LOCATION BILLINGTON RI+CT MA NY

Established Series
Revised MKP-JDT-DCP
09/2024

BILLINGTON SERIES

MLRA(s)--144A, 149B
Depth class--Very deep
Drainage Class--Subaqueous
Water Depth Range--1 to 225 centimeters
Parent material--Silty estuarine deposits over buried woody and herbaceous organic material
Geomorphic location--Mainland coves within bays and coastal lagoons
Slope range for series--0 to 3 percent
Mean annual air temperature--10 degrees C (50 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation--1295 millimeters (51 inches)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, active, nonacid, mesic Thapto-histic Sulfiwassents

TYPICAL PEDON: Billington silt loam on a north facing, concave, 1 percent slope in a mainland cove under 1.5 meters of estuarine water. Tidal range is 24 centimeters. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted).

Aseg--0 to 12 centimeters; black (5Y 2.5/1) mucky silt loam; gray (5Y 6/1) dry; massive; very fluid; 5 percent macroalgal fragments, 14 percent organic matter; moderate sulfurous odor; strongly saline; slightly alkaline (pH 7.7), ultra acid (pH 3.1) oxidized pH; clear boundary. (5 to 20 centimeters thick.)

Cseg1--12 to 53 centimeters; black (5Y 2.5/1) mucky silt loam; massive; moderately fluid; 5 percent macroalgal fragments, 15 percent organic matter; moderate sulfurous odor; strongly saline; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0), ultra acid (pH 2.6) oxidized pH; clear boundary.

Cseg2--53 to 88 centimeters; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) mucky silty clay; massive; moderately fluid; 12 percent organic matter; moderate sulfurous odor; strongly saline; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9), ultra acid (pH 2.5) oxidized pH; clear boundary. (Combined thickness of Cseg horizons is 25 to 80 centimeters thick.)

Oaseb--88 to 98 centimeters; black (N 2.5/) muck, broken face and rubbed sapric material; 10 percent herbaceous fibers, 0 percent rubbed; 45 percent mineral content; H8 von Post humification; moderate sulfurous odor; 14 percent gravel; strongly saline; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8), ultra acid (pH 3.1) oxidized pH; abrupt boundary. (0 to 100 centimeters thick.)

Oab1--98 to 130 centimeters; black (10YR 2/1) muck, broken face and rubbed hemic material; 30 percent herbaceous fiber, 3 percent rubbed; 30 percent mineral content; H8 von Post humification; 1 percent wood fragments; strongly saline; slightly alkaline (pH 7.7), very strongly acid (pH 4.7) oxidized pH; clear boundary.

Oab2--130 to 200 centimeters; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) muck, broken face hemic material, black (10YR 2/1) rubbed; 35 percent herbaceous fibers, 5 percent rubbed; 25 percent mineral content; H8 von Post humification; 1 percent wood fragments; strongly saline; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6), moderately acid (pH 5.8) oxidized pH.

TYPE LOCATION: Washington County, Rhode Island; Ninigret Pond, about 3000 feet east of intersection of Route 1 and Route 1A at Ninigret Park.
USGS topographic quadrangle: Quonochontaug, RI
Latitude--41.3704750
Longitude-- -71.6510944
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--Slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline (7.7 to 8.0) in mineral materials and slightly alkaline (7.6 to 7.8) in organic materials
Oxidized reaction--Ultra acid (pH <3.5) in the mineral materials and ultra acid to moderately acid (3.1 to 5.8) in the organic materials
Electrical conductivity (EC1:5 water), throughout--0.6 dS/m or greater
Depth to hypersulfidic materials (incubated pH 4.0)--0 to 50 centimeters
Depth to buried organic surface--16 to 88 centimeters (other lithological discontinuities may exist below the organic surface including loess, glacial outwash, or till)
Shell fragments--0 to 15 percent, by volume, in the marine and estuarine deposits
Coarse fragments--0 to 50 percent gravels, by volume, in the marine and estuarine deposits
Total Soil Organic Carbon Stocks 0 to 100 centimeters--14 to 25 kg m-2
Total Soil Organic Carbon Stocks 0 to 200 centimeters--20 to 44 kg m-2

Aseg or Ag horizon
Hue--10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, 10Y, or N
Value--2 to 3
Chroma--0 to 2
Texture--mucky silt loam; range includes clay through fine sand and their mucky analogs
Organic matter content--5 to 15 percent
Clay content--2 to 40 percent
Manner of failure / fluidity class--nonfluid to very fluid
Shell fragments--0 to 5 percent, by volume
Organic carbon density--2 to 25 kg m-3

Cseg or Cg horizon
Hue--7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, 10Y, or N
Value--2.5 to 6
Chroma--0 to 2
Texture--mucky silt loam; range includes silty clay loam through fine sands and their mucky analogs
Organic matter content--5 to 18 percent
Clay content--1.7 to 10.6 percent
Manner of failure / fluidity class--nonfluid to very fluid
Shell fragments--0 to 15 percent, by volume
Coarse fragments--0 to 50 percent gravels, by volume
Organic carbon density--10 to 24 kg m-3

Oab, Oaseb, Oeb, or Oeseb horizon
Hue--5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, or 10Y
Value--2.5 to 5Chroma--1 to 6
Texture--muck; range includes mucky peat
Organic matter content--50 to 80 percent
Von Post humification scale--primarily H7 to H10 but can include H4 to H6
Coarse fragments--0 to 7 percent gravels, by volume
Organic carbon density--19 to 35 kg m-3

2Cg, 2Cseg, or 3Cseg horizon (if present)
Hue--2.5Y, 5Y, 10Y, 10G, or N
Value--2.5 to 5
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--fine sandy loam; range includes silty clay through coarse sand
Clay content--2.8 to 45 percent
Manner of failure / fluidity class--nonfluid to very fluid
Coarse fragments--0 to 30 gravels, by volume; 0 to 10 percent cobbles, by volume
Redoximorphic concentrations--0 to 45 percent, by volume; hue of 10YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 4 or 6
Organic carbon density--2 to 10 kg m-3

COMPETING SERIES:
There are no competing series in the same family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--Silty estuarine deposits over buried woody and herbaceous organic material
Landscape--Coastal estuaries and lagoons
Landform--Mainland coves
Slope--0 to 3 percent
Mean annual precipitation--1023 to 1320 millimeters (40 to 52 inches)
Mean annual air temperature--4 to 13 degrees C (39.2 to 55.4 degrees F)
Water salinity range--18 to 30 parts per thousand
Frost-free period--350 to 365 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the Anguilla, Fort Neck, Napatree, Pishagqua, Southpoint and Wequetequock soils.

Anguilla soils--are on submerged mainland beaches and have sandy textures throughout
Fort Neck soils--have an n-value of 0.7 or less in some horizon at a depth between 20 and 50 cm below the mineral soil surface and do not contain organic soil materials
Napatree soils--are on submerged headlands and submerged mainland beaches, have sandy textures in the upper part and lack hypersulfidic materials
Pishagqua soils--are in low-energy lagoon bottoms and do not have organic horizons
Southpoint soils--have slightly finer silt textures on similar landforms but are in Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain estuaries and lagoons
Wequetequock soils--have slightly coarser textures and do not have organic horizons within 100 cm of the soil surface.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--Subaqueous
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--Moderately high or 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 soi 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, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island coasts.
Land Resource Regions--R - Northeastern Forage and Forest Region and S - Northern Atlantic Slope Diversified Farming Region
MLRA(s)--144A and 149B
Extent--Small
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: SPECIAL PROJECTS OFFICE

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washington County, Rhode Island, 2010.

REMARKS: This subaqueous series is mapped in areas previously published as water in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island Soil Surveys.

Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon include--
Peraquic feature--Positive soil water potential (permanently submerged) at the soil surface. (under 1.2 meters of salt water).
Particle-size control section--The zone from 0 to 100 centimeters (0 to 40 inches).
Ochric epipedon--The zone from 0 to 12 centimeters (Aseg horizon).
Hypersulfidic materials--The zone from 0 to 88 centimeters (Aseg and Cseg horizons) have oxidized reactions with pH values less than 4 after 16 weeks.
N-value > 0.7--The zone from 0 to 88 centimeters (Aseg and Cseg horizons)
Sapric soil materials--The zone from 88 to 200 centimeters (2Oaseb, 2Oab1, and 2Oab2 horizons).
Thapto-Histic soil taxonomy subgroup--Buried layer of organic material, 40 centimeters or more thick, within 200 centimeters of the mineral soil surface (2Oaseb and 2Oab1 horizons).
Taxonomic version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th edition (2022)

ADDITIONAL DATA: Type location taken from S2009RI009016 in Ninigret Pond, RI.
Additional support pedons used to develop this series include S2007RI009007 (sampled by the University of Rhode Island), S2004RI009003 (sampled by the University of Rhode Island), PJ018, and GH007.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.