LOCATION HOBUCKEN NC+VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, nonacid, thermic Typic Hydraquents
TYPICAL PEDON: Hobucken muck. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--0 to 6 inch; black (10YR 2/1 broken face and rubbed) muck; 60 percent fiber; about 30 percent rubbed; massive; very friable; many fine and medium roots; neutral, strongly acid after drying; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
A--6 to 16 inches; black (10YR 2/1) mucky fine sandy loam; massive; very friable; many fine roots; mildly alkaline; very strongly acid after drying; gradual wavy boundary. (7 to 20 inches thick).
Cg1--16 to 36 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) fine sandy loam; massive; very friable; slightly fluid; common pockets and lenses of loamy fine sand; few fine roots; moderately alkaline; extremely acid after drying; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 36 inches thick)
Cg2--36 to 64 inches; gray (N 6/0) fine sandy loam; many medium distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) mottles; massive; very friable; few fine roots; moderately alkaline; very strongly acid after drying; diffuse wavy boundary.
Cg3--64 to 80 inches; greenish gray (5GY 5/1) loamy fine sand; massive; very friable; few fine shell fragments; moderately alkaline, neutral after drying.
TYPE LOCATION: Pamlico County, North Carolina; 0.7 mile east of Hobucken on State Road 1228 and 100 feet south of road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Reaction in saturated soils is slightly acid to moderately alkaline. After initial drying, soil reaction is commonly strongly acid or very strongly acid and may range to extremely acid in some horizons. However, reaction is stable on repeated drying and does not drop below 3.0. The soil is frequently flooded with water containing 5 to 25 parts per thousand salt. Subhorizons between 8 and 20 inches below the mineral surface have a n value of more than 0.7.
The O horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 2, and chroma of 1 or 2; or hue of N and value of 2.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, silt loam, or their mucky counterparts.
The Cg horizon is neutral or has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 3 to 7, and chroma of 0 to 2; or hue of 5GY or 5G, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1. It is stratified fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, silt loam, sandy clay loam, loamy fine sand, or loamy sand to a depth of 40 inches. Below 40 inches, the Cg horizon is stratified sandy, loamy, or clayey sediment. Content of shell fragments ranges from none to many.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other known series in this subgroup. Series in closely related families are the Axis and Carteret series. Axis soils have sulfidic material within 20 inches. Carteret soils are sandy throughout.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hobucken soils are on narrow to broad, marsh flats along brackish sounds, bays, rivers, and creeks. The elevation is less than 2 feet above mean sea level and slope is less than 1 percent. These soils formed in dominantly loamy textured Coastal Plain sediment. Mean annual precipitation is about 53 inches near the type location and mean annual temperature is about 62 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Carteret series and the Arapahoe, Ballahack, Bohicket, Brookman, Capers, Deloss, Lafitte, Masontown, Stockade, and Wasda series. Arapahoe, Ballahack, Brookman, Deloss, Stockade, and Wasda soils are on marine or stream terraces, and the Masontown soils are in flood plains. Those soils are in higher positions and are forested except for areas cleared for cropland or pasture. The clayey Bohicket and Capers soils, the sandy Carteret soils, and the organic Lafitte soils are a similar landscape position with Hobucken in marshes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid. The water table fluctuates with the tides, and the areas are frequently flooded by wind tides.
USE AND VEGETATION: These marshland areas are used as habitat for wetland wildlife and are important to the food chain of many commercial and sport fin fish as well as shell fish. The vegetation is limited to species adapted to extreme wetness and exposure to salt. The principal species is needlegrass rush. Others include big cordgrass, seashore saltgrass, marshhay cordgrass, smooth cordgrass, saltmarsh bulrush, saltwort, Jamaican sawgrass, eastern baccharis, and seashore mallow.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal marshes of North Carolina and possibly other southeastern states. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pamlico County, North Carolina; 1984.
REMARKS: This soil was formerly included in mapping with Tidal Marsh. It has some similarities to the Axis series, a coarse-loamy, mixed, nonacid, thermic Typic Sulfaquent, but does not flood with daily tides and lacks sulfidic material. Spoil piles along extensive systems of ditches dug for mosquito control are quickly vegetated, indicating insignificant sulfur content. Classification as a Hydraquent is provisional since details of definition for subgroups have not been developed and n values indicate soils marginal to Haplaquents. Also, the brackish setting and salt content may place this soil in taxa of Aquents (Typic Halaquents) having halic properties outlined by Coover, et. al. if Taxonomy is amended to include these.
ADDITIONAL DATA: pedon no. S78NC-137.
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
NC0163 HOBUCKEN 0- 1 58- 70 200-270 45- 60 0- 2
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness NC0163 FREQ 0-1.0 APPARENT JAN-DEC 60-60SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- NC0163 0-10 MK-FSL MK-L MK-SL 0- 0 95-100 10-18 20- 45 NC0163 0-10 FSL L SIL 0- 0 95-100 10-18 15- 30 NC0163 10-58 FSL L SIL 0- 0 95-100 10-18 10- 20 NC0163 58-80 VAR - - - -
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll NC0163 0-10 6.1- 8.4 8.-15 16-70 0.6- 6.0 LOW NC0163 0-10 6.1- 8.4 4.-8. 16-70 0.6- 6.0 LOW NC0163 10-58 6.1- 8.4 1.-3. 16-70 0.6- 6.0 LOW NC0163 58-80 - - - - SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation NC0163 HOBUCKEN 0- 1 58- 70 200-270 45- 60 0- 2