LOCATION CONTEES WHARF MD
Established Series
BMW/DCS/RBT
04/2021
CONTEES WHARF SERIES
MLRA(s): 149A
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Subaqueous (permanently submersed / continuously inundated)
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Low to moderately low
Parent Material: Fine-silty, glauconitic estuarine deposits
Slope: 0 to 3 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 57 degrees F. (14 degrees C)
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 57 degrees F. (14 degrees C)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, glauconitic, nonacid, mesic Sulfic Hydrowassents
TYPICAL PEDON: Contees Wharf silty clay loam on a south flowing estuarine tidal creek channel with less than 1 percent slope under 2.0 m of estuarine water. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated).
Ase -- 0 to 79 cm; greenish black (10Y 2.5/1) silty clay loam; massive; very fluid; 2 percent shell fragments; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8), very strongly acid (pH 5.0) after 16 weeks; color reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide, strongly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; gradual boundary.
Cse1 -- 79 to 126 cm; very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) silty clay; massive; moderately fluid; trace shell fragments; strongly alkaline (pH 8.5), moderately acid (pH 5.6) after 16 weeks; no color reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide, strongly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; gradual boundary.
Cse2 -- 126 to 214 cm; very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) silty clay; massive; moderately fluid; trace shell fragments; strongly alkaline (pH 8.5), extremely acid (pH 4.0) after 16 weeks; no color reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide, strongly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; diffuse boundary.
Cse3 -- 214 to 268 cm; very dark greenish gray (5GY 3/1) silty clay; massive; moderately fluid; trace shell fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4), extremely acid (pH 3.9) after 16 weeks; no reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide, strongly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide.
TYPE LOCATION: Anne Arundel County, Maryland; Sellman Creek in Rhode River, approximately 1,200 feet north of Flat Island and approximately 1,200 feet northwest of Camp Letts. USGS South River topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees, 53 minutes, 27.85 seconds N. and longitude 76 degrees, 31 minutes, 59.48 seconds W., WGS 1984; Major Land Resource Area 149A.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to bedrock: Greater than 200 centimeters
Depth to seasonal high water table: Permanently submersed
Depth to hyper-sulfidic materials (incubated pH 4.0): Greater than 100 centimeters
Depth to hypo-sulfidic materials: 0 to 50 centimeters
Manner of Failure / Fluidity Class: moderately to very fluid throughout
Shell Fragments: 0 to 10 percent, by volume, throughout
Soil reaction: Neutral to strongly alkaline; oxidized reaction: moderately acid to very strongly acid and extremely acid below 100 centimeters
Salinity range is 7 to 15 (ppt).
RANGE OF INDIVIDULA HORIZONS:
Ase horizon:
Color - hue 10Y, value of 2.5, and chroma of 1
Texture - silty clay loam, silt loam, or loam
Consistence - very fluid to moderately fluid
Cse horizon:
Color - hue of 10Y or 5GY, value of 3, and chroma of 1
Texture - silty clay, silty clay loam, silt loam or loam
Consistence - very fluid to moderately fluid
COMPETING SERIES: None.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Northern Coastal Plain estuaries
Landform: Estuarine channels, estuarine tidal creek channels, and mainland coves
Parent Material: Fine-silty, glauconitic estuarine deposits
Slope: 0 to 3 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 50 to 59 degrees F. (10 to 15 degrees C.)
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 52 to 58 degrees F. (11 to 14 degrees C.)
Water Depth Range: 0 to 14.8 feet (0 to 4.5 meters)
Water Regime: Tidal, 0 to 1 foot (0 to 0.3 meters) tidal range
Water Salinity Range: 7 to 15 ppt
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Muddy Creek soils-occur on similar landforms but have buried organic horizons between 100 and 200 centimeters
Rhode River soils-occur on wave-cut platforms, are coarse-loamy throughout and have a pre-Holocene contact within 100 cm of the soil surface
Sellman soils-occur on similar landforms but have a fine particle size family class.
Tingles soils-contain sulfidic materials within 50 cm of the soil surface and occur in MLRA 153D in coastal bays and lagoons with higher salinity ranges.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class: Subaqueous drainage
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Low to moderately low
Soil Moisture Regime: Peraquic
Soil is permanently submerged / continuously inundated with brackish water. The presence of hypo-sulfidic materials within 50 cm of the soil surface puts these soils at risk for potential acid sulfate soil formation if they are dredged and exposed to the air.
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Areas of this soil are used for recreational fishing, swimming, and boating. Commercial uses include shell fishing and aquaculture.
Dominant Vegetation: Benthic fauna such as clams, blue crabs, and oysters are associated with this soil. Eelgrass (Zostera marina), sea lettuce (Ulva sp.), and horned pondweed (Zannichellia palustris) may occur on these soils.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain sub-estuaries of the western portion of the Chesapeake Bay. MLRA 149A. This series is of small extent.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 2018.
REMARKS: This subaqueous series is named for Contees Wharf in the Rhode River sub-estuary of Chesapeake Bay and areas of mapping were formerly included with water.
Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon-the zone from 0 to 79 centimeters (Ase horizon)
Peraquic feature-the zone from 0 to 268 centimeters is permanently saturated
Hypo-sulfidic materials-the zone from 0 to 268 centimeters
Hyper-sulfidic materials-the zone from 126 to 268 centimeters
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Data Map Unit ID: 800954
NASIS user site and pedon ID: S2015MD003063.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.