LOCATION CREASEY MEEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, isotic, frigid Lithic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Creasey gravelly silt loam on a 10 percent west-facing slope in a hayfield. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) gravelly silt loam, reddish brown (5YR 5/3) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many very fine, fine, medium, and coarse roots; 22 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Bs1--8 to 13 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) gravelly silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; friable; common very fine, fine, and medium roots; 35 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bs2--13 to 17 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) gravelly silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; 32 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
R--17 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) sandstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Washington County, Maine; Town of Perry; 0.7 mile northwest from railroad on South Meadow Road and 0.6 mile north on farm road in field; USGS Eastport topographic quadrangle; lat. 44 degrees 59 minutes 10 seconds N. and long. 67 degrees 06 minutes 41 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to bedrock ranges from 10 to 20 inches. Solum textures are silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, and coarse sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure of the solum is weak or moderate, very fine or fine granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is very friable or friable. The weighted average of gravel size rock fragments ranges from 10 to 35 percent by volume in the solum. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to medium acid throughout the soil, unless limed.
The Ap horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR and value and chroma of 3 or 4. Most undisturbed areas have thin 0 horizons that overlie an E horizon. The E horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2.
The Bh horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 to 4. Some pedons have a Bhs horizon with value and chroma of 3 or less. The Bs horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 8.
Some pedons have a BC horizon with hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 6.
The bedrock is reddish sandstone or conglomerate that is calcareous in most areas.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Amadon, Freda, Hogback, Lyman, Monson, and Peshekee series in the same family. Amadon soils formed in glacial till over limestone, Freda soils formed in glacial till over siltstone or shale, Lyman soils formed in glacial till over schist, phyllite, granite or gneiss, and Peshekee soils formed in aeolian deposits and/or glacial till over igneous or metamorphic bedrock. Hogback soils have a Bh horizon greater than 4 inches thick. Monson soils have a weighted average of more than 10 percent clay. In addition, all these soils lack the reddish sandstone and conglomerate rock fragments. The competing series list is subject to change when the Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Sixth Edition, 1994 are fully implemented.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Creasey soils are on bedrock-controlled landforms. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent. They formed in a thin mantle of glacial till over reddish sandstone or conglomerate. The climate is humid and cool temperate. Mean annual temperature ranges from 42 to 44 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 50 inches. The frost-free season ranges from 120 to 160 days. Elevations range from 5 to 350 feet above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Abram, Buxton, Lamoine, Lyman, Naskeag, Scantic, and Tunbridge soils. Abram, Lyman, and Tunbridge soils formed in glacial till derived mainly from granite, gneiss, schist, and phyllite. In addition, Abram soils are very shallow and Tunbridge soils are moderately deep. They are on similar landscape positions. Buxton, Lamoine, and Scantic soils formed in marine and lacustrine sediments on adjacent lower areas. Naskeag soils are moderately deep, somewhat poorly and poorly drained soils in depressions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained. Runoff is medium. Permeability is moderate and moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: The major use is for hay and pasture. Minor uses are woodland, row crops, and lowbush blueberry production. Red spruce, white spruce, and balsam fir are the principal trees when used for woodland.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Maine. The acreage is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES PROPOSED: Washington, County, Maine, 1978.
REMARKS: 1. The Creasey series was first proposed in Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District, Maine 1942 but not correlated. 2. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 8 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Spodic horizon - the zone from 8 to 17 inches (Bs1 and Bs2 horizons).
c. Lithic contact - sandstone at 17 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Source of the data used in establishing taxonomic class and range in characteristics is Soil-Water, Chemical and Physical Characteristics of Eight Soil Series in Maine, Technical Bulletin 29, February 1968, Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Maine, Orono by R.V. Rourke and C. Beek.
The Soil Interpretation Record Number for the Creasey Series is ME0003.