LOCATION FOX HILL MD+NJ
Established Series
Rev. AMR/DCS/RBT
05/2023
FOX HILL SERIES
MLRA(s): 153D
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Very deep
Agricultural Drainage Class: Poorly drained
Flooding Frequency and Duration: Frequent; very brief
Ponding Frequency and Duration: Occasional, brief
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: High to very high
Shrink-swell Potential: Low
Parent Material: Sandy marine deposits and/or eolian sands
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 56 degrees F (13 degrees C).
Mean Annual Precipitation: 45 inches (1143 millimeters)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Siliceous, mesic Sodic Psammaquents
TYPICAL PEDON: Fox Hill loamy sand, on a 0 percent slope, on an interdune swale, barrier island landscape.
Oa--0 to 1 inch (0 to 2 centimeters); very dark brown (10YR 2/2) muck; medium, fine, and very fine roots throughout; extremely acid (pH 4.2); abrupt smooth boundary.
A--1 to 2 inches (2 to 5 centimeters); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sand; single grain; loose, nonsticky, nonplastic, nonfluid; medium, fine, and very fine roots throughout; 10 percent faint (10YR2/2) organic stains, strongly acid (pH 5.3); clear wavy boundary.
Cg1--2 to 12 inches (5 to 30 centimeters); dark gray (10YR 4/1) sand; single grain; loose, nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; medium, fine, and very fine roots throughout; no reaction to 30% hydrogen peroxide; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); clear smooth boundary.
Cg2--12 to 26 inches (30 to 66 centimeters); dark gray (10YR 4/1) fine sand; single grain; loose, nonsticky, nonplastic, nonfluid; common medium, fine, and very fine roots throughout; positive reaction to alpha,alpha-dipyridyl; no reaction to 30% hydrogen peroxide; very strongly acid (pH 4.6); clear wavy boundary.
Cseg--26 to 59 inches (66 to 149 centimeters); dark gray (N 4/) sand; single grain; loose; nonsticky, nonplastic, nonfluid; medium, fine, and very fine roots throughout; 1 percent flat subangular indurated chert fragments; positive reaction to alpha,alpha-dipyridyl; moderate sulfurous odor; no reaction to 30% hydrogen peroxide; extremely acid (pH 3.6); clear wavy boundary.
2Aseb--59 to 78 inches (149 to 195 centimeters); 65 percent very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) and 35 percent dark olive gray 5Y 3/2); clay loam; massive; friable, nonsticky, slightly plastic, slightly fluid; medium roots throughout; moderate sulfurous odor; no reaction to 30% hydrogen peroxide; ultra acid (pH 3.3).
TYPE LOCATION: Worcester County, Maryland; Assateague Island National Seashore, approximately 2.14 miles southeast of Tingles Island, 2.35 miles northeast of Fox Hill Point, and 5.90 miles east of Public Landing; lat. 38 degrees 8 minutes 24.89 seconds N. and long. 75 degrees 10 minutes 41.81 seconds W., WGS84; USGS Topographic Quadrangle Tingles Island, MD
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 80 inches (200 centimeters)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 0 to 8 inches (0 to 20 centimeters)
Depth to Sulfidic Materials: 22 to 45 inches (56 to 114 centimeters)
Depth to Lithologic Discontinuity (where present): 30 to 88 inches (75 to 224 centimeters)
Rock/Shell Fragments: 0 to 5 percent, typically within the lithologic discontinuity
Soil Reaction: Moderately acid to ultra-acid, throughout the profile
Salinity Class: Very slightly to strongly saline below 20 inches (50 centimeters)
Other Features: Pedons can have buried A and/or O horizons indicative of barrier island morphology and eolian / storm surge washover processes.
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
O horizon:
Color--hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 or 2.5, and chroma of 1 or 2
Terms used in lieu of texture--Muck, mucky peat, or peat
A horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR and 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sand, coarse sand, mucky sand, fine sand, or loamy sand
AC or CA horizon (where present):
Color--hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 3
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sand or fine sand
C horizon (where present):
Color--hue of 2.5Y and 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sand
Cg or Cseg horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or is neutral; value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--coarse sand, sand, and fine sand
2Ab or 2Aseb horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y, or is neutral, value of 2 to 4, and chroma 0 to 2
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--clay loam, loam, fine sandy loam, loamy fine sand
2Cg or 2Cseg horizon (where present):
Color--hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sand, fine sand, or loamy fine sand
COMPETING SERIES: None
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Barrier Islands
Landform: Low dunes, back barrier flats, interdune swales, and washover fans
Geomorphic Component: Talf and / or low relief dip
Hillslope Profile Position: Footslope and backslope
Parent Material: Sandy marine deposits and/or eolian sands
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Elevation: 0 to 3 feet (0 to 1 meter)
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 56 degrees F. (13 degrees C).
Mean Annual Precipitation: 45 inches (1143 millimeters)
Frost Free Period: 190 to 260 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Acquango soils--do not have a seasonal high water table above 72 inches (183 centimeters); on higher dune positions
Askecksy soils--have quartz rock fragments, lack sulfidic materials in their substratum, and often are vegetated with mature hardwood or pine species. Askecksy soils do not occur on back barrier island landforms. They also lack soil pore water salinity.
Brockatonorton soils--do not have a seasonal high water table above 20 inches (50 centimeters); on higher dune landform positions. Brockatonorton soils may likely have "sodic" taxonomic subgroup properties like Fox Hill but currently are not recognized.
Demas soils--formed on subaqueous washover-fan flat landforms directly adjacent to the barrier islands, these receive fresh sand deposits annually.
Hooksan soils--do not have a seasonal high water table above 72 inches (183 centimeters); on higher dune positions.
Mantoloking soils--formed on subaqueous relict flood-tidal delta landforms in close proximity to the barrier island.
Pawcatuck soils--formed in organic material 16 to 51 inches (40 to 130 centimeters) thick; on lower marsh positions that are tidally flooded twice daily.
Purnell soils--formed in organic material 8 to 16 inches (20 to 40 centimeters); on lower marsh positions that are tidally flooded twice daily.
Saltpond soils--formed on slightly lower landforms and have sulfidic materials within 20 inches (50 centimeters) of the soil surface; tidally flooded twice daily.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Poorly drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very shallow 0 to 10 inches (0 to 25 centimeters) and permanent endosaturation (present continuously)
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: High to very high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Most areas are in natural vegetation and used for wildlife habitat. A few areas are cleared and used for recreational purposes such as camp sites.
Dominant Vegetation: Vegetation consists primarily of low shrub type including: northern bayberry, Virginia creeper, white and red cedar, wax myrtle, green briar, poison ivy, and phragmites. These areas have a wide diversity of vegetation and ecology.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: New Jersey, Maryland and possibly Delaware. This series is of small extent.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Worcester County, Maryland, 2014. The name and concept were taken from Annie Rossi's PhD dissertation on Assateague Island National Seashore. Fox Hill was the name for a relict inlet from the late 1800s which later became known as the Fox Hill Level on Assateague Island.
REMARKS: Fox Hill soils were previously mapped as Askecksy soils on the barrier islands in Maryland and Atsion tide flooded soils in New Jersey.
The Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR) may exceed 13 in most mineral horizons. The sodium source is the salt water that frequently floods these soils on extreme tides and weather events. The adjacent estuary can also be a source of sodium as salt water persists in the lower portions of these soils.
Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon are:
Aquic conditions--the zone from the soil surface to a depth of 78 inches (195 centimeters).
Lithologic Discontinuity--the zone from 33 to 78 inches (149 to 195 cm) (2Aseb horizon)
Ochric epipedon--the zone from the soil surface to a depth of 5 cm (2 inches) (O and A horizons)
Sodic properties (SAR more than 13)--1 to 26 inches and 59 to 77 inches (2 to 66 centimeters and 149 to 195 centimeters) (the A, Cg1, Cg2, and 2Aseb horizons)
Sulfidic materials--the zone from 26 to 78 inches (66 to 195 centimeters) (the Cseg and 2Aseg horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Rossi, A.M. 2014 PhD. dissertation, Pedogenesis and Hydromorphology of Soils in Mid-Atlantic Barrier Island Landscapes, University of Maryland
Database Information:
MLRA Data Mapunit ID: 800953, 807425
MLRA Mapunit ID: 2xhpr, 2xh43
OSD User Pedon ID: S2013MD047002
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.