LOCATION FALSE CAPE              NC+VA

Established Series
JDK-RBT
10/2026

FALSE CAPE SERIES

MLRA(s)--153B
Depth class--Very deep
Drainage class--Subaqueous
Water depth range--0 to 2 meters (0 to 7 feet)
Parent material--Sandy lagoonal deposits over loamy estuarine deposits
Geomorphic location--Submerged wave-built terraces
Slope range--0 to 1 percent
Mean annual air temperature--17 degrees C (63 degrees F)
Mean annual water temperature--15 degrees C (59 degrees F)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy over loamy, mixed, active, nonacid, thermic Typic Fluviwassents

TYPICAL PEDON: False Cape loamy sand on a submerged wave-built terrace under 1.5 meters of brackish water (colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated; electrical conductivity is 1:5 by volume solution mixture unless otherwise stated).

Cseg1--0 to 28 centimeters; olive gray (5Y 5/2) loamy sand; single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 14 percent shell fragments; slight sulfurous odor; color change with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide; slight effervescence with 30 percent hydrogen peroxide; nonsaline (0.6 dS/m); neutral (pH 7.1); clear boundary.

Cseg2--28 to 71 centimeters; olive gray (5Y 4/2) sand; single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; slight sulfurous odor; color change with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide; no effervescence with 30 percent hydrogen peroxide; nonsaline (0.5 dS/m); slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); abrupt boundary (combined thickness of Cseg horizons is 24 to 71 centimeters).

2Cseg3--71 to 120 centimeters; very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) clay loam; massive; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; moderately fluid; 3 percent shell fragments; moderate sulfurous odor; color change with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide; slight effervescence with 30 percent hydrogen peroxide; nonsaline (0.4 dS/m); slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear boundary.

2Cseg4--120 to 146 centimeters; very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) shelly loam; massive; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; moderately fluid; 15 percent shell fragments; moderate sulfurous odor; color change with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide; slight effervescence with 30 percent hydrogen peroxide; nonsaline (0.5 dS/m); slightly alkaline (pH 7.7); clear boundary.

3Cseg5--146 to 200 centimeters; dark greenish gray (10Y 4/1) loamy sand; single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 2 percent shell fragments; slight sulfurous odor; color change with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide; slight effervescence with 30 percent hydrogen peroxide; nonsaline (0.5 dS/m); moderately alkaline (pH 7.9).

TYPE LOCATION: Currituck County, North Carolina; North Landing River; approximately 1.0 kilometers (0.6 miles) west of the intersection of Marsh Causeway and Martin Lane, and approximately 3.4 kilometers (2.1 miles) south of the intersection of Princess Anne Road and Public Landing Road (Virginia); USGS topographic quadrangle: Creeds.

Latitude--36.5393170
Longitude-- -76.0068300
Datum--WGS84
Coordinate source--From hand-held GPS

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to bedrock--Greater than 200 centimeters
Manner of failure / fluidity class--Nonfluid to slightly fluid in the lagoonal deposits and slightly fluid to very fluid in the estuarine deposits
Depth to lithologic discontinuity--24 to 71 centimeters
Shell fragments--0 to 20 percent, by volume
Sulfurous odor--None to strong throughout
Soil reaction--Neutral to moderately alkaline throughout (pH 6.6 to 8.4)
Oxidized reaction--Moderately acid to strongly alkaline throughout (pH 5.6 to 9.0)
Depth to hypersulfidic / sulfidic materials (oxidized pH 4.0 or less)--Greater than 100 centimeters
Electrical conductivity (1:5 soil to water solution)--one or more horizons within 100 centimeters of the mineral soil surface have an EC of 0.6 dS/m or greater
Salinity class--Nonsaline to very slightly saline
Total soil organic carbon stock 0 to 100 centimeters--5 to 18 kg m-2
Total soil organic carbon stock 0 to 200 centimeters--15 to 42 kg m-2

Cseg or CAseg horizons:
Hue--2.5Y to 5GY, or neutral
Value--2.5 to 5
Chroma--0 to 2
Texture--Sand, fine sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, and sandy loam
Organic carbon density--0.2 to 7.1 kg m-3

2Cseg horizon:
Hue--5Y to 5GY
Value--2.5 to 4
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--Loam, fine sandy loam, silt loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, or their shelly analogs
Organic carbon density--1.9 to 37 kg m-3

3Cseg, 3Aseg, or 3ACseg horizons (where present)[JK1.1]:
Hue--10YR to 10Y
Value--2 to 5
Chroma--1
Texture--Fine sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, or loam
Organic carbon density--0.2 to 7.1 kg m-3

COMPETING SERIES:
There are no competing series in the same family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape--Barrier-island lagoons and southeast coastal plain estuaries
Landform--Submerged wave-built terraces
Parent material--Sandy lagoonal deposits over loamy estuarine deposits
Slope--0 to 1 percent
Water depth range--0 to 2 meter (0 to 7 feet) below mean sea level
Water halinity range--0.5 to 5 parts per thousand

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the Kill Devil, Lost, Trinity Harbor and Whalehead soils.
Kill Devil soils--are on low-energy lagoon bottoms, fluviomarine bottoms, and mainland coves and formed in fine-loamy lagoonal deposits.
Lost soils--are on submerged tidal marshes, have O horizons, and contain hypersulfidic materials.
Trinity Harbor soils--are on high-energy lagoon bottoms and formed in coarse-loamy lagoonal deposits.
Whalehead soils--are on submerged wave-cut platforms and formed in sandy lagoonal deposits over sandy fluviomarine deposits.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--Subaqueous
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--Moderately low to high
Soil moisture regime--Peraquic
Soil is continuously inundated by brackish water. The water level is primarily driven by wind tides.

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses--The area is used for recreational fishing, swimming, hunting, and boating. Uses also include commercial fishing and crabbing.
Typical vegetation--No vegetation was observed during ecological inventories of False Cape soils, perhaps due to investigations taking place too early in the growing season. However, that does not rule out the possibility of these soils supporting SAV. Vegetation may include widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima), sago pondweed (Stuckenia pectinata), and Eurasian milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum).

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General area--Coastal plain estuaries in North Carolina and Virgina
Land Resource Regions--T - Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region
MLRA(s)--153B
Extent--Small

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Special Projects Region

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Currituck County, North Carolina, 2026

REMARKS:
The series is named after an area on Virginia's Atlantic coast that deceptively resembled Cape Henry. This led to numerous shallow-water shipwrecks during the 19th century and gave False Cape the reputation as a shipping graveyard. False Cape soils were previously mapped as water in North Carolina and Virginia soil surveys.

Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are (Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Thirteenth Edition, 2022):
Fluidity--The zone from 71 to 146 centimeters has a fluidity class of moderately fluid.
Lithologic discontinuity--The zone from 71 to 146 centimeters and 146 to 200 centimeters formed in different depositional energies.
Peraquic feature--Zero or positive soil water potential at the soil surface (permanently submerged).

NASIS User Site and Pedon ID: S2026NC053005
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.