LOCATION SCITUATE MA+NH NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Scituate fine sandy loam - woodland, in a stony area. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise indicated).
A--0 to 5 inches; black (10YR 2/1) fine sandy loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak and moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; 10 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)
Bw1--5 to 21 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) fine sandy loam; massive; very friable; common fine roots; 10 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (7 to 18 inches thick)
Bw2--21 to 27 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy loam; massive; very friable; few fine roots; 10 percent gravel; common fine and medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 22 inches thick)
2Cd--27 to 65 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly loamy sand; massive; firm; 30 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; common medium distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) iron depletions; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Hampshire County, Massachusetts; Town of Pelham, 3600 feet northwest of the junction of Shutesbury Road and Daniel Shays Highway, 50 feet west of Shutesbury Road, in woods. Lat. 42 degrees 24 minutes 15 seconds N. and long. 72 degrees 24 minutes 43 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The loamy mantle is 18 to 34 inches thick and corresponds closely the depth to the dense substratum. Rock fragments are dominantly granite and gneiss. Gravel content ranges from 5 to 25 percent by volume in the solum and from 10 to 35 percent in the 2Cd horizon. Cobbles range from 0 to 15 percent throughout. The surface horizon has 0 to 20 percent stones and the B and 2C horizons have 0 to 10 percent stones. Boulders range from 0 to 5 percent throughout. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the surface horizon and from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the subsoil and substratum.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2, to 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. In cultivated areas the Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 through 4. Dry value of the Ap horizon is 6 or more. Texture is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak and moderate, fine or medium granular. Consistence is friable or very friable.
Some pedons have an incipient E horizon immediately below the A horizon.
The upper part of the Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak, fine or medium granular, or the horizon is massive. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The lower part of the Bw horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value and chroma of 4 to 6. Redox features are few to many and are distinct or prominent. Texture is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak, fine or medium granular, or the horizon is massive. Consistence is friable or very friable.
Some pedons have a thin BC horizon that ranges from loamy sand to sandy loam. Color range is the same as the lower part of the Bw horizon.
The 2Cd horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Redox features are common or many, medium and coarse, and are distinct or prominent. Texture is loamy sand, loamy fine sand, or loamy coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have subhorizons of sandy loam or fine sandy loam below a depth of 40 inches. Structure is weak, thick or very thick platy, or the horizon is massive. Consistence is firm or very firm.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Amostown, Bernardston, Broadbrook, Montauk, Mt. Zion (tentative), Nantucket, Paxton, Pollux, and Wethersfield series. Amostown and Pollux soils are underlain by stratified very fine sand or silt within a depth of 40 inches. Bernardston and Broadbrook soils have sola with more than 65 percent silt plus very fine sand. Montauk and Paxton soils are well drained and Paxton soils have loamy substrata. Nantucket soils have a lithologic discontinuity and have loamy substrata. Wethersfield soils have 5YR or redder hue in the B and C horizons. Mt. Zion soils are from outside of Region R. There is currently no information available to differentiate the soils of this series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Scituate soils are nearly level to moderately steep and are on glaciated uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. The soils are on nearly level to gently sloping tops of broad ridges and drumlins, and on gently sloping to moderately steep foot slopes and toe slopes. They formed in Wisconsin age loamy till underlain by dense sandy glacial till. The mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 50 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 45 inches. The frost free season ranges from 100 to 120 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The well drained Montauk, somewhat poorly and poorly drained Ridgebury, and very poorly drained Whitman soils are in a drainage sequence with Scituate. Deerfield, Hinckley, Merrimac, Scarboro, Sudbury, Walpole, and Wareham soils are on nearby glacial outwash plains, kames, deltas, and eskers. Hollis, Paxton, and Woodbridge soils are on nearby loamy glacial till uplands.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Permeability is moderate in the loamy subsoil and slow in the dense sandy substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly forested. Some areas are used for hay, pasture and silage corn. Common tree species in woodland are red, white, and scarlet oak; gray, black, and yellow birch; white ash; red maple; elm; white pine; and hemlock. Many areas are used for urban development.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and eastern New York (MLRAs 142, 144A, 145 and 149B). Moderate extent with an estimated 75,000 acres.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Providence County, Rhode Island; 1937.
REMARKS: 1. Scituate soils have previously been classified as Aquentic Fragiorthods, Typic Fragiochrepts, and Typic Dystrochrepts. This revision is to based on the Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 6th edition, 1994. 2. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 5 inches (A horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 5 to 27 inches (Bw horizon).
c. Dense basal till - dense basal till at a depth of 27 inches (2Cd horizon).
d. Oxyaquic subgroup - redoximorphic features within 40 inches of the mineral surface.
ADDITIONAL DATA: SSIR20 New England states, contains some laboratory data for Scituate soils.