Description: Using natural soil material to assist in the biological degradation of organic material and as a capping for the mass of compost is common practice. This interpretation shows the degree and kinds of properties that make soil material suitable for use as composting medium and final cover material. Each soil is rated as a potential source of such material.The soil is evaluated from the surface to 79 inches. The ratings are based on the soil properties that affect ease of excavation, workability of the material, the thickness of the soil layer, reclamation of the area, and erosion from the site.Soils that flood or have a water table within the depth of excavation present a potential pollution hazard and are difficult to excavate. Soils that are shallow to bedrock, ice, a cemented pan, or stones and boulders are limited because these features interfere with the excavation of the site or the suitability of the material. Slope is an important consideration because it affects the work involved in road construction, the performance of the roads, and the control of surface water around the borrow area.The ratings are both verbal and numerical. Numerical ratings in indicate the level of suitability of the soil as a composting medium and final cover material source. The ratings are shown in decimal fractions ranging from 1.00 to 0.01. They indicate gradations between the point at which a soil feature has the greatest positive impact on the use (1.00) and the point at which the soil feature has the greatest negative impact (0.00).Rating class terms indicate the extent to which the soils are made suitable by all of the soil features that affect the suitability of soil material for this use. "Good" indicates that the soil has characteristics that are favorable for the specified use. The compost medium or final cover material will have good performance. "Fair" indicates that the soil has features that are moderately favorable for the specified use. The soil may be somewhat difficult to work or contain rock fragments. "Poor" indicates that the soil has one or more features that are unfavorable for the specified use. While any material could be used as a composting medium and final cover material, a poorly suited material will require large amounts of amendments or screening in order to achieve the expected level of performance.The map unit components listed for each map unit in the accompanying Summary by Map Unit table in Web Soil Survey or the Aggregation Report in Soil Data Viewer are determined by the aggregation method chosen. An aggregated rating class is shown for each map unit. The components listed for each map unit are only those that have the same rating class as listed for the map unit. The percent composition of each component in a particular map unit is presented to help the user better understand the percentage of each map unit that has the rating presented.Other components with different ratings may be present in each map unit. The ratings for all components, regardless of the map unit aggregated rating, can be viewed by generating the equivalent report from the Soil Reports tab in Web Soil Survey or from the Soil Data Mart site. Onsite investigation may be needed to validate these interpretations and to confirm the identity of the soil on a given site.
Copyright Text: Soil Survey Staff. Gridded Soil Survey Geographic (gSSURGO) Database for New Jersey. United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. Available online at http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/. 20240904 (202410 official release).