Soil Data Explorer - BLOCKTOWN

Official Series Description

Lab Data Summary

Aggregate lab data for the BLOCKTOWN soil series. This aggregation is based on all pedons with a current taxon name of BLOCKTOWN, and applied along 1-cm thick depth slices. Solid lines are the slice-wise median, bounded on either side by the interval defined by the slice-wise 5th and 95th percentiles. The median is the value that splits the data in half. Five percent of the data are less than the 5th percentile, and five percent of the data are greater than the 95th percentile. Values along the right hand side y-axis describe the proportion of pedon data that contribute to aggregate values at this depth. For example, a value of "90%" at 25cm means that 90% of the pedons correlated to BLOCKTOWN were used in the calculation. Source: KSSL snapshot (updated 2020-03-13). Methods used to assemble the KSSL snapshot used by SoilWeb / SDE

There are insufficient data to create the lab data summary figure.

Water Balance

Monthly water balance estimated using a leaky-bucket style model for the BLOCKTOWN soil series. Monthly precipitation (PPT) and potential evapotranspiration (PET) have been estimated from the 50th percentile of gridded values (PRISM 1981-2010) overlapping with the extent of SSURGO map units containing each series as a major component. Monthly PET values were estimated using the method of Thornthwaite (1948). These (and other) climatic parameters are calculated with each SSURGO refresh and provided by the fetchOSD function of the soilDB package. Representative water storage values (“AWC” in the figures) were derived from SSURGO by taking the 50th percentile of profile-total water storage (sum[awc_r * horizon thickness]) for each soil series. Note that this representation of “water storage” is based on the average ability of most plants to extract soil water between 15 bar (“permanent wilting point”) and 1/3 bar (“field capacity”) matric potential. Soil moisture state can be roughly interpreted as “dry” when storage is depleted, “moist” when storage is between 0mm and AWC, and “wet” when there is a surplus. Clearly there are a lot of assumptions baked into this kind of monthly water balance. This is still a work in progress.

Sibling Summary

Siblings are those soil series that occur together in map units, in this case with the BLOCKTOWN series. Sketches are arranged according to their subgroup-level taxonomic structure. Source: SSURGO snapshot (updated 2024-02-21), parsed OSD records (updated 2023-10-02) and snapshot of SC database (updated 2023-10-02).

Select annual climate data summaries for the BLOCKTOWN series and siblings. Series are sorted according to hierarchical clustering of median values. Source: SSURGO map unit geometry and 1981-2010, 800m PRISM data (updated 2023-10-09).

Geomorphic description summaries for the BLOCKTOWN series and siblings. Series are sorted according to hierarchical clustering of proportions and relative hydrologic position within an idealized landform (e.g. top to bottom). Most soil series (SSURGO components) are associated with a hillslope position and one or more landform-specific positions: hills, mountain slopes, terraces, and/or flats. Proportions can be interpreted as an aggregate representation of geomorphic membership. The values printed to the left (number of component records) and right (Shannon entropy) of stacked bars can be used to judge the reliability of trends. Small Shannon entropy values suggest relatively consistent geomorphic association, while larger values suggest lack thereof. Source: SSURGO component records (updated 2023-10-04).

There are insufficient data to create the 3D terrace figure.

There are insufficient data to create the 3D flats position figure.

Competing Series

Soil series competing with BLOCKTOWN share the same family level classification in Soil Taxonomy. Source: parsed OSD records (updated 2023-10-02) and snapshot of the SC database (updated 2023-10-02).

Select annual climate data summaries for the BLOCKTOWN series and competing. Series are sorted according to hierarchical clustering of median values. Source: SSURGO map unit geometry and 1981-2010, 800m PRISM data (updated 2023-10-09).

There are insufficient data to create the annual climate figure.

Geomorphic description summaries for the BLOCKTOWN series and competing. Series are sorted according to hierarchical clustering of proportions and relative hydrologic position within an idealized landform (e.g. top to bottom). Proportions can be interpreted as an aggregate representation of geomorphic membership. Most soil series (SSURGO components) are associated with a hillslope position and one or more landform-specific positions: hills, mountain slopes, terraces, and/or flats. The values printed to the left (number of component records) and right (Shannon entropy) of stacked bars can be used to judge the reliability of trends. Shannon entropy values close to 0 represent soil series with relatively consistent geomorphic association, while values close to 1 suggest lack thereof. Source: SSURGO component records (updated 2023-10-04).

There are insufficient data to create the 2D hillslope position figure.

There are insufficient data to create the 3D hills figure.

There are insufficient data to create the 3D mountains figure.

There are insufficient data to create the 3D terrace figure.

There are insufficient data to create the 3D flats position figure.

Soil series sharing subgroup-level classification with BLOCKTOWN, arranged according to family differentiae. Hovering over a series name will print full classification and a small sketch from the OSD. Source: snapshot of SC database (updated 2023-10-02).

Block Diagrams

Click a link below to display the diagram. Note that these diagrams may be from multiple survey areas.

1. MD-2010-09-07-03 | Frederick County - 2002

   Relationship of soils, topography, and underlying material in the Mt. Airy-Glenelg-Blocktown general soil map unit (Soil Survey of Frederick County, Maryland; 2002).

2. MD-2010-09-10-02 | Cecil County -

   Glenelg-Brinklow-Manor-Glenville association (Soil Survey of Cecil County, Maryland).

3. MD-2010-09-10-06 | Howard County - 2008

   Relationship of soils, topography, and underlying material in the Occoquan-Brinklow-Glenelg general soil map unit (Soil Survey of Howard County, Maryland; 2008).

4. MD-2012-02-03-18 | Frederick County - 2002

   Relationship of soils, topography, and underlying material in the Mt. Airy-Glenelg-Blocktown general soil map unit (Soil Survey of Frederick County, Maryland; 2002).

Map Units

Map units containing BLOCKTOWN as a major component. Limited to 250 records.

Map Unit Name	Symbol	Map Unit Area (ac)	Map Unit Key	National Map Unit Symbol	Soil Survey Area	Publication Date	Map Scale
Brinklow-Blocktown complex, 25 to 65 percent slopes	BnF	930	2479883	2p7j7	de003	2009	1:24000
Brinklow-Blocktown complex, 25 to 65 percent slopes	BnF	289	2440751	2mxsx	md015	2009	1:12000
Brinklow-Blocktown channery loams, 15 to 25 percent slopes	BkD	12902	534913	kym8	md021	2001	1:12000
Glenelg-Blocktown gravelly loams, 8 to 15 percent slopes	GhC	4050	534983	kypj	md021	2001	1:12000
Blocktown gravelly loam, 25 to 45 percent slopes	BhE	3615	534912	kym7	md021	2001	1:12000
Glenelg-Blocktown gravelly loams, 3 to 8 percent slopes	GhB	1878	534984	kypk	md021	2001	1:12000
Brinklow-Blocktown channery loams, 25 to 65 percent slopes	BtF	595	792804	vlzb	md027	2004	1:12000
Brinklow-Blocktown channery silt loams, 15 to 25 percent slopes	16D	17021	533581	kx79	md031	1989	1:15840
Brinklow-Blocktown channery silt loams, 8 to 15 percent slopes	16C	16897	533580	kx78	md031	1989	1:15840
Brinklow-Blocktown channery silt loams, 3 to 8 percent slopes	16B	12400	533579	kx77	md031	1989	1:15840
Blocktown channery silt loam, 15 to 25 percent slopes, very rocky	116D	9475	533577	kx75	md031	1989	1:15840
Blocktown channery silt loam, 25 to 45 percent slopes, very rocky	116E	6553	533578	kx76	md031	1989	1:15840
Rock outcrop-Blocktown complex	300	938	533626	kx8r	md031	1989	1:15840
Blocktown channery silt loam, 8 to 15 percent slopes, very rocky	116C	403	533576	kx74	md031	1989	1:15840
Brinklow-blocktown channery loams, 25 to 65 percent slopes	ByF	64	2455223	2ndvr	md033	2009	1:12000
Brinklow-Blocktown channery loams, 15 to 25 percent slopes complex	ByD	6	2455048	2ndp3	md033	2009	1:12000
Blocktown-Yellowbottom complex, 15 to 25 percent slopes	3D	2923	1726175	1vy72	va047	2006	1:24000
Blocktown-Yellowbottom complex, 25 to 45 percent slopes	3E	998	1726176	1vy73	va047	2006	1:24000

Map of Series Extent

Approximate geographic distribution of the BLOCKTOWN soil series. To learn more about how this distribution was mapped, or to compare this soil series extent to others, use the Series Extent Explorer (SEE) application. Source: generalization of SSURGO geometry (updated 2023-10-04).