LOCATION BESTPITCH MD+NJ
Established Series
JEB-WDC/Rev. JAK
11/2015
BESTPITCH SERIES
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, euic, mesic Terric Sulfihemists
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
DEPTH CLASS: Very deep
DRAINAGE CLASS: Very poorly
PERMEABILITY: Moderately rapid to rapid in the organic deposits and slow in the mineral material
SURFACE RUNOFF: Very slow
PARENT MATERIAL: Organic deposits underlain by fine-textured mineral sediments
SLOPE: 0 to 1 percent
MEAN ANNUAL AIR TEMPERATURE (type location): 56 degrees F.
MEAN ANNUAL PRECIPITATION (type location): 45 inches
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, euic, mesic Terric Sulfihemists
TYPICAL PEDON: Bestpitch peat, on a hummocky 0 percent slope, in a estuarine tidal marsh (Colors are for a moist rubbed soil).
Oi--0 to 9 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) peat (fibric soil material); fiber content is three-fourths of the soil volume after rubbing; 30 percent by weight mineral soil material; common fine, medium, and coarse live roots; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (3 to 17 inches thick)
Oe--9 to 33 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) mucky peat (hemic soil material); fiber content is one-third of the soil volume after rubbing; 30 percent by weight mineral soil material; few fine and medium live roots; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (9 to 25 inches thick)
Oa--33 to 42 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) muck (sapric soil material); fiber content is one-tenth of the soil volume after rubbing; 60 percent by weight mineral soil material; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 23 inches thick)
Cg1--42 to 46 inches; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) silty clay; massive; friable; slightly sticky, nonplastic; n-value greater than 1.0, material flows easily between the fingers when squeezed; 10 percent masses of organic soil material; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Cg2--46 to 72 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) silty clay; massive; friable; slightly sticky, nonplastic; n-value greater than 1.0, material flows easily between the fingers when squeezed; 10 percent masses of organic soil material; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Dorchester County, Maryland; about 5.0 miles southwest of Drawbridge, Maryland; 700 feet east of Bestpitch Ferry, 300 feet east of the Transquaking River, 30 feet south of Griffith Neck Rd. into the marsh. lat. 38 degrees 25 minutes 00 seconds N. and long. 75 degrees 59 minutes 33 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the Underlying Material Greater than 60 inches
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 60 inches
Depth to the Mineral Soil Layers: 16 to 51 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 0 inches, January to December
Rock Fragments: 0 to 5 percent, by volume throughout the profile, mostly rounded quartz pebbles
Electrical Conductivity: Greater than 8 mmhos/cm, commonly greater than 16 mmhos/cm
Soil Reaction: Slightly acid to neutral in the natural state and extremely acid to strongly acid upon drying
Sulfur Content: 0.75 percent to about 3.5 percent in individual layers within a depth of 40 inches
Other Features: Mineral horizons have n-value greater than 0.7, typically greater than 1.0 and bulk density of less than 1.00g/cm3
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
Surface tier, 0 to 12 inches (Oi or Oe horizon):
Color--hue of 5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 5, chroma of 1 to 3, or is neutral with value of 2 to 4
Texture--peat (fibric soil material) or mucky peat (hemic soil material) Mineral Material Content: 20 to 70 percent, by weight
Subsurface tier, 12 to 36 inches (Oe or Oa horizon):
Color--hue of 5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, chroma of 1 to 4, or is neutral with value of 2 to 4
Texture--mucky peat (hemic soil material) or muck (sapric soil material) and may contain thin layers of silt and very fine sand
Mineral Material Content: 20 to 40 percent, by weight
Bottom tier, 36 to 51 inches (Oa or Oe horizon):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral with value of 2 to 5
Texture--muck (sapric soil material) or mucky peat (hemic soil material) and may contain thin layers of silty clay, silty clay loam, or mucky silty clay loam
Mineral Material Content: 20 to 75 percent, by weight
Cg horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 5GY, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral with value of 2 to 5.
Texture--silty clay, silty clay loam, or mucky silty clay loam. Some pedons have thin sandy mineral layers less than 1 inch thick, stratified within the horizon.
Organic Matter Content: 1 to 20 percent, by weight. Some pedons have thin organic layers or masses stratified within the mineral horizons.
COMPETING SERIES: None
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Coastal Plain
Landform: Brackish estuarine marshes along tidally influenced rivers and creeks
Elevation: 0 to 1 foot
Parent Material: Moderately decomposed organic deposits derived from salt tolerant herbaceous plants underlain by fine-textured fluvial sediments that have high n-value
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 54 to 58 degrees F.
Mean Annual Precipitation: 42 to 48 inches
Frost Free Period: 190 to 210 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Elkton soils--poorly drained mineral soils with a fine-silty particle-size control section that has 27 to 35 percent clay, on higher landforms
Mattapex soils--moderately well drained and have a fine-silty particle-size control section, on higher landforms
Mispillion soils--have loamy underlying mineral horizons, on similar landforms
Othello soils--poorly drained mineral soils with a fine-silty particle-size control section that has 18 to 27 percent clay, on higher landforms
Sunken soils--very poorly drained mineral soils with a fine-silty particle-size control section that contains 0.05 to 0.50 percent sulfur and an electrical conductivity of 2 to 8 mmhos/cm, on slightly higher landforms
Westbrook soils--have loamy underlying mineral horizons and typically have n-value of less than 0.7, on similar landforms
USE: Mainly as wetland wildlife habitat.
VEGETATION: Native vegetation is dominantly olney threesquare (Scirpus americanus), saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens), saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) and marsh hibiscus (Hibiscus palustris).
DISTRIBUTION: Coastal Plain of Maryland and
Delaware
EXTENT: Moderate
SERIES ESTABLISHED:
Dorchester County, Maryland, 1992
REMARKS: These soils were formerly included in the tidal marsh miscellaneous area. They are subject to tidal flooding and become extremely acidic when drained.
Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Fibric material--the zone from 0 to 9 inches has a fiber content after rubbing that is three-fourths or more of the soil volume (Oi horizon)
Hemic material--the zone from 9 to 33 inches has a fiber content after rubbing that is between one-sixth and three-fourths of the soil volume (Oe horizon)
Sapric material--the zone from 33 to 42 inches has a fiber content after rubbing that is less than one-sixth of the soil volume (Oa horizon)
Sulfidic materials--more than 0.75 percent sulfur, with less than three times as much carbonate (CaCO3 equivalent) as sulfur, within a depth of 40 inches
High n-value--the zone from 42 to 72 inches has an n-value greater than 1.0, the material flows easily between the fingers
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data for the typical pedon is available from NSSL, Pedon number S86MD-019-004(1-5).
SERIES INTERPRETATION RECORD(S):
OSD-SIR REPORT:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
MD0131 BESTPITCH 0- 2 54- 58 190-210 42- 48 0- 1
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness
MD0131 FREQ 0- 0 APPARENT JAN-DEC >60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC-
MD0131 0- 9 PEAT MPT 0- 0 - 0- 0 40- 90
MD0131 9-33 MPT MUCK 0- 0 - 0- 0 80-100
MD0131 33-42 MUCK MPT 0- 0 - 0- 0 20- 70
MD0131 42-72 SIC SICL 0- 0 100-100 30-45 20- 40
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll
MD0131 0- 9 6.1- 7.3 30-80 8-32 2.0- 20 LOW
MD0131 9-33 6.1- 7.3 60-80 8-32 2.0- 20 LOW
MD0131 33-42 6.1- 7.3 25-80 8-32 2.0- 20 LOW
MD0131 42-72 6.1- 7.3 .5-20 8-32 0.06- 0.2 MODERATE
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.