Soil Data Explorer - MERTZ

Official Series Description

Lab Data Summary

Aggregate lab data for the MERTZ soil series. This aggregation is based on all pedons with a current taxon name of MERTZ, 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 MERTZ 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
147	69PA109011	1969PA109011	Mertz	5	Primary | Supplementary | Taxonomy | Pedon | Water Retention | Correlation | Andic Soil Properties	40.7930556,-77.2122222
147	70PA067003	1970PA067003	Mertz	5	Primary | Supplementary | Taxonomy | Pedon | Water Retention | Correlation | Andic Soil Properties	40.5894444,-77.3316667
147	70PA067010	1970PA067010	Mertz	5	Primary | Supplementary | Taxonomy | Pedon | Water Retention | Correlation | Andic Soil Properties	40.6813889,-77.1413889
147	70PA067011	1970PA067011	Mertz	5	Primary | Supplementary | Taxonomy | Pedon | Water Retention | Correlation | Andic Soil Properties	40.6808333,-77.1397222
147	70PA099010	1970PA099010	Mertz	5	Primary | Supplementary | Taxonomy | Pedon | Water Retention | Correlation | Andic Soil Properties	40.3672222,-77.4855556
147	70PA099011	1970PA099011	Mertz	5	Primary | Supplementary | Taxonomy | Pedon | Water Retention | Correlation | Andic Soil Properties	40.3686111,-77.2183333
147	70PA099012	1970PA099012	Mertz	5	Primary | Supplementary | Taxonomy | Pedon | Water Retention | Correlation | Andic Soil Properties	40.3552778,-77.2738889
n/a	AS-011	1962-OH005-011	Mertz	3	Primary | Supplementary | Taxonomy | Pedon | Water Retention | Correlation | Andic Soil Properties	n/a
n/a	LC-028	1979-OH089-028	Mertz	4	Primary | Supplementary | Taxonomy | Pedon | Water Retention | Correlation | Andic Soil Properties	n/a

Water Balance

Monthly water balance estimated using a leaky-bucket style model for the MERTZ 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 MERTZ 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 MERTZ 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 MERTZ 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 MERTZ 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 MERTZ 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 MERTZ 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 terrace figure.

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

Soil series sharing subgroup-level classification with MERTZ, 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. PA-2012-03-13-42 | Juniata and Mifflin Counties - April 1981

   Typical pattern of soils and underlying material of the Morrison association (Soil Survey of Juniata and Mifflin Counties, PA; 1981).

Map Units

Map units containing MERTZ 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
Mertz very cherty silt loam, 18 to 35 percent slopes, very stony	MrE	605	171057	5qzz	oh089	1986	1:15840
Frankstown variant-Mertz complex, 2 to 6 percent slopes, very stony	FrB	485	171029	5qz2	oh089	1986	1:15840
Mertz very cherty silt loam, 15 to 35 percent slopes	MpD	24	1540772	1nq9b	oh089	1986	1:15840
Mertz very cherty silt loam, 15 to 35 percent slopes	MkD	678	537918	l1r6	oh119	1989	1:15840
Frankstown variant-Mertz complex, 3 to 8 percent slopes	FkB	272	537887	l1q6	oh119	1989	1:15840
Mertz channery silt loam, 8 to 15 percent slopes	MhC	1792	541828	l5tb	pa009	1989	1:24000
Mertz channery silt loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes	MnB	818	542385	l6d9	pa013	1978	1:20000
Mertz channery silt loam, 8 to 15 percent slopes	MnC	724	542386	l6db	pa013	1978	1:20000
Mertz channery silt loam, 15 to 25 percent slopes	MnD	409	542387	l6dc	pa013	1978	1:20000
Mertz cherty silt loam, 8 to 15 percent slopes	MeC	8320	545514	l9n7	pa605	1975	1:20000
Mertz cherty silt loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes	MeB	4278	545513	l9n6	pa605	1975	1:20000
Mertz cherty silt loam, 15 to 25 percent slopes	MeD	3984	545515	l9n8	pa605	1975	1:20000
Mertz channery silt loam, 8 to 15 percent slopes, very stony	MzC	1925	553069	lkhy	wv025	2002	1:24000
Mertz channery silt loam, 15 to 35 percent slopes, very stony	MzE	1795	553070	lkhz	wv025	2002	1:24000
Mertz channery silt loam, 8 to 15 percent slopes, very stony	MzC	2004	515430	k9bs	wv075	1992	1:24000
Mertz channery silt loam, 15 to 35 percent slopes, very stony	MzE	1377	515431	k9bt	wv075	1992	1:24000
Mertz channery silt loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes	MrB	573	515429	k9br	wv075	1992	1:24000
Mertz cherty loam, 8 to 15 percent slopes	MfC	431	515939	k9w6	wv628	1980	1:20000
Mertz cherty loam, 15 to 25 percent slopes	MfD	294	515940	k9w7	wv628	1980	1:20000

Map of Series Extent

Approximate geographic distribution of the MERTZ 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).