LOCATION MOOSABEC MEEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Dysic, frigid Typic Sphagnofibrists
TYPICAL PEDON: Moosabec peat with a slightly convex, southeast facing slope of 1 percent in a raised bog with ground cover of Sphagnum mosses, cloudberry, crowberry, various heath family shrubs, and tamarack at an elevation of 14 meters. (Colors are for saturated soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oil--0 to 30 centimeters (0 to 12 inches); very dusky red (2.5YR 2.5/2 moist, broken face) fibric material, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6 moist, pressed), dark brown (7.5YR 3/4 moist, rubbed); about 95 percent fiber, about 80 percent rubbed; massive; nonplastic; nonsticky; very pale brown (10YR 8/2) sodium pyrophosphate test; fibers are primarily Sphagnum; ultra acid (pH 3.0 in 0.01 M calcium chloride); abrupt smooth boundary.
Oi2--30 to 142 centimeters (12 to 56 inches); dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4, broken face) fibric material, brownish yellow (10YR 6/6, pressed), dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4, rubbed); 100 percent fiber; about 95 percent rubbed; massive; nonplastic; nonsticky; very pale brown (10YR 8/2) sodium pyrophosphate test; fibers are primarily Sphagnum moss; ultra acid (pH 3.0 in 0.01 M calcium chloride); abrupt smooth boundary.
Oe--142 to 147 centimeters (56 to 58 inches); dark reddish brown (5YR 2.5/2, broken face and rubbed) hemic material, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2, pressed); about 70 percent fiber; about 40 percent rubbed; massive; nonplastic; nonsticky; very pale brown (10YR7/3) sodium pyrophosphate test; mixed Sphagnum moss and herbaceous fiber; ultra acid (pH 3.0 in 0.01 M calcium chloride); abrupt smooth boundary.
O'i--147 to 165 centimeters (58 to 65 inches); dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, broken face) fibric material, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6, pressed), dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4, rubbed); 100 percent fiber; about 95 percent rubbed; massive; nonplastic; nonsticky; white (10YR 8/1) sodium pyrophosphate test; fibers are primarily Sphagnum moss; extremely acid in 0.01 M calcium chloride; ultra acid (pH 3.1 in 0.01 M calcium chloride).
TYPE LOCATION: Washington County, Maine; Town of Jonesport, 500 feet west of the entrance to the Greenwood Cemetery on Maine Route 187; USGS Jonesport topographic quadrangle; lat. 44 degrees 33 minutes 05 seconds N. and long. 67 degrees 34 minutes 48 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of organic materials is 160 centimeters (63 inches) or more and ranges to over 6 meters (20 feet). The depth to bedrock is more than 160 centimeters (63 inches). The content of woody fragments is 0 to 20 percent in the surface tier and 0 to 10 percent in the subsurface and bottom tiers. Fibric material is dominant in most or all of the control section, and extends to as much as 3 meters (10 feet) deep in some places. Layers of hemic material are in the control section in some pedons, but occupy less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of aggregate thickness in the subsurface and bottom tiers. The hemic material is commonly in the bottom tier.
The fibric material has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR (with redder hues being more common), value of 2 to 7, and chroma of 2 to 4. The higher values are typically in the upper part of the surface tier. Pressed, the color value is typically 1 to 3 units higher than the broken face and chroma is as much as 2 units higher than the broken face. The content of fiber typically is more than 90 percent, but ranges to as low as 75 percent in some pedons. Fiber content after rubbing is 60 to 95 percent. The fibric material is massive or has weak platy structure. It is mostly to entirely derived from Sphagnum mosses. Content of mineral matter in the fibric material is typically 1 to 10 percent. Reaction (in 0.01 M calcium chloride) is 1.7 to 4.4.
The hemic material, where present, has hue of 2.5YR to 5YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 or 2 (broken face or pressed). The content of fiber is 70 to 80 percent. The content of fiber after rubbing is 30 to 50 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Waskish soil in the same family. It occurs outside region R and has mean annual precipitation of about 560 mm (22 inches). The Greenwood, Hellhole, Kogish, Lobo and Orcas soils are in similar families. Greenwood soils have hemic material dominant in the subsurface tier. Hellhole, Kogish, Lobo and Orcas soils occur outside region R. Hellhole soils have a euic reaction class. Kogish soils have a cryic soil temperature class. Lobo soils have hemic material with an aggregate thickness of 25 or more centimeters (10 or more inches) in the subsurface and/or bottom tiers. Orcas soils have a mesic soil temperature class.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Moosabec soils are almost exclusively on the more elevated portions of raised bogs. These bogs are on glaciated terrain. The bogs are common to the large expanses of peat lands in the eastern, central and southern portions of Maine. The portion of the raised bog occupied by Moosabec soils is at elevations as much as 1.5 meters (5 feet) higher than other nearby Histosols. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Areas of these soils commonly are 8 to 800 acres in size. These soils formed mostly in slightly decomposed organic soil materials derived primarily from Sphagnum mosses. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 6 to 8 degrees C (42 to 46 degrees F). Mean annual precipitation ranges from 1020 to 1320 mm (40 to 52 inches). The frost-free season ranges from 135 to 155 days. Elevation ranges from 5 to 78 meters (15 to 255 feet) above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Sebago soils primarily on the lower, outer portions of raised bogs occupied by Moosabec soils. Sebago soils are also very poorly drained and developed in organic materials, but are less acidic and more highly decomposed.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. Runoff is negligible.Internal drainage is very slow and the water table is near the surface most of the year. These soils are not ponded. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or very high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Sphagnum peat from Moosabec soils is of considerable commercial value. These soils commonly have a sparse cover of slow growing black spruce and tamarack. Common heath family shrubs are Labrador tea, leatherleaf, rhodora, sheep laurel, bog laurel, and bog rosemary. Cloudberry and crowberry shrubs are found in some locations. Pitcher plant and sundew are common insectivorous plants. The moss cover is composed mostly of Sphagnum.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The eastern, central and southern portions of Maine. This series is of moderate extent. At least 10,000 acres are estimated to occur in Maine. The series will likely be recognized to replace Waskish where historically mapped in region R.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washington County, Maine, 2007.
REMARKS: The Moosabec series is established to recognize Typic Sphagnofibrists occurring in the glaciated northeast. These soils were historically mapped as the Waskish series which originated in Minnesota, in the Northern Lake States Forage and Forest Region. The series name originates from "Moosabec Reach" which is the coastal body of water that separates Jonesport from Beals Island, and is near the type location.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Fibrist feature dominantly fibric material in the subsurface tier (60 to 120 centimeters).
2. Sphagno feature 75% or more of the fibers in the upper 90 centimeters are of Sphagnum origin.
3. Dysic reaction class the pH is < 4.5 (in 0.01 M calcium chloride) in all parts of the control section (0 to 160 centimeters).