LOCATION CARTERET                NC+VA

Established Series
Rev. MCR/RBT
07/2023

CARTERET SERIES

MLRA(s): 153B
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Very poorly drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: High to very high
Landscape: Coastal Plain
Landform: Back barrier island tidal marshes
Parent Material: Sandy marine deposits
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Elevation (type location): 0 meters
Frost Free Period (type location): 260 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 17 degrees C. (63 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1346 millimeters (53 inches)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, thermic Typic Psammaquents

TYPICAL PEDON: Carteret mucky loamy sand on a 0 percent slope in a polyhaline tidal marsh. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ase--0 to 13 cm (0 to 5 inches); black (10YR 2/1) mucky loamy sand, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; friable; slightly fluid; slightly sticky, nonplastic; no sulfurous odor; many fine, medium, and coarse roots throughout; 2 percent gravel-size shell fragments; neutral (pH 7.05), slightly acid (pH 6.36) after moist incubation; slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; clear smooth boundary. (8 to 23 cm thick)

ACse--13 to 30 cm (5 to 12 inches); dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) loamy sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; no sulfurous odor; many fine, medium, and coarse roots throughout; 5 percent gravel-size shell fragments; neutral (pH 7.16), strongly acid (pH 5.39) after moist incubation; slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 28 cm thick)

Cseg1--30 to 55 cm (12 to 22 inches); dark greenish gray (10Y 4/1) sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; moderate sulfurous odor; common fine and medium roots throughout; common coarse prominent black (10YR 2/1) iron monosulfide soft masses; slightly alkaline (pH 7.61), extremely acid (pH 4.21) after moist incubation; slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; clear smooth boundary.

Cseg2--55 to 72 cm (22 to 28 inches); greenish gray (10Y 5/1) sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; slight sulfurous odor; few fine roots throughout; common very dark gray (10YR 3/1) organic stains and root channels; 5 percent gravel-size shell fragments; slightly alkaline (pH 7.71), extremely acid (pH 4.47) after moist incubation; slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; gradual smooth boundary.

Cseg3--72 to 114 cm (28 to 45 inches); greenish gray (10Y 5/1) sand; single grain loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; slight sulfurous odor; 5 percent gravel-size shell fragments; slightly alkaline (7.55 pH), slightly acid (pH 6.11) after moist incubation; slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; gradual smooth boundary.

Cseg4--114 to 171 cm (45 to 67 inches); gray (5Y 5/1) sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; slight sulfurous odor; 2 percent gravel-size shell fragments; slightly alkaline (7.53 pH), slightly acid (pH 6.22) after moist incubation; slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; clear smooth boundary.

Cseg5--171 to 203 cm (67 to 80 inches); dark gray (5Y 4/1) sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; slight sulfurous odor; 2 percent gravel-size shell fragments; moderately alkaline (8.26 pH), slightly alkaline (pH 7.40) after moist incubation; slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide. (152 to 192 cm thick)

TYPE LOCATION: Dare County, North Carolina; approximately 6,100 feet southeast of the base of the Oregon Inlet Bridge as it enters Rodanthe on NC Highway 12, 750 feet west of Highway 12 in a tidal marsh; USGS Oregon Inlet topographic quadrangle; latitude 35 degrees 45 minutes 12.85 seconds N. and longitude 75 degrees 30 minutes 48.68 seconds W. WGS84.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum Thickness ranges from 8 to 48 centimeters (3 to 19 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 200 cm (80 inches)
Soil Reaction: Moderately acid to moderately alkaline, throughout the profile. Moist incubated soil reactions range from extremely acid to slightly alkaline.
Shell Fragments: 0 to 35 percent, by volume throughout with their shelly analogs.

RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
Oase, Oese, Oa, or Oe horizons (where present):
Some pedons have organic horizons <20 cm in total thickness at the soil surface.
Color--hue 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 1 to 3.
Texture--muck or mucky peat.

Ase or A horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 3.
Texture--sandy loam, loamy sand, or sand with mucky analogs.

ACse or ACseg horizon (where present):
Color--hue of 10YR to 5GY or is neutral, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2.
Texture--loamy sand or sand.

Cseg or Cg horizons:
Color--hue of 10YR to 5BG or is neutral, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2.
Texture--loamy sand or sand. In some pedons thin intermittent layers of clay loam, silty clay loam, or layers of shell are present.

Aseb or Ab horizons (where present):
Some pedons have buried surfaces within 200 cm of the modern soil surface.
Color--hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 3.
Texture--sandy loam, loamy sand, or sand. Some Aseb or Ab horizons have mucky modified textures.

COMPETING SERIES:
Camocca soils--are slightly higher on the landscape with better drainage with less frequent flooding
Dello and Lang soils--are in floodplains and do not receive daily tidal flooding
Duckston and Osier soils--have siliceous mineralogy and are not flooded daily by tides.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Coastal Plain
Landform: Back barrier island tidal marshes (Atlantic Coast)
Elevation: 0.3 meters below sea level to 1 meter
Parent Material: Sandy marine deposits (some locations do have a thin eolian sand deposits on the surface)
Frost Free Period: 200 to 270 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 14 to 21 degrees C. (58 to 70 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1,143 to 1,524 millimeters (45 to 60 inches)

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Bohicket and Capers soils--have more than 35 percent clay throughout
Corolla soils--occur slightly higher on the landscape and do not contain sulfides within the particle size control section
Currituck soils--are on similar landscapes and contain thick organic soil materials
Fripp and Newhan soils--occur higher on the landscape, have very deep water tables, and do not contain sulfides

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Very poorly drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: High to very high
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very shallow, 0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 inches) continuously
Flooding: Very frequently flooding for extremely or very brief durations (daily high tides)

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses: Natural habitat for fish and shellfish production; a few areas are used for grazing and some areas have been diked and filled for use as water-front homesites. Dominant vegetation: Black needlerush, with lesser amounts of big cordgrass, and marsh hay. The needlerush vegetation often is immediately adjacent to the upland eolian sand dune areas on the Outer Banks.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Outer banks and sound area of North Carolina and Virginia
Extent: Moderate

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Carteret County, North Carolina; 1975.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 30 centimeters. (Ase and ACse horizons).
Peraquic feature - continuously endo saturated soil profile with very frequent tidal flooding.

ADDITIONAL DATA: This series sampled as S2022NC055001. Data can be obtained from NC State University.
Database Information: Representative Pedon Data Mapunit--466111
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.