LOCATION FORT FISHER             NC

Established Series
ARW
10/2024

FORT FISHER SERIES

MLRA--153A, 153B
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible--Special Projects
Depth Class--Very deep
Drainage Class--Subaqueous (permanently submersed)
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity--Moderately high to high
Parent Material--Sandy estuarine deposits over loamy estuarine deposits
Total Soil Organic Carbon Stock to 200 centimeters--27.9 kg m-2
Slope--0 to 3 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature--18 degrees C (64 degrees F)
Mean Annual Water Temperature--21 degrees C (70 degrees F)

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

TYPICAL PEDON: Fort Fisher fine sand in a barrier cove under 1.7 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 22 centimeters (0 to 9 inches); black (N 2.5/) fine sand; structureless, single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 2 percent shell fragments; slight sulfurous odor; color reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide; moderately effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; strongly saline (4.9 dS m-1); slightly alkaline (pH 7.6), moderately alkaline (pH 8.3) oxidized; 2.2 kg soil organic carbon m-3; clear boundary.

Cseg2--22 to 60 centimeters (9 to 24 inches); 60 percent dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) and 40 percent dark greenish gray (10Y 4/1) fine sand; structureless, single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 2 percent shell fragments; no color reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide; slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; slightly saline (2.3 dS m-1); moderately alkaline (pH 8.3), strongly alkaline (pH 8.6) oxidized; 1.8 kg soil organic carbon m-3; clear boundary.

2Cseg3--60 to 170 centimeters (24 to 67 inches); dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) clay loam; structureless, massive; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; slightly fluid; 3 percent shell fragments; color reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide; slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; moderately saline (3.3 dS m-1); moderately alkaline (pH 8.1), moderately alkaline (pH 8.4) oxidized; 21.8 kg soil organic carbon m-3; gradual boundary.

3Cseg4--170 to 195 centimeters (67 to 77 inches); dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) fine sandy loam; structureless, massive; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; slightly fluid; 8 percent shell fragments; no color reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide; slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; moderately saline (3.4 dS m-1) moderately alkaline (pH 8.1), moderately alkaline (pH 8.3) oxidized; 2.1 kg soil organic carbon m-3.

TYPE LOCATION: Brunswick County, North Carolina; Cape Fear River; approximately 2 miles east by southeast of the end of Ferry Road Southeast, 2.75 miles south by southwest of the end of South Fort Fisher Boulevard, 4.13 miles north by northeast of Bald Head Lighthouse. USGS topographic quadrangle: Kure Beach.

Latitude--33.9233327
Longitude-- -77.9606425
Datum--WGS84
Coordinate source-from hand-held GPS

RANGE OF CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock--Greater than 200 centimeters
Depth to Lithologic Discontinuity--40 to 80 centimeters
Shell Fragments--0 to 20 percent, by volume
Soil Reaction--Slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline throughout profile
Oxidized Soil Reaction--Strongly acid to strongly alkaline (pH 5.5-9.0 from 0 to 100 centimeters; extremely acid to strongly alkaline (pH 3.5-9.0) from 100 to 200 centimeters
Sulfurous Odor--Slight to moderate throughout profile
Depth to hyper-sulfidic materials (where present) (incubated pH 4.0)--Greater than 100 centimeters
Electrical Conductivity--Greater than 0.6 dS m-1 throughout profile by 1:5 by volume solution mixture
Salinity Class--Slightly saline to strongly saline throughout profile
Reaction to 30% Hydrogen Peroxide--None to moderate reaction throughout profile
Horizon Soil Organic Carbon Density--0.5 to 51.1 kg m-3 throughout profile
Total Soil Organic Carbon Stock--9.9 to 64.2 kg m-2

Cseg horizon:
Hue--5Y, 10Y, 5GY, or N
Value--2.5 to 5
Chroma--2 or less
Texture--sand, fine sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, or their shelly analogs
Manner of failure / fluidity class--nonfluid or slightly fluid

2Cseg horizon:
Hue--2.5Y, 5Y, 10Y, or N
Value--2.5 to 6
Chroma--2 or less
Texture--silt loam, loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, or their shelly analogs
Manner of failure / fluidity class--slightly fluid or moderately fluid

3Cseg horizon:
Hue--10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, 10Y, or 5GY
Value--2.5 to 4
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--silt loam, silty clay loam, loamy fine sand, fine sandy loam, or their shelly analogs
Manner of failure / fluidity class--slightly fluid or moderately fluid

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

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent Material--Sandy estuarine deposits over loamy estuarine deposits
Landscape--Southeast Coastal Plain Estuaries
Landform--Barrier coves and submerged wave-cut platforms
Slope--0 to 3 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature--16 to 18 degrees C (61 to 64 degrees F)
Mean Annual Water Temperature--18 to 24 degrees C (64 to 75 degrees F)
Water Depth Range--0 to 3 meters (0 to 10 feet) below mean sea level
Water Regime--Tidal; 3 to 5 foot flux
Water Salinity Range--15 to 30 parts per thousand

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the Bohicket, Carteret, Fort Caswell, Kureb, Molasses Creek, Newhan, Prices Creek, Showboat, and Sunny Point soils.
Bohicket soils--are on broad level tidal marsh flats bordering the Atlantic Ocean and formed in silty and clayey marine sediments.
Carteret soils--are on back-barrier island tidal marshes of the Atlantic Coast and formed in sandy marine deposits.
Fort Caswell soils--are on high-energy submerged wave-cut platforms and shoals formed in sandy estuarine deposits throughout.
Kureb soils--are on gently sloping to moderately steep soils on Coastal Plain uplands and side slopes along streams and bay and formed in marine, eolian, or fluvial sands and have spodic horizon characteristics.
Molasses Creek soils--are in estuarine tidal streams and barrier coves formed in coarse-loamy estuarine deposits.
Newhan soils--are on gently undulating dunes commonly near beaches and waterways, do not have water at or near the soil surface, and formed in sand and shelly eolian deposits along the Atlantic Coast
Prices Creek soils--are in estuarine tidal streams and formed in fine-loamy estuarine deposits.
Showboat soils--are in mainland coves and estuarine tidal streams formed in coarse-loamy estuarine deposits and contain 40 centimeters of buried organic soil material within 200 centimeters of the soil surface.
Sunny Point soils--are on lower energy shoals and mainland coves and formed in coarse-loamy estuarine deposits and contain at least 15 centimeters of sulfidic materials within the top 50 centimeters of the soil.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class--Subaqueous (permanently submerged)
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity--Moderately high to high
Soil Moisture Regime--Peraquic

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses--Used for recreational boating, fishing, and swimming. Some areas are actively harvested for crabs.
Vegetation--Limited stands of shoal grass (Halodule wrightii), widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima), and Saltwater Eelgrass (Zostera marina) exist in lower energy areas with low turbidity that allow for establishment.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General area--Coastal plain estuaries in North Carolina
Region--T - Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region
Extent--Small

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Brunswick County, North Carolina, 2024

REMARKS:
Fort Fisher is derived from the remnants of the fort constructed on the eastern side of the Cape Fear River in 1862 to protect the Port of Wilmington, often referred to as the Gibraltar of the South. The fort was captured by Union forces on January 12, 1865.

Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are (Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Thirteenth Edition, 2022)--

Reduced Matrix--0 to 195 centimeters (0 to 77 inches); soil matrix that has low chroma in situ but undergoes a change in hue or chroma within 30 minutes after the soil material has been exposed to air
Endosaturation--0 to 195 centimeters (0 to 77 inches)
Fluviwassents Great Group--An organic carbon content of 0.2 percent or more at 125 centimeters or an irregular decrease in organic carbon at a depth of 25 to 125 centimeters.
Peraquic feature--Zero or positive soil water potential at the soil surface.
Lithologic discontinuity--60 to 195 centimeters (24 to 77 inches)
n-value > 0.7--60 to 195 centimeters (24 to 77 inches)

Data Map Unit ID: 9400479
NASIS User Site and Pedon ID: S2022NC019109
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.