LOCATION GULLROCK NCEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, semiactive, nonacid, thermic Histic Humaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Gullrock muck--cultivated.
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oap--0 to 6 inches; black (10YR 2/1) broken face and rubbed, muck; about 15 percent fiber, less than 5 percent rubbed; weak medium granular structure; very friable; nonfluid; common very fine and fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Oa--6 to 13 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) broken face and rubbed, muck; about 10 percent fiber, less than 2 percent rubbed; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; friable, with some peds being firm; nonfluid; few very fine and fine roots; few very fine quartz sand grains; few medium fragments of charcoal; the upper part of the horizon is a 2 inch thick layer of strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) wood ash; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the O horizon is 8 to 16 inches.)
A--13 to 18 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) loamy very fine sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine and very fine tubular pores; common medium faint dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) and common medium distinct very dark brown (7.5YR 2/2) irregularly shaped masses of iron accumulation with clear boundaries in matrix; few fine opaque minerals; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
AC--18 to 33 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loamy very fine sand; massive; friable; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; common medium faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) irregularly shaped masses of iron accumulation with clear boundaries in matrix; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 0 to 24 inches.)
Cg1--33 to 50 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) loamy very fine sand; massive; very friable; few fine partially decomposed roots; few fine tubular pores; common medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/6) irregularly shaped masses of iron accumulation with clear boundaries in matrix; few fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Cg2--50 to 64 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) loamy very fine sand; massive; very friable; few fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) irregularly shaped masses of iron accumulation with clear boundaries in matrix; few fine flakes of mica; few fine opaque minerals; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
Ab--64 to 70 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loamy very fine sand; massive; very friable; few fine flakes of mica; few fine opaque minerals; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Hyde County, North Carolina; in Fairfield about 0.5 miles north of the intersection of Secondary Road 1311 and Secondary Road 1305, 100 feet east of Secondary Road 1305, in a cultivated field; Fairfield USGS topographic quadrangle; lat. 35 degrees 32 minutes 46 seconds N. and long. 76 degrees 11 minutes 12 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the underlying material and depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Flakes of mica range from none to common throughout the mineral portion of the soil. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the O, A, and upper Cg horizon, except where surface layers have been limed, and from extremely acid to slightly alkaline in the lower Cg and Ab horizons.
The Oap or Oa horizon has hue 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 4, or hue of N and value of 2 or 3. The unrubbed fiber content ranges from 2 to 15 percent and rubbed fiber content is less than 5 percent. Fragments of charcoal, wood, and thin layers or pockets of wood ash are none to common in the organic horizons.
The A or AC horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 4, or has hue of N and value of 2 to 4. Texture is loamy very fine sand, loam, very fine sandy loam, or silt loam. Iron depletions are in shades of gray and iron accumulations are in shades of red, brown, yellow, and olive.
The Cg horizon has hue of 10YR to 5G, value of 3 to 7, and chroma of 1 to 2, or has hue of N and value of 3 to 7. Texture is loamy very fine sand, very fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam, or silt. Some pedons have thin strata of clay loam or silty clay loam. Iron depletions are in shades of gray and iron accumulations are in shades of red, brown, yellow, and olive.
The Ab horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 4. Texture is loamy very fine sand, very fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Series in closely related families include Conaby, Hyde, Hydeland, Ponzer, Roper, Scuppernong, Wasda, and Weeksville soils. Conaby soils are coarse-loamy. Hyde and Hydeland soils have an umbric epipedon and are fine-silty with argillic horizons. Ponzer and Scuppernong soils have organic layers more than 16 inches thick. Roper soils are fine-silty, Wasda soils are fine-loamy, and Weeksville soils have an umbric epipedon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gullrock soils are on broad upland flats, in depressions, and on the outer edges of pocosins of the Pamlico surface in the Lower Coastal Plain. They formed in loamy and sandy marine and fluvial sediments that are very high in very fine sand. Elevation is less than 25 feet. Slopes are 2 percent or less. The mean annual air temperature ranges from 57 to 70 degrees F., the frost free season ranges from 215 to 250 days, and the average annual precipitation ranges from 46 to 58 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATED SOIL: In addition to the competing Conaby, Hyde, Hydeland, Roper, Wasda, Weeksville, and Scuppernong series are the Fortescue, Engelhard, Pasquotank, and Portsmouth series. Fortescue soils are fine-silty and have buried organic layers. Engelhard soils are more acid and lack a histic epipedon. Fortescue and Engelhard soils are on nearby lake wash rims. Portsmouth and Pasquotank soils lack a histic epipedon and are on nearby slightly higher elevations.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained soils with moderately slow to moderate permeability in the organic layers and moderately rapid permeability in the mineral layers. Surface runoff is very slow. In undrained areas, the water table is at or near the surface from December through May in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the areas are cleared, drained, and used for growing corn, soybeans, and wheat. Native vegetation consists primarily of pine and mixed hardwoods. Forest overstory species consists primarily of loblolly pine, pond pine, sweetgum, southern baldcypress, water oak, willow oak, yellow-poplar, and red maple. Understory species include redbay, sweetbay magnolia, switchcane, inkberry, huckleberry, greenbrier, and giant cane.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Lower Coastal Plain of North Carolina and possibly Virginia. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hyde County, North Carolina; 1996.
REMARKS: Gullrock soils were previously mapped as coarse-silty inclusions with the Conaby series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
Histic epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 13 inches. (Oap and Oa horizons)
Aquic conditions - endosaturation and redoximorphic features including masses of iron accumulation and iron depletions in the zone from 16 to 64 inches. (A, AC, and Cg horizons)
MLRA = 153B
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available from the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE for the following pedons: S89NC-095-013 (OSD)
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
NC0271 GULLROCK 0- 2 57- 70 215-250 46- 58 5- 25
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness NC0271 NONE RARE 0-1.0 APPARENT DEC-MAY 60-60SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- NC0271 0-13 MUCK 0- 0 - - 20- 60 NC0271 13-33 LVFS VFSL SIL 0- 0 95-100 2-10 5- 20 NC0271 33-70 LVFS SIL SI 0- 0 95-100 0- 5 2- 10
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll NC0271 0-13 3.5- 6.0 20-60 0- 0 0.2- 2.0 LOW NC0271 13-33 3.5- 6.0 4.-10 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW NC0271 33-70 3.5- 7.8 .5-3. 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW