Soil Data Explorer - MELITA

Official Series Description

Lab Data Summary

Aggregate lab data for the MELITA soil series. This aggregation is based on all pedons with a current taxon name of MELITA, 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 MELITA were used in the calculation. Source: KSSL snapshot (updated 2020-03-18). Methods used to assemble the KSSL snapshot used by SoilWeb / SDE

Pedons used in the lab summary:

MLRA	Lab ID	Pedon ID	Taxonname	CI	NSSL / NASIS Reports	Link To SoilWeb GMap
96	93P0808	S1993MI079004	Melita	5	Primary | Supplementary | Taxonomy | Pedon | Water Retention | Correlation | Andic Soil Properties	44.7861099,-85.0693741

Water Balance

Monthly water balance estimated using a leaky-bucket style model for the MELITA 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 MELITA series. Sketches are arranged according to their subgroup-level taxonomic structure. Source: SSURGO snapshot (updated 2024-02-21), parsed OSD records (updated 2023-10-06) and snapshot of SC database (updated 2023-10-02).

Select annual climate data summaries for the MELITA 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 MELITA 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 mountains figure.

Competing Series

Soil series competing with MELITA share the same family level classification in Soil Taxonomy. Source: parsed OSD records (updated 2023-10-06) and snapshot of the SC database (updated 2023-10-02).

Select annual climate data summaries for the MELITA 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).

Geomorphic description summaries for the MELITA 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 3D mountains figure.

Soil series sharing subgroup-level classification with MELITA, 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

No block diagrams are available.

Map Units

Map units containing MELITA 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
Melita sand, 0 to 6 percent slopes	MeB	2972	189630	6cb3	mi035	1977	1:15840
Melita sand, 0 to 6 percent slopes	MlB	567	1588082	1q9jg	mi041	1969	1:24000
Melita loamy sand, 0 to 2 percent slopes	Mp	3538	187305	68x3	mi117	1956	1:20000
Melita-Iosco-Kawkawlin complex, 0 to 2 percent slopes	Ms	1794	187307	68x5	mi117	1956	1:20000
Melita loamy sand, 2 to 6 percent slopes	Mr	1503	187306	68x4	mi117	1956	1:20000
Croswell and Melita loamy sands, 0 to 2 percent slopes	Cd	858	187275	68w4	mi117	1956	1:20000
Croswell and Melita loamy sands, 2 to 6 percent slopes	Ce	664	187276	68w5	mi117	1956	1:20000
Croswell and Melita loamy sands, 6 to 15 percent slopes	Cg	99	187277	68w6	mi117	1956	1:20000
Melita sand, 0 to 6 percent slopes	125B	323	192180	6fzc	mi119	1997	1:12000
Melita sand, 0 to 6 percent slopes	64B	2054	189939	6cn2	mi129	1987	1:15840
Isabella-Melita complex, 6 to 18 percent slopes	97C	1155	189970	6cp2	mi129	1987	1:15840
Melita sand, 6 to 18 percent slopes	64C	439	189940	6cn3	mi129	1987	1:15840
Isabella-Melita complex, 0 to 6 percent slopes	97B	234	189969	6cp1	mi129	1987	1:15840
Isabella-Melita complex, burned, 6 to 18 percent slopes	87C	211	189960	6cnr	mi129	1987	1:15840
Isabella-Melita complex, burned, 18 to 40 percent slopes	87E	163	189961	6cns	mi129	1987	1:15840
Melita sand, 0 to 6 percent slopes	125B	15	241425	836x	mi135	2003	1:12000
Melita loamy sand, 0 to 6 percent slopes	24B	2252	190873	6dm6	mi141	1989	1:15840
Melita loamy sand, 6 to 12 percent slopes	24C	283	190874	6dm7	mi141	1989	1:15840
Melita and Arenac loamy sands, 0 to 2 percent slopes, slightly eroded	McA1	21	2508377	6b02	mi147	1969	1:20000
Melita and Arenac loamy sands, 0 to 2 percent slopes, slightly eroded	MhA1	9008	188358	6b02	mi151	1955	1:15840
Melita and Arenac loamy sands, 2 to 7 percent slopes, slightly eroded	MhB1	2917	188359	6b03	mi151	1955	1:15840
Melita loamy sand, 7 to 14 percent slopes, slightly eroded	MkC1	355	188360	6b04	mi151	1955	1:15840
Melita loamy sand, 14+ percent slopes, slightly to severely eroded	MkD2	39	188361	6b05	mi151	1955	1:15840

Map of Series Extent

Approximate geographic distribution of the MELITA 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).