LOCATION DEMAS                   MD+DE NJ

Established Series
GPD/SYD/RBT/DTA
11/2017

DEMAS SERIES

MLRA(s): 153D
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Very deep
Agricultural Drainage Class: Subaqueous (permanently submersed)
Permeability: Moderately rapid or rapid
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high to high
Parent Material: Sandy lagoonal deposits with origins from barrier island eolian sand
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 56 degrees F. (13 degrees C)
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 57 degrees F. (14 degrees C)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Siliceous, mesic Sulfic Psammowassents

TYPICAL PEDON: Demas fine sand on a smooth 0 percent slope on a storm surge washover fan slopes, under 1.5 feet (1.7 meters) of permanent estuarine water, in Chincoteague Bay. (Colors are for moist soil.)

Ase1--0 to 1 inches (0 to 2 centimeters); olive gray (5Y 4/2) fine sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; neutral; abrupt boundary.

Ase2--1 to 9 inches (2 to 22 centimeters); very dark greenish gray (10Y3/1) fine sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; sulfurous odor; neutral; clear boundary. (Combined thickness of the Ase horizon is 0 to 9 inches) (0 to 24 centimeters thick)

Cseg1--9 to 15 inches (22 to 37 centimeters); very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) fine sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; strong sulfurous odor; neutral; gradual boundary.

Cseg2--15 to 26 inches (37 to 67 centimeters); very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) loamy fine sand; single grain; loose; 1 percent fine dark yellowish brown (10YR3/4) organic fragments; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; strong sulfurous odor; neutral; clear boundary.

Cseg3--26 to 31 inches (67 to 80 centimeters); very dark gray (N 3/) fine sand; single grain; loose; 4 percent, by volume, shell fragments; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; strong sulfurous odor; neutral; clear boundary.

Cseg4--31 to 45 inches (80 to 114 centimeters); dark greenish gray (5GY 4/1) fine sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; non sticky, nonplastic; strong sulfurous odor; neutral; clear boundary.

Cseg5--45 to 74 inches (114 to 187 centimeters); very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) fine sand; single grain; loose; 1 percent, by volume, shell fragments; nonfluid; non sticky, nonplastic; strong sulfurous odor; neutral; clear boundary.

Cseg6--74 to 85 inches (187 to 215 centimeters); dark greenish gray (5GY 4/1) fine sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; non sticky, nonplastic; strong sulfurous odor; slightly alkaline. (Combined thickness of the Cseg horizon is 33 or more inches.) (84 centimeters or more)

TYPE LOCATION: Worcester County, Maryland; approximately 3 miles south southwest of Crow Tump; approximately 2 miles due west of Assateague Island beach where it meets the Atlantic Ocean; in Chincoteague Bay. USGS Tingles Island topographic quadrangle; lat. 38 degrees, 07 minutes, 50 seconds N. and long. 75 degrees, 12 minutes, 55 seconds W. WGS84.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 80 inches (200 centimeters)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Permanently submersed
Depth to Lithologic Discontinuity: Greater than 35 inches (89 centimeters)
Depth to sulfidic materials: 0 to 40 inches (0 to 100 centimeters)
Manner of failure/Fluidity Class: Nonfluid. (Slightly to moderately fluid is possible below 40 inches (100 centimeters))
Shell Fragments: 0 to 30 percent, by volume, throughout the profile
Soil Reaction: Neutral to moderately alkaline, throughout the profile
Electrical Conductivity: Greater than 16 mmhos/cm, throughout the profile
Salinity: Greater than 25 ppt throughout the profile

Range of Individual Horizons:
Ase horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR to 5GY, value of 2.5 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral with value of 3 to 5
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loamy sand, loamy fine sand. fine sand, or sand

Aseg or Ag horizon (where present):
Color-hue of 10 YR to 5GY, value of 2.5 to 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loamy sand, loamy fine sand. fine sand, or sand

Cseg or Cg horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR to 10G, value of 2.5 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral with value of 3 to 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loamy fine sand, loamy sand, sand, fine sand, or coarse sand

2Cg or 2Cseg horizon (where present):
Color--hue of 10YR to 5GY, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral with value of 3 to 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, coarse sand, sand, or fine sand

COMPETING SERIES:
Mantoloking soils--are on inactive flood-tidal slopes and do not receive fresh sands annually.
Trappe soils--have underlying layers with chroma of 3 or more, at slightly shallower water depths

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Estuaries
Landform: Washover fan flats, washover fan slopes, and shallow barrier coves (These landforms receive fresh sands after each major winter storm and/or tropical disturbance)
Parent Material: Sandy lagoonal deposits with origins from barrier island eolian sand deposition
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 50 to 57 degrees F. (10 to 14 degrees C)
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 52 to 58 degrees F. (11 to 14 degrees C)
Bathymetry: 1.0 to 6.6 feet below mean sea level (0.1 to 2.0 meters)
Water Regime: Tidal, 1.0 to 3.0 feet tidal range (0.3 to 1 meter)

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:

Indian River soils-are on flood-tidal delta flats and slopes associated with current day tidal inlets or inactive inlets and have sulfidic materials usually deeper in their profiles
Southpoint soils--have buried organic materials within 40 inches (100 centimeters) of the surface; at deeper water depths
Sinepuxent soils--have a coarse-loamy particle-size control section and contain sulfidic materials, at shallower water depths
Tizzard soils--have a coarse-loamy particle-size control section, have underlying layers with chroma of 3 or more, at slightly shallower water depths
Queponco soils--have layers with chroma of 3 or more, at slightly shallower water depths
Purnell soils--have surface organic layers 8 to 15 inches thick and are not permanently submersed; on adjacent tidal marshes

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Subaqueous (permanently submersed)
Permeability: Moderately rapid or rapid
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high to high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Most areas are vegetated and function as estuarine benthic wildlife habitat. Benthic fauna such as tubeworms, clams, juvenile blue crabs, scallops and juvenile finfish are common.
Dominant Vegetation: Native vegetation includes rooted algae, eelgrass (Zostera marina) and widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima). Vegetative cover ranges from 20 to 90 percent.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Mid-Atlantic coastal estuaries of Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and possibly Virginia. This series is of small extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Worcester County, Maryland, 2017.

REMARKS: Demas soils were formerly included with miscellaneous areas of water. They are distinguished by being permanently covered by estuarine waters that support submersed aquatic vegetation. The initial name proposed for this series was Wallops. Refer to Ph.D. dissertations on file at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. (1) Subaqueous Soil Survey of Sinepuxent Bay, Maryland; George P. Demas, July 1998. And (2) Pedogenesis, Inventory, and Utilization of Subaqueous Soils in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland by Danielle M. Balduff, 2007.

Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 9 inches (0 to 22 centimeters) (Ase horizons)
Peraquic feature--the zone from 0 to 85 inches (0 to 215 centimeters) is permanently saturated

ADDITIONAL DATA:

Data Map Unit ID: 679290

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.