LOCATION NATCHAUG CT+MA NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, euic, mesic Terric Haplosaprists
TYPICAL PEDON: Natchaug peat - 0 percent slope in a swamp at an elevation of about 698 feet. (Colors are for moist soil. When described the soil was wet and the water table was at the soil surface.)
Oi1-- 0 to 1.5 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) broken face and rubbed peat; 90 percent fibers, 90 percent rubbed; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and medium roots; 5 percent coarse woody fragments; less than 5 percent mineral soil material; ultra acid (pH 3.4 in 0.01 M calcium chloride); abrupt smooth boundary.
Oi2-- 1.5 to 3.5 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) broken face and rubbed peat; 80 percent fibers, 60 percent rubbed; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and medium roots; 5 percent coarse woody fragments; less than 5 percent mineral soil material; extremely acid (pH 3.6 in 0.01 M calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Oi horizons is 0 to 4 inches.)
Oa1-- 3.5 to 6 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) broken face and rubbed muck; 25 percent fibers, 7 percent rubbed; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and medium roots; 5 percent coarse woody fragments; less than 5 percent mineral soil material; extremely acid (pH 3.6 in 0.01 M calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa2-- 6 to 11 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2.5/2) broken face and rubbed muck; 20 percent fibers, 2 percent rubbed; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and medium roots; 2 percent coarse woody fragments; less than 5 percent mineral material; extremely acid (pH 4.1 in 0.01 M calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa3-- 11 to 18 inches; black (5YR 2.5/1) broken face and rubbed muck; 5 percent fibers, 0 percent rubbed; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 2 percent coarse woody fragments; less than 5 percent mineral material; extremely acid (pH 4.4 in 0.01 M calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa4-- 18 to 24 inches; black (10YR 2/1) broken face and rubbed muck; 0 percent fibers, 0 percent rubbed; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; less than 5 percent mineral material; very strongly acid (pH 4.6 in 0.01 M calcium chloride); abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Oa horizons is 16 to 51 inches.)
2Cg1-- 24 to 33 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) fine sandy loam; massive; friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 8 percent medium faint gray (10YR 6/1) areas of iron depletion, 2 percent coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) and 10 percent medium faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear smooth boundary.
2Cg2-- 33 to 36 inches; gray (2.5Y 6/1) fine sandy loam; massive; friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 5 percent medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) iron concentrations and streaks; moderately acid (pH 5.8); clear smooth boundary.
2Cg3-- 36 to 80 inches; gray (2.5Y 6/1) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; massive; friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 1 percent gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.8).
TYPE LOCATION: Windham County, Connecticut; 500 feet south of Pilfershire Road at a point 1500 feet west of the intersection of Fayette Wright Road and Pilfershire Road, in a swamp. USGS Hampton topographic quadrangle, latitude 41 degrees 50 minutes 35 seconds N., longitude 72 degrees 03 minutes 36 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The organic material extends to a depth of 16 to 51 inches. The reaction of the organic material ranges from ultra acid to slightly alkaline. The pH value is 4.5 or more (in 0.01 M calcium chloride) in one or more layers of organic soil materials within the control section. The reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral in the substratum. Woody fragments commonly occur throughout the organic soil materials in most pedons consisting of twigs, branches, logs or stumps, and average from 2 to 15 percent by volume in the control section. Fragments range in size from 3/4 inch to a foot in diameter.
The surface tier has hue of 10YR to 5YR, or is neutral; value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 0 to 6. It is peat, mucky peat, or muck (fibric, hemic, or sapric materials). The structure of the surface tier is massive, or is weak or medium, coarse to fine granular or subangular blocky.
The subsurface tier has hue of 10YR to 5YR, or is neutral, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 0 to 4. The tiers are commonly massive, but some pedons have weak coarse blocky or thick platy structure. It is commonly muck (sapric materials).
The bottom tier, where present, has characteristics similar to the subsurface tier.
The 2C or 2Cg horizon has a hue of 10YR to 5GY, or is neutral; value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 6. It is loamy very fine sand, very fine sandy loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam, or gravelly analogues of these textures. Rock fragments range in size from gravel to stones and from 0 to 20 percent by volume.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Klossner, Linwood, Medo, Palms, Philbon, and Shalcar series. Klossner, Linwood, Medo, Philbon, and Shalcar soils are from outside LRRs R and S. Klossner and Philbon soils have A horizons directly below the organic material. Linwood soils are moist for more than 60 cumulative days in any part of the upper 6 inches of the soil in a normal year. Palms soils formed primarily in herbaceous materials and lack woody fragments. Medo soils have sandy textures in the lower part of the series control section. Shalcar soils have mean summer temperatures that average less than 65 degrees F. Klossner, Linwood, Medo, Palms, Philbon, and Shalcar soils also average less than 43 inches of precipitation annually.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Natchaug soils are in depressions on lake plains, outwash plains, moraines, till plains 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. The frost-free period is 120 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Catden, Freetown, Leicester, Ridgebury, Timakwa, and Whitman soils on nearby landscapes. Catden and Freetown soils have organic deposits more than 51 inches deep. Timakwa soils have a sandy mineral substratum at depths of 16 to 51 inches. Poorly drained or very poorly drained mineral soils such as Ridgebury, Leicester, and Whitman occur at the margins of Natchaug soils as they grade to the upland.
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 October to June. Surface runoff is negligible or very low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately low to very high in the organic layers and moderately low to high in the loamy material. Some areas are subject to rare, very brief flooding during March and April.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for wildlife habitat, or are in woodland or clear-cut woodland. Some areas are used for pasture. Common vegetation is red maple, skunk cabbage and sphagnum moss.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Low-lying areas in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York; MLRAs 140, 144A, and 145. The series is of small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Connecticut Statewide Update Survey, 2003. The name is from a local state forest.
REMARKS: These soils were previously mapped in Connecticut as the Palms series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Organic material - the zone from the surface to 24 inches (Oi1, Oi2, Oe, Oa1, Oa2, and Oa3 horizons)
2. Terric feature - mineral soil material at a depth of 24 to 80 inches (2Cg1, 2Cg2, and 2Cg3 horizons)
3. Particle size control section - 24 to 51 inches (2Cg1, 2Cg2, and part of the 2Cg3 horizon);
4. Histosols control section - the zone from 0 to 51 inches (Oi1, Oi2, Oe, Oa1, Oa2, 2Cg1, 2Cg2, and part of the 2Cg3 horizon)
5. Euic reaction class - pH of 4.5 or more in 0.01 M calcium chloride in one or more organic layers within the Histosols control section (Oa3 horizon)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Full characterization data from pedon 0P1230, samples 0P 7143- 7151 from Windham County, Connecticut. Samples by NSSL, Lincoln, NE, 2000.