LOCATION BROADKILL DE+MD NJ

Established Series
CDP-PK/Rev. JDK
09/2024

BROADKILL SERIES

MLRA(s)--149A, 153C, 153D
Depth Class--Very deep
Drainage Class--Very poorly drained
Parent Material--Fine-silty estuarine deposits
Geomorphic Location--Coastal and estuarine tidal marshes
Slope--0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature--14 degrees C (57 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation--1118 millimeters (44 inches)

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

TYPICAL PEDON: Broadkill mucky peat in a salt marsh. 0 to 1 meters above sea level (colors are for a moist soil unless otherwise stated).

Oese--0 to 15 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) mucky peat; 60 percent herbaceous fibers, 25 percent rubbed; von Post value H5; many very fine, fine, and medium and common coarse roots (70 percent of volume is a dense mat of live roots and stems); electrical conductivity 26.2 dS/m; neutral (pH 6.6), ultra acid (pH 2.9) oxidized; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 18 centimeters thick).

Aseg--15 to 33 centimeters; dark gray (5Y 4/1) and very dark gray (5Y 3/1) silty clay loam; massive; friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very fluid; many fine or medium and common coarse roots; electrical conductivity 27.3 dS/m; neutral (pH 6.8), ultra acid (pH 3.4) oxidized; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 39 centimeters thick).

Cseg1--33 to 81 centimeters; dark gray (5Y 4/1) and dark olive gray (5Y 3/2) silty clay loam; massive; friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very fluid; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; electrical conductivity 26.7 dS/m; neutral (pH 6.8), extremely acid (pH 4.3) oxidized; clear smooth boundary.

Cseg2--81 to 97 centimeters; dark olive gray (5Y 3/2) silt loam; massive; friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very fluid; common fine and few medium roots; electrical conductivity 29.5 dS/m; neutral (pH 6.6), strongly acid (pH 5.2) oxidized; diffuse smooth boundary.

Cseg3--97 to 200 centimeters; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) silt loam; massive; friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very fluid; few fine and medium roots; electrical conductivity 32.7 dS/m; neutral (pH 6.7), moderately acid (pH 5.6) oxidized.

TYPE LOCATION: Sussex County, Delaware; about 120 meters (400 feet) east and 180 meters (600 feet) south of the junction of County Road 264 (Oyster Rocks Road) and the Broadkill River. USGS topographic quadrangle Lewes.

Latitude--38. 8005556
Longitude-- -75.2022222
Datum--WGS84
Coordinate source--Unknown

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Electrical Conductivity--Greater than 16 dS/m
Soil Reaction--Slightly acid to slightly alkaline (pH 6.1 to 7.8)
Oxidized Reaction--Ultra acid or extremely acid (pH <3.5 to 4.4)
Depth to hypersulfidic materials (oxidized pH of 4.0 or less)--0 to 50 centimeters
Rock Fragments--Absent in the upper 100 centimeters, 0 to 5 percent shells (by volume) below 100 centimeters
Total Soil Organic Carbon Stock 0 to 100 centimeters--15 to 34 kg m-2
Total Soil Organic Carbon Stock 0 to 200 centimeters--19 to 65 kg m-2
Manner of failure / fluidity class--Moderately to very fluid throughout the mineral horizons
Other Features--Many pedons form jarosite concentrations once exposed to oxygen. Some pedons may contain sapric of fibric soil materials depending on the degree of decomposition.

Oese horizon:
Hue--7.5YR to 10Y
Value--2 to 4
Chroma--1 to 2
Texture--Mucky peat
Von Post humification scale--H4 to H6
Organic carbon density--24 to 122 kg m-3

Aseg horizon:
Hue--5YR to 5BG or Neutral
Value--2 to 4
Chroma--0 to 2
Texture--Silt loam, silty clay loam, or silty clay, including the mucky texture modifier
Organic carbon density--12 to 47 kg m-3

Cseg horizon:
Hue--5YR to 5BG or Neutral
Value--2 to 7
Chroma--0 or 2
Texture--Silt loam, silty clay loam, or sandy loam and may contain thin lenses of organic or coarse-textured soil materials
Organic carbon density--12 to 47 kg m-3

2Cseg horizon, where present:
Hue--2.5Y or 5Y
Value--2.5 to 6
Chroma--1 to 4
Texture--Sand, loamy sand, or sandy loam, including the mucky texture modifier
Organic carbon density--0.5 to 14 kilograms per cubic meter

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

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent Material--Fine-silty estuarine deposits
Landscape--Coastal estuaries, coastal lowlands, and tidal rivers
Landform--Coastal and estuarine salt or brackish tidal marshes
Elevation--0 to 1 meters
Mean Annual Air Temperature--11 to 14 degrees C (52 to 57 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation--914 to 1397 millimeters (36 to 55 inches)
Frost Free Period--175 to 200 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the Appoquinimink, Boxiron, Mispillion, Pawcatuck, and Transquaking soils.
Appoquinimink soils--Have a buried organic layer more than 40 centimeters thick within 200 centimeters of the mineral soil surface, on similar landforms
Boxiron soils--Have a histic epipedon, on similar landforms
Mispillion soils--Have organic layers 40 to 130 centimeters thick, underlain by loamy mineral layers, on similar landforms
Pawcatuck soils--Have organic layers 40 to 130 centimeters thick, underlain by sandy mineral layers, on similar landforms
Transquaking soils--Have organic layers more than 130 centimeters thick, underlain by loamy mineral layers, on slightly lower elevations in the marsh.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class--Very poorly drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity--High to moderately high above 100 centimeters and variable below 100 centimeters
Soil moisture regime--Peraquic
Flooding--Very frequent, for very brief durations (flooded by salt or brackish tidal waters twice daily and during significant coastal storm events)

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses--Primarily as wetland wildlife habitat including shellfish and small crustaceans. Large areas in Delaware and Maryland have been ditched to provide better drainage for mosquito control but have led to marsh degradation and erosion in some areas. Some areas were previously filled to provide waterfront homesites.
Natural Vegetation--Salt-tolerant wetland species, predominantly salt marsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), salt hay (Spartina patens), salt wort (Salicornia sp.), and spike grass (Distichlis spicata).

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General area--Tidal marshes along the landward side of barrier island lagoons and along tidally influenced rivers and bays in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey.
Land Resource Regions--T - Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region
MLRA(s)--149A, 153C, 153D
Extent--Moderate

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Special Projects Region

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Worcester County, Maryland, 1995.

REMARKS: Broadkill soils were formerly mapped as Tidal Marsh miscellaneous areas. They become extremely acid to ultra-acid when drained.

Carbon stock and carbon density ranges are not primary criteria for defining this series.

Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Hemic soil materials--The zone from 0 to 15 centimeters (Oese horizon)
Ochric epipedon--The zone from 0 to 33 centimeters (Oese and Aseg horizons)
Peraquic conditions--The zone from the soil surface to a depth of 200 centimeters is continuously saturated (endosaturation)
High n-value--The zone from the surface to 200 centimeters has a slightly fluid to very fluid manner of failure.
Hypersulfidic materials--The zone from 0 to 33 centimeters (Oese and Aseg horizons)

Taxonomic version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th edition (2022)

ADDITIONAL DATA:
Some morphological and laboratory data used in this OSD were obtained from: Kim, J.D. 2022. M.S. Thesis. Distribution And Variability of Carbon Stocks in Mid-Atlantic Tidal Marsh Soils. University of Maryland, College Park, MD.

NASIS User Pedon ID-- 2007DE005003
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.