1.0 i;~ ""'2.8 11111 2.5 ~;.; 111[/3~ 2.2 it I~~~ :: ~i.i.10 1- .~,a:'P . I t ... :: 111111.8 II' - 111111.8 1I1I/!·25 IIIIP .4 11111 1.6 1111/1.25 111111.4 '"" 1.6 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART MICROCOPY RlSOLUTION TEST CHART u.. ~ ~ ~\ 5ta.l,dr:s i!ii5~~~~~: ti §ii~!§~!!ii!ii••••u • •,~ ••••••_.......-IU'.................,. TECHNICAL BULLETIN No. 609 June 1938 CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CERTAIN SOILS DEVELOPED FROM GRANITIC MATERIALS IN NEW ENGLAND AND THE PIEDMONT, AND OF THEIR COLLOIDS By IRVIN C. BROWN Associate CIWl1list nnd HORACE G. BYERS Principal Chemist Soil C/zc'lI;stry a"tl P/ly.des Rc.f'!Orcll Di.,;s;on Durellu oj C1H!tnistrY arId Sails UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, \VASHlNGTON, D. C. For Bale by the Superintenuent of Document', Wnahington, D. C. - - - - - - - • - - - - - • Price 10 cents Technical Bulletin No. 609 June 1938 UNITED STATES DEPARTNlliNT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON, D. C. CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CER­ TAIN SOILS DEVELOPED FROM GRANITIC 11ATERIALS 1 IN NEW ENGLAND AND THE PIEDMONT, AND OF THEIR COLLOIDS 1 By IRVlN O. Bll.OWN, as.~ociatc cit(;{nist, und HOltACE G. BYERS,principal chemist, Soil Chemistry and Physics Uesearch Division, B!treau oj Chemistry and Soils CONTENTS Pnge l'll~o I Introduction._•..•. I Aualytical results-Continued. Descrlptiouofthosoii'<. .................. a UIDuco,tcr sandy hmlll ___ .. Brossu:L ::o:rie:;. ~ ~_ :)1 (·I.W~lUrlonUl~ __ ~._ -~ llermun sorh\~ . .j I Milnor loam...... G ~OUl'cster scrie:-,_ fi I ('(wi! sandy clay loum_ .. Chesler sorie' t1 ' AfJpli[)~ suudy l .... "ltJl. l\Inuor sori('s~ ~ .. __ I TIygroscopi(' rolnt':f111~L_ 4_".~ •• f'ecilsoric8.•.. ___ ..... H (·lIrhon·uilro~'··. ratios __ ..... Appling scrimL . _ _ U Oc.merni disc dssioll_ .. l\[ethlld~ or exuminllLioIl. HI SUlllmury___ ._ ~ ____ .~_.~ __ *'~ __ .Analytlcal rC~llll~ .. ~. __ ~~ ___ ~_~~_._ ~~_ .. __ ~.~_ II Litcruturo c ted__ •______.. _ ___ . __ ..._____ . IIrussun sundy loam..___ _ II Uormon sllUdy loam ..______ . I'; INTRODUCTION The Illt~ C. F. I\Iarbut has present~d the broad scheme of soil classificl1tion fOt' the United States in part 3 of the Atlas of American Agriculture (25).2 Although it is 1!1rgely based on the extensive field studies of tbe Suil SutTey Diyision, other SOUTees of information have not been neglected. In tracillg the genesis of soils he aneL many others (32) have emphasized the pnrt played by pnrentmateria.ls,climate(tem­ pemture and raillfall), and vegetation, as well as the whole biota, in the evolution of soil chu,mcteristics. A tremcndous volume of ana­ lytifcal data is in harmony with his conclusions. In 1905 Cushmun (15) and ill HlO7 Cushman aud Hubbard (16) demonstrated the efJ'ectivcness of "\H1tl'l' in decomposing finely ground rock powders. This was recognized by RarntLnn (34) in 1911 as the principal reaction in soil lonnn,tiOll. Within the last 15 yen,rs it has become incrensillgly ltppl1rell t to pedologists th:tt the hycll'olysis of minemls is the dominant cher,lien,l process in the production of soil colloids. However, the filial cltamcler, ns noted by Freise (18), is influenced by various cilemicn.J, IJilysicn.l, and biological processes whose importance is lllensureJ lIy their reln.tive intensic) in specific soils. Iteeently AlexlLlldcl' u.wl Byers (2) lULYe produced mn.terial very I Hcceived ror pulllicntiou Septemiler 2, 1!137. 2 Italic numhers in pnrenthcsl!s l'df(!1" to Llturnturo (~ited, p. tH. 33453°-38--1 2 TECHNICAL BULLE~IN 609, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE closely resembling colloidal clay by alternately grinding and electro­ dialY2.ing anorthite; considerable time was reqllired and hydrolysis was not quite complete. In 1924 Robinson and Holmes (39) published a paper dealing with the chemical composition of soil colloids. The data contained therein show in a striking manner the close correlation between climate and the composition of the soil colloids. In 1928 Holmes (21) presented data showing the similarity of colloids ingiven horizons of the Leonard­ town silt loam. In 1930 Holmes and Edgington (22) presented data derived from the colloids of the :MiiLilli, Chester, nnd Cccil soil series, which belong to the Gray-Brown Podzolic and lateritic groups. 'rhese results indicate thn.t the colloids not only nre similar within n given soil series but tlmt thpy fire essentin.lly ditl'erent in different soil scries. In 1932 Byers n,nd Anderson (14) extended the study to certn,in of the other major' soil groups recognized by the Soil SUI'\'ey Diyision {wet defined by :Marbut (2:)). In 1933 Byers (12) digCllSSed the constitu­ tion of the hypot1tetien.l soil acids whieh may be present in the soil colloids nnd therefore l't'sponsible for tho chttmetol'istics of the great soil groups. In 19;);) Bl'Owll, Riel.', iLlld Byers (10) noted that ClaYPl111 soils bdonging to the Pmirie nnd ChenlOzem groups yielded colloids of remarkable uniformity both within the series nnd in closely related series. An annllttlminftLll l't1.llgiug from 13 to 32 inehps npl)en.red to pltty no dODliruwt role in the composition of these coUoids. TIl('rcfore in ] 935 Brown ltlld Byers (11) extended the study to certnin soils of the westem p!1rt of tbe Great PitLins in an efrort to dl'tcrll1iIle the efl'ect of n, eOllsidemble y!tria.tion in tpmpemture. Quite surprisingly, no cOllsisten t l'chttion bl'tweell colloid com position n.nd temperature appears to exist. Instl'nd, it appears eertniu tlmt the low moisture content of these Roils minimizes the c(reds of tL'lllpemture, so pro­ nounced in tile 11 umid al'PUS, and allows the parent llultprial to domi­ nate tho clmmd('l' of the mill('ml colloids. Indeed, it had hecllnotcd previously by HobiLson, Edgington, aIld Byers (38) that the parent rod;: of certain soils of the humid al'e!ts has a profound influence on tile composition of tbe soil and colloid. In 1\)36 Bnldwin (7), H,llSscl (40), and Robinson (37) prpsented various ebemicn.L iLnd ll1inemlogicn.l -,. ltIHtlyses of ·willll-tmnspol'tl'cl dusts which jnelicn.te tlmt the surfnce soils and eolloids mn.y be modified by n.C'cuDlulatiolls of considerable quantities of clwit hom other [treas. It is n.ppm'l'Ilt., howpvpl', m; l11l'ntionpd by :Mnl'hut (2;;, p. 16) and others, titn,t the soils me to it greut extent the pl'oduet of' those factors whiC'h illfiue!.1<'e nud in a measure coutrol the developnwllt of livillg m!ttter. In otliPl' words 1ill0Y are iI1liuenC(~d more hy the pbY1'ical environment as a whole than hy the eilametel' of their parent rock. The direct ,p!l'ef'.ts of elima.te in humid aTeas m'e marked. I t seemed. Llil1J'P[01'e, yery ·worth while to mnke a S},StC'llULtie study of soils develOped in a humid area in which the soil faetol's r.l'e reaSOIl­ ably eonstnut in nlll'espnets other than tempemtm'e. Sueil nu area exists aloug tho oastern slopes of the APPfLln,chiiUlS in New Engln,nd and the Piedmont. 111 this area a wide l'n.nge of soil serif'S is developed from grn.nitic mn.tel'ial ill which the ('hief illOl'grmie (,olloid-fol'ming • material i1.ppel1rs to be di- l1nd tri-siliel1Le Jeldspu.rs. The mean annual rainfall does llot hltve all exeessin\ly wide range, and it is highest where evapornLion is greatest. 'rhe vegetation !Llso, while somewhat ~ variable, is of the sILme geneml charaeter. The mean tLllllU!U tompem­ PROPERTms OF NEW ENGLAND AND PIEDl\IONT SOILS 3 ture has a wide ru.nge, and its efl'ects m'e aceentuated by great seasonal difl.'erences, With these conditions in milld the Soil SUl'vey Division was requested to cooperate in the collection of reprcsenttttive profiles of typical soil series best adapted to the requil'ements of tile proposed study. Special care was taken to include certain profiles of soils llot previously studied in this laboratory but similar in general chttnwter to profiles of the same great, groups on which detailed studies have been made, This permits the advantageous use of a considerable body of data previously published and enlarges the scope of the investigation, Conscquently, libel'lL1 use lin,s bN'1l made or illforma­ tion and data from SOlU'ces cited, The du,f;a submiUed comprise the results obtained, DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS The soils selected for this study tlJ'e from the l'odzol, Gmy-Brown Podzolic, Red, u.nd Yellow (essentially laLeritiic) groat groll ps of soils as defu1ed by :Nhl'but (25), They rcprOSCll t ccrtttin impol'tnnt soil series which are agl'icmltunilly important in New Engb,nd and the Piedmont region. They range from New Hampshire in lIorthern New England to GeOl'gin, in the southem part of the Piedmont. The mCllll annual t'i'mperatm'e ranges from 430 to 62.20 }i'.; the mean annualrninfall is from 39.16 to 50.18 inches. The llative vcgetl1tion does not differ markedlv. For the purpose of sliowing the relation between the soil series and a particular profile, a gCllcml description of each soil series, JUJ'nishecl. by the Soil Survey Division, is Jollowed b~r a, detailed description of the representative soil profile. Various In,yers of each soil arc sufli­ ciently defined to permit the charn.cteristic horizoll designations suggested by Kellogg (23) to be used. with security. HowcyOl', all the horizons nre llut always prescLlt; 1101' is it to be Q),'-pected, although every soil has some of them.