LOCATION PEMAQUID ME
Established Series
Rev. NRB-MGD-CIB
09/2018
PEMAQUID SERIES
The Pemaquid series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils formed in herbaceous organic deposits over sandy mineral material. 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 or sandy-skeletal, mixed, euic, frigid Terric Sulfihemists
TYPICAL PEDON: Pemaquid peat in a salt grass tidal marsh, undrained. (Colors are for moist soil unless noted otherwise.)
Oi--0 to 40 cm; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) peat (fibric material); 65 percent fiber, 55 percent rubbed; dense mat of roots, stems and leaves; massive; many very fine and fine and common medium roots; very friable; 5 percent shell fragments; neutral; gradual smooth boundary.
Oe--40 to 90 cm; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) mucky peat (hemic material); 55 percent fiber, 35 percent rubbed; massive; many very fine and fine and common medium roots; very friable; 2 percent shell fragments; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the organic horizons is 40 to 130 cm thick with over 50 percent comprised of hemic material.)
Cseg--90 to 165 cm; gray (5Y 5/1) in place, gray (5Y 6/1) reduced, sand; single grain; loose; slightly alkaline.
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 475 feet northwest of the lower parking lot into the adjacent tidal marsh; USGS Boothbay Harbor topographic quadrangle; latitude 43 degrees 46 minutes 34.7 seconds N., and longitude 69 degrees 44 minutes 09.2 seconds W., WGS 84.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the organic deposits ranges from 40 to 130 cm. The soil is strongly acid to moderately alkaline in its natural condition and ultra-acid to neutral once oxidized. Mineral content (with varying textures from silty clay to sand) ranges from 5 to 50 percent throughout the organic portion of the profile. 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. The soil commonly is moderately saline in the surface tier and moderately saline to strongly saline in the subsurface and bottom tiers. In some places the range includes slightly saline.
The surface tier is neutral or has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is comprised of either hemic or fibric materials. Unrubbed fiber content is 35 to 100 percent; rubbed fiber content ranges from 20 to 85 percent.
The subsurface tier is neutral or has a hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4 and chroma of 1 to 3. Unrubbed fiber content is 20 to 70 percent; rubbed fiber content is less than 40 percent.
The bottom tier, where present, is neutral or has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. Unrubbed fiber content is 10 to 50 percent; rubbed fiber content is less than 40 percent.
The A horizon, where present, is neutral or has a hue of 10YR to 5Y, value 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture ranges from very fine sandy loam to sand or their mucky modifiers. Clay content (by weight) is generally less than 8 percent. Some pedons have gravel and cobble sized fragments within this horizon ranging up to 5% (by volume). Combined thickness of the A horizons is 0 to 70 cm thick.
The C horizon is neutral or has hue of 2.5Y to 10BG, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 2. Texture is dominantly loamy sand or sand. Some pedons have thin horizons of finer textures. 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.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in the same family.
Pawcatuck soils are in a related family but occur in areas with a mesic soil temperature regime.
Bestpitch and
Westbrook soils are similar mesic soils in related families. Bestpitch soils are underlain by clayey materials with over 35 percent (by weight) in the fine-earth fraction. Westbrook soils are underlain by loamy materials within a depth of 40 to 130 cm (16 to 51 in).
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pemaquid soils are level and occur in tidal marshes along the coast of Maine. They are subject to tidal flooding twice daily except in areas protected by dikes and tide gates. Pemaquid soils developed in partially decomposed organic material from salt tolerant herbaceous plants over sandy sediments. Mean annual temperature is 5 to 9 degrees C and mean annual precipitation is 1600 to 2200 mm.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Fort Knox,
Gouldsboro, Todds point,
Petit Manan,
Phippsburg, and
Damariscotta 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 within 165 cm. Petit Manan soils have organic materials 20 to 40 cm thick and are underlain by fine-silty mineral materials. Phippsburg soils have an organic cap that ranges from 20 to 40 cm thick and are underlain by sandy mineral materials. Damariscotta soils are sandy mineral soils with a thin to absent organic cap less than 20 cm thick.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. Runoff is negligible or ponded. The soil is subject to very brief, very frequent tidal fluctuations. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to very high in the organic layers and very high in the underlying mineral sediments.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in salt marsh and provide food and habitat for fish, shell fish and wildfowl. Small scattered areas are in saltgrass hay. The most common grasses are salt meadow grass, salt water grass and spike grass. Other vegetation includes 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, 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. Fibric material - the zone from 0 to 40 cm has rubbed fiber content greater than or equal to 40 percent (Oi horizon).
2. Hemic material - the zone from 40 to 90 cm has a rubbed fiber content between 17 and 40 percent (Oe horizons).
3. Sulfihemists great group - sulfidic materials within a depth of 100 cm.
4. Reaction (pH value) is more than 4.5 throughout the control section.
ADDITIONAL DATA: This pedon is entered as 2017ME023001 in the National Soils Information System.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.