LOCATION BOXIRON                 MD+NJ

Established Series
JLB/Rev. ATD-JDK
02/2025

BOXIRON SERIES

MLRA(s)--153D
Depth class--Very deep
Drainage class--Very poorly drained
Flooding--Very frequent, very brief (twice daily by tides)
Parent material--Herbaceous organic deposits over fine-silty estuarine deposits
Geomorphic location--Estuarine and coastal tidal salt marshes
Slope--0 to 1 percent
Elevation--0 to 1 meter
Mean annual air temperature--13 degrees C (55 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation--1154 millimeters (46 inches)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, nonacid, mesic Histic Sulfaquents

TYPICAL PEDON: Boxiron peat on a smooth 0 percent slope in a tidal salt marsh at an elevation of 0.3 meters. (Colors are for a moist soil)

Oise--0 to 18 centimeters; dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) peat; fiber content is 75 percent by volume after rubbing; von Post value H3; many very fine and fine, and common coarse roots throughout; slight sulfurous odor; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0), extremely acid (pH 4.1) oxidized pH; abrupt smooth boundary. (thickness range is 0 to 24 centimeters)

Oese--18 to 36 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) mucky peat; fiber content is 33 percent by soil volume after rubbing; von Post value H5; many very fine and fine, and few coarse roots throughout; slight sulfurous odor; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2), extremely acid (pH 4.3) oxidized pH; abrupt smooth boundary. (thickness range is 13 to less than 40 centimeters)

Cseg1--36 to 76 centimeters; dark gray (2.5Y 4/1) silt loam; massive; slightly sticky; common fine roots; very fluid; moderate sulfurous odor; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2), ultra acid (pH 2.3) oxidized pH; clear wavy boundary.

Cseg2--76 to 188 centimeters; dark greenish gray (5GY 4/1) silt loam; common, medium, faint gray (2.5Y 5/1) iron depletions; massive; very fluid; moderate sulfurous odor; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4), ultra acid (pH 2.3) oxidized pH; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness range of Cseg horizons is 114 to 178 centimeters)

2Cseg3--188 to 203 centimeters; gray (5Y 5/1) sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; moderate sulfurous odor; neutral (pH 7.0), ultra acid (pH 2.3) oxidized pH.

TYPE LOCATION: Worcester County, Maryland; on Duers Neck, approximately 226 meters feet northwest from the end of Scotts Landing Road, approximately 88 meters north of Scotts Landing Road, and approximately 0.5 kilometers southwest from the entrance to Hallbrooks Gut. USGS topographic quadrangle Boxiron, MD.

Latitude--38.1007528,
Longitude-- -75.3165722
Datum--WGS84
Coordinate source--Estimated from other source

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to bedrock--Greater than 200 centimeters
Thickness of organic soil material--20 to less than 40 centimeters
Soil moisture regime--Peraquic (tidally flooded twice daily)
Electrical conductivity--Greater than 8 dS/m (5.6 ppt) throughout
Depth to sulfidic materials--0 to 50 centimeters
Reaction--Neutral to moderately alkaline throughout (pH 6.6 to 8.4)
Oxidized reaction--Ultra acid to extremely acid throughout (pH <3.5 to pH 4.4)
Organic carbon stock 0 to 100 centimeters--31 to 35 kg m-2
Organic carbon stock 0 to 200 centimeters--33 to 80 kg m-2
Other features--Some pedons may contain sapric soil material in the organic horizons depending on the degree of decomposition

Oise horizon (where present)
Hue--7.5YR to 2.5Y
Value--2 to 4
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--peat
Von Post--H1 to H3
Mineral content--20 to 70 percent, by weight
Organic carbon density--20 to 54 kg m-3

Oese horizon
Hue--10YR to 5Y
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--mucky peat
Von Post--H4 to H6
Mineral content--25 to 70 percent, by weight
Organic carbon density--24 to 122 kg m-3

Cseg horizon
Hue--10YR to 5GY or neutral
Value--3 to 6
Chroma--0 to 2
Texture--silt loam or silty clay loam
Organic carbon density--12 to 46 kg m-3
Other characteristics--some Cseg horizons have thin layers of organic soil material

2Cseg horizon (where present)
Hue--10YR to 5GY or neutral
Value--3 to 7
Chroma--0 to 2
Texture--loamy sand or sand
Organic carbon density-0.5 to 14 kg m-3

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

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--Herbaceous organic deposits over fine-silty estuarine deposits
Landscape--Coastal plain, estuaries
Landform--Tidal marshes
Slope range--0 to 1 percent
Elevation--0 to 1 meters
Mean annual air temperature range--11 to 15 degrees C (52 to 59 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation range--1052 to 1240 millimeters (41 to 49 inches)
Frost free period--190 to 260 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the Bestpitch, Broadkill, Mispillion, Purnell, Sunken, and Transquaking soils:
Bestpitch soils--have 40 to 130 centimeters of organic soil materials and 35 percent or greater clay content (clayey) in the underlying mineral soil materials; on similar landforms
Broadkill soils--have less than 20 centimeters of organic soil materials, do not have a histic epipedon, but are on similar landforms commonly intermingled with Boxiron
Mispillion soils--have 40 to 130 centimeters of organic soil materials and less than 35 percent clay (loamy) in the underlying mineral soil materials; on similar landforms
Purnell--have a sandy family particle size class, on back barrier island tidal marsh landforms
Sunken soils--have less than 20 centimeters of organic soil materials, have a former argillic horizon, on slightly higher submerging upland landforms
Transquaking soils--have greater than 130 centimeters of organic soil materials, on similar landforms

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--Very poorly drained
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--High to very high in the organic horizons and moderately low to high in the underlying mineral horizons
Soil moisture regime--Peraquic (continuously saturated throughout)
Flooding--Very frequent, very brief (twice daily by tides)

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses--Boxiron soils are mainly used for their ecological and environmental benefits as tidal salt marsh ecosystems that provide essential plant and animal habitat, water quality benefits, and coastal protection from storms and sea level rise.
Natural vegetation--Typical vegetation includes saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens), saltgrass (Distichlis spicata), and marsh elder (Iva frutescens).

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General area--Tidal salt marshes of the mid-Atlantic Coastal plain within the states of Maryland and New Jersey
Land Resource Region (LRR)-- T - Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region
MLRA(s)--153D
Extent--Small

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: SPECIAL PROJECTS OFFICE

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Worcester County, Maryland, 1995

REMARKS: Boxiron soils were formerly mapped as Tidal Marsh miscellaneous areas. They are flooded twice daily by saline or brackish tidal waters. Oxidized pH analysis indicates these soils have hypersulfidic materials (pH of 4.0 or less after 16 weeks of moist incubation), causing them to become extremely acid to ultra acid when drained. Historically, large areas of these soils were ditched for mosquito control, which has led to marsh degradation in some areas.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon (Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Thirteenth Edition):
Aquic conditions--the zone from 0 to 203 centimeters is continuously saturated (endosaturation)
Histic epipedon--the zone between 0 and 36 centimeters
Fibric soil materials--the zone between 0 and 18 centimeters has a fiber content after rubbing that is three-fourths, by volume
Hemic soil materials--the zone between 18 and 36 centimeters has a fiber content after rubbing of one-thrid, by volume
Hypersulfidic materials--the zone from 36 to 203 centimeters (oxidized pH of 4.0 or less after 16 weeks of moist incubation)
Lithologic discontinuity--the zone from 188 to 203 centimeters
Particle size control section--the zone from 25 to 100 centimeters

ADDITIONAL DATA:
Database information:
NASIS site and pedon ID for typical pedon--2008MD047001

Incubated pH values were obtained from S2020NJ029020, which has similar morphology as the typical pedon.
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.