LOCATION ALEWIFE COVE CT
Established Series
CEP-BEF-DCP
10/2024
ALEWIFE COVE SERIES
MLRA(s)--144A, 145
Depth class--Very deep
Drainage Class--Subaqueous
Water Depth Range--0 to 300 centimeters
Parent material--Sandy-skeletal marine deposits
Geomorphic location--Flood-tidal deltas in estuaries
Slope range for series--0 to 2 percent
Mean annual air temperature--10 degrees C (50 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation--1295 millimeters (51 inches)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Haplic Sulfiwassents
TYPICAL PEDON: Alewife Cove sand on a on a flood tidal delta, 1 percent slope. Tidal range is 280 centimeters. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted).
Aseg--0 to 20 centimeters; black (5Y 2.5/1) sand; structureless, single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 2 percent shell fragments and 10 percent gravel; positive acid volatile sulfide (AVS) presence test; slightly alkaline (pH 7.7); slightly acid (pH 6.4) oxidized pH; clear boundary.
Cseg1--20 to 33 centimeters; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) gravelly sand; structureless, single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 5 percent shell fragments and 20 percent gravel; positive acid volatile sulfide (AVS) presence test; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); extremely acid (pH 3.9) oxidized pH; clear boundary.
Cseg2--33 to 60 centimeters; 95 percent dark gray (5Y 4/1) and 5 percent black (N 2.5/), very gravelly sand; structureless, single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 40 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); ultra acid (pH 3.4) oxidized pH; clear boundary.
Cseg3--60 to 121 centimeters; dark gray (5Y 4/1) very gravelly coarse sand; structureless, single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 3 percent shell fragments and 50 percent gravel; slight sulfurous odor; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); extremely acid (pH 3.7) oxidized pH; clear boundary.
Cg--121 to 200 centimeters; dark gray (5Y 4/1) gravelly sand; structureless, single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 2 percent shell fragments and 20 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); strongly acid (pH 5.4) oxidized pH.
TYPE LOCATION: New London County, Connecticut; In Mumford Cove, approximately 274 meters (900 feet) north of the entrance to Venetian Harbor and 232 meters (760 feet) west of the shore at Groton Long Point. USGS topographic quadrangle: New London, CT
Latitude--41.3177800
Longitude-- -72.0171100
Datum--WGS84
Coordinates source--from hand-held GPS
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to bedrock--Greater than 200 centimeters
Soil moisture--These soils are continuously inundated
Reaction throughout--Neutral to strongly alkaline (pH 6.6 to 9.0)
Oxidized reaction--Ultra acid to neutral throughout (pH <3.5 to 7.3)
Electrical conductivity (EC 1:5 water), throughout--0.6 dS/m or greater
Depth to hypersulfidic materials (incubated pH 4.0)--0 to 50 centimeters
Shell fragments--0 to 50 percent, by volume in individual horizons
Coarse fragments--0 to 85 percent gravels, by volume in individual horizons
Total Soil Organic Carbon Stock to 200 centimeters--4 to 40 kg C m-2
Aseg or Acseg horizon (where present)
Hue--10Y, 10YR, 5Y, or N
Value--2 to 4
Chroma--0 or 1
Texture--sand; range includes coarse sand through loamy sand
Manner of failure / fluidity class--nonfluid
Organic carbon density--4 to 21 kg C m-3
Cseg or Cg
Hue--2.5Y, 5Y, 10Y, or N
Value--2.5 to 5
Chroma--0 or 1
Texture--sand; range includes coarse sand through fine sand
Manner of failure / fluidity class--nonfluid
Organic carbon density--2 to 20 kg C m-3
2Cseg horizon (where present)
Hue--5Y, 10Y, or N
Value--3 or 4
Chroma--0 or 1
Texture--sand, silt loam or fine sandy loam
Manner of failure / fluidity class-nonfluid or slightly fluid
Organic carbon density--1 to 21 kg C m-3
COMPETING SERIES:
These are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material-Sandy and gravelly marine deposits, loamy estuarine deposits may be found below marine deposits in some pedons.
Landscape--Estuaries
Landform--Flood-tidal deltas, ebb-tidal deltas
Slope--0 to 2 percent
Mean annual precipitation--1023 to 1320 millimeters (40 to 52 inches)
Mean annual air temperature--4 to 13 degrees C (39 to 55 degrees F)
Water salinity range--18 to 30 parts per thousand
Frost-free period--350 to 365 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are
Marshneck,
Massapog ,and
Pishagqua soils.
Marshneck soils--found on flood-tidal deltas with lower energy, and have a coarse-loamy particle size control section
Massapaug soils--found on flood-tidal deltas, with sandy textures with less than 35% rock fragments and lack hypersulfidic soil materials
Pishagqua soils--found in nearby low energy lagoon bottom, cove and channel landforms, and fine-silty textured materials throughout
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--Subaqueous
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--High or Very High
Soil moisture regime--Peraquic
Soil is continuously inundated with salt or brackish water.
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses--Areas of this soil are used for recreational fishing and swimming. Commercial uses include shell fishing and aquaculture. Wildlife use and benthic fauna associated with this soil includes tubeworms, clams, juvenile blue crabs, scallops, and juvenile finfish.
Native vegetation--Eelgrass (Zostera marina) and widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) may occur on these soils.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General area--These soils are located along Connecticut coast.
Land Resource Regions--R - Northeastern Forage and Forest
MLRA(s)--144A and 145
Extent-Small
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Special Projects Office
SERIES ESTABLISHED: New London County, Connecticut, 2024.
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon include--
Peraquic feature--Positive soil water potential (permanently submerged) at the soil surface. (under 2 meters of salt water).
Haplic feature--Have an n-value of 0.7 or less (or a nonfluid class) or less than 8 percent clay in some horizon at a depth between 20 and 50 centimeters.
Particle-size control section--The zone from 0 to 100 centimeters (0 to 40 inches) is sandy-skeletal.
Hypersulfidic materials--The zone from 0 to 121 centimeters (Aseg and Cseg horizons) have oxidized reactions with pH values less than 4 after 16 weeks.
Taxonomic version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th edition (2022)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Type location taken from S2022CT011023 in Mumford Cove, Groton, CT.
Additional support pedons used to develop this series include: S2022CT011031 and 2017CT011038.
________________________________________
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.