LOCATION PERHAM MEEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, isotic, frigid Aquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Perham silt loam on an 8 percent west-facing convex slope in a very stony wooded area, at an elevation of about 1100 feet. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oa--0 to 1 inch; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) highly decomposed organic material; moderate very fine granular structure; very friable; many fine, medium and coarse roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
E--1 to 2 inches; gray (10YR 6/1) gravelly silt loam; strong very fine and fine granular structure; very friable; many fine, medium and coarse roots; many very fine and fine, continuous, random, irregular pores between peds; 15 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
Bs1--2 to 8 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) mixed with strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; strong very fine and fine granular structure; very friable; many fine, medium and coarse roots; many very fine and fine, continuous, random, irregular pores between peds; 7 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bs2--8 to 13 inches; 60 percent brown (7.5YR 4/4) and 40 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; strong very fine and fine granular structure; very friable; many fine, medium and coarse roots; many very fine and fine, continuous, random, irregular pores between peds; 8 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bs3--13 to 16 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; strong very fine and fine granular and weak thin platy structure; very friable; many fine roots and few coarse roots; many very fine and fine, continuous, random, irregular pores between peds; 8 percent gravel; brown (7.5YR 4/4) stains along fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Bs4--16 to 22 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; strong very thin to medium platy parting to moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine, medium and coarse roots; common fine and medium, continuous, random, irregular pores between peds; 10 percent gravel and 4 percent cobbles; spots of dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) on faces of peds; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (The combined thickness of the Bs horizon is 4 to 22 inches.)
BC--22 to 29 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly loam, light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) faces of plates; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) faces of prisms; strong very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and thick platy parting to moderate very fine and fine angular blocky; firm; few roots along faces of prisms; common fine and medium, discontinuous, random, vesicular pores in peds; common medium prominent olive gray (5Y 5/2) iron depletions with dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) rims; 15 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 11 inches thick)
Cd1--29 to 37 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) gravelly loam; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) faces of peds; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) faces of prisms; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) rubbed; strong very coarse prismatic structure parting to strong medium and thick platy parting to strong very fine to medium angular blocky; firm; few roots along faces of prisms and plates; common very fine, fine and medium, discontinuous, random, vesicular pores in peds; 16 percent gravel; very strongly acid; diffuse smooth boundary.
Cd2--37 to 65 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) gravelly loam, light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) faces of peds; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) faces of prisms, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) rubbed; strong very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium platy parting to strong very fine and fine angular blocky; firm; few roots along faces of prisms and plates; common very fine and fine, discontinuous, random, vesicular pores in peds; 16 percent gravel; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Piscataquis County, Maine; T5 R9 WELS; Baxter State Park, road to Lower South Branch Pond, 0.4 mile north of pond in road cut; USGS Wassataquoik Lake topographic quadrangle; lat. 46 degrees 06 minutes 47 seconds N. and long. 68 degrees 53 minutes 45 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to the dense basal till ranges from 20 to 30 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Rock fragment content ranges from 5 to 35 percent by volume. Rock fragments are about 80 percent gravel and 20 percent cobbles and stones. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the upper part of the solum and very strongly acid to slightly acid in the lower part of the solum and in the substratum.
The Oa horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. It has weak or moderate, very fine or fine granular structure.
The Ap horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is silt loam or loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak to strong, very fine to medium granular structure. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 6 and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silt loam or loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak to strong, very fine or fine granular structure. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The Bhs horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. The Bh horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. The B horizons are silt loam or loam in the fine-earth fraction. They have weak to strong, very fine to medium granular and subangular blocky structure or weak medium platy. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The BC horizon, or E' horizon where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 2 to 4. It is silt loam or loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak or moderate, thin to thick platy, very fine to medium subangular or angular blocky, or primary structure that is strong very coarse prismatic. Consistence is friable or firm.
The Cd horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 6. It is silt loam, loam, or clay loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has weak to strong, very fine to coarse subangular or angular blocky, weak or moderate, thin to very thick platy or primary structure that is moderate or strong coarse or very coarse prismatic. All structure in the Cd horizon is considered inherited from the parent material. Consistence is firm or very firm.
COMPETING SERIES: The Conant series is the only other series in the same family. Conant soils lack the dense basal till substratum and are influenced by limestone. The Daigle series is in a related family. Daigle soils are shallow to dense basal till and are the somewhat poorly drained members of the same catena.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Perham soils are on till plains and ridges. Slope is dominantly 2 to 8 percent, but ranges from 0 to 45 percent. The soils formed in dense glacial till derived mainly from slate, shale, metasandstone and some phyllite. The climate is humid and cool temperate. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 44 inches and mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 43 degrees F. The frost-free season ranges from 80 to 130 days. Elevation ranges from 120 to 2500 feet above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Daigle series and the Elliottsville and Monson series. Daigle soils are somewhat poorly drained and are in lower positions on the landscape. Elliottsville and Monson soils are shallower to bedrock and are in the highest positions on the landscape.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Permeability is moderate in the solum and slow or very slow in the dense substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cultivated areas are used primarily for potatoes, oats, peas, and mixed grass and clover hay. Many cultivated areas have reverted back to woodland. Wooded areas are forested with sugar maple, paper birch, yellow birch, beech, white ash, and to a lesser extent red spruce, white spruce, balsam fir, and white pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and eastern Maine. (MLRA's 143 and 146) The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Aroostook County, Maine, 1960.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 2 inches (Oa and E horizons).
b. Albic horizon - the zone from 1 to 2 inches (E horizon).
c. Spodic horizon - the zone from 2 to 13 inches (Bs1 and Bs2 horizons).
d. Aquic feature - redoximorphic features within 30 inches of the mineral soil surface.
e. Densic contact - at 29 inches.
f. Densic materials - the zone from 29 to 65 inches (Cd horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Sources of data used in establishing taxonomic class and range in characteristics are Maine Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin Number 75, NRCS characterization data, and composite data from the Field Appraisal of Resource Management Systems compiled by Dr. Paul R. Hepler, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Maine at Orono, Orono, Maine.
Soil Interpretation Record numbers for the Perham series are: Perham, ME0027; Perham, gravelly, ME0028; and Perham, stony, ME0092.