Twenty-five students and professors from the University of Maryland, Delaware Valley University, Brooklyn College, Virginia Tech, University of Rhode Island, North Carolina State University, and Brown University braved a 90°F+ degree heat wave to attend the tour. Dr. Mark Stolt, Professor Emeritus, and Joe Manetta, Research Associate, both with the URI Department of Natural Resources Science, organized the tour. 

Participants toured twelve locations and observed 30 soil pits during the three-day event. Each site had several soil pits with data to discuss and featured published research and other information related to the site. 

The tour kicked off along Rhode Island’s south shore at the South Kingstown town beach, which is experiencing the highest erosion rates in the state (4.7 feet per year from 1993 to 2014). Participants observed a long outcrop of loess soils overlying glacial outwash in the coastal bluff along with a cut of human transported Artesols (right). 

URI’s Peckham Farm was the next stop. Researchers observed seven soil pits at the farm and discussed their morphology, classification, and genesis. Two of the pits had laterally transported spodic materials. They also observed a pit with thick human-transported material that Dr. Galbraith from Virginia Tech used to discuss the classification and importance of the new Artesol order. 

On Wednesday, the group visited URI’s East Farm to observe four soils formed in loess over dense lodgment till, which were mapped as the Rainbow series. They discussed densic materials, redox features and hydric soils. East Farm also presented an opportunity to showcase portable X-ray fluorescence unit use to determine heavy metal concentrations resulting from fungicide application over 70 years ago. Jacob Isleib, the RI and CT State Soil Scientist, demonstrated the unit for the tour.

After East Farm, the group traveled to the Great Swamp Management Area. There they reviewed a vernal pool and a kettle bog that had long term climatic data showing soil and air temperatures increasing at a rate of nearly 1.5°F every 10 years. Dr. Stolt discussed the multi state study entitled “Carbon dynamics and Hydropedology of depressional wetlands” at the site. Participants observed a Spodosol (Massasoit series) and discussed its classification. They also discussed Spodic soil colors and IRIS device technology as they pertain to field identification of hydric soils in the Northeast. The site was used as one of many study sites for the development of the A-17 hydric soil indicator (right). 

The day concluded at URI’s Alton Jones campus where researchers observed a variety of soils. The Alton Jones campus allowed participants to see a range of soils, parent materials, and glaciated landforms including eskers, floodplains, kame terraces, and till uplands. Dr. Ricker from North Carolina State University discussed utilizing pollen records to date soils and determine carbon sequestration rates on floodplain soils. The day ended with a clam bake and pizza social at a nearby park.

Participants spent most of their final day examining tidal marsh soils and discussing the Rhode Island Coastal Zone Soil Survey (CZSS). For their first stop they visited a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) restoration site on Narrow River in Narragansett. USFWS conducted a thin layer placement restoration project in 2018 where they added dredge sand onto the marsh surface to raise the elevation for salt marsh sparrows. The marsh now has a 20-30 cm layer of sand over the buried marsh that has caused numerous issues with revegetation due to a combination of high bulk density, low saturated conductivity, and sulfidic materials. The soils in the areas where this practice was used were remapped as sanded phases of marsh soils to provide data and spatial maps. Jim Turenne, Assistant State Soil Scientist for Rhode Island, discussed how NRCS provided technical soil services for the dredging project, including the archaeological review required prior to dredging subaqueous soils. 

The group then traveled to Jamestown and spent several hours on the Fox Hill tidal marsh discussing tidal soils classification and the use of IRIS films for mono-sulfide concentrations. The NRCS Special Projects Region staff for coastal zone soil survey demonstrated vibracoring techniques used for mapping marsh and submerged soils. During lunch, participants reviewed 6 cores from a recent CZSS mapping project. These cores showcased submerged tidal marsh soil (Thapto-Histic Sulfiwassent), buried glacial lake sediment, and typical Pishagqua and Nagunt series profiles. 

The tour concluded with three more soil pits at Parker and Godena Farms in Jamestown. While there, the group observed soils formed in dense till derived from dark colored Carboniferous-aged shales and sandstones and capped with a mantel of eolian sand (Pittstown series).

Dr. Stolt and Dr. Manetta from URI did a fantastic job leading the tour and hosting all the out-of-town faculty and students. For some students, the tour was their first exposure to soils in a glaciated region, and they were treated to a diverse array of benchmark soils along with some unique curiosities. A good time was had by all!