LOCATION SASSAFRAS               MD+DC DE NJ PA VA

Established Series
SYD-RBT/Rev. MDJ
05/2013

SASSAFRAS SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults

TYPICAL PEDON: Sassafras sandy loam, in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil).

Ap--0 to 23 centimeters (0 to 9 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few roots; strongly acid, abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 30 centimeters (0 to 12 inches) thick)

BA--23 to 53 centimeters (9 to 21 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; moderate very fine to medium subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few roots; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 30 centimeters (0 to 12 inches) thick)

Bt1--53 to 81 centimeters (21 to 32 inches); brown (7.5YR 5/4) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few clay films on faces of peds; very few roots; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bt2--81 to 102 centimeters (32 to 40 inches); strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy loam; weak thick platy structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few clay films on faces of peds; very few roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 25 to 51 centimeters (10 to 20 inches))

C1--102 to 132 centimeters (40 to 52 inches); strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) gravelly sandy loam; massive; friable; slightly sticky, nonplastic; very strongly acid; 3 percent small light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) pockets of clay; clear smooth boundary.

C2--132 to 178 centimeters (52 to 70 inches); brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) loamy sand; single grain; loose; nonsticky, nonplastic; 5 percent, by volume fine strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) gravel; extremely acid.

TYPE LOCATION: St. Mary's County, Maryland; approximately 1.4 miles southeast of the Community of Laurel Grove; 2,400 feet northeast of Rt. 235; 50 feet east of Queen Tree Road into field; USGS Mechanicsville topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 24 minutes 12 seconds N. and longitude 76 degrees 39 minutes 11 seconds W., NAD 83; Major Land Resource Area 149A

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum Thickness: 64 to 127 centimeters (25 to 50 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 203 centimeters (80 inches)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Greater than 183 centimeters (72 inches)
Rock Fragments: 0 to 20 percent, by volume in the A and B horizon and 0 to 30 percent in the C horizon, mostly quartz pebbles
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid, throughout the profile, except where limed

Range Of Individual Horizons:
Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 2 to 4
Texture (fine-earth textures)--loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam

A horizon (if it occurs is 3 to 10 centimeters (1 to 4 inches) thick):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, chroma of 1 to 4
Texture (fine-earth textures)--loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam

E horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 2 to 4
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam

BA or BE horizons (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam

Bt horizon:
Color--5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam with a weighted average silt content of 20 to 35 percent

BC horizon (if it occurs):
Color--7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam

C horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 8, chroma of 3 to 8 or is variegated in shades of these colors
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sand, fine sand, loamy sand, or sandy loam and the transition to sand is greater than 13 centimeters (5 inches)
Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shades of red, yellow, or brown and iron depletions in shades of brown, yellow, olive, or gray below a depth of 183 centimeters (72 inches)

COMPETING SERIES:
Alonzville soils--formed in alluvium derived from sandstone, siltstone, and shale
Bailegap soils--formed in residuum weathered from sandstone, siltstone, and shale and are deep to hard bedrock
Beersheba soil--formed in residuum weathered from sandstone and are moderately deep to paralithic contact
Gunstock soils--formed in residuum weathered from metasiltstone and phyllite and are moderately deep to a paralithic contact
Hambrook soils--have a seasonal high water at 102 to 183 centimeters (40 to 72 inches)
Harmiller soils--formed in residuum weathered from metasedimentary rocks and are moderately deep to a paralithic contact
Jefferson soils--formed in colluvium derived from sandstone, siltstone, and shale
Keener soils--formed in colluvium derived from arkose, metagraywacke, and quartzite
Lily soils--formed in residuum weathered from sandstone and are moderately deep to a lithic contact
Lonewood soils--formed in a silty mantle underlain by residuum weathered from sandstone and shale and have a lithic contact between 40 and 72 inches
Marr soils--have on a weighted average, less rock fragments in the particle-size control section and the sand fraction is dominantly fine or very fine sand
McCamy soils--formed in residuum weathered from metasedimentary rocks and have hard bedrock within 20 to 40 inches
Riney soils--formed in residuum weathered from sandstone and shale and are deep to soft bedrock
Shinbone soils--formed in residuum weathered from metasedimentary rocks and are deep to a paralithic contact
Sunnyside soils--have a Bt horizon with hue of 2.5YR or redder

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Major Land Resource Area(S):149A, 153C, 153D
Landscape: Coastal Plain, upland
Landform: Fluviomarine terrace, flats
Parent Material: Loamy fluviomarine sediments
Depth Class: Very deep
Slope: 0 to 45 percent
Elevation: 10 to 100 meters (35 to 330 feet)
Frost Free Period: 160 to 250 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 11 degrees C. (52 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 1143 millimeters (45 inches)

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Downer soils--have a coarse-loamy particle-size control section, on similar landforms
Fallsington soils--poorly drained, on lower-lying landforms
Fort Mott soils-have a loamy particle-size control section, on similar landforms
Galestown soils--have a sandy particle-size control section, on higher landforms
Klej soils--somewhat poorly drained and have a sandy particle-size control section, on lower-lying landforms
Marr soils--have on a weighted average, less rock fragments in the particle-size control section and the sand fraction is dominantly fine or very fine sand, on similar landforms
Matapeake soils--have a fine-silty particle-size control section, on similar landforms
Mattapex soils--moderately well drained, have a fine-silty particle-size control section, on slightly lower-lying landforms
Sunnyside soils--have a Bt horizon with hue of 2.5YR or redder, on similar landforms
Woodstown soils--moderately well drained, on slightly lower-lying landforms

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very deep
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible to Medium
Saturated Hydraulic conductivity Class: Moderately high to high
Permeability Class (Obsolete): Moderate or Moderately Slow
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Mainly for general crops, truck crops, pastures, fruits, woodland, and wide variety of nonfarm uses.
Dominant Vegetation: Where wooded--Native vegetation is mixed upland hardwoods, with some shortleaf and Virginia pine.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia
Extent: Large (more than 100,000 acres)

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cecil County, Maryland, 1900

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 53 centimeters (21 inches) (A and BA horizons)
Argillic horizon--the zone from 53 to 102 centimeters (21 inches to 40 inches) (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)

ADDITIONAL DATA: Existing laboratory data show that soils sampled as Sassafras to include soils with a weighted average clay content in the argillic horizon that ranges from about 16 to 25 percent. Also, included are soils that have sand or loamy sand within 40 inches of the surface and border on a strongly contrasting family. The Sassafras series, however, is thought to be dominantly fine-loamy with a weighted average clay content of about 21 percent in the argillic horizon.

Characterization data is available from the NSSL for the following pedons: 57DE001006. Data for closely related Sassafras and Downer taxajuncts include the following pedons: 57DE001011; 59PA04501; 59PA045012; 74MD047001; 77MD029007; 79VA001001; 85NJ033010; 92DE003004; 93MD04768; 93NJ005001; 93NJ005002; 93DE003002. At, this time due to limited laboratory characterization data to support the present classification of the Sassafras series, a future 3-HAM MLRA Benchmark Sampling Project is planned.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.