LOCATION LYME NH+ME NY VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, acid, frigid Aeric Endoaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Lyme gravelly loam, on a 1 percent slope in a forested upland drainageway. (Colors are for moist soil.)
0e--1 inch to 0; hemic material comprised of partially decomposed conifer needles and twigs.
A--0 to 7 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) gravelly loam; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine, common medium, and few coarse roots; 5 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles, and 10 percent stones; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 11 inches thick)
Bg1--7 to 12 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) gravelly sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; many fine and medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and distinct gray (5Y 5/1) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; 10 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bg2--12 to 25 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) gravelly sandy loam; massive; friable; many fine and medium distinct light olive (5Y 5/3) and common fine prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; 15 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizon is 5 to 25 inches.)
BC--25 to 30 inches; olive (5Y 5/3) gravelly sandy loam; massive; friable; common fine prominent dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) and many medium distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) masses of iron accumulation, and many medium faint olive gray (5Y 5/2) iron depletions; 15 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Cg--30 to 41 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) gravelly sandy loam; massive; friable; many coarse prominent dark red (2.5YR 3/6), red (2.5YR 5/6) and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; 12 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles, and 2 percent stones; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
C--41 to 65 inches; olive (5Y 5/3) gravelly sandy loam; massive; friable; few fine prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and few fine faint pale olive (5Y 6/3) iron depletions; 12 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles, and 2 percent stones; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Sullivan County, New Hampshire; Town of Lempster, 4,000 feet north of the intersection of Sand Pond Road and the Lempster-Marlow town line.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 15 to 36 inches. Rock fragments make up 5 to 30 percent of the solum and 10 to 35 percent of the C horizon. Unless limed, the soil is very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout. Consistence is very friable or friable when moist.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Dry value is 5 or 6. Texture is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or their gravelly or cobbly analogues.
Some pedons have a Bw horizon that has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or their gravelly or cobbly analogues.
The Bg horizon is neutral or has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma 0 to 2. Texture is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or their gravelly or cobbly analogues.
The BC horizon, where present, is neutral or has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. The range in texture is the same as the Bg horizon.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma 1 to 4. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or their gravelly or cobbly analogues. Below a depth of 30 inches, some pedons have loamy sand or loamy coarse sand textures.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in the same family. Pillsbury soils are similar soils in a closely related family. They have substrata formed in dense basal till and have episaturation. Suny may be a competing series when assigned a cation exchange activity class. Suny soils have redder hue in the C horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lyme soils are on nearly level to strongly sloping areas in slightly concave areas and shallow drainageways of glaciated uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent. The soils formed in Wisconsin aged glacial till derived mainly from granite, gneiss, and schist. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 50 inches, mean annual soil temperature ranges from 43 degrees to 47 degrees F., and the frost-free growing season ranges from 90 to 140 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Lyme soils are in a drainage sequence with the well drained Berkshire and Monadnock soils and the moderately well drained Sunapee soils. Common associates are the well drained Marlow soils and the moderately well drained Peru soils and Skerry soils. These soils developed in more dense glacial till. The excessively drained Colton, well to excessively drained Adams, moderately well drained Croghan, and somewhat poorly to poorly drained Moosilauke and Naumburg soils are nearby soils that formed in water sorted sands and gravel.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid. The water table is at or near the surface for 7 to 9 months in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of this soil is forested with water tolerant trees. Principal species include balsam fir, red maple, eastern white pine, and red spruce. Cleared areas are used primarily for hay or pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York; MLRA 143 and 144B. The series is extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sullivan County, New Hampshire, 1981.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 7 inches (A horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 7 to 30 inches (Bg1, Bg2, and BC horizons).
c. Aquepts feature - horizons at a depth less than 20 inches (50 cm) that have matrix chroma of 2 or less with redox concentrations (Bg1 and Bg2 horizons).
d. Aeric feature - horizon within the upper 30 inches (75 cm) that has chroma greater than 2 (BC horizon).