LOCATION SUDBURY MA+CT NH NY RI VT

Established Series
Rev. DGG-MFF-DCP
01/2013

SUDBURY SERIES

The Sudbury series consists of very deep, moderately well and somewhat poorly drained soils on outwash plains. They are nearly level through strongly sloping soils in slight depressions and on terraces and foot slopes in areas of outwash or glaciofluvial deposits. Slope ranges from 0 through 15 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the upper solum and high or very high in the lower solum and substratum. Mean annual temperature is about 48 degrees F. (9 degrees C.) and the mean annual precipitation is about 43 inches (1092 millimeters).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Aquic Dystrudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Sudbury fine sandy loam in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 92 feet (28 meters). (Colors are for moist soils unless otherwise stated.)

Ap -- 0 to 13 inches (0 to 33 centimeters); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; 5 percent gravel; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 14 inches, 15 to 36 centimeters thick.)

Bw -- 13 to 19 inches (33 to 48 centimeters); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; common grass roots; 10 percent fine gravel; few fine and medium prominent dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) areas of iron depletion in the lower 3 inches (8 centimeters); moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 20 inches, 5 to 51 centimeters thick.)

2CB -- 19 to 26 inches(48 to 66 centimeters) ; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; few fine roots; yellowish red (5YR 4/8) coatings on some sand grains; 20 percent gravel; many fine prominent dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) and common coarse prominent reddish yellow (5YR 6/8) masses of iron accumulations; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches, 0 to 25 centimeters thick.)

2C -- 26 to 65 inches (66 to 165 centimeters); light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) very gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; many sand grains coated with strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and some sand grains slightly cemented, and many pebbles and cobbles coated with black (5YR 2/1); few fine roots; strata of sand and gravel consisting of about 50 percent gravel and some cobbles; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Essex County, Massachusetts; town of Beverly, 0.2 miles south of the junction of Essex Street and Cole Street and 150 feet south of railroad track. USGS Salem, MA quadrangle; Latitude 42 degrees, 33 minutes, 52 seconds N., Longitude 70 degrees, 51 minutes, 38 seconds W., NAD 1983.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to stratified sand and gravel range from 18 through 36 inches (46 through 91 centimeters). Depth to redoximorphic features ranges from 12 through 24 inches (30 through 60 centimeters) and must include redoximorphic depletions with chroma of 2 or less. Rock fragment content of individual horizons of the solum ranges from 0 through 30 percent by volume. The fragments are primarily fine gravel but include some medium gravel, coarse gravel and cobbles. Rock fragment content of the C horizon ranges from 0 through 75 percent, and consists of 0 through 65 percent gravel and 0 through 25 percent cobbles and stones. The fragments are mainly granite or gneiss with less than 25 percent dark, fine-grained shale, slate, or phyllite. Reaction ranges from extremely acid through slightly acid in the solum, unless limed, and from very strongly acid through slightly acid in the substratum.

Some pedons have an O horizon.

The Ap or A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 0 through 4. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or very fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is granular or subangular blocky.

Some pedons have an E horizon that has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. The E horizon has the same texture range as the A horizon. Structure is granular or subangular blocky.

The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 8. The upper part of the B horizon is fine sandy loam or sandy loam and the lower part ranges from sandy loam through coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is granular or subangular blocky or the horizon is massive. The structure may be single grain in the lower part in some pedons.

The 2CB horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 8. Texture ranges from loamy sand through coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction.
The 2C horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 8. It consists of stratified sand, gravel, and cobbles and ranges from loamy fine sand through coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family.

The Deerfield, Merrimac, Ninigret, Tisbury, and Walpole series are in related families. Deerfield soils have loamy fine sand or coarser textures below a depth of 10 inches (25 centimeters). Merrimac soils are somewhat excessively drained. Ninigret soils are coarse loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal. Tisbury soils are silt loam or very fine sandy loam in the upper part of the B horizon. Walpole soils are poorly drained.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sudbury soils are nearly level through strongly sloping soils in slight depressions on outwash plains and on gentle foot slopes. Slope ranges from 0 through 15 percent. The soils formed in water sorted sandy and gravelly glaciofluvial materials derived mainly from granite, gneiss, and schist. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 through 55 inches (762 through 1397 millimeters) and mean annual temperature ranges from 45 through 50 degrees F. (7 through 10 degrees C.). Mean growing season ranges from 120 through 240 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Agawam, Deerfield, Hinckley, Merrimac, Walpole and Windsor soils on nearby landscapes. Agawam, Hinckley, Merrimac, and Windsor soils do not have redox depletions within 24 inches (60 centimeters) of the surface. In addition, the Hinckley and Windsor soils have loamy sand or coarser textures in the B horizon. Deerfield soils have loamy fine sand or coarser textures below a depth of 10 inches (25 centimeters). Walpole soils are poorly drained.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well and somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is low to very high. The internal drainage is restricted by a seasonal high water table. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the upper solum and high or very high in the lower solum and substratum.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas used for growing hay, pasture, field and truck crops. Some are forested areas with mainly red maple, gray birch, eastern hemlock, larch, eastern white pine, and red, black, and scarlet oaks.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and eastern New York. MLRAs 144A, 145, and 149B. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1924.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the soil surface to a depth of 13 inches (33 centimeters) (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 13 to 19 inches (33 to 48 centimeters) (Bw horizon).
3. Aquic subgroup - redox depletions with a chroma of 2 within 24 inches (60 centimeters) of the soil surface.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.