LOCATION PEACHAM VT+MA ME NH NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, active, nonacid, frigid, shallow Histic Humaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Peacham muck, on a 1 percent southwest-facing slope in an idle field. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oe--0 to 8 inches; mucky peat.
Oa--8 to 14 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) muck; moderate fine granular structure; friable; common fine and very fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Oa and 0e horizons ranges from 6 to 16 inches.)
Bg1--14 to 19 inches; gray (N 5/0) fine sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; common fine and medium prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 10 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bg2--19 to 21 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; many fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; common fine distinct dark gray (N 4/0) iron depletions in the matrix; 5 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bg3--21 to 29 inches; dark gray (N 4/0) and olive gray (5Y 4/2) gravelly loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; many medium prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 15 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary (Combined thickness of the Bg horizon is 2 to 18 inches).
Cdg1--29 to 62 inches; olive gray (5Y 4/2) gravelly silt loam; weak thick platy structure; firm; common fine and medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; common fine and medium prominent gray (N 5/0) iron depletions in the matrix; 15 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary (20 to 53 inches thick).
Cdg2--62 to 72 inches; olive gray (5Y 4/2) gravelly fine sandy loam; massive; firm; common fine and medium prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 25 percent rock fragments; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Washington County, Vermont; Town of Warren, 1,760 feet north of the East Warren four corners and 1050 feet northwest of the East Warren cemetery. USGS Warren topographic quadrangle; Latitude 44 degrees 06 minutes 50 seconds N., Longitude 72 degrees 49 minutes 10 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum is 6 to 19 inches. Depth to dense basal till is less than 20 inches from the mineral soil surface. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral throughout the soil. Rock fragments are mostly gravel and cobbles and range from 5 to 30 percent in the mineral horizons.
The O horizon is neutral or has hue of 5YR to l0YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is muck or mucky peat.
Some pedons have an A horizon with hue of l0YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of l or 2. Texture is fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam, or their gravelly or mucky analogs.
The Bg horizon is neutral or has hue of l0YR to 5GY, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Cdg horizon is neutral or has hue of 2.5Y to 5B, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. It is massive or has weak, thin to thick, platy structure. Consistence is firm or very firm.
Some pedons have thin sandy lenses in the Bg and Cdg horizon.
Some pedons have a thin, friable Cg horizon above the Cdg horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in this family. The Burnham, Nahma, Pleine, Rollaway, Sabattis, Sago, Waucedah, and Witbeck are similar soils in related families. Burnham soils have more than 10 percent clay in the particle size control section and have a superactive cation exchange activity class. Nahma, Pleine(T), Rollaway, Sago, Waucedah, and Witbeck series are from outside of Region R. None of these soils are underlain by dense till.
The Cabot, Henrietta, Mansfield, Whitman, and Wonsqueak series are in related families. Cabot soils do not have a histic epipedon and are poorly drained. Wonsqueak soils formed in more than 16 inches of organic materials. Henrietta, Mansfield, and Whitman soils have a mesic temperature regime.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Peacham soils are nearly level to gently sloping and are in depressions and drainageways on glaciated uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. The soils formed in organic materials less than 16 inches thick and in the underlying dense, loamy till of Wisconsin age that is derived mainly from phyllite, schist, or granite. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 50 inches, and the mean annual air temperature ranges from 38 to 46 degrees F. The frost-free season ranges from 70 to 135 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Brayton, Buckland, Cabot, Marlow, Peru, Stowe, Tunbridge, Vershire, Westbury, and Woodstock soils. All of these soils are in higher positions on the landscape. Cabot soils are poorly drained. Brayton soils are somewhat poorly drained and poorly drained. Westbury soils are somewhat poorly drained. Buckland and Peru soils are moderately well drained. Marlow and Stowe soils are well drained. Tunbridge, and Vershire soils are well drained and are moderately deep to bedrock. Woodstock soils are somewhat excessively drained and are shallow to bedrock. Also, Marlow, Peru and Tunbridge soils have spodic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow in the solum and slow or very slow in the substratum. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the solum and moderately low to low in the dense substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested. The common trees are eastern white pine and alders and other water-tolerant species. In the northern part of the range northern white cedar and black spruce are common. A small acreage has been cleared and is used for hay or pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York; MLRA 143 and 144B. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Vermont, 1948.
REMARKS: 1. The particle size class is revised from coarse-loamy to loamy in accordance with Keys with this revision.
2. The series was formerly classified as coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid Humic Fragiaquepts.
3. The diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Histic epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 14 inches (Oa and Oe horizons).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 14 to 29 inches (Bg horizon).
c. Redoximorphic features - Masses of iron accumulation in the matrix, iron depletions in the matrix, and iron depleted matrix from 14 to 72 inches.