LOCATION CAMOCCA VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, thermic Typic Psammaquents
TYPICAL PEDON: Camocca fine sand - on a 1 percent slope in a shrub and grass community.
A--0 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) fine sand; weak coarse granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Cg1--6 to 18 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) fine sand; single grain; loose; common fine roots; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Cg2--18 to 85 inches; gray (N 5/0) fine sand; single grain; loose; neutral. (Combined thickness of the Cg horizon is more than 70 inches.)
TYPE LOCATION: Accomack County, Virginia; about 165 yards west southwest 230 degrees of the Assateague Visitor's Center and 1.8 miles south southeast 154 degrees of the Assateague Lighthouse.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the A and C horizons is more than 80 inches. The soil ranges from extremely acid through moderately alkaline. Shell fragments range from 0 to 15 percent. Silt plus clay is less than 5 percent in the control section.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y or is neutral, value of 4 through 8, and chroma of 0 through 2. It is coarse sand, sand, or fine sand.
The Cg horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y or is neutral, value of 4 through 8, and chroma of 0 through 2. It is coarse sand, sand, or fine sand.
Thin buried horizons containing few to common pieces of undecomposed plant material are in some pedons. They have hue of 10YR through 5Y or are neutral, value of 4 through 8, and chroma of 0 through 2. They are coarse sand, sand, or fine sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Carteret, Dello, and Lang series in the same family. Soils in a related family are the Duckston and Osier series. Carteret soils are in salt marshes that are flooded twice daily. Dello and Lang soils are at higher elevations in a dry climate with 10 to 20 inches of rainfall. Duckston and Osier soils have siliceous mineralogy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Camocca soils are mainly in shallow depressions between coastal dunes and on nearly level flats between the dunes and marshes generally at elevations below 10 feet. Slopes are typically less than 2 percent. Surfaces are plane to concave. The soils formed in sandy sediments reworked by waves and wind. Mean annual precipitation is about 48 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 62 degrees F. The soils are periodically flooded with salt water. Salinity is variable according to frequency of flooding.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Arapahoe, Assateague, Chincoteague, Fisherman, Magotha, and Nimmo. Arapahoe and Nimmo are on the nearby coastal plain and contain more clay. Chincoteague and Magotha are on salt marshes and contain more clay. Assateague and Fisherman soils are on vegetated dunes and are better drained.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained; very slow runoff; very rapid permeability; flooding is common and the soil is periodically inundated by storm tides.
USE AND VEGETATION: Camocca soils are used mainly for wildlife habitat and recreation. Some areas support sparse stands of native pines and hardwoods. The native plant community consists of waxmyrtle
(Myrica cerifera), marshhay cordgrass (Spartina patens), greenbrier (Smilex spp.), eastern baccharis (Baccharis halimifolia), and bigleaf sumpweed (Iva frutescens).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES PROPOSED: Accomack County, Virginia, 1986. Camocca is a coined name.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 6 inches (A horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University soil survey laboratory data show less than 5 percent silt plus clay and mixed mineralogy for the typical pedon and 9 other profiles.
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation VA0280 CAMOCCA 0- 2 59- 66 210-240 40- 50 0- 10SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness VA0280 COMMON 0-1.0 APPARENT JAN-DEC 60-60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- VA0280 0-85 S FS COS 0- 0 80-100 0- 4 -
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll VA0280 0-85 3.6- 8.4 .5-1. 0- 0 20- 20 LOW