LOCATION MOSHUP MAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Aquic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Moshup loam, in a brushy field. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 2 inches, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
(1 to 6 inches thick)
Ap--2 to 8 inches, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
Bw1--8 to 19 inches, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; moderate fine and medium granular structure; friable; common medium roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (7 to l5 inches thick)
2Bw2--19 to 23 inches, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium angular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, plastic; few fine roots; common fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) redoximorphic features; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
2C--23 to 60 inches, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay loam; moderate medium and coarse angular blocky structure; firm, slightly sticky, plastic; few thin clay films in pores and some on ped faces; few fine roots in upper 6 inches; many coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) and light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) redoximorphic features; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Dukes County, Massachusetts; Town of Gay Head; 0.65 miles southwest of intersection of South Road and Moshup Trail, 30 feet northwest of the trail. Latitude 41 degrees 19 minutes 34 seconds N. and longitude 70 degrees 48 minutes 9 seconds W.; USGS 7 1/2 minute Squibnocket quadrangle; NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 20 to 38 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 6 feet. Gravel ranges from 0 to 10 percent by volume throughout. Fragments larger than 3 inches range from 0 to 5 percent throughout. Unless limed, the soil ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid in the surface layer and from very strongly acid to strongly acid in the subsoil and substratum.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 through 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. It is loam, silt loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam. It has weak fine or medium granular structure and friable or very friable consistence.
The B horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6 and chroma of 3 through 6. The B horizon has distinct or prominent redoximorphic concentrations and depletions in the lower part. The B horizon texture ranges from sandy loam to silt loam above the discontinuity and from sandy clay loam, clay loam or silty clay loam in the 2B horizons. It has weak or moderate fine to coarse subangular or angular blocky structure in the 2Bw horizon and weak or moderately fine or medium granular structure in the Bw1 horizon. Consistence is friable or firm.
The 2C horizon hue is 10YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 through 8, and chroma of 1 through 6 with redoximorphic features. The 2C horizon texture ranges from sandy clay loam to silty clay. The horizon is massive or has subangular blocky or angular blocky structure.
COMPETING SERIES: These are Schuyler and Towerville series in the same family and Belgrade, Boxford, Chilmark, Elmridge, Matawan and Scio in related families. Schuyler soils formed in channery glacial till and has more than 10 to 20 percent fragments of thin angular sandstone and shale in the lower solum and C horizon. Towerville soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock. Belgrade and Scio are coarse-silty soils and Belgrade is also less acid. Boxford soils are in a fine family and are also less acid. Chilmark soils are well drained. Elmridge soils are coarse-loamy over clayey. Matawan soils are siliceous and have an argillic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Moshup soils are nearly level to gently sloping soils on broad hill tops and toeslopes in glacial moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. The soils formed in loamy glacial till. Mean annual temperature is 46 to 52 degrees F., mean annual precipitation is 37 to 49 inches, and the growing season is 120 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Canton, Chilmark, Menemsha, Nantucket, and Plymouth soils on nearby landscapes. Canton soils are underlain by sandy material. Chilmark soils are well drained and have argillic horizons. Menemsha and Plymouth soils are sandy. Nantucket soils lack redoximorphic depletions within 24 inches of the surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate in the upper solum and slow or very slow in the lower solum and substratum. Internal drainage is medium.
USE AND VEGETATION: A few areas are cleared and used primarily for pasture. Many areas are idle and covered with brush and heath.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 149B on the Islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The soil is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dukes County, Massachusetts, 1982.
REMARKS: Source of name: A trail on Martha's Vineyard.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric horizon - zone from the surface to 8 inches (A and Ap horizons).
2. Cambic horizon - zone from 8 to 23 inches (Bw1 and 2Bw2 horizons).