LOCATION SUNAPEE NH+VT NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Aquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Sunapee gravelly fine sandy loam on a 4 percent southeast facing slope in a stony, forested area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
0e-- 0 to 2 inches; moderately decomposed plant material.
A-- 2 to 3 inches; black (10YR 2/1) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and common medium roots; 20 percent rock fragments of gravel, cobbles, and stones; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick.)
E-- 3 to 5 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine, common medium, and few coarse roots; 20 percent rock fragments of gravel, cobbles, and stones; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick.)
Bhs-- 5 to 6 inches; dusky red (2.5YR 3/2) and dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; friable; many fine, common medium, and few coarse roots; 20 percent rock fragments of gravel, cobbles, and stones; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick.)
Bs1-- 6 to 8 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; many fine, common medium and few coarse roots; 20 percent rock fragments of gravel, cobbles, and stones; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bs2-- 8 to 17 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; 20 percent rock fragments of gravel, cobbles, and stones; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bs3-- 17 to 26 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; 20 percent rock fragments of gravel, cobbles, and stones; common fine and medium prominent reddish brown (5YR 5/4) and yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and light olive gray (5Y 6/2) iron depletions; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bhs and/or Bh, and Bs horizons is 9 to 32 inches.)
C1-- 26 to 38 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) and light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) gravelly sandy loam; massive; friable; few fine roots; 30 percent rock fragments of gravel, cobbles, and stones; very strongly acid; common fine, medium and coarse, prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6 and 5/8) masses of iron accumulation and faint light olive gray (5Y 6/2) iron depletions; clear wavy boundary.
C2-- 38 to 62 inches; pale olive (5Y 6/3) and light olive gray (5Y 6/2) gravelly sandy loam; massive; friable; 30 percent rock fragments of gravel, cobbles, and stones; common fine, medium and coarse, prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6 and 5/8) and prominent and distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) masses of iron accumulation, and faint light gray (5Y 7/2) iron depletions; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Sullivan County, New Hampshire, Town of Washington, 3,600 feet west southwest of the village of East Washington and 1500 feet north of the Hillsboro County line; USGS Lovewell Mountain, NH topographic quadrangle; Latitude 43 degrees, 11 minutes, 15 seconds N. and Longitude 72 degrees, 01 minutes, 56 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 18 to 39 inches. Rock fragments range from 5 to 35 percent in the solum and 5 to 55 percent in the substratum. Unless limed, the solum ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid and the C horizon from extremely acid to moderately acid.
Some pedons have an 0 horizon that is neutral or has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 3 and chroma of 0 to 2. It is partially, moderately, or highly decomposed plant (fibric, hemic or sapric) material and is up to 5 inches thick.
The A horizon has hue 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Some pedons have an Ap horizon that has hue of 10YR, with value and chroma of 2 to 4. The A horizon is fine sandy loam or loam or their gravelly or cobbly analogues.
The E horizon has hue 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam and their gravelly or cobbly analogues.
The Bhs horizon has hue 2.5YR to 7.5YR and value and chroma of 3 or less.
Some pedons have a Bh horizon that has hue 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 to 4.
The Bs horizon has hue 5YR to 2.5Y, value 3 to 5, and chroma 3 to 6. It is fine sandy loam or sandy loam or their gravelly or cobbly analogues. Consistence is friable or very friable when moist, but ranges from soft to hard when dry.
Some pedons have a BC horizon that has hue 7.5 YR to 5Y, value 4 to 6 and chroma 2 to 6. It is fine sandy loam or sandy loam or their gravelly or cobbly analogues. Consistence is friable or very friable when moist, but ranges from soft to hard when dry.
The C horizon has hue 10YR to 5Y, value 4 to 6, and chroma 2 to 4. It is fine sandy loam or sandy loam or their gravelly or cobbly analogs. Loamy sand or loamy fine sand or their gravelly or cobbly analogues is below a depth of 30 inches in some pedons. The horizon is massive or has weak platy structure. Consistence is very friable or friable when moist, but ranges from loose to hard when dry.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Chesuncook, Crary, Dixfield, Dixmont, Howland, Peru, Skerry, and Worden series. All of these soils except Dixmont are underlain by dense till. Dixmont soils have more than 50 percent silt in the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sunapee soils are nearly level to very steep soils of the glaciated uplands, typically in drainageways and on footslopes. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent, but is dominantly 3 to 15 percent. The soils formed in acid stony glacial till of Wisconsin age derived mainly from gneiss and schist. The climate is humid and cool. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 50 inches and the frost-free season from 90 to 140 days. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 38 to 46 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Sunapee soils are the moderately well drained member of a drainage sequence that includes the well drained Berkshire and Monadnock soils and the poorly drained Lyme soils. Common associates are the well drained Becket soils and the moderately well drained Skerry soils that formed in dense, coarser textured till. Colton, Adams, and Croghan soils are on nearby landscapes and developed in water sorted sands and gravel.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for runoff is low or moderate. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum and moderately high to very high in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of this soil is forested. Common species include northern red oak, sugar maple, Eastern white pine, red spruce, white spruce, and balsam fir. Areas cleared of surface stones are used primarily for hay or pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York; MLRAs 143, 144A and 144B. The series is of a moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sullivan County, New Hampshire, 1980. The source name is the town of Sunapee.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon are:
1. Albic horizon - the zone from 3 to 5 inches (E horizon).
2. Spodic horizon - the zone from 5 to 17 inches (Bhs, Bs1, and Bs2 horizons).
3. Aquic subgroup - redoximorphic features within a depth of 30 inches of the mineral soil surface (Bhs3 and C1).
4. Other features include a udic moisture regime, a frigid soil temperature regime, and a coarse-loamy particle-size control section (10-40 inches).