LOCATION BUCKSPORT          ME +CT MA NY

BUCKSPORT SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Euic, frigid Typic Haplosaprists

TYPICAL PEDON: Bucksport muck, in a wooded bog. (Colors are for saturated soil.)

Oa1--0 to 12 inches; black (5YR 2/1) on broken face and rubbed, muck (sapric material); about 40 percent fiber, 10 percent rubbed; massive; nonsticky; about 50 percent herbaceous and 50 percent woody fibers; 10 percent partially decomposed wood fragments; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sodium pyrophosphate test, extremely acid in 0.01M calcium chloride; clear smooth boundary.

Oa2--12 to 25 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) on broken face and rubbed, muck (sapric material); about 40 percent fiber, less than 5 percent rubbed; massive; slightly sticky; about 50 percent herbaceous and 50 percent woody fibers; 10 percent partially decomposed wood fragments; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sodium pyrophosphate test, extremely acid in 0.01M calcium chloride; clear smooth boundary.

Oa3--25 to 45 inches; black (5YR 2/1) on broken face and rubbed, muck (sapric material); about 30 percent fiber, less than 5 percent rubbed; massive; slightly sticky; about 60 percent herbaceous and 40 percent woody fibers; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sodium pyrophosphate test; very strongly acid in 0.01M calcium chloride; clear smooth boundary.

Oa4--45 to 65 inches; black (5YR 2/1) on broken face and rubbed, muck (sapric material); about 50 percent fiber, less than 5 percent rubbed; massive; slightly sticky; about 70 percent herbaceous and 30 percent woody fibers; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sodium pyrophosphate test; very strongly acid in 0.01M calcium chloride.

TYPE LOCATION: Hancock County, Maine; Town of Bucksport; 4,000 feet southwest of Stubbs Brook on an unnamed highway northeast of Bucksport village; USGS Bucksport topographic quadrangle; lat. 44 degrees 36 minutes 10 seconds N. and long. 68 degrees 45 minutes 22 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the organic material is greater than 51 inches and ranges to over 12 feet. The depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. The content of woody fragments ranges from 0 to 20 percent throughout the soil and consists of twigs, branches, and stumps. The content of mineral material ranges from 0 to 20 percent throughout. Fibers are typically of herbaceous and woody origin but in some pedons fibers from sphagnum moss make up 70 percent of the surface tier and make up thin layers in the subsurface and bottom tier.

The surface tier is neutral or has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 4 and chroma of 0 to 2. The surface tier is typically sapric material but in some pedons is hemic or fibric material with or without sapric materials. It is massive or has weak fine, medium or coarse granular, weak fine or medium subangular or weak thin platy structure. Consistence is nonsticky or slightly sticky. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in 0.01M calcium chloride.

The subsurface and bottom tiers have hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 4 and chroma of 1 to 3. They are typically sapric material but some pedons have thin layers of fibric material with a total thickness of less than 5 inches or thin layers of hemic material with a total thickness of less than 10 inches. They are massive or have weak thin to very thick platy or weak fine or medium subangular blocky or granular structure. Consistence is nonsticky or slightly sticky. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the subsurface tier and very strongly acid to slightly acid in the bottom tier in 0.01M calcium chloride.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Lupton, Pywell, Seelyeville, and Tendoy series in the same family. These series all have lower annual precipitation than the Bucksport series. In addition, Lupton soils typically have higher soil reaction in the control section. Pywell soils have thin layers of volcanic ash. Seelyeville soils have less woody fibers and or fragments. Tendoy soils have calcium carbonate in the upper part of the surface tier.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bucksport soils are in bogs, primarily in depressions in ground moraines, glaciofluvial deposits, between shallow till ridges, and on floodplains. They range from small enclosed bogs to areas of several hundred acres. Slope is 0 to 1 percent. Bucksport soils formed in organic material from 51 inches to over 12 feet thick. The organic material was derived mainly from herbaceous and woody plants with lesser amounts of sphagnum moss. The climate is humid and cool temperature. The mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 46 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 50 inches. The frost-free season ranges from 90 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 5 to 3000 feet above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Colton, Dixfield, Hermon, Lyman, Schoodic, Sheepscot, Tunbridge, and Wonsqueak soils. Colton and Sheepscot soils are on outwash plains that surround Bucksport soils. Dixfield and Hermon soils are on glacial till ridges surrounding Bucksport soils. Lyman, Schoodic and Tunbridge soils are on till ridges that have bedrock at depths less than 40 inches surrounding the Bucksport soils. The organic Wonsqueak soils are on the shallow perimeter of the bogs with the deeper Bucksport soils.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. Runoff is very low or negligible. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Rare to frequent flooding of very brief to long duration may occur where the soil occupies flood plains.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are in woodland or shrubby bogs. A few are in open bogs. Woodland vegetation includes northern white cedar, tamarack, black spruce, alder, red maple, gray birch, and balsam fir. Shrubby plants and understory vegetation include pale laurel, bog rosemary, labrador tea, lambkill, leatherleaf, chokeberry, sphagnum moss, and various grasses and sedges.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York; MLRA 143 and 144B. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hancock County, Maine, 1988.

REMARKS: Bucksport soils were formerly mapped at the suborder level as Saprists and Hemists. The classification previously was Euic, frigid Typic Haplosaprists and before that, Euic Typic Borosaprists.
Diagnostic features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Saprists - sapric soil materials dominant in the subsurface tier (12 to 36 inches).
2. Euic reaction class - pH of 4.5 or more in 0.01M calcium chloride in some part of the organic material in the control section (Oa3 and Oa4 layers).

Additional Data: Soil interpretation record numbers for the Bucksport series are: Bucksport, ME0122; Bucksport, ponded, ME0143.