LOCATION HINCKLEY           MA +CT NH NY RI VT 

HINCKLEY SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Typic Udorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Hinckley loamy sand in woodland at an elevation of about 785 feet. (All colors are for moist soil.)

Oe--0 to 1 inch; moderately decomposed plant material derived from red pine needles and twigs.

Ap--1 to 8 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loamy sand; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 5 percent fine gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)

Bw1--8 to 11 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) gravelly loamy sand; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; 20 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bw2--11 to 16 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly loamy sand; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; 25 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 3 to 16 inches.)

BC--16 to 19 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; common fine and medium roots; 40 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)

C--19 to 65 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) extremely gravelly sand consisting of stratified sand, gravel and cobbles; single grain; loose; common fine and medium roots in the upper 8 inches and very few below; 60 percent gravel and cobbles; moderately acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Worcester County, Massachusetts; Town of Petersham, Harvard Forest, 240 feet north of Tom Swamp Road at a point 1.15 miles east of the intersection of Athol Road and Tom Swamp Road. USGS Athol quadrangle; latitude 42 degrees 30 minutes 41.5 seconds N., and longitude 72 degrees 12 minutes 30.63 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 12 to 30 inches. Rock fragment content of the solum ranges from 5 to 50 percent gravel, 0 to 30 percent cobbles, and 0 to 3 percent stones. Rock fragment content of individual horizons of the substratum ranges from 10 to 55 percent gravel, 5 to 25 percent cobbles, and 0 to 5 percent stones. In some places gravel content throughout the soil ranges up to 75 percent. The soil ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid except where limed.

The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy fine sand, loamy sand, or loamy coarse sand. Structure is weak or moderate very fine to coarse granular. Consistence is friable or very friable. Undisturbed areas have an A horizon that has hue of 10YR, value of 2, and chroma of 1 to 4.

Some pedons have thin E, Bhs, Bh, or Bs horizons below the A horizon.

The upper part of the Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. The lower part has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture, to a depth of 10 inches from the surface, is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy fine sand, loamy sand or loamy coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. Below 10 inches it is loamy fine sand, loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, fine sand, sand or coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak fine and/or medium granular or the horizon is structureless. It is very friable or loose.

Some pedons have a BC horizon with characteristics similar to both the B and 2C horizons.

The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 7, and chroma of 2 to 8. Texture is loamy fine sand, loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, fine sand, sand or coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction, and is stratified.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bonaparte, Manchester, Mecosta, Multorpor, Otisville, Quonset and Rikers series.

Mecosta and Multorpor soils are from outside Land Resource Region R.

Bonaparte soils have carbonates within a depth of 40 inches. Manchester soils have 5YR or redder hue in the Bw and C horizons. Mecosta and Multorpor soil are from outside of Region R. Mecosta soils are calcareous and Multorpor soils do not have Bw horizons. Otisville soils have rock fragments dominated by sandstone, shale, and slate. Quonset soils have rock fragments dominated by phyllite, slate, and shale. Rikers soils have carboliths in the soil.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hinckley soils are nearly level to very steep soils on terraces, outwash plains, deltas, kames, and eskers. Slope is generally 0 to 8 percent on tops of the terraces, outwash plains and deltas. Slope of 8 to 60 percent or more are on the kames, eskers and margins of the outwash plains, deltas, and terraces. The soils formed in water-sorted sand and gravel derived principally from granite, gneiss, and schist. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 55 degrees F. and mean annual rainfall ranges from 40 to 50 inches. Length of the growing season ranges from 140 to 200 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Agawam, Canton, Charlton, Deerfield, Essex, Gloucester, Merrimac, Paxton, Scarboro, Sudbury, Walpole, Wareham, and Windsor soils on nearby landscapes. Agawam and Merrimac soils are similar to Hinckley soils but have cambic horizons. Walpole, and Wareham soils are poorly drained. Canton, Charlton, Essex, Gloucester, and Paxton soils formed in glacial till. Deerfield and Sudbury soils are moderately well drained and Sudbury soils have cambic horizons. Scarboro soils are very poorly drained. Windsor soils have less than 15 percent rock fragments.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Surface runoff is negligible to low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or very high.

USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used for hay, pasture, and silage corn. In the southern Connecticut River Valley, Hinckley soils are used for growing tobacco and truck crops and in eastern Massachusetts, truck crops. Most areas are forested, brush land or used as urban land. Red, black, white, scarlet and scrub oak, white and pitch pine, hemlock and gray birch are the common trees. Unimproved pasture and idle land support hardhack, little bluestem, bracken fern, sweet fern, and low bush blueberry.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and possibly New Jersey. (MLRAs 101, 141, 142, 144A, 145, and 149B) The series is extensive.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Oneida County, New York, 1913.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 1 to 8 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Sandy-skeletal feature - the from 10 to 40 inches has a weighted average content of rock fragments of 51 percent and a particle size of the fine-earth fraction is sandy (Bw, BC, and C horizons).

ADDITIONAL DATA: Reference samples from pedons S55NH015002, S56MA011002, S56MA011003, S57MA023005, S58NH015002, S73MA009001, S73MA005002, S73MA009004, S73MA005005, S96NH013003 from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, samples by NSSL, Lincoln, NE, various dates.