LOCATION SASSAFRAS MD+DE NJ PA VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Sassafras sandy loam, cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil).
Ap--0 to 9 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few roots; strongly acid, abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
BA--9 to 21 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; moderate very fine to medium subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few roots; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
Bt1--21 to 32 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few clay films on faces of peds; very few roots; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--32 to 40 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy loam; weak thick platy structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few clay films on faces of peds; very few roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 10 to 20 inches.)
C1--40 to 52 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) gravelly sandy loam; massive; friable; slightly sticky, nonplastic; very strongly acid; 3 percent small light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) pockets of clay; clear smooth boundary.
C2--52 to 70 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) loamy sand; single grain; loose;, nonsticky, nonplastic; 5 percent, by volume fine yellowish brown (7.5YR 5/8) gravel; extremely acid.
TYPE LOCATION: St. Mary's County, Maryland; about 50 feet east of Queen Tree Landing Road, 0.75 mile northeast of the Community of Laurel Grove.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum Thickness: 25 to 50 inches
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 60 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Greater than 72 inches
Rock Fragments: 0 to 20 percent, by volume in the A and B horizon and 0 to 30 percent in the C horizon, mostly quartz pebbles
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid, throughout the profile, unless limed
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 2 to 4
Texture (fine-earth textures)--loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy fine sand, or loamy sand
A horizon (if it occurs is 1 to 4 inches thick):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, chroma of 1 to 4
Texture (fine-earth textures)--loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy fine sand, or loamy sand
E horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 2 to 4
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy fine sand, or loamy sand
BA or BE horizons (if they occur):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 4 to 8
texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or sandy clay loam
Bt horizon:
Color--5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, sandy loam, or sandy clay loam with a weighted average silt content of 20 to 35 percent
BC horizon (if it occurs):
Color--7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loamy sand, loamy fine sand, fine sandy loam, sandy loam
C horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 8, chroma of 3 to 8 or is variegated in shades of these colors
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sandy loam, loamy sand, or sand and the transition to sand is greater than 5 inches
Redoximorphic Features--iron depletions in shades of olive or and iron accumulations in shades of red, brown, yellow, or olive below a depth of 72 inches
COMPETING SERIES:
Alonzville soils--formed in alluvium derived from sandstone, siltstone, and shale
Bailegap soils--formed in residuum weathered from sandstone, siltstone, and shale and are deep to hard bedrock
Beersheba soil--formed in residuum weathered from sandstone and are moderately deep to paralithic contact
Gunstock soils--formed in residuum weathered from metasiltstone and phyllite and are moderately deep to a paralithic contact
Hambrook soils--have a seasonal high water at 48 to 72 inches
Harmiller soils--formed in residuum weathered from metasedimentary rocks and are moderately deep to a paralithic contact
Jefferson soils--formed in colluvium derived from sandstone, siltstone, and shale
Keener soils--formed in colluvium derived from arkose, metagraywacke, and quartzite
Lily soils--formed in residuum weathered from sandstone and are moderately deep to a lithic contact
Lonewood soils--formed in a silty mantle underlain by residuum weathered from sandstone and shale and have a lithic contact between 40 and 72 inches
Marr soils--have on a weighted average, less rock fragments in the particle-size control section and the sand fraction is dominantly fine or very fine sand
McCamy soils--formed in residuum weathered from metasedimentary rocks and have hard bedrock within 20 to 40 inches
Riney soils--formed in residuum weathered from sandstone and shale and are deep to soft bedrock
Shinbone soils--formed in residuum weathered from metasedimentary rocks and are deep to a paralithic contact
Sunnyside soils--have a Bt horizon with hue of 2.5YR or redder
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Coastal Plain
Landform: Summits and side slopes
Elevation: 35 to 330 feet
Parent Material: Sandy marine and old alluvial sediments
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 45 to 58 degrees F.
Mean Annual Precipitation: 35 to 50 inches
Frost Free Period: 160 to 250 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Downer soils--have a coarse-loamy particle-size control section, on similar landforms
Fallsington soils--poorly drained, on lower-lying landforms
Fort Mott soils--have a fragipan, on similar landforms
Galestown soils--have a sandy particle-size control section, on higher landforms
Klej soils--somewhat poorly drained and have a sandy particle-size control section, on lower-lying landforms
Marr soils--have on a weighted average, less rock fragments in the particle-size control section and the sand fraction is dominantly fine or very fine sand, on similar landforms
Matapeake soils--have a fine-silty particle-size control section, on similar landforms
Mattapex soils--moderately well drained, have a fine-silty particle-size control section, on similar landforms
Sunnyside soils--have a Bt horizon with hue of 2.5YR or redder, on similar landforms
Woodstown soils--moderately well drained, on slightly lower-lying landforms
USE: Mainly for general crops, truck crops, pastures, fruits, woodland, and wide variety of nonfarm uses.
VEGETATION: Native vegetation is mixed upland hardwoods, with some shortleaf and Virginia pine.
DISTRIBUTION: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia
EXTENT: Large
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cecil County, Maryland, 1900
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 21 inches (A and BA horizons)
Argillic horizon--the zone from 21 inches to 40 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Existing laboratory data show the Sassafras series to include soils with a weighted average clay content in the argillic horizon that ranges from about 16 to 25 percent. Also, included are soils that have sand or loamy sand within 40 inches of the surface and border on a strongly contrasting family. The Sassafras series, however, is thought to be dominantly fine-loamy with a weighted average clay content of about 21 percent in the argillic horizon. In management and behavior, this series responds like a fine-loamy soil.
SERIES INTERPRETATION RECORD(S): MD003, MD0047 (GRAVELLY)
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
MD0039 SASSAFRAS 0- 60 45- 58 160-250 35- 50 25- 330
MD0047 SASSAFRAS 0- 60 45- 65 170-250 35- 55 25- 600
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness MD0039 NONE 6.0-6.0 - >60 MD0047 NONE 6.0-6.0 - >60SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- MD0039 0- 9 SL FSL 0- 0 80-100 3-12 2- 10 MD0039 0- 9 L 0- 0 80-100 3-12 2- 10 MD0039 0- 9 LFS 0- 0 80-100 2- 8 2- 10 MD0039 9-40 L SCL SL 0- 0 80-100 18-27 1- 5 MD0039 40-70 SR S GR-SL 0- 0 50-100 3-16 1- 5 MD0047 0- 9 GR-L GR-SL 0- 10 50- 75 3-12 - MD0047 9-40 L SCL SL 0- 0 85-100 18-27 - MD0047 40-70 GR-SL LS S 0- 0 50-100 3-12 -
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll MD0039 0- 9 3.6- 5.5 1.-2. 0- 0 0.6- 6.0 LOW MD0039 0- 9 3.6- 5.5 1.-2. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW MD0039 0- 9 3.6- 5.5 1.-2. 0- 0 0.6- 6.0 LOW MD0039 9-40 3.6- 5.5 0.-.5 0- 0 0.2- 2.0 LOW MD0039 40-70 3.6- 5.5 0.-.5 0- 0 0.6- 20 LOW MD0047 0- 9 3.6- 5.5 1.-2. 0- 0 0.6- 6.0 LOW MD0047 9-40 3.6- 5.5 - 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW MD0047 40-70 3.6- 5.5 - 0- 0 0.6- 20 LOW