. The Dixfield series replaces some soils formerly mapped with the Peru series that are moderately well drained. 2. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Albic horizon - the zone from 1 to 4 inches (E horizon).
b. Spodic horizon - the zone from 4 to 20 inches (Bhs, Bs1, and Bs2 horizons).
c. Cd horizon - very firm, dense glacial till at a depth of 25 inches. d. Aquic conditions - redoximorphic features at 19 inches below the mineral soil surface.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Source of data used in establishing taxonomic class and range in characteristics is Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, Technical Bulletin 155, 1994.
Soil Interpretation Record Numbers for the Dixfield Series are: Dixfield, ME0104; Dixfield, stony, ME0105; Dixfield, bouldery, ME0125.