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SEASONAL WATER TABLE AND TEMPERATURE RELA-
TIONSHIPS IN CALCAREOUS TILL AND RESIDUAL
SOILS OF CENTRAL MAINE

D. E. Turcotte, USDA-NRCS C.C. Dorion, C.C.
Dorion Geol. Svcs.
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Coarse-Loamy Sebasticook Catena (introduced in
2008)
Some-what Exces-sively Drained Well Drained Well Drained Mode-rately Well Drained Some-what Poorly Drained Poorly Drained Very Poorly Drained
Corinna Lithic Dystrudept Penobscot Typic Dystrudept Sebas- ticook Dystric Eutrudept Wassoo-keag Oxyaquic Eutrudept Kendus-keag Aquic Dystric Eutrudept Monarda Aeric Endoa- quept Burnham Histic Humaquept
Shallow (25-49 cm) Mod. Deep (50-101 cm) Deep (102-151 cm) Deep (102-151 cm) Very Deep (152 cm) Very Deep (152 cm) Very Deep (152 cm)
Series yet to be established (typical pedon
yet to be decided on)
Comparable to well drained, very deep Lombard
series out of NH
Series in bold are the basis of water table study
in Central Maine
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Typical Characteristics of Sebasticook Catena
soils
? Strongly acid to neutral till and/or
moderately acid to slightly alkaline
residuum of Waterville (and presumably
Sangerville) Formation lime- interbedded
phyllite, calcareous metasiltstone and pelitic
limestone ? Mapped thus far in towns of Exeter,
Corinth, Corinna, Stetson, Newport,
Garland and Bradford in Southern Penobscot
County ? Parachanners or decayed rock fragments
in till, or paralithic materials or
saprolite as residuum ? Negligible podzolization
(even in late successional to climax forest) ?
Minimal O horizon in deciduous or northern white
cedar forests ? Blocky structure and more
friable consistence in substratums and/or
deeper sola
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1985 Bedrock Geologic Map of Maine Maine
Geological Survey
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Objectives of Central Maine Water Table Study
1o testing for moisture regime, pedon
classification, and apparent versus
perched water tables 2o a) define each soils
drainage class b) evaluate soil
temperature early and late in the growing season
in the Ap horizons of Wassookeag soils
c) compare the start and end of the
growing season based on -2.2 o C or 0 o C
frost-free season thresholds, soil temperature
_at_ 10 cm, water temperature in wells, and soil
temperature _at_ 50 cm and d) compare
daytime air temperatures between spring
and fall seasons and between field and
forest settings
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Experimental Design of Central Maine Water Study
gt 3 forested somewhat poorly drained Kenduskeag
soils on 2-4 slope 3 cropped moderately
well drained Wassookeag soils on 1-3 slope gt
2/3rds of sites in the town of Corinth 1/3rd in
the town of Exeter gt pedons described and
sampled (for NSSL analyses) in 2002 and
sites monitored during spring fall 2002 - 2005
(two lost in 2004) gt PVC well with
perforations _at_ 15 to 100 cm and PVC piezometer
with perforations _at_ 85 to 100 cm installed at
each site gt sites monitored weekly for water
tables in wells and piezometers, soil
temperature _at_ 10 cm and 50 cm, water temperature
in well, air temperature, and
precipitation (via rain guages) gt wet soil at
Kenduskeag sites tested with a, a-dipyridyl in
2003
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Co-author C.C. Dorion assisting in the
description and sampling of Wassookeag pedon on
till plain at monitoring site by
Countryside Restaurant off Rt. 15 in Corinth
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Wells and Piezometers(courtesy of Dr. Jay Bell,
Univ. of Minn.)
Well Water Enters Entire Length
Piezometers Water Enters End Only
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PiezometerInstallation
Piezometer
Mound
Bentonite Clay Seal
Soil Backfill
(courtesy of Dr. Jay Bell, Univ. of Minn.)

Sand
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Bentonite being poured around upper portion of
well or piezometer (installed per Sprecher, S.W.
2000. Installing monitoring wells / piezometers
in wetlands. U.S. Tech. Note ERDC TN-WRAP-00-02,
Army Corps of Eng)
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Page 179 of the 11th edition of the Keys to Soil
Taxonomy
KGEJ. Other Eutrudepts that meet both of the
following 1. In one or more horizons within 60
cm of the mineral soil surface, have redox
depletions with chroma of 2 or less and also
aquic conditions for some time in normal years
(or artificial drainage) and 2. Do not have free
carbonates throughout any horizon within 100 cm
of the mineral soil surface. Aquic Dystric
Eutrudepts
KGEL. Other Eutrudepts that in normal years are
saturated with water in one or more layers within
100 cm of the mineral soil surface for either or
both 1. 20 or more consecutive days or 2. 30 or
more cumulative days. Oxyaquic Eutrudepts
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Corinna Daily NOAA Climatic
Station
ANNUAL 1
ABNORMALLY 3 ABNORMALLY 3
PRECIPI-
WET OR DRY
WET OR DRY
TATION NORMAL
MONTHS MONTHS YEAR
(millimeters) YEAR? 2
(DEC. JULY) (AUG.
NOV.) ____________________________________________
______________________________________
2002 1,112 Yes none dry August wet November
2003 1,240 Yes dry January wet February dry July wet September wet October
2004 951 Yes - wet December dry January dry March dry June wet August dry October
2002-2004 MEAN 1,101
2005 1,574 No wet April wet May very wet October (362 millimeters)
1971-2000 MEAN, S.D. 1,088 / - 159 (929 to 1,247)
1 based on sum of December November monthly
totals 2 Soil Survey Staff, 2010 3 Outside of the
standard deviation of the 30 year mean for that
month
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Water tables in monitoring wells above 100 cm
during normal precipitation seasons at
Wassookeag sites during growing season based
on soil temperatures above biological zero (5o C)
_at_ 50 cm
Spring 2002 Fall 2002 Spring 2003 Fall 2004
Route 15, Corinth 2 slope (2 faint deple- tions _at_ 66cm ) 7-13 days May 1 to 7-13 (to 89 cm) none (to 100 cm) 7-9 days May 3 to 9-11 (to 94 cm) none (to 96 cm)
upper Beans Mill Road, Corinth 1 slopes (2 prominent concetnrations _at_ 89cm ) 7-13 days May 1 to 7-13 (to 99 cm) none (to 98 cm) none (to 100 cm) 17-19 days Sept. 19 to Oct. 5-7 (to 89 cm)
Route 43, Exeter, 3 slope no redox above saprolite (in _at_ 61 cm) 29-35 days Apr. 24 to May 22-28 (to 91 cm) none (to 100 cm) 16 days May 4 to May 19 (to 91 cm) pipes abolished by machinery
water table was present within 100 cm when
growing season commenced water table was
present within 100 cm before growing season
commenced water table was present within 100
cm at least 13-15 days after growing season
concluded
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Wassookeag pedon at Exeter cropland site off of
Route 43 (described and sampled on May 21,
2002) 2C1 saprolite 61-73 cm 2C2 saprolite
73-119 cm (increase in lt 2 chroma lithochromic
in nature)
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Water tables in monitoring wells at the
Kenduskeag sites that rose above 40 cm
depth during normal precipitation seasons
when well water was gt 5o C
Spring 2002 Fall 2002 Spring 2003 Fall 2004
lower Beans Mill Road, Corinth, 4 slope 66 days May 6 July 10 5 days Nov. 15-19 54 days May 2 June 24 11 and 51 days Sept 20-30 Oct. 14 Dec. 3
upper Beans Mill Road, Corinth, 2 slope 38 and 4 days May 8 June 14 June 27-30 2 days Nov. 20-21 49 days May 5 June 22 19 days Nov. 25 Dec. 13
by French Stream, Exeter, 2 slope 14 days May 8 -21 2 days Nov. 22-23 10 and 20 days May 9-18 May 29 June 17 14 days Nov. 26 Dec. 9
Out of 48 applications in this season and in
the following (abnor- (mally wet) fall, on only
one occasion was there a positive reaction to
alpha,alpha-dipyridyl (as a test for an aquic
moisture regime)
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Redoximorphic features in clod from
Kenduskeag pedon gtgtgt
Decayed fragments in clod
from Kenduskeag pedon gtgtgt
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Perched Water Table (courtesy of
Dr. Jay Bell, Univ. of Minn.)
Soil
Saturated
?
Aquitard
(Unsaturated)
Substratum
(Unsaturated)
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In one instance (5 frequency) there was water
in the well (at 92 cm) below the top of the
substratum while there was no water in the
piezometer.
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Growing season comparisons based on Corinna air
temperature lows (and soil or water temperatures
from averaged Kenduskeag or Wassookeag sites)
Growing Season Basis 2002 2003 2004 2005 Mean / Length
Frost-Free gt 0o C May 23 to October 3 May 18 to October 5 May 9 to October 5 May 15 to October 20 May 16 to October 8 (146 days)
Frost-Free gt -2.2o C April 29 to October 8 May 5 to October 19 April 30 to October 5 April 23 to October 21 April 29 to October 13 (168 days)
Wassookeag sites soil temperature gt 7.2o C _at_ 10 cm May 2 to October 20 (178 days)
Wassookeag sites soil temperature gt 5o C _at_ 50 cm April 29 to November 4 April 30 to November 13 April 30 to November 12 April 24-25 to November 21 April 28 to November 12 (199 days)
Kenduskeag sites soil temperature gt 5o C _at_ 50 cm May 3 to November 19 May 8 to December 4 April 30 to November 26 data incomplete May 4 to November 26 (207 days)
Kenduskeag sites water temperature gt 5o C May 7 to November 21 May 5 to November 27 April 30 to December 8 April 24 to December 2-3 May 2 to November 30 (213 days)
Exeter sites not monitored in Fall 2004
and 2005 (Wassookeag) or just 2005 (Kenduskeag)
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CONCLUSIONS 1) water table
and soil temperature data support moderate well
to well drainage and the oxyaquic subgroup for
the Wassookeag series 2) water table and soil
temperature data and negative a, a-dipyridyl
reactions support somewhat poor drainage and the
aquic dystric subgroup for the Kenduskeag series
3) though the upper site was flatter, heavier
textured and close to a hydric map unit, the
lower landscape position Kenduskeag site in
Corinth was consistently wetter 4) water table
observations in the wells and piezometers at the
Corinth Kenduskeag sites suggest that water
tables are apparent 5) growing seasons based on
air temperature or plow layer temperature were
comparable to those based on soil temperature _at_
50 cm or well water temperature in the spring,
but not so in the fall when they ended much
sooner 6) afternoon air temperatures were
significantly cooler in the fall seasons than in
the spring seasons, but forested sites were not
cooler than field sites
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