LOCATION CATDEN CT+ NJ NY PAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Euic, mesic Typic Haplosaprists
TYPICAL PEDON: Catden muck - 0 percent slope under swamp vegetation at an elevation of about 620 feet. (Colors are for moist soil. When described the soil was wet and the water table was 6 inches above the soil surface.)
Oa1-- 0 to 2 inches; black (10YR 2/1) broken face and rubbed muck; 25 percent fibers, 15 percent rubbed; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine to medium roots; 10 percent woody fragments; less than 5 percent mineral soil material; very strongly acid (pH 4.6 in 0.01M calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa2-- 2 to 18 inches; black (7.5YR 2.5/1) broken face and rubbed muck; 15 percent fibers, 10 percent rubbed; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine to fine roots; less than 5 percent mineral soil material; very strongly acid (pH 4.7 in 0.01M calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa3-- 18 to 47 inches; black (7.5YR 2.5/1) broken face and rubbed muck; 40 percent fibers, 10 percent rubbed; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; less than 5 percent mineral soil material; very strongly acid (pH 4.8 in 0.01M calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa4-- 47 to 49 inches; very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) broken face and rubbed muck; 5 percent fibers, 0 percent rubbed; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; less than 5 percent mineral soil material; very strongly acid (pH 4.9 in 0.01M calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa5-- 49 to 61 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) broken face and rubbed muck; 2 percent fibers, 0 percent rubbed; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; less than 5 percent mineral soil material; very strongly acid (pH 4.8 in 0.01M calcium chloride).
TYPE LOCATION: Windham County, Connecticut; 75 feet north of Horse Hill Road at a point 3500 feet west of the intersection of North Road and Horse Hill Road, in a swamp. USGS Westford topographic quadrangle, latitude 41 degrees 54 minutes 05 seconds N., longitude 72 degrees 08 minutes 41 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The organic material extends to a depth of 51 inches or more. The reaction throughout the pedon ranges from very strongly acid to neutral in 0.01M calcium chloride. The pH value is 4.5 or more (in 0.01M calcium chloride) in one or more layers of organic soil materials within the control section. Woody fragments occur throughout the profile in most pedons consisting of twigs, branches, logs or stumps, and range from 0 to 30 percent by volume in the control section. Fragments range in size from 3/4 inch to more than a foot in diameter.
The surface tier has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, or is neutral; value of 1 to 4, and chroma of 0 to 6. It is dominantly muck (sapric material); however, some pedons have surface layers of peat (fibric material) or mucky peat (hemic material). The structure of the surface tier is weak or medium, coarse to fine granular, platy, subangular blocky, or is massive.
The subsurface tier has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, or is neutral, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 0 to 4. Chroma or value or both may change from 0.5 to 2 units upon rubbing. Broken faces become darker upon brief exposure to air. The layer is dominated by sapric material with a rubbed fiber content of less than 17 percent of the organic volume. The subsurface tier has granular or blocky
structure or is massive. The unrubbed, well-decomposed organic material resembles woody plant tissue.
The bottom tier has colors similar to the subsurface tier and has variable amounts of woody and herbaceous layers, however, woody fibers are dominant. This tier commonly is massive but in some pedons it has weak coarse blocky or thick platy structure. The subsurface and bottom tiers are dominantly sapric material but some pedons have thin layers of hemic material.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Carlisle, Houghton, Lena, Peteetneet, Saltese, and Semiahmoo series. Carlisle soils are dominantly herbaceous fibers in the bottom tier, are moist for more than 60 cumulative days in any part of the upper 6 inches in a normal year, and have mean annual precipitation less than 43 inches. Houghton soils formed primarily in herbaceous materials, are moist for more than 60 cumulative days in any part of the upper 6 inches in a normal year, and have a mean annual precipitation less than 43 inches. Lena, Peteetneet, Saltese, and Semiahmoo soils are from outside LRRs R and S. Lena soils contain free carbonates throughout. Peteetneet soils have an annual precipitation of less than 16 inches. Saltese soils have an annual precipitation of less than 22 inches. Semiahmoo soils have mean summer temperatures less than 65 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Catden soils are in depressions on lake plains, outwash plains, moraines, and flood plains. These soils formed in woody and herbaceous organic materials. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual temperature is 46 to 50 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation is 43 to 50 inches but the range includes as low as 26 inches in some places east of Adirondack Mountains in the Champlain Valley of New York. The frost-free period is 120 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alden, Chippewa, Freetown, Halsey, Leicester, Natchaug, Ridgebury, Timakwa, Volusia, Wallkill, Whitman, and Wurtsboro soils on nearby landscapes. Moderately well, somewhat poorly, poorly, or very poorly drained mineral soils such as Alden, Chippewa, Leicester, Ridgebury, Volusia, Whitman, and Wurtsboro occur at the margins of Catden areas as they grade to higher positions on the landscape. Freetown soils have a dysic reaction class. Halsey soils are in similar positions and are mineral soils. Natchaug and Timakwa soils are on similar positions and have mineral substrata at depths of 16 to 51 inches. Wallkill soils are on similar positions and have mineral layers overlying the organic layers.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. Depth to the seasonal high water table ranges from 1 foot above the surface to 1 foot below the surface from September to June. Surface runoff is very low or negligible. Saturated hydraulic conductivity ranges from moderately low to high. Some areas are subject to rare, very brief flooding during March and April.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for wildlife, or are in woodland or cutover woodland. Some of these soils are used for pasture. Common vegetation is red maple, skunk cabbage, marsh fern, and sphagnum moss.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Swamps and other low-lying areas in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and likely Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont; MLRAs 101, 140, 142, 144A and 145. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sussex County, New Jersey, 2002.
REMARKS: This series was proposed as part of the Connecticut Statewide Update Survey, 2000. The name is from a local swamp. These soils were previously mapped in Connecticut as Carlisle and Peat and Muck.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Sapric material - the zone from the surface to 61 inches (Oa1, Oa2, Oa3, Oa4 and Oa5 horizons).
2. Euic reaction class - pH of 4.5 or more in 0.01 M calcium chloride in one or more organic layers within the control section (Oa1, Oa2, Oa3, Oa4 and part of the Oa5 horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Partial characterization data for sample No. S84NY071001-006. Pedon analyzed by the NSSL, Lincoln, NE.