LOCATION DUCKSTON NC+AL FL GA VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Siliceous, thermic Typic Psammaquents
TYPICAL PEDON: Duckston fine sand. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A1--0 to 3 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sand; single grain; loose; many fine and medium roots; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
A2--3 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) fine sand; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) stains around roots; single grain; loose; many fine and medium roots; common dark minerals; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (The combined thickness of the A horizon is 2 to 16 inches.)
C3--8 to 13 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) sand; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) stains around roots; single grain; loose; many fine and medium roots; common dark minerals; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 66 inches thick)
Ab--13 to 17 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) sand; single grain; loose few pieces of undecomposed plant materials; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
C'g--17 to 80 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) sand; single grain; loose; common fine opaques; common minerals of various colors; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Dare County, North Carolina; Outer Banks; from Wright Memorial at Kill Devil Hills, one mile southeast; 1/4 mile west of beach and 150 feet east of U.S. 158 bypass.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the A and C horizon is more than 80 inches of sand or fine sand. The soil ranges from extremely acid through moderately alkaline. Some pedons contain few to common fine to medium brownish organic stains and grayish or whitish mottles. Small calcareous shell fragments are present in some pedons. The soil contains few to common grains of black, red, pink, dark brown, and white minerals. Some pedons exhibit a slight to strong sulfur odor below the surface horizons.
The Oa or Oe horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is less than 8 inches thick.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 0 to 2. The Ab horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 0 to 2. It contains few to common pieces of undecomposed plant materials.
The Cg horizon and C'g horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 5 to 8, and chroma of 0 to 2, and greenish gray (5GY 5/1, 6/1). Mottles are in shades of red, yellow, brown, or gray in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are Canaveral, Carteret, Corolla, Dello, Lang, Mustang, Osier, Pompano, and Rutlege series. Canaveral and Corolla soils have lower water tables and chroma of more than 2 and value higher than 4 in the upper C horizon, and in addition, Canaveral soils are hyperthermic. Carteret soils are in salt water marshes that are flooded at least monthly and in places twice daily. Dello and Lang soils are at higher elevations, in a dry climate with 10 to 20 inches of rainfall. Mustang and Pompano soils have a mean annual temperature of more than 72 degrees F. Osier and Rutlege soils are not affected by storm tides. In addition, Osier soils have more than 5 percent silt plus clay and Rutlege soils have an umbric epipedon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Duckston soils are mainly in shallow depressions between coastal dunes and on nearly level flats between the dunes and marshes generally at elevations less than 5 feet above mean tide level. Slopes are typically less than 2 percent and surfaces are plane to concave. The soil formed in sandy sediments reworked by waves and wind. Average annual precipitation near the type location is about 48 inches and mean annual temperature about 62 degrees F. The soils are periodically flooded with salt water; salinity is variable according to length of time since last flooding.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing Carteret and Corolla series these are the Capers, Currituck, Fripp, and Newhan series. Capers soils are finer textured and are in salt water marshes that are flooded at least once a month or in places twice daily. Currituck soils are organic and are flooded with fresh water. Fripp and Newhan soils are not saturated with water and are on the higher parts of the landscape.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained; very slow runoff; very rapid permeability above the water table. The water table fluctuates in relation to the tides and the surface is flooded following heavy rains or high storm tides.
USE AND VEGETATION: The native plant community consists of waxmyrtle, black willow, black highbush blueberry, marshhay cordgrass, dotted smartweed, three square, virginia buttonweed, and sphagnum moss.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Along the Atlantic coast in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is moderate in extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Camden and Glynn Counties, Georgia; 1977.
REMARKS: The vegetation norm for the Duckston series is a coastal shrub plant community. Locally, a maritime forest exists on a minor acreage of the soil.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 8 inches (A1, A2)
Aquic moisture regime - chroma of 2 or less throughout the soil
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Survey of the Outer Banks, North Carolina, Part I, p. 85, table 8. This data supports these soils being placed in a siliceous family.
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation NC0006 DUCKSTON 0- 2 66- 70 230-310 50- 60 2- 5 NC0269 DUCKSTON 0- 2 66- 70 230-310 50- 60 1- 5SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness NC0006 RARE COMMON 0-0.5 APPARENT JAN-DEC 60-60 NC0269 NONE COMMON - APPARENT - 60-60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- NC0006 0- 8 S FS 0- 0 95-100 0- 4 1- 10 NC0006 8-80 S FS 0- 0 95-100 0- 4 1- 5 NC0269 0- 8 S FS 0- 0 95-100 0- 4 5- 30 NC0269 0- 8 MK-S MK-FS 0- 0 95-100 0- 4 35- 70 NC0269 8-80 S FS 0- 0 95-100 0- 4 1- 5
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll NC0006 0- 8 3.5- 8.4 .5-3. 8-16 20- 20 LOW NC0006 8-80 3.5- 8.4 .5-1. 4- 8 20- 20 LOW NC0269 0- 8 3.5- 8.4 .5-7. 8-16 20- 20 LOW NC0269 0- 8 3.5- 8.4 8.-15 8-16 6.0- 20 LOW NC0269 8-80 3.5- 8.4 0.-.5 4- 8 20- 20 LOW