SOILS of NEW BRUNSWICK: the SECOND APPROXIMATION
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SOILS OF NEW BRUNSWICK: The SECOND APPROXIMATION Sherif H. Fahmy, Sheldon W. R. Hann and You Jiao 2010 Front cover: Soil profile pictures of: From left to right, Caribou Soil Series, Harcourt Soil Series, and Holmesville Soil Series. Technical Publication Number: NBSWCC-PRC 2010-01 2 Soils of New Brunswick The Second Approximation Sherif H. Fahmy, Sheldon W. R. Hann Potato Research Centre, Research Branch Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Fredericton, New Brunswick And You Jiao Atlantic Region, Agri-Environment Service Branch Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Fredericton, New Brunswick 2010 This document may be downloaded from the “publications” section of website of the Eastern Canada Soil Conservation Centre, University of Moncton, Edmundston Campus: http://www.ccse-swcc.nb.ca/ 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page Table of Content - - - - - - - - - 4 List of Figures - - - - - - - - - - 5 List of Tables - - - - - - - - - - 6 Forward and Acknowledgments - - - - - - - - 7 New Brunswick Physiography and Surficial Geology - - - - - 8 New Brunswick Bedrock Geology - - - - - - - 13 The Chaleur Uplands - - - - - - - - 13 The New Brunswick Highlands - - - - - - - 13 The Maritime Plains - - - - - - - - 13 Classification of Soils - - - - - - - - - 15 The Order Level - - - - - - - - 15 The Great Group Level - - - - - - - 15 The Subgroup Level - - - - - - - - 15 The Family Level - - - - - - - - 15 The Soil Series - - - - - - - - 15 New Brunswick Soils - - - - - - - - - 17 General Descriptions of New Brunswick Soils - - - - - 17 New Brunswick Soil Catenas - - - - - - - - 44 Soil Catena - - - - - - - - - 44 Soil Association - - - - - - - - 44 Soil Catenas of New Brunswick - - - - - - - 44 Forest Soils of New Brunswick - - - - - - - - 49 New Brunswick Soil Suitability Modeling - - - - - - 73 CanSOIL-INTERPNB Soil Suitability Model - - - - - 73 CanSOIL-INTERPNB Model Components - - - - - 74 The Soil Database Component - - - - - - 74 The Interpretation Component of Unique Soil Map Unit Polygons - 76 References - - - - - - - - - - 81 Appendix 1 CanSOIL-INTERPNB Algorithm - - - - - 83 4 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. New Brunswick Physiographic Regions Map - - - - - - 8 2. Bedrock Geology (Lithology) Map - - - - - - 14 3. Bedrock Geology (Regolith) Map - - - - - - 14 4. Location of New Brunswick Soil Survey Reports Map - - - - 43 5. Britt Brook Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 50 6. Caribou Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 50 7. Carleton Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 51 8. Glassville Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 51 9. Harcourt Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 52 10. Holmesville Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 52 11. Juniper Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 53 12. Lomond Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 53 13. Long Lake Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 54 14. McGee Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 54 15. Organic Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 55 16. Parleeville-Tobique Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - 55 17. Parry Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 56 18. Popple Depot Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 56 19. Reece Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 57 20. Salisbury Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 57 21. Stony Brook Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 58 22. Sunbury Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 58 23. Thibault Forest Soil Distribution Map - - - - - - 59 24. Surficial Geology for the Forest Soils of New Brunswick - - - - 63 25. Polygon Attribute File (PAT) - - - - - - - 74 26. Soil Map Unit / Component File (SMUF/COMP) - - - - - 75 27. Soil Name File (SNF) - - - - - - - - 75 28. Soil Layer File (SLF) - - - - - - - - 76 29. Soil Map Unit Interpretation File for Potato and Other Agricultural Crops - - 78 30. Potato Soil Suitability for Hartland, New Brunswick - - - - - 79 31. Soil Map Unit Interpretation File for Black Spruce and Other tree Species - - 79 32. Black Spruce Suitability for Hartland New Brunswick - - - - 80 5 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Physiographic Location of New Brunswick Soils - - - - - 10 2. General Description of New Brunswick Soils- - - - - - 19 3. Table of Soil Survey Reports - - - - - - 43 4. New Brunswick Mineral Soils Catenas - - - - - - 46 5. Forest Soil Units of New Brunswick - - - - - - - 60 6. Correlation of New Brunswick Soil Associations/Series with Forest Soil Units - 64 7. Generalized Soil Properties of Parent Material for Forest Soil Units - - - 66 8. Soil material properties used to establish hydrologic groups for New Brunswick - 72 9. Drainage Lookup Table for Different Agriculture Crops - - - - 77 10. Soil Suitability Table for the Production of Potato - - - - - 77 6 FORWARD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This publication was made possible as a result of the efforts of the numerous soil surveyors who have studied New Brunswick soils over the past seventy years. In 1938 P.C. Stobbe started the first field work on the Fredericton-Gagetown project; he managed to establish 10 mineral soil series. Fahmy et al. (1986) reported over 250 central concepts of soil series; together with their location, extent and associated problems and magnitudes for the province of New Brunswick, Canada. At present there are 419 soil series names residing in both the soil names file (SNF) and soil layer file (SLF) of the New Brunswick Pedon file within the Soil Landscapes of Canada (SLC). These files are located in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Soil Information System’s (CanSIS) (AESB 2009). This number of soil series would multiply when over 700 modifier combinations of drainage, texture, depth and phase are included. These New Brunswick soils were published in over 30 soil survey reports of the nature of reconnaissance, exploratory, detailed, in-house file releases, and technical soil survey reports and in other publications. All of these resources can be accessed at the following internet web site: http://tst.sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/publications/nb/index.html The advancement in computer technology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) prompted the idea of updating the “Soils of New Brunswick: A First Approximation” published in 1986 by Fahmy et al. into this second approximation publication. It is a most recent categorization of New Brunswick soils; and will serve the current twenty first century’s needs in forming the basis of future efforts that would be made in studying soils, landscape and land resource in the province of New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada. The publication deals with information about the Physiography, rock and surficial geology, soil classification and detailed descriptions of New Brunswick soils. New additions dealing with forest soils of New Brunswick and soil suitability model; the CanSOIL-INTERPNB, developed by the Soil and Land Resource team of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in New Brunswick, were included. Appreciation and thanks must be extended to all Federal Government pedologists of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and land resource experts that helped in the establishment of New Brunswick soils; from P.C. Stobbe in 1938, H. Aalund, R.E. Wicklund, K.K. Langmaid, C. Wang, and last but not least H.W. Rees in 2010, to the present contingent of soil and land resource teams in New Brunswick, the Atlantic Region and Canada, the Eastern Canada Soil and Water Conservation Centre team of the University of Moncton, Edmundston Campus, New Brunswick, and also to the Forest Site Classification Team of the Department of Natural Resources, New Brunswick. Special thanks to Dr. Charles Bourque and Dr. Fan Rui Meng of the University of New Brunswick, Dr. Gordon Fairchild of the Eastern Canada Soil and Water Conservation Centre, and Mr. Roland Gagnon of J. D. Irving Woodland for peer review of the document and their good suggestions. And to Pedologists of the Land Resource Team, Atlantic Region, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: Mr. Delmar Holmstrom, Mr. Dave Langille, Mr. Gary Patterson and Mr. Ken Webb; for the thorough review and editing of this document. And last but not least, the authors wish to acknowledge the particular efforts of Pedologist Mr. G.F.J. Millette; and the late Pedologists Mr. K.K. Langmaid and Mr. J.K. MacMillan in establishing the foundation (1961) that helped make this publication come to reality. 7 NEW BRUNSWICK PHYSIOGRAPHY AND SURFICIAL GEOLOGY New Brunswick lies in the Appalachian physiographic region of Canada. Bostock (1970) reported that New Brunswick is composed of three physiographic regions; Rampton et al. (1984) reported six regions subdivided into 42 sub-regions (Fig 1). The Appalachians consist of a complex belt of folded mountains composed largely of flat topped rolling uplands and highlands. Figure 1. New Brunswick Physiographic Regions Map (Rampton et al. 1984). In New Brunswick, differential erosion has left a northeast-southwest trend of physiographic units composed of highlands and uplands, separated by valleys, and broad lowland areas developed on less resistant Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. The Highlands and Uplands form a semicircle about the vast New Brunswick Lowland, or Maritime Plain. The Maritime Plain is for the most part, below 120 m in elevation, while the surrounding uplands range between 150 and 820 m. Mount Carleton in the Northern Miramichi highlands sub region is New Brunswick’s highest peak at an elevation of 820 m. 8 The Chaleur Uplands are thought to be the remnants of a peneplain which has since been uplifted and heavily dissected. In general the peneplain is southeastwardly sloping with long, flat-topped