LOCATION DAMARISCOTTA ME
Established Series
Rev. NRB-MGD-CIB
09/2018
DAMARISCOTTA SERIES
The Damariscotta series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils formed in sandy marine deposits. They are in tidal marshes subject to inundation by salt water twice daily. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or very high in the organic layers and very high in the underlying mineral sediments. Mean annual temperature is about 7 degrees C and mean annual precipitation is about 1900 mm.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, frigid Haplic Sulfaquents
TYPICAL PEDON: Damariscotta sand in a salt grass tidal marsh, undrained. (Colors are for moist soil unless noted otherwise.)
Ase1--0 to 25 cm; dark olive brown (2.5Y 3/3) loamy fine sand; single grain; loose; non-fluid; common very fine and fine roots throughout and few medium roots throughout; common fine diffuse light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) iron depletions and common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron concentrations; neutral, extremely acid oxidized; clear wavy boundary.
Ase2--25 to 53 cm; dark olive brown (2.5Y 3/3) loamy fine sand; single grain; loose; non-fluid; common very fine and fine roots throughout; neutral, extremely acid oxidized; clear wavy boundary. 10 percent gray (5Y 5/1) coarse sand lenses throughout. (Combined thickness of the A horizons is 5 to 60 cm thick.)
Cseg--53 to 165 cm; gray (5Y 5/1) sand; single grain; loose; non-fluid; common very fine and fine roots throughout; 8 percent gravel; slightly alkaline, extremely acid oxidized. 10 percent organic stains and herbaceous material present.
TYPE LOCATION: Sagadahoc County, Maine; Town of Georgetown; 1.25 miles southwest of the entrance gate to Reid State Park to a large parking lot at the end of the Seguinland Road, and approximately 0.3 miles northwest of the lower parking lot into the adjacent tidal marsh; USGS Bath topographic quadrangle; latitude 43 degrees, 46 minutes, 42.6 seconds N. and longitude 69 degrees, 44 minutes, 18.7 seconds, WGS 84.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The soil is moderately acid to moderately alkaline in its natural condition and has an oxidized pH of ultra-acid to neutral. The electrical conductivity ranges from 0.6 to 4.5 dS/m in a 1:5 soil to water mixture by volume. Salt content ranges from about 5,000 to 35,000 ppm. Some pedons may contain sea shells. Total salt content is generally more than 15.6 dS/m.
The O horizon, where present, has a thickness from 1 to 20 cm and is neutral or has a hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is peat, muck, or mucky peat.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is very fine sandy loam or coarser and their mucky modifiers.
Some pedons have an AC, or CA horizon. It is 5 to 15 cm thick. It has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is very fine sandy loam through sand and their mucky modifiers.
The C horizon is neutral or has a hue of 2.5Y to 10B, value of 2 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 3. Texture is dominantly loamy sand or sand. Some pedons have thin horizons of finer textures, but the weighted average textural class is sandy. Organic matter content ranges from less than 5 percent to 20 percent. The C horizon has 0 to 25 percent gravel. Shell fragments and herbaceous fibers are common.
Some pedons have a sequence of buried O horizons that are 5 to 35 cm thick and separated by A and/or C horizons.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in the same family.
Sandyhook and
Saltpond soils are in a related family but occur in areas with a mesic soil temperature regime.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Damariscotta soils are level and occur in tidal marshes along the coast of Maine. They are often associated with small berms adjacent to tidal inlets, rivers, channels and creeks. They can also be found on nearly level to gently sloping back-barrier flats and back-barrier beaches near tidal marshes. They are subject to tidal flooding twice daily, except in areas protected by dikes and tide gates. These soils developed in thick sand deposits and have slowly accumulated thin caps of organic materials at the surface. The mean annual temperature ranges from 5 to 9 degrees C and mean annual precipitation ranges from 1600 to 2200 mm.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Fort Knox,
Gouldsboro,
Todds Point,
Petit Manan,
Phippsburg, and
Pemaquid soils in nearby tidal marsh areas. Fort Knox soils have organic materials 40 to 130 cm thick and are underlain by loamy mineral materials. Gouldsboro soils are fine-silty mineral soils with a thin to absent organic cap less than 20 cm thick. Todds Point soils have organic materials greater than 130 cm thick and seldom have any mineral soil within 165 cm. Petit Manan soils have organic materials 40 to 130 cm thick and are underlain by fine-silty mineral materials. Phippsburg soils have an organic cap 20 to 40 cm thick and are underlain by sandy mineral materials. Pemaquid soils have organic materials 40 to 130 cm thick and are underlain by sandy mineral materials.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. Runoff is very slow. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to very high in the organic surface horizon and very high in the underlying sands.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are used for wildlife habitat and recreation. Small scattered areas are used for saltgrass hay. The most common grasses are salt meadow grass, salt water grass, cord grass and spike grass. Other vegetation includes phragmites, blackgrass, sea lavender, saltwort, seaside goldenrod, aster, and purple gerardi. In areas where the 1:5 soil to water EC by volume is below 1.5 dS/m, the vegetation consists principally of tall reeds and sedges.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal areas and along tidally influenced rivers of Maine; MLRA 144B. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sagadahoc County, Maine, 2018.
REMARKS: These soils were formerly mapped as tidal marsh and/or sulfihemists.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 53 cm (Ase1 and Ase2 horizons)
2. Sulfidic materials - the zone from 0 to 165 cm (Ase1, Ase2, Cesg horizons)
3. Particle-size control section - the zone from 25 to 100 cm (Ase2, Cesg horizons)
4. Aquic conditions - the zone from 0 to 165 cm (Ase1, Ase2, Cesg horizons)
ADDITIONAL DATA: This pedon is entered as 2017ME023006 in the National Soils Information System.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.