LOCATION FIGGS                   MD+NJ

Established Series
Rev. DMB/PK/SYD/RBT
05/2023

FIGGS SERIES

MLRA(s): 153D
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Subaqueous (permanently submersed)
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Low to moderately high
Parent Material: lagoon bottom estuarine deposits
Slope: Less than 0.2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 56 degrees F. (13 degrees C.)
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 57 degrees F. (14 degrees C.)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, subactive, nonacid, mesic Fluventic Sulfiwassents

TYPICAL PEDON: Figgs loam, on permanently submerged lagoon bottom, slope <0.1 percent, under 130 centimeters of strongly saline water. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted. When described on June 24, 2005, the soil was moist throughout.)

Ase1--0 to 3 cm; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) loam; massive; non-sticky; fluid; sulfurous odor; neutral; abrupt boundary.

Ase2--3 to 17 cm; very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) fine sandy loam; massive; non-sticky; fluid; 1 percent shall fragments; sulfurous odor; neutral; abrupt boundary.

2Cseg1--17 to 52 cm; very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) clay loam; massive; slightly sticky; very fluid; 15 percent shells; sulfurous odor; neutral; clear boundary.

2Cseg2--52 to 143 cm; very dark greenish gray (5GY 3/1) clay loam; massive; slightly sticky; very fluid; neutral.

TYPE LOCATION: Worcester County, Maryland; approximately 0.60 miles east-southeast of Rattlesnake Island in Chincoteague Bay; latitude 38[TR-NHN8] degrees 5 minutes 28.449 seconds N. longitude 75 degrees 18 minutes 11.392 seconds W., WGS 84.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 200 centimeters.
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Permanently submersed
Shell Fragments: 0 to 15 percent, by volume
Soil Reaction: Slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline;
Oxidized reaction: Ultra acid
Depth to sulfidic materials: 0 to 50 centimeters
Salinity: Greater than 18 ppt throughout the profile

Range of Individual Horizons:
Ase horizon:
Color--hue of 5Y, 10Y, 5GY or N, value of 4, 3, or 2.5 moist, and chroma of 0, 1, or 2 moist
Texture--loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam, and silty clay loam with mucky analogs
Consistence--fluid to very fluid
Organic carbon ranges from5.6 to 8.0 g kg-1
Sulfurous odor and sulfidic materials are present

Cseg horizon (2Cseg if present):
Color--hue of 10Y or 5GY, value of 4, 3.5, or 3 moist, and chroma 1 moist.
Texture--loam, coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy fine sand, silty clay loam, or clay loam.
Consistence--fluid to very fluid.
Organic carbon ranges from 5.1 to 23.1 g kg-1.
Sulfurous odor and sulfidic materials are present.

COMPETING SERIES: None.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Estuaries
Landform: Lagoon bottoms, mainland coves, and submerged wave-cut platforms of Holocene age.
Parent Material: Lagoon bottom estuarine deposits
Slopes: Less than 0.2 percent.
Water depth ranges from 0.2 to 1.5 m.
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 13.3 degrees C. (56 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 13.9 degrees C. (57 degrees F.)
Water Regime: Tidal, 0.3 to 1 meter tidal range
Overlying water salinity ranges from 18 to 32 ppt.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Coards soils (tentative)--fine-silty soils formed in mixed fluvial and lagoonal sediments on fluviomarine bottoms.
Cottman soils (tentative)-coarse-loamy soils formed in lagoon bottom sediments on barrier island side
Sinepuxent soils (tentative)--coarse-loamy soils formed in dredged lagoonal sediments.
Southpoint soils (tentative)--fine-silty soils formed in lagoonal sediments, relict marsh sediments, and upland subaerial soils on mainland coves and submerged wave-cut headlands.
Tingles soils (tentative)--fine-silty soils formed in lagoonal sediments on lagoon bottoms.
Truitt soils (tentative)--fine-silty soils formed in lagoonal sediments over buried organic horizons that formed at or near sea level when it was at a lower elevation on submerged wave-cut headlands or mainland coves.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class: Subaqueous drainage and peraquic soil moisture regime.
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Low to moderately high

Soil is permanently submerged with salt or brackish water. The presence of sulfidic material within 50 cm of the soil surface puts these soils at risk for acid sulfate drainage if they are dredged and exposed to the air.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for human recreation and benthic habitats as a source for food, shelter, and other essential life support.

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

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

SERIES PROPOSED: Worcester County, Maryland, 2007.

Remarks: Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon include:
Peraquic feature - Positive soil water potential (permanently submerged) at the soil surface. (Under 130 cm of salt water).
Particle size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm (Part of the 2Cg horizon).
Sulfidic materials - within 50 cm of the soil surface (the Ase1, Ase2 and 2Cseg horizon).

Additional Data: Balduff, D.M. 2007 Ph.D. dissertation, University of Maryland.
NASIS user site ID: 2012MD047032.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.