LOCATION MASARDIS ME NH

Established Series
Rev. PAH-LRF-WDH
01/2017

MASARDIS SERIES

The Masardis series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils formed in glaciofluvial deposits on outwash plains, terraces, deltas, kames, and eskers. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high in the loamy cap and is high or very high below. Slope ranges from 0 to 80 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 5 degrees C and mean annual precipitation is about 112 centimeters at the type location.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, isotic, frigid Typic Haplorthods

TYPICAL PEDON: Masardis gravelly fine sandy loam on an 11 percent southeast-facing slope in a wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil.)

Oa -- 0 to 5 centimeters; black (5YR 2.5/1) sapric material; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots; very strongly acid, abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 25 centimeters thick.)

E -- 5 to 8 centimeters; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak very fine and fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots; 20 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 17 centimeters thick.)

Bs1 -- 8 to 10 centimeters; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak very fine and fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots; 15 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary.

Bs2 -- 10 to 15 centimeters; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak very fine and fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots; 20 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bs3 -- 15 to 33 centimeters; brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots; 30 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizon is 10 to 46 centimeters.)

BC -- 33 to 48 centimeters; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) very gravelly loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and fine roots; 50 percent gravel; moderately acid; diffuse wavy boundary. (0 to 38 centimeters thick.)

C1 -- 48 to 91 centimeters; olive (5Y 5/3) extremely gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; 65 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.

C2 -- 91 to 109 centimeters; dark olive gray (5Y 3/2) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 40 percent gravel; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

C3 -- 109 to 165 centimeters; olive gray (5Y 4/2) extremely gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; 65 percent gravel; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Piscataquis County, Maine; Town of Abbot; about 0.2 mile west from Maine Route 15 and about 244 meters south of the Piper Pond Road; USGS Guilford, ME topographic quadrangle; Latitude 45 degrees, 11 minutes, 29 seconds N. and Longitude 69 degrees, 27 minutes, 52 seconds W., NAD 1927.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 38 to 97 centimeters. Depth to bedrock is more than 152 centimeters. Textures in the fine-earth fraction of the mineral solum range from silt loam to coarse sandy loam, loam inclusive, in the upper 25 centimeters, loam or fine sandy loam to coarse sand between 25 and 43 centimeters, and from loamy sand to coarse sand below 43 centimeters. The substratum is loamy coarse sand, sand, or coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have strata of sand, gravel, and cobbles in the substratum. Rock fragment content averages 35 to 60 percent in the particle- size control section but individual horizons range from 5 to 60 percent in the upper part of the mineral solum and from 35 to 75 percent in the lower part of the solum and in the substratum. Rock fragments are mostly gravel with some cobbles and a few stones. In some pedons there is discontinuous cementation in the B and C horizons. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the solum and very strongly acid to moderately acid in the substratum.

The Oa horizon, and the Oe horizon where present, has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 2.5 and chroma of 1 or 2. Some pedons have an Oi horizon.

The A horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 1 or 2. Cultivated areas have an Ap horizon with hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 2 to 4. Consistence is very friable or friable.

The E horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 5 to 7 and chroma of 1 or 2. Consistence is very friable or friable.

The Bh horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR to 10YR, with value and chroma of 2 to 3. Some pedons have a Bhs horizon with hue of 2.5YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 and chroma of 2 or 3.

The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 6 and chroma of 4 to 8. Consistence is very friable or friable in the upper part and may grade to loose in the lower part.

The BC horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 8. Consistence is loose to friable.

The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 2 to 4.

COMPETING SERIES: The Colton, Hermon, Stetson, and Swancott series are in the same family. Colton soils have rock fragments dominated by granite with lesser amounts of sandstone, and have a loamy cap less than 10 inches thick. Hermon soils do not have stratification in the substratum and have formed in till. Stetson soils have a loamy cap greater than 17 inches thick.Swancott soils formed in glacio-fluvial deposits from sedimentary parent material.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Masardis soils are on glaciomarine deltas, pitted outwash, eskers, kames and kame terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 80 percent. The soils formed in gravelly glaciofluvial deposits derived mainly from slate, phyllite, and other dark colored metamorphic and metasedimentary rocks, and to a lesser extent from granite, gneiss, schist and other light colored igneous rocks. The climate is humid and cool temperate. The mean annual temperature ranges from 1 to 8 degrees C and mean annual precipitation ranges from 86 to 122 centimeters. The frost-free season ranges from 80 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 2 to 650 meters above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Colton and Stetson soils, and the Adams, Allagash, Bucksport, Fryeburg, Machias, Ondawa, Sheepscot, and Wonsqueak soils. The Adams, Allagash, Colton, and Stetson soils are in similar positions on the landscape. Adams and Allagash soils have less than 20 percent rock fragments, Colton soils have a loamy cap less than 25 centimeters thick, and Stetson soils have a loamy cap greater than 43 centimeters thick. Bucksport and Wonsqueak soils are organic soils in adjacent bogs. Fryeburg and Ondawa soils are on nearby flood plains. Sheepscot and Machias soils are moderately well drained and are in lower positions on the landscape.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat excessively drained. The potential for surface runoff is slow or medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high in the loamy cap and is high or very high below.

USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly forested. Common tree species include white and red spruce, red pine, eastern white pine, balsam fir, paper birch, sugar maple, yellow birch, northern white cedar.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine. MLRA's 143, 144B, and 146. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Waldo County, Maine, 1979.

REMARKS: 1. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

a. Albic horizon - the zone from 5 to 8 centimeters (E horizon).
b. Spodic horizon - the zone from 8 to 33 centimeters (Bs1, Bs2, and Bs3 horizons).
c. Cambic horizon - the zone from 33 to 48 centimeters (BC horizon).

ADDITIONAL DATA: Source of data used in establishing taxonomic class and range in characteristics is Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, Technical Bulletin 108, 1982.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.