Sunnyside soil and landscape
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Sunnyside series; the Representative Soil (State Soil) of Washington DC.
Landscape: These soils are common to the area in and around the National Arboretum (upper left corner of landscape image). (Soil Survey of the District of Columbia; by Horace Smith, Soil Conservation Service).
A state soil is a soil that has special significance to a particular state. Each state in the United States has selected a state soil, twenty of which have been legislatively established. These “Official State Soils” share the same level of distinction as official state flowers and birds. Also, representative soils have been selected for the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
The Sunnyside series consists of red, very deep, well drained and moderately permeable soils formed in unconsolidated deposits of very old, dominantly sandy sediments. They are on uplands of the Coastal Plain, with slopes that range from 0 to 40 percent. Sunnyside is categorized as a Prime Farmland Soil, which means it is one of the most productive soils for agriculture and forestry, in addition to being one of the best suited soils to construction and recreational development.
These soils are mapped on nearly 700 acres in the District of Columbia, and other areas in the adjacent state of Maryland.
Average annual precipitation is 44 inches. Average annual air temperature is 55 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
The thickness of the solum ranges from 24 to 48 inches, but the maximum depth to the lower limit of the argillic horizon is less than 40 inches. Some pedons have up to 10 percent rounded pebbles or fine black concretions in the C horizon. Soil reaction is strongly acid to extremely acid in unlimed areas.
USE AND VEGETATION: Some areas are in corn, soybeans, small grains or tobacco, but most acreage is used for urban or other suburban uses. Wooded areas consist of oak and Virginia pine with an understory of huckleberry, azalea and dogwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia; the series is moderately extensive.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Prince Georges County, Maryland, 1939.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/district_of_co...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/SUNNYSIDE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Sunnyside soil and landscape
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Sunnyside series; the Representative Soil (State Soil) of Washington DC.
Landscape: These soils are common to the area in and around the National Arboretum (upper left corner of landscape image). (Soil Survey of the District of Columbia; by Horace Smith, Soil Conservation Service).
A state soil is a soil that has special significance to a particular state. Each state in the United States has selected a state soil, twenty of which have been legislatively established. These “Official State Soils” share the same level of distinction as official state flowers and birds. Also, representative soils have been selected for the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
The Sunnyside series consists of red, very deep, well drained and moderately permeable soils formed in unconsolidated deposits of very old, dominantly sandy sediments. They are on uplands of the Coastal Plain, with slopes that range from 0 to 40 percent. Sunnyside is categorized as a Prime Farmland Soil, which means it is one of the most productive soils for agriculture and forestry, in addition to being one of the best suited soils to construction and recreational development.
These soils are mapped on nearly 700 acres in the District of Columbia, and other areas in the adjacent state of Maryland.
Average annual precipitation is 44 inches. Average annual air temperature is 55 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
The thickness of the solum ranges from 24 to 48 inches, but the maximum depth to the lower limit of the argillic horizon is less than 40 inches. Some pedons have up to 10 percent rounded pebbles or fine black concretions in the C horizon. Soil reaction is strongly acid to extremely acid in unlimed areas.
USE AND VEGETATION: Some areas are in corn, soybeans, small grains or tobacco, but most acreage is used for urban or other suburban uses. Wooded areas consist of oak and Virginia pine with an understory of huckleberry, azalea and dogwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia; the series is moderately extensive.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Prince Georges County, Maryland, 1939.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/district_of_co...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/SUNNYSIDE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit: