LOCATION PILLSBURY NH+MA ME NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, acid, frigid Aeric Epiaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Pillsbury gravelly loam, in a depressional area in a drumloidal upland. (Colors are for moist soil.)
0e--0 to 1 inches; hemic material comprised of partially decomposed forest litter. (0 to 3 inches thick)
A--1 to 6 inches; black (10YR 2/1) gravelly loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; many fine and common medium roots; 20 percent gravel, cobbles and stones; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Bg1--6 to 13 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation and few fine prominent olive gray (5Y 5/2), and gray (5Y 5/1) iron depletions; 15 percent gravel, cobbles and stones; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bg2--13 to 23 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; very few fine roots; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 4/4), light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4), and olive (5Y 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; 15 percent gravel, cobbles and stones; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizon is 4 to 24 inches.)
Cd--23 to 66 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; massive; firm; common medium faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; a few widely spaced fracture faces with gray (5Y 5/1) interiors and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) rinds that extend almost vertically into horizon; 20 percent gravel, cobbles and stones; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Sullivan County, New Hampshire; Town of Lempster, 2,000 feet north of the junction of the Unity-Lempster and Newport-Unity roads. Approximate latitude 43 degrees, 14 minutes, 35 seconds N., and longitude 71 degrees, 13 minutes, and 00 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to densic materials ranges from 15 to 36 inches. Rock fragments of gravel, cobbles, and stones make up 5 to 45 percent of the solum and substratum. Unless limed, the soil is very strongly acid or strongly acid to a depth of 30 inches and ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid below a depth of 30 inches.
The 0 horizon is fibric, hemic, or sapric material.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Some pedons have an Ap horizon that has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma 1 to 3. It has textures similar to the A horizon.
Some pedons have an E horizon that has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. It has textures similar to the A horizon.
The Bg horizon is neutral or has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2.
Some pedons have a Bw horizon that has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4.
Some pedons have a BC horizon that has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4.
The Bg, Bw, and BC horizons are loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Consistence is friable or firm.
The Cd horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4. Texture is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. It is massive, platy, or coarse prismatic and is dense and compact. Consistence is firm or very firm.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in the same family. The Monarda series is in a closely related family and may be a competing series when a cation exchange activity class is assigned. Monarda soils have more than 10 percent clay in the particle size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pillsbury soils are nearly level to sloping. They are in slightly concave areas and shallow drainageways on glaciated uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent, but are dominantly from 0 to 8 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 from 43 to 47 degrees F., and frost-free growing season ranges from 90 to 140 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Berkshire, Marlow, Peru, and Sunapee soils. Pillsbury soils are in a drainage sequence with the well drained Marlow soils and the moderately well drained Peru soils. The well drained Berkshire soils and the moderately well drained Sunapee soils are on higher positions on the landscape and do not have dense substrata.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained or somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is slow to medium. Permeability is moderate above the solum and slow in the densic materials. A perched, fluctuating water table above the Cd horizon is at or near the surface 7 to 9 months of the year.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are forested. Principal tree species include northern red oak, sugar maple, eastern white pine, and red spruce. Cleared areas are used primarily for hay or pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: New Hampshire, Western Massachusetts, Maine, and New York. The series is extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sullivan County, New Hampshire, 1981.
REMARKS: Pillsbury soils were previously classified as Aeric Haplaquepts.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 1 to 6 inches (A horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 6 to 23 inches (Bg horizon).
3. Aeric feature - horizon within the upper 30 inches (75 cm) that has chroma greater than 2 (Cd horizon).