LOCATION NORWELL MAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic, shallow Typic Endoaquents
TYPICAL PEDON: Norwell mucky fine sandy loam - forested at an elevation of 20 meters. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Oe-- 0 to 10 centimeters; reddish black (2.5YR 2.5/1) rubbed, moderately decomposed (Hemic) plant material; very friable; many medium, fine and very fine roots throughout; extremely acid (pH 4.4); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 16 centimeters thick.)
A-- 10 to 21 centimeters; black (10YR 2/1), mucky fine sandy loam; dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, nonplastic; many coarse, medium, fine and very fine roots throughout; 2 percent subangular cobble and 10 percent subangular gravel; extremely acid (pH 4.4); clear wavy boundary. (10 to 20 centimeters thick.)
Bg1-- 21 to 35 centimeters; 60 percent brown (7.5YR 5/2) and 40 percent dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2), gravelly sandy loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; common coarse, medium, fine and very fine roots throughout; 2 percent subangular stone, 2 percent subangular cobble and 15 percent subangular gravel; extremely acid (pH 4.4); small pockets of loamy sand and silt loam present along with pockets of firm consistence; clear wavy boundary.
Bg2-- 35 to 49 centimeters; brown (7.5YR 5/2), loamy fine sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; few fine and very fine roots throughout; common coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; 2 percent subangular stone, 2 percent subangular cobble and 10 percent subangular gravel; extremely acid (pH 4.4); pockets of loamy sand; clear wavy boundary. (The combined thickness of the B horizon is 10 to 32 centimeters.)
2Cdg-- 49 to 73 centimeters; grayish brown (10YR 5/2), gravelly coarse sandy loam; massive; firm; nonsticky, nonplastic; many medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation and common coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; common medium faint pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) areas of iron depletion; 2 percent subangular cobble and 20 percent subangular gravel; very strongly acid (pH 4.6); clear irregular boundary.
2Cd-- 73 to 165 centimeters; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4), gravelly fine sandy loam; massive; firm; nonsticky, nonplastic; common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; many coarse prominent gray (7.5YR 6/1) areas of iron depletion; 2 percent subangular cobble and 20 percent subangular gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Plymouth County, Massachusetts; Town of Marshfield, in Nelson Memorial Forest, 830 feet east of Union Street and 2,450 feet southeast of the Union Street North River Bridge; USGS Cohasset, MA topographic quadrangle; Latitude 42 degrees, 9 minutes, 2.1 seconds N. and Longitude 70 degrees, 46 minutes, 8.7 seconds W., NAD 1983.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to dense lodgement till ranges from about 30 through 50 centimeters. Norwell soils have 2 through 25 percent gravel and 2 through 10 percent cobble throughout. Stones range from 0 through 20 percent by volume in the surface, and from 0 through 10 percent in the B and C horizons. The soil ranges from extremely acid through moderately acid.
The O horizon,where present, has hue of 2.5YR through 10YR, value 2 or 2.5, and chroma of 1 or 2. Decomposition of organic matter ranges from fibric through sapric.
The A or Ap horizon,where present, is neutral or has hue of 7.5 YR, 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 0 through 2. Fine-earth texture is most commonly fine sandy loam, but the range includes sandy loam, coarse sandy loam or loamy sand. Typically mucky, stony, cobbly, and or gravelly textural modifiers are present.
The Bg horizons or Eg horizons, where present, have hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. Redoximorphic features are generally absent or few in the upper part of the Bg horizon or the Eg (where present), but are common or many in the lower part of the Bg horizon. Fine-earth texture is most commonly sandy loam in the upper part of the Bg horizon or Eg horizon, where present, but includes coarse sandy loam, loamy fine sand, loamy sand and loamy coarse sand. Sandy loam sub-horizons are less than 15 centimeters thick. The lower part of the Bg horizon is loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand. Typically stony, cobbly, and or gravelly textural modifiers are present.
Some pedons have a thin Bw horizon with similar hue, value, textures, and rock fragment content to the Bg horizon, except these have a chroma of 3.
The 2Cdg horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 5 through 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. The 2Cd horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. 2Cdg and 2Cd horizons are massive, and may have plate-like divisions. Consistence is firm or very firm. Fine-earth texture includes loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, coarse sandy loam, sandy loam and fine sandy loam. Sandy loam or fine sandy loam textures are present with in a depth of 1 meter. Typically stony, cobbly, and or gravelly textural modifiers are present.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other known series in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Norwell soils are nearly level and gently sloping on slightly concave lower slopes and along shallow drainageways on till plains and ground moraines in the uplands. Slope ranges from 0 through 8 percent. The soils formed in acid, sandy till over sandy and loamy dense lodgement till of Wisconsin age derived from granite and gneiss. The underlying lodgement till is a root limiting layer. Most areas have very stony or extremely stony surfaces. The climate is humid temperate; mean annual temperature ranges from 7 through 10 degrees C; and mean annual precipitation is 1258 millimeters.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The Deerfield, Hinckley, Merrimac, Sudbury, and Windsor soils have loose gravelly or sandy substrata, and are on nearby glacial outwash plains. The somewhat excessively drained Gloucester, well drained Essex, moderately well drained Scituate, and very poorly drained Brockton soils are in a drainage sequence with Norwell.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible where in depressions, or it is high or very high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or very high in the mineral solum and moderately low to moderately high the substratum. A perched, fluctuating water table above the dense lodgement till saturates the solum at or near the surface for 7 to 9 months of the year. Frequent brief ponding to a depth of 5 centimeters is common in many areas.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly forested. Cleared and drained areas are used for hay or pasture. Common forest trees are red maple, black tupelo, swamp white oak, tamarack, elm, eastern hemlock, eastern white pine, and aspen. Common shrubs and herbaceous plants are alder, sedges, hardhack, red-osier dogwood, alternate leaf dogwood, sweet pepper bush, poison ivy, high bush blueberry, green briar, and cinnamon fern. Sphagnum moss is commonly present.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeast Massachusetts. MLRA's 144A and 149B. The soil is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 1965.
REMARKS: This revision reflects a change in typical pedons and updates to the range in characteristics as well as general updating to metric units.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 21 centimeters (Oe and A horizons).
2. Sandy particle size feature - the particle size control section is dominantly sandy but has less than 50 percent very fine sand and less than 35 percent rock fragments. The zone from 21 to 49 centimeters (Bg1 and Bg2 horizons)
3. Shallow soil depth class - densic contact at 49 centimeters (2Cdg horizon)
4. Aquic moisture regime - the zone from 21 through 49 centimeters (Bg1and Bg2 horizons).
5. Endosaturation feature - perched water table above densic contact the zone from 0 through 49 centimeters (Oe, A, Bg1 and Bg2 horizons).