LOCATION BUCKSPORT ME+CT MA NH NY VT
Established Series
Rev. KJL-WDH-RFL
01/2016
BUCKSPORT SERIES
The Bucksport series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils that formed in well decomposed organic soil material more than 130 cm thick. They are in depressions in glaciated uplands and lowlands, and on floodplains. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1180 mm, and mean annual temperature is about 6 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Euic, frigid Typic Haplosaprists
TYPICAL PEDON: Bucksport muck, in a swamp. (Colors are for saturated soil.)
Oa1--0 to 30 cm; black (5YR 2/1) muck, broken face and rubbed; about 40 percent fiber, 10 percent rubbed; massive; nonsticky; about 50 percent herbaceous and 50 percent woody fibers; 10 percent partially decomposed wood fragments; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sodium pyrophosphate test; extremely acid (pH 3.5 in 0.01M calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa2--30 to 64 cm; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) muck, broken face and rubbed; about 40 percent fiber, less than 5 percent rubbed; massive; slightly sticky; about 50 percent herbaceous and 50 percent woody fibers; 10 percent partially decomposed wood fragments; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sodium pyrophosphate test; extremely acid (pH 4.0 in 0.01M calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa3--64 to 114 cm; black (5YR 2/1) muck, broken face and rubbed; about 30 percent fiber, less than 5 percent rubbed; massive; slightly sticky; about 60 percent herbaceous and 40 percent woody fibers; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sodium pyrophosphate test; very strongly acid (pH 4.5 in 0.01M calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa4--114 to 165 cm; black (5YR 2/1) muck, broken face and rubbed; about 50 percent fiber, less than 5 percent rubbed; massive; slightly sticky; about 70 percent herbaceous and 30 percent woody fibers; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sodium pyrophosphate test; very strongly acid (pH 5.0 in 0.01M calcium chloride).
TYPE LOCATION: Hancock County, Maine; Town of Bucksport; located about 1.4 km southwest of Stubbs Brook on Bucksmills Road, and 70 meters northwest of the road; USGS Bucksport, ME topographic quadrangle; latitude 44 degrees 36 minutes 10.26 seconds N. and longitude 68 degrees 45 minutes 20.11 seconds W., NAD 1983.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the organic material is greater than 130 cm, and ranges to over 4 meters. Depth to bedrock is greater than 165 cm. Fibers are typically of herbaceous and woody origin, but in some pedons fibers from sphagnum moss compose up to 70 percent of the surface tier, and thin layers in the subsurface and bottom tiers.
Woody fragments consisting of twigs, branches, and stumps range from 0 to 20 percent throughout the soil. The content of mineral material ranges from 0 to 20 percent throughout.
The surface tier is neutral or has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is typically sapric material, but in some pedons it is hemic or fibric material with or without sapric material. Consistence is nonsticky or slightly sticky. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in 0.01M calcium chloride.
The subsurface and bottom tiers have hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. They are typically sapric material, but some pedons have layers of fibric material with a total thickness of less than 15 cm, or layers of hemic material with a total thickness of less than 25 cm. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the subsurface tier, and very strongly acid to slightly acid in the bottom tier (in 0.01M calcium chloride).
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Lupton,
Pywell,
Seelyeville, and
Tendoy series. These soils are all located outside of MLRAs 143 and 144B and receive lower annual precipitation than Bucksport soils.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bucksport soils are primarily in swamps in glaciated uplands and lowlands. They also occur on floodplains. The soils formed in organic material greater than 130 cm thick. The organic material is derived mainly from herbaceous and woody plants with lesser amounts of sphagnum moss. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. The mean annual precipitation is 790 to 1640 mm, and the mean annual temperature is 2 to 7 degrees C. The frost-free period ranges from 90 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from about 5 to 800 meters above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Brayton,
Buckland,
Cabot,
Charles,
Colton,
Hermon,
Monarda,
Peru,
Pillsbury,
Schoodic,
Tunbridge,
Vershire, and
Wonsqueak soils. With the exception of Wonsqueak soils, all of these soils are better drained and formed in mineral soil material. Wonsqueak soils are very poorly drained and formed in organic soil material 40 to 130 cm thick over mineral soil material.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Rare to frequent flooding of very brief to long duration may occur where the soil occupies flood plains.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are in swamps. Some are in shrubby or open bogs. Woodland vegetation includes northern white cedar, tamarack, black spruce, alder, red maple, gray birch, and balsam fir. Shrubby plants and understory vegetation include pale laurel, bog rosemary, labrador tea, lambkill, leatherleaf, chokeberry, sphagnum moss, and various grasses and sedges.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont; MLRAs 143 and 144B. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hancock County, Maine, 1988.
REMARKS: Diagnostic features recognized in this pedon are:
Sapric soil materials - sapric soil materials are dominant in the surface and subsurface tiers (0 to 90 cm).
Euic feature - pH of 4.5 or more in 0.01M calcium chloride in some part of the organic material in the control section (Oa3 and Oa4 horizons).
Additional Data: Characterization data for Bucksport and similar soils is available through the National Cooperative Soil Survey Soil Characterization Database: http://ncsslabdatamart.sc.egov.usda.gov/
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.