LOCATION SUNDAY             ME+NH VT
Established Series
Rev. NRK-KJL-WDH
05/1999

SUNDAY SERIES


The Sunday series consists of very deep, excessively drained soils formed in sandy alluvial deposits on flood plains. Permeability is rapid or very rapid. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 43 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is about 44 inches at the type location.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, frigid Typic Udipsamments

TYPICAL PEDON: Sunday loamy fine sand, on a 1 percent slope in a wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 4 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loamy fine sand, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 14 inches thick)

C1--4 to 12 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) sand; single grain; loose; few very fine and fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 20 inches thick)

C2--12 to 25 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) fine sand; single grain; loose; few very fine and common coarse roots; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 52 inches thick)

C3--25 to 65 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) coarse sand; single grain; loose; moderately acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Oxford County, Maine; town of Fryeburg, 0.7 mile southwest of Swans Falls on the Saco River and 0.9 mile north northwest of junction of Maine Route 113 and the Saco River; USGS Fryeburg topographic quadrangle; latitude 44 degrees 01 minutes 52 seconds N., and longitude 70 degrees 59 minutes 43 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Most pedons are free of pebbles, but in some pedons below a depth of 20 inches, pebbles make up to 10 percent of the soil volume. Some pedons have buried horizons.

The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Dry value is 6 or 7. Texture ranges from loamy fine sand to sand. Structure is weak very fine to fine granular. Consistence is loose to very friable. Reaction ranges from extremely acid through slightly acid unless limed.

The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 6, with chroma of 2 or less being the result of the parent material. Texture ranges from loamy fine sand to coarse sand. Below 40 inches, the C horizon commonly consists of strata of loamy fine sand, sand and coarse sand and thin strata of fine gravel. Consistence is loose to very friable. The C horizon has irregular organic matter content with depth. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through slightly acid.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Abbylake, Cantlin, Champlain, Claire, Corliss, Feldtman(T), Friendship, Grayling, Mahtomedi, Menahga, Nymore, Plainbo, Sartell, Serden, and Shawano series. All of these soils except Champlain are from outside of Region R. Abbylake, Cantlin, Champlain, Friendship, Grayling, Mahtomedi, Menahga, Nymore, Plainbo, Sartell and Shawano soils have B horizons. Claire soils are slightly acid to moderately alkaline in the solum. Corliss soils have free carbonates in the control section. Feldtman soils have redder hues in the substratum. Serden soils are typically less acid throughout.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sunday soils are nearly level soils on flood plains adjacent to rivers and stream channels. Slope is generally less than 3 percent. The soils formed in recent sandy alluvial deposits derived principally from gneiss, schist, granite, and quartzite rocks. Frequency of flooding varies from once or twice a year to once in 10 years and generally occurs during spring runoff or during heavy rains in the fall. The climate is humid and cool temperate. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 48 inches. The mean annual temperature ranges from about 38 to 46 degrees F. The frost-free season ranges from 80 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 10 to 1750 feet above sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Adams, Allagash, Charles, Cornish, Croghan, Lovewell, Madawaska, Nicholville and Salmon soils. Adams, Allagash, Croghan, Madawaska, Nicholville and Salmon soils are on adjacent outwash plains, deltas and terraces. Charles, Cornish and Lovewell are wetter soils in lower positions on the flood plains. Fryeburg soils are finer textured and are on similar positions on the flood plains.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is rapid or very rapid.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested or are in unimproved pasture. The common tree species are poplar, red oak, red and sugar maple, eastern white pine, and gray birch. Cleared areas are used mainly for hay and improved pasture, but small scattered areas are in cultivated crops.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont; MLRAs 143 and 144B. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sullivan County, New Hampshire, 1981.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 4 inches (Ap horizon).

ADDITIONAL DATA: The Soil Interpretation Record Number for the Sunday series is ME0083.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.