NRS 212 – Introduction to Soil Science Fall 2018
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Application Problem #9
Please read and follow the rules provided in the Assignment Instructions
Here’s the official Soil Survey Description of the Enfield Soil Series:
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, active,
mesic Typic Dystrudepts
Ap--0 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; moderate fine
granular structure; friable; many very fine and fine roots; 5 percent fine gravel;
strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
Bw1--7 to 16 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) silt loam; weak medium
subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and many fine roots; 5
percent fine gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--16 to 25 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) silt loam; weak medium
subangular blocky structure; friable, few very fine and common fine roots; 5
percent fine gravel; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of
the Bw horizons is 12 to 36 inches)
2C--25 to 60 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose;
stratified; 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid.
Identify the soil order, moisture regime, and temperature regime for this soil series.
Explain how you arrived at your answers.
o Soil order – The ept root is used in the inceptisol order
o Moisture regime – The Udic moisture regime is found throughout New
England.
o Temperature regime – This soil has a mesic temperature regime in the
taxonomic classification.
Sod farming is a common land use for Enfield soils in Rhode Island. In a paper
published in the Soil Science Society of America Journal, Millar et al. (2010)1
reported considerable soil losses associated with sod farming. A copy of the paper can
be found in a separate attachment. Figure 1 (below) shows differences in the
morphology of soil from a sod field that has been under sod production for ~30 years,
and from and adjacent forested area. The soils in both areas were mapped as Enfield
in the 1970s, before the land went into sod production.
After 30 years of sod harvesting, is the soil from the sod farm still an Enfield soil?
1 Millar, D., M. Stolt, and J. A. Amador. 2010. Quantification and implications of soil losses from
commercial sod production. Soil Science Society of America Journal 74: 892-897.
______________________________________________________________________________
Application Problem #9
Please read and follow the rules provided in the Assignment Instructions
Here’s the official Soil Survey Description of the Enfield Soil Series:
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, active,
mesic Typic Dystrudepts
Ap--0 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; moderate fine
granular structure; friable; many very fine and fine roots; 5 percent fine gravel;
strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
Bw1--7 to 16 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) silt loam; weak medium
subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and many fine roots; 5
percent fine gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--16 to 25 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) silt loam; weak medium
subangular blocky structure; friable, few very fine and common fine roots; 5
percent fine gravel; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of
the Bw horizons is 12 to 36 inches)
2C--25 to 60 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose;
stratified; 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid.
Identify the soil order, moisture regime, and temperature regime for this soil series.
Explain how you arrived at your answers.
o Soil order – The ept root is used in the inceptisol order
o Moisture regime – The Udic moisture regime is found throughout New
England.
o Temperature regime – This soil has a mesic temperature regime in the
taxonomic classification.
Sod farming is a common land use for Enfield soils in Rhode Island. In a paper
published in the Soil Science Society of America Journal, Millar et al. (2010)1
reported considerable soil losses associated with sod farming. A copy of the paper can
be found in a separate attachment. Figure 1 (below) shows differences in the
morphology of soil from a sod field that has been under sod production for ~30 years,
and from and adjacent forested area. The soils in both areas were mapped as Enfield
in the 1970s, before the land went into sod production.
After 30 years of sod harvesting, is the soil from the sod farm still an Enfield soil?
1 Millar, D., M. Stolt, and J. A. Amador. 2010. Quantification and implications of soil losses from
commercial sod production. Soil Science Society of America Journal 74: 892-897.
