LOCATION EASTCHOP MAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mesic, coated Typic Quartzipsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Eastchop loamy fine sand - wooded
(Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 1 inches; slightly decomposed plant material derived from leaf and needle litter; abrupt wavy boundary.
Oe--1 to 2 inches; moderately decomposed plant material derived from leaf and needle litter; abrupt wavy boundary.
A--2 to 3 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) fine sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
Ap--3 to 8 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loamy fine sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bw1--8 to 12 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) loamy fine sand; massive; very friable; few fine roots; 2 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
Bw2--12 to 21 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loamy fine sand; massive; loose; few fine roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 2 to 22 inches.)
BC--21 to 27 inches; olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) fine sand; single grain; loose; few fine roots; 2 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
C1--27 to 43 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) very fine sand; single grain; loose; few fine roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (8 to 20 inches thick)
C2--43 to 49 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) very fine sand; common strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) blotches and streaks; single grain; loose; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
C3--49 to 62 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) very fine sand; single grain; loose; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Barnstable County, Massachusetts; Town of Sandwich, 50 feet east of trail at a point 325 feet southwest along the trail from entrance of State Game Lands on Rt. 6A, 350 feet west of where Route 6A crosses Scorton Creek. USGS Sandwich quadrangle (1972); latitude 41 degrees, 44 minutes, 10 seconds N., longitude 70 degrees, 25 minutes ,43 1/2 seconds W. (elevation 20 feet); NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 36 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 6 feet. Rock fragments range from 0 to 15 percent gravel, 0 to 3 percent cobbles, 0 to 3 percent stones, and 0 to 3 percent boulders in the solum. They range from 0 to 15 percent gravel in the substratum. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid in the surface and upper part of the subsoil and is very strongly acid or strongly acid in the lower part of the subsoil and in the substratum. Texture of the surface and subsoil horizons is fine sand, loamy fine sand, loamy sand, or sand in the fine-earth fraction. The substratum ranges from very fine sand to coarse sand and is stratified in some pedons.
The A horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3.
The Ap horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 6 to 4. Structure is weak granular or the horizon is massive.
Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Hue of 7.5YR is confined to the upper part of the B horizon and 2.5Y to the lower part. The B horizons in some pedons have thin, strong brown lamellae. Structure is weak granular or the horizon is structureless.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 6.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Evesboro, Gosil, Plymouth, Rockbluff, Runcliff, and Schaffenaker series.
Gosil, Rockbluff, Runcliff, and Schaffenaker series are from outside LRR R.
Evesboro soils have mean summer soil temperatures (MSST) more than 22 degrees centigrade and more than 95 percent quartz or other non-weatherable minerals. Gosil soils formed in siliceous sandy pedisediments over siliceous residuum from sandstone or both. The soil moisture control section is dry in all parts in most years for 25 to 35 consecutive days in the 120 days following the summer solstice. Plymouth soils have more than 15 percent rock fragments in the substratum within 40 inches. Rockbluff soils have a paralithic contact at less than 60 inches. Runcliff soils have soil temperatures greater than 52 degrees F. and have thicker sola. Schaffenaker soils have bedrock at 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Eastchop soils are on nearly level to strongly sloping outwash plains and gently sloping to steep moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. The soils formed in sandy glacial outwash with varying amounts of aeolian influence. Annual precipitation ranges from 37 to 48 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 49 to 52 degrees F, and the frost-free season ranges from 120 to 150 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the competing Plymouth soils and the Carver, Deerfield, Klej, Haven, Montauk, Plymouth, and Riverhead soils on nearby landscapes. Carver soils are loamy coarse sand or coarser below 10 inches. Deerfield and Klej soils are moderately well drained on lower, concave positions. Haven and Riverhead soils have a loamy subsoil and commonly occur on less sloping landforms. Montauk soils have firm gravelly substrata. Eastchop is geologically intermingled in moraine areas with till soils, Montauk and Plymouth.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is rapid or very rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the soil is in woodland. A few areas are cropped. Trees include white oak, black oak, pitch pine, and locust.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Glaciofluvial landforms on Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and the Elizabeth Islands of Massachusetts; MLRA 149B. The soil is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dukes County, Massachusetts, 1983.
REMARKS: This soil was previously mapped as Evesboro in Nantucket and Dukes counties, Massachusetts, and as Windsor in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Available mineralogy data for this soil (S80MA-001-001; University of Massachusetts) and nearby similar soils (RT81-MA007: 6 pedons) show the resistant mineral content averages 90 to 95 percent. Available data for nearby similar soils shows silt plus 2 times clay to be more than 5 for the control section.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric Epipedon - The zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of about 6 inches (A and Ap horizons).
2. Coated family - weighted average silt plus 2 times weighted average clay is more than 5 in the zone 10 to 40 inches (A, Ap, Bw, BC, and C horizons).