LOCATION CARVER MA NY
Established Series
Rev. DGG-RBT-DCP
06/2019
CARVER SERIES
The Carver series consists of very deep, excessively drained sandy soils formed in glaciofluvial deposits of coarse and very coarse sands. They are nearly level through steep soils on outwash plains and moraines. Slope ranges from 0 through 45 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is very high throughout. Mean annual precipitation is about 1,118 millimeters (44 inches) and mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C (48 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mesic, coated Typic Quartzipsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Carver coarse sand - scrub forest (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi -- 0 to 5 centimeters (0 to 2 inches); litter of pitch pine needles and scrub oak leaves.
Oe -- 5 to 8 centimeters (2 to 3 inches); very dark brown (10YR 2/2) decomposed organic matter. [Combined thickness of the O horizon is 0 to 13 centimeters (0 to 5 inches).]
A -- 8 to 18 centimeters (3 to 7 inches); black (10YR 2/1) coarse sand; weak medium granular structure; very friable; common fine and very fine roots; 1 percent fine gravel; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. [0 to 15 centimeters (0 to 6 inches) thick]
E -- 18 to 25 centimeters (7 to 10 inches); dark gray (10YR 4/1) coarse sand; single grain; loose; common fine and very fine roots; 1 percent fine gravel; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. [0 to 15 centimeters (0 to 6 inches) thick]
Bw1 -- 25 to 38 centimeters (10 to 15 inches); strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) coarse sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine and coarse roots; 1 percent fine gravel; extremely acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2 -- 38 to 71 centimeters (15 to 28 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) grades with depth to yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) coarse sand; single grain; loose; common fine and coarse roots; 10 percent fine gravel; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 18 to 84 centimeters (7 to 33 inches).]
BC -- 71 to 81 centimeters (28 to 32 inches); brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) coarse sand; single grain; loose; few fine roots; 10 percent fine gravel; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 56 centimeters (0 to 22 inches) thick]
C -- 81 to 170 centimeters (32 to 67 inches); light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) coarse sand; single grain; loose; 5 percent fine gravel; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Plymouth County, Massachusetts; Town of Wareham, 1/4 mile northeast of village of Tihonet along Tihonet Road and 100 feet east of the road. USGS Wareham, MA 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle, Latitude 41 degrees, 47 minutes, 12 seconds N. and Longitude 70 degrees, 42 minutes, 48 seconds W., NAD 1983.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 46 through 102 centimeters (18 through 40 inches). Rock fragments are generally less than 10 percent by volume, but individual horizons range from 0 through 20 percent. Rock fragments are commonly fine gravel, but range through stone size. Surface stones and boulders are generally absent but range up through 3 percent of the surface of some pedons. The soil ranges from extremely acid through moderately acid, except where it is limed.
The O horizon if present has hue 2.5YR through 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma 1 through 3. The O horizons typically have increased decomposition with depth and range from fibric through sapric material.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 0 through 3. It is structureless or has weak medium granular structure and is very friable or loose. Texture ranges from loamy sand through coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have an Ap horizon up to 36 centimeters (14 inches) thick with similar colors and textures as the A horizon.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 7, and chroma of 0 through 3. Texture, structure and consistence have the same range as the A horizon.
Some pedons have thin spodic horizons (Bhs or Bs) less than 5 centimeters thick. They have hue 7.5YR or 10YR, value 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 6. Texture is loamy sand through coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. In some rare instances, the texture may be coarse sandy loam.
The Bw and BC horizons have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 8. To a depth of 25 centimeters (10 inches) the Bw horizon texture is loamy sand through coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. Below 25 centimeters (10 inches) the texture is loamy coarse sand or coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. The upper part of the Bw horizon is single grain or has weak, very fine or fine granular structure and consistence is very friable or loose. The lower part is single grain and loose.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 5 through 8, and chroma of 2 through 6. It is mostly sand or coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction but contains individual thin strata of fine sand or fine gravel.
COMPETING SERIES: The
Eastchop,
Gosil,
Plymouth,
Rockbluff, and
Schaffenaker series are in the same family. Eastchop soils are dominated by fine sands, they do not have coarse sand or loamy coarse sand textures in the solum. Gosil soils are from outside LRR R and S, they do not have coarse sand or loamy coarse sand within the series control section. Plymouth soils have higher rock fragments averages throughout the series control section. Rockbluff soils are from outside LRR R and S and have a paralithic contact within the series control section. Schaffenaker soils are from outside LRR R and are moderately deep to a lithic contact.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Carver soils are level through steep soils on pitted and dissected outwash plains and moraines. Slopes are dominantly 0 through 15 percent, but range to 45 percent. The soils formed in thick layers of coarse and very coarse sand that contain less than 20 percent rock fragments, most of which are fine gravel. Mean annual temperature ranges from 7 to 10 degrees C (45 through 50 degrees F). Mean annual precipitation ranges from 889 through 1,270 millimeters (35 through 50 inches). Average frost-free period ranges from 120 through 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The
Deerfield,
Eastchop,
Plymouth, and
Windsor soils are often on adjacent landscapes. Deerfield soils have redoximorphic features with chroma of 2 or less within 100 centimeters (40 inches) of the mineral soil surface. Eastchop soils have more fine sands. Plymouth soils have greater rock fragment percentages. Windsor soils have mixed mineralogy and more fine sands. The organic
Freetown and
Swansea soils and the very poorly drained
Scarboro soils are in the kettleholes of the pitted outwash plains and the
Gloucester and
Montauk soils are intermingled on moraines. The
Merrimac and
Haven soils, which contain more silt, and the loamy
Riverhead soils are on plains adjacent to the moraines. Carver is the excessively drained member of a drainage sequence which includes the moderately well drained Deerfield, poorly drained
Massasoit and
Mashpee soils, and the very poorly drained
Rainberry soils.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Excessively drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is very high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly forested to scrub oak, pitch pine, and eastern white pine. A small part is cleared and cropped.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Massachusetts and Long Island, New York. MLRA's 144A, 145, and 149B. The soil is extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 1911.
REMARKS: 1. This soil was previously classified as siliceous, mesic Typic Udipsamments. Lab data indicates by far the majority of Carver soils have more than 90 percent minerals resistant to weathering. The classification is thus changed to reflect this condition.
2. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 8 to 25 centimeters (3 to 10 inches) (A and E horizons).
b. Sandy feature - the zone from 25 to 100 centimeters (10 to 40 inches) averages about 85 percent sand.
c. Albic horizon - 18 to 25 centimeters (7 to 10 inches) (E horizon).
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.