LOCATION WINOOSKI MA +CT NH NY VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, active, mesic Fluvaquentic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Winooski very fine sandy loam on a 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 69 meters. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 18 inches thick)
Bw1--8 to 18 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) very fine sandy loam; massive; friable; many fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Bw2--18 to 26 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) very fine sandy loam, common medium prominent pinkish gray (5YR 7/2) and faint brown (10YR 5/3) iron depletions; massive; friable; few fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 6 to 30 inches.)
BC--26 to 43 inches; olive gray (5Y 5/2) very fine sandy loam; massive; friable; common medium faint light gray (5Y 7/2) iron depletions and faint brown (10YR 5/3) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
C--43 to 65 inches; olive (5Y 5/3) loamy very fine sand; massive; friable; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions and prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Worcester County, Massachusetts, Town of Lancaster, 100 feet north of Massachusetts Route 117, 900 feet west of the Bolton town line; USGS Hudson topoquadrangle; latitude 42 degrees 27 minutes 35 seconds N., longitude 71 degrees 39 minutes 09 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 18 to 43 inches. Gravel ranges from 0 to 5 percent by volume throughout the soil. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral. At least one horizon above a depth of 40 inches is moderately acid, slightly acid or neutral. Depth to iron depletions with chroma of 2 or less ranges from 14 to 20 inches.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or loamy very fine sand. Structure is subangular blocky, platy, or granular. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. The hue is 7.5YR in some places. Matrix chroma of 2 is below a depth of 20 inches. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam. Structure is granular, massive, or subangular blocky. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Matrix chroma of 2 is below a depth of 20 inches. Texture is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or loamy very fine sand. Structure is granular, massive, or subangular blocky. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Matrix chroma of 2 is below a depth of 20 inches. Texture is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or loamy very fine sand. Some pedons have thin strata of very fine sand, fine sand, sand, or coarse sand below a depth of 40 inches. The C horizon is massive or has fine stratification. Consistence is friable or very friable. The thickness and number of horizons below the A horizon is variable and corresponds to the thickness and variability of the alluvial deposits.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no soils currently in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Winooski soils are nearly level soils on flood plains. They are typically in broad depressions. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. The soils formed in recent alluvial deposits of very fine sand and silt. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 50 inches and mean annual air temperature from 45 degrees to 52 degrees F. Mean annual growing season ranges from 120 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Winooski soils are the moderately well drained member of a drainage sequence which includes the well drained Hadley soils, the poorly drained Limerick soils and the very poorly drained Saco soils on nearby landscapes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Flooding frequency varies from twice a year to once in 10 years. Stream overflow generally occurs during late winter or spring and during periods of high rainfall.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for growing hay, silage corn and pasture in support of dairying and to some extent for truck crops, potatoes, and tobacco. Native vegetation is forest composed mainly of red maple, silver maple, elm, willow, northern hardwoods, and white pine. Balsam fir and spruce are in the northerly range of the series.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Vermont; MLRAs 142, 144A, and 145. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Chittenden County, Vermont, 1938.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of about 8 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Coarse-silty particle size - less than 10 percent of the material in the 10 to 40 inch zone is sand or coarser, including gravel, and clay averages about 7 percent.
3. Cambic horizon the zone from 8 to 43 inches (Bw1, Bw2, and BC horizons) has evidence of alteration in the form of absence of rock structure or some degree of soil structure.
4. Aquic feature - redox depletions within a depth of 24 inches from the soil surface and aquic conditions at some time during the year.