Soil Series Atlas

Paxton soil series

Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Dystrudepts

050100150cm1 ft2 ft3 ft4 ft5 ftApTopsoil · plowed0–20 cm · 0–8 inBw1Subsoil · color or structure change20–38 cm · 8–15 inBw2Subsoil · color or structure change38–66 cm · 15–26 inCdParent material · dense, roots restricted66–165 cm · 26–65 in050100150cmApTopsoil · plowed0–20 cm · 0–8 inBw1Subsoil · color orstructure change20–38 cm · 8–15 inBw2Subsoil · color orstructure change38–66 cm · 15–26 inCdParent material ·dense, roots restricted66–165 cm · 26–65 in
Typical pedon, to scale: 165 cm (65 in), 4 horizons.

Inceptisols — young soils with weakly developed horizons

Paxton is mapped on 780,663 acres in 8 states, 280th nationally by area. No series covers more of Massachusetts: it accounts for 7.5% of the state’s mapped soil. It is the largest of the 9 established series in its family. It was first described in Connecticut, which holds 19% of its acres today. It is the state soil of Massachusetts.

Depth
Very deep
Drainage
Well drained
Water movement
Moderately high

Compare with another seriesSimilar series in the finder

Where Paxton is mapped

780,663 acres in 42 soil survey areas, from current SSURGO data.

AlabamaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaine: 122,145 acresMassachusetts: 324,230 acresMinnesotaNew Jersey: 63 acresNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticut: 148,870 acresMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew Hampshire: 57,637 acresNew York: 85,093 acresOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermont: 14,002 acresLouisianaRhode Island: 28,623 acres

Share of all Paxton acres

  1. Massachusetts42%
  2. Connecticut19%
  3. Maine16%
  4. New York11%
  5. New Hampshire7%
  6. Rhode Island4%
  7. Vermont2%
  8. New Jersey<0.1%

In the field

Drainage

Well drained

Drains fastStays wet

Soil depth

Very deep

ShallowDeep

Water movement (Ksat)

Moderately high

SlowFast
Parent material
Glacial till
Landform
Till plains, moraines, hills
Major land resource areas
144A, 145
Type location
Connecticut

How it is classified

  1. OrderInceptisols
  2. SuborderUdepts
  3. Great groupDystrudepts
  4. SubgroupOxyaquic Dystrudepts
  5. FamilyCoarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Dystrudeptscoarse-loamy particle-size classmixed mineralogy classactive cation-exchange activity classmesic soil temperature regime

Against other Inceptisols

Paxton makes up 0.43% of all mapped Inceptisols — the 34th largest of 3,264 series in the order.

Solum thickness (topsoil + subsoil)

66 cm under a median of 80 cm

Depth described

165 cm over a median of 152 cm

Its relatives

8 other established series share the family “Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Dystrudepts”

  1. Paxton781 k
  2. Montauk250 k
  3. Bernardston216 k
  4. Scituate145 k
  5. Wethersfield81 k
  6. Broadbrook19 k
  7. Nantucket8 k
  8. Amostown7 k
  9. Horseneck1 k

Close relatives, at one scale

  1. Paxton165 cm · Oxyaquic Dystrudepts
  2. Narragansett152 cm · Typic Dystrudepts
  3. Hazleton183 cm · Typic Dystrudepts
  4. Berks84 cm · Typic Dystrudepts

Horizon by horizon

HorizonLayerDepthThickness
ApTopsoil: plowed0–20 cm0–8 in20 cm
Bw1Subsoil: color or structure change20–38 cm8–15 in18 cm
Bw2Subsoil: color or structure change38–66 cm15–26 in28 cm
CdParent material: dense, roots restricted66–165 cm26–65 in99 cm

Sources: USDA–NRCS Official Series Description (revised 2015-04), Soil Classification database and SSURGO. Ranks computed by Soil Series Atlas. Method · Guides