Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______TITLE 5 SOIL EVALUATOR ______CERTIFICATION TRAINING ______Climate Organisms ______SOIL PARENT Relief Time MATERIAL ______The geologic sediments that the soils formed in ______Prepared for: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection By S.B. Mabee, PhD, PG, Massachusetts Geological Survey University of Massachusetts Amherst Presented by: New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission
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Page 1, form 11
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Page 2, form 11 What is parent material? What landform? Read Topo map/read the landscape Understanding geology helps.
Soil Parent Material, page 1
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Drumlin Landform ______SU SH Summit SH ______Shoulder BS Kame Landform Back slope ______
SU FS Glacial Till SH Foot slope ______Sand & BS Gravel ______TS FS Toe slope
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Soil Parent Material, page 2
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
The Parent Material ______
• Where do the deposits in which the soils have formed come from? ______
• These are the deposits that we live in ______• Quick review of surficial geology of MA ______• How did these deposits get here ______• What types of landforms these surficial deposits are associated with and why ______• How to recognize these landforms on topographic maps ______• How are these deposits are represented on geologic maps
• What are their characteristics and relevance to septic systems
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Parent materials governs minerals, color, permeability, infiltration
New England soils do not form from weathering of bedrock ______Types of ______Glacial Till Deposits ______Outwash Plain ______Clay Topset Beds Sand & ______Gravel
Delta
Wide variety, variable thick., wide range properties
Soil Parent Material, page 3
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Most recent continental glaciation began 85,000 to 100,000 years ago
______Wisconsin Glaciation (Laurentide Ice Sheet) ______
Max. extent ______22,000 to 28,000 years ago ______
About 1 mile thick over MA ______Glaciation shaped ______our landscape
And dictate which soils ______are suitable for septic systems and which are not
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Soil Parent Material, page 4
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______How do we know glaciers were here? ______
Modern analogs ______
Striations and Grooves
______General South to Southeast Ice Flow
______The Main Groups of Soil Parent Materials ______• Glacial Till • Windblown (Loess) ______• Shallow Bedrock • Organic Matter ______
• Glacial Outwash • Alluvial (Floodplain) ______• Lacustrine (Lakebed) • Coastal Deposits Deposits ______• Fill Material • Marine Silts and Clays (Human Transported Material)
Soil Parent Material, page 5
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
What Makes Our Landscape So Diverse? ______• Wide variety and complex environments that occur when the ice is retreating and actively melting ______• Meltwater stream spew tons of sand and gravel with high permeability while glacial lakes accumulate thick deposits ______of low permeability silts and clays The Bottom Line ______
• The advance and retreat of glaciers imparted significant ______heterogeneity to our landscape that changes rapidly in both a lateral as well as vertical direction ______• How did different glacial deposits form, how are they manifested in the landscape, how can they be identified on topographic maps and how do they affect soil properties
______Glacial Till ______
Dominantly unsorted and unstratified debris, ______deposited directly by the glacier, and consisting ______of a heterogeneous mixture of all the particle sizes – clay, silt, sand, gravel, cobbles and boulders ______
______Two Types of Glacial Till ______Lodgement or Basal Till ______Compact, dense deposited at the base of an actively flowing (moving) glacier ______Ablation Till ______Loose, sandier till deposited by the melting (wasting) glacier ______
Soil Parent Material, page 6
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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>50% sand, 25-35% silt, <17% (8%) Ubiquitous <10 ft thick to a max. of 230 feet
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______
Soil Parent Material, page 7
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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______Characteristics of Lodgement Till ______
• Heterogeneous mixture of all particles sizes – ______clay to boulder size ______• Unsorted, not stratified ______• Angular shaped rock fragments ______• Firm and compact ______• Clay content relatively high (5 – 25%)
• Rock fragments are held firmly in place
______Characteristics of Lodgement Till (con’t) ______• Typically occurs 2.5 to 3 feet below ground surface ______• Locally referred to as “hardpan” ______• Often has a perched water table during wet seasons and following periods of heavy precipitation ______
Soil Parent Material, page 8
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Oxidized upper zone Grey lower zone Dry enough for oxidized hor.
______Characteristics of Ablation Till ______• Dominantly loose sandy to gravelly material ______• Typically extremely variable with pockets and ______discontinuous strata of different material ______• Unstratified to coarsely stratified ______• Very little clay (2 – 10%) ______• Often has a high percentage of angular cobbles and boulders
______Removal it looks like sand
Wet it and it remains dirty ______
Soil Parent Material, page 9
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Variety of tills and their color depends on the bedrock mineralogy from which they were derived ______Light Gray Till Granites and/or Gneiss Dark Till Rocks w/Dark Mineralogy ______
Red Till Mesozoic/Triassic Age ______Rocks ______
______Lodgement ______Tills ______
More cohesive and make vertical exposures
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Soil Parent Material, page 10
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Ablation Tills ______Less cohesive, don’t stand up as well
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Malaspina Glacier – hummocky terrain
How do you tell where till is located and what kind it might be – Landforms ______
Need to know how glaciers operate ______Subglacial debris – entrained at bottom of ice
Englacial debris – entrained within the ice
Supraglacial debris – sitting on top of ice
Soil Parent Material, page 11
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Glacial Till Landforms ______Moraines – ridge perpendicular to the direction of ice flow marking the position where the terminus of the ice ______stood for a period of time ______Drumlin – oval shaped hill (inverted spoon), long axis parallel to the direction of ice flow ______
Till Ridge – a ridge of till parallel to the direction of ice ______flow ______Ground Moraine – an area of glacial till without any characteristic shape
______Conveyor Belt Theory ______Push Moraine Theory ______
Oldale, 2001
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Oldale, 2001
Soil Parent Material, page 12
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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______
______Types of Moraines ______
Terminal Moraine Recessional Moraine
Soil Parent Material, page 13
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Soil Parent Material, page 14
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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______Moraine ______
Higher elev., tight closed contours, hummocky
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Drumlins
Soil Parent Material, page 15
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Drumlins
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Drumlin ______Drumlin ______
______Till Ridge ______
Ground Moraine
Soil Parent Material, page 16
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Drumlin Till ______Ground Moraine ______
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CATENA
Drumlin – but position on landform matters
______PAXTON
Summit position ______ Typically well drained ______ Good oxidized zone– 10YR 5/6 or 5/8 ______ Redox features if present not well ______defined, may be absent in the upper portion ______depending on landscape position
Soil Parent Material, page 17
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______WOODBRIDGE ______ Typically midslope Moderately well ______drained Bw present, colors are ______more reduced; not as “bright” – often a 4/4 ______not a 5/6 or 5/8 Obvious redox features ______
______RIDGEBURY/WHITMAN ______ Toe slope ______ No B Horizon, Poorly drained to very ______poorly drained, ______ Obvious redox features, ______
______Glacial Till Summary • Generally a variable thickness veneer of till everywhere ______except where bedrock (ledge) is exposed with variable percolation rate ______
• Lodgement till can form a restrictive layer and ______produce a perched water table ______
• Soils with a percolation rate >60 minutes per inch is impervious material
Soil Parent Material, page 18
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Shallow to Bedrock Areas ______Shallow to bedrock areas are associated with ______irregular terrain, steep ridges and abrupt knobs ______Some areas are nearly level to gently rolling with few outcrops of ledge. ______Depth to bedrock can vary over short distances with variable complex conditions producing ______pockets of deep soil and areas of shallow to bedrock soils within short distances
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From Peter Fletcher, 2008
______Characteristics of Shallow to Bedrock Soils ______• Extremely variable soil conditions that may ______change within short distances ______• Bedrock depth may change over short distances ______• Often no predictable pattern to soils ______
• Some bedrock (ledge) is rippable by equipment ______
• May be solid rock, fractured rock or weathered rock (saprolite)
Soil Parent Material, page 19
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Jagged contours, not smooth, higher terrain
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______Condition of Shallow Bedrock ______• Weathered or fractured bedrock can often be ______excavated easily but is not considered suitable material for a leaching facility ______
• Weathered or fractured rock may be rippable with ______excavation equipment ______• Described as Cr ______• Hard, indurated rocks are not suitable for leaching described as R
Soil Parent Material, page 20
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Shallow to Bedrock Soils ______Very hard, not rippable
R layer
Unsuitable
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Fractured and weathered – Cr Layer - Unsuitable
______Shallow to bedrock pits ______
Refusal at 70 cm
Soil Parent Material, page 21
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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http://geo.msu.edu/extra/soilprofiles/Inceptisols.htm
______Tills deposited by Advancing Ice only Half the story! ______Set of deposits that are laid down when the ice ______melts that provides even more complexity and variability in terms of ______suitability for septic systems ______
~8000 years where much of ______what we see today was formed
Oldale, 2001
______Glacial Outwash ______
Outwash ______Plain
Meltwater, meltwater, meltwater
Soil Parent Material, page 22
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Glacial Outwash ______Stratified deposits of sands and gravels deposited by melt-water streams that ______flowed from melting glaciers ______
Layered ______Devoid of ______Clay
Rounded ______
______
Higher velocity------Larger particle size
______High Velocity- large particles Farther downstream ______more rounded ______Outwash ______Outwash – Rounded and layered
Till – Angular, not layered
Soil Parent Material, page 23
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Two Groupings of Glacial Outwash ______Proglacial Outwash ______Stratified outwash deposited in front of or just beyond the outer limits of the glacier ______
Ice Contact Outwash ______
Stratified outwash originally deposited in direct ______contact with glacial ice or on top of stagnant glacial ice, often collapsed ______
______Proglacial Outwash ______• Stratified, well sorted material ______• Clean sands and gravel, typically very ______little silt and clay ______• Gravel and cobbles, if present, are rounded or subrounded ______• Loose material, pit walls often slough
• Generally lacks large cobbles and boulders
______Proglacial Outwash ______• Most often occurs as broad, nearly level, outwash plains ______• Particle size dependent on original source material and the velocity of the stream ______and may range from cobbles to fine sand ______
Soil Parent Material, page 24
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Particle Size Depends on Proximity to Ice Margin ______Ice Margin The “Morphosequence” ______Concept Coarse Material ______
Produces lateral and Ice ______Vertical heterogeneity Margin Medium Material ______Coarse Material ______
Ice Margin Fine Material
Coarse Material
______Coarse pebbly sand facies Coarse gravel facies ______
Sand and gravel Sand and gravel Sandy glacial lake facies ice-channel ______or marine bottom facies facies ______
Sand and gravel ______foreset facies
Silty-clay glacial Fine-sand Sandy foreset lake-bottom bottomset facies facies facies
Stone et al., 2004
______Landforms Associated with Proglacial Outwash ______
Outwash Plain
Soil Parent Material, page 25
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Landforms Associated with Proglacial Outwash ______Valley Train Deposit ______
______
Outwash Plains function of Ice Margin Position
Strahler, 1966
______Formation of a Pitted Outwash ______Plain ______Flat Surface with Pits – think outwash Fast perc rate ______
Kame and Kettle terrain
Strahler, 1966
Soil Parent Material, page 26
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Uplands – Till Valleys – Sand and Gravel
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Proglacial outwash soil pits ______
Soil Parent Material, page 27
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Ice-Contact Outwash ______• Extremely variable material, often pockets and ______discontinuous lenses of silts and clays, and pockets of cobbles and possible boulders ______• Irregular topography, uneven terrain ______• Typically gravelly sand ______• Slumped or collapsed stratification (bedding) ______
Landforms Associated with Ice-Contact Deposits ______• Ice Channel Fillings (Eskers) – sand and gravel deposited in a stream channel within the ice ______• Kame Terraces – sand and gravel deposited ______between the valley walls and ice ______• Kame Plains – an isolated flat terrace of sand and gravel deposited between two large ice blocks ______• Kame Delta – sand, gravel and fine sands laid down ______in a proglacial lake in contact with ice
• Kame – any other deposit laid down next to ice
______
Farrell, 2012
Soil Parent Material, page 28
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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______
______Ice Channel Deposits ______
Ice channel deposits ______Think sand and gravel Think high perc rate
Soil Parent Material, page 29
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Esker ______
______Multiple Kame ______Terraces ______
______Kame Terraces ______
Soil Parent Material, page 30
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Soil Parent Material, page 31
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Soil in Outwash ______
Rounded, looser, easy to ______dig cobbles out of face of pit ______Ablation till is firmer, compact and dirtier (more silt content) ______
______Kame Plain ______
______
Soil Parent Material, page 32
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Proglacial Lakes
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Soil Parent Material, page 33
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Not all Deltas form in direct contact with the ice ______
Deposits vary horizontally and vertically
______
Soil Parent Material, page 34
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Topo = distribution of PM and expected perc
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Coarse layers ______deposited by fast water ______ Fine layers either by slow water or in ______standing water ______
Soil Parent Material, page 35
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Lacustrine Sediments ______(Lakebed Silts and Clays) ______
Silts and clays deposited (varved) at the ______bottom of a glacial lake which has since drained ______
______Small proglacial lake dammed by moraine ______
Lake Hitchcock was a large proglacial lake
______Characteristics of Lacustrine Deposits ______• Well sorted, mostly silts and clays ______• Generally high percentage of clay (≥30%) ______• Few if any rock fragments of gravel size or ______larger ______• How can you get rocks in a lacustrine deposit
Soil Parent Material, page 36
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Lacustrine ______Sediments ______
______
______Marine Silts and Clays ______Fine sediments deposited within a marine environment and since uplifted (isostatic ______rebound) above present day sea level ______
Soil Parent Material, page 37
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Wolcott, 1970
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Marine Silts and Clays ______In New England ______Only in Boston area and north close ______to coast ______Typically well sorted high in silts and clays ______Locally called the Boston Blue Clay
Modified from Jorgensen, 1971
______
Soil Parent Material, page 38
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Examples of soils in lacustrine and marine clays to show the range of characteristics and textures that ______can be found in these environments
______POST GLACIAL ______Windblown Deposits (Eolian Deposits) ______• Windblown fine sands and silts ______• Deposited as glacier wasted northward ______• Active before landscape was vegetated ______• Occurs as mantle (layer) of fine sand and silts ______overlying other glacial material
______
Soil Parent Material, page 39
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Eolian ______
______
Examples of eolian soil pits ______
______Organic Deposits ______Bog, swamp and marsh deposits of ______partially and well decomposed organic matter ______
Soil Parent Material, page 40
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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______Characteristics of Organic Soils ______
• Weak Strength, spongy sensation under foot ______• Very dark color ______• Little to no mineral matter, smooth creamy feel and no grittiness ______
• Formed in areas of seasonal high water table ______at or near the land surface
______
Soil Parent Material, page 41
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Coastal Deposits Dunes ______A natural hill, mound or ridge landward of a ______coastal beach, often parallel to the shoreline ______Deposited by wind ______Well sorted, often finely stratified ______Little or no silt and clay, no gravel or coarser rock fragments ______
Often have unvegetated areas of loose sand
______Beach ______At interface between water and land ______Usually eroded from other material and ______reworked by wave action ______Dominantly fine to coarse sand; can contain gravel and cobbles depending on source material ______Often stratified ______
Little or no silt or clay
______Coastal Deposits ______Coastal sand dunes, beaches and tidal marshes ______
Soil Parent Material, page 42
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Alluvial Deposits (Floodplain and Terraces) ______Sediments deposited by present day streams and rivers ______
Typically occur as nearly level terraces ______adjacent to the stream banks ______
Terraces often built by reworking previously ______deposited glacial outwash deposits (kame terraces, outwash, valley train deposits)
______Terrace ______
Terrace ______
______Floodplain ______Susceptible to seasonal flooding ______Nearly level areas adjacent to large streams and rivers ______
Well sorted, often stratified ______
Variable grain size depending on velocity of ______water that deposited the sediment ______May have dark buried soils in substratum that were at one time surface layers
Soil Parent Material, page 43
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Consequences of living in a floodplain
______A C ______B ______
Plummer 1991
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Soil Parent Material, page 44
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
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Never depend on one source of data
______
Soil Parent Material, page 45
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Human Transported Material ______Also called Fill Material, Artificial Fill, Anthropogenic Soil ______
Intentionally moved by aid of heavy equipment ______and placed in a different area ______Can be clean fill for construction or construction ______rubble, hazardous waste, landfill or anything
______
______
HTM Soil ______Bottomline ______What is the story behind the soil ______Understand the geology ______Then you understand the processes ______
Then you can figure out what is going on
Soil Parent Material, page 46
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Summary Till ______Heterogeneous mixture of particles ranging from clay size up to boulders; unsorted, unstratified; generally found in higher ______elevation terrain away from stream and river valleys Lodgement Till ______• Compact till, higher clay content, forms under the ice ______• Found in core of drumlins, ground moraine • Low perc rate to possibly impervious • Forms hardpan 2-3 feet below ground ______Ablation Till ______• Looser and sandier till that forms from meltout of material entrained or on top of the glacier • Found anywhere • Slow to fast perc rate depending on sand content
______Till Landforms Drumlins, Ground Moraines, Till Ridges and Moraine ______Glacial Outwash ______• Well sorted, stratified deposits of fine to medium sand, gravel and cobbles ______• Size distribution depends on water velocity and proximity glacial ice margin ______• Generally forms in lower topographic areas and major valleys • Moderate to fast perc rates ______Glacial Outwash Landforms ______Outwash plain, valley train deposits, kame plain, kame terrace kame delta, kame, ice channel deposits
______Lacustrine and Marine Silts and Clays
Lacustrine ______• Formed in proglacial lakes where quiet water allows for ______deposition of suspended silt and clay particles • Often forms varves (alternating summer and winter layers) • Can be found in any of the numerous glacial lakes in MA ______• Often covered by veneer of other glacial or post glacial material (outwash or terrace deposits) ______• Very slow perc rates to impervious material Marine Silts and Clays ______• Forms in the marine incursion after the glacial period when sea level was rising and before isostatic rebound ______• Only occurs in Boston area and north shore of MA • Known as Boston blue clay • Often covered by veneer of other glacial or post glacial material (outwash or terrace deposits) • Very slow perc rates to impervious material
Soil Parent Material, page 47
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Windblown Deposits (Eolian) ______• Very well sorted, very fine to medium sand deposited by wind ______• In glacial times, formed just after ice retreat before substantial vegetation stabilized the soil ______• Can occur in thick dune deposits in interior Massachusetts ______especially proximal to former glacial lakes after draining
• Can also occur as a mantle of sediment in any soil depending ______on location ______• Moderate to fast perc rate
______Organic Deposits • Thick deposits of partially to well decomposed organic ______matter • May occur in a bog, swamp or marsh ______• Generally considered a wetland and unbuildable Coastal Dunes and Beaches ______• Dune – well sorted fine to medium sand deposited by wind ______into a ridges often parallel to shore; moderate to fast perc
• Beach – at interface between water and land ______usually eroded from other material and reworked by waves ______fine to coarse sand, can contain gravel and cobbles little to no silt or clay fast perc rate
______Alluvial Material (Floodplains and Terraces) • Sediments deposited by present day streams and rivers ______• Can have variable particle sizes depending stream velocity ______• Almost always occurs in river valleys ______• Can be reworked glacial outwash ______• Typically occurs as nearly level terraces adjacent to stream banks
• Floodplain is the lowest terrace above the stream bank that ______is often associated with the 100 year floodplain and is the surface most frequently inundated ______
• Variable perc rate depending on particle size of alluvial material
Soil Parent Material, page 48
Soil Evaluator Course, Day 1, Presentation 5 - 3/27/2018
______Human Transported Material (Fill Material) ______• Material intentionally moved by aid of heavy equipment ______• Can be for construction or from disposal of material ______• Can range in grain size and quality of material depending on use and purpose ______• Variable perc rate depending on material ______
______
Topography Exercise ______
Shirley Quadrangle ______1. What two distinct topo features stand out? ______2. What are flat topped features at 400 to 420 feet elevation ______at south end of map?
3. Do you see evidence of ice ______channel systems? Where?
______
1. What is the Montague plain? 2. Why is the Fish Hatchery located where it is? 3. Where do you think shallow bedrock might be located? 4. How many terraces are there and what are they made of?
Greenfield Quadrangle
Soil Parent Material, page 49