LOCATION INDIAN RIVER NJ+DE MD
Established Series
SYD/RBT/DTA
11/2017
INDIAN RIVER SERIES
MLRA(s): 153D
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Very deep
Agricultural Drainage Class: Subaqueous (permanently submersed)
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high to high
Parent Material: Sandy flood-tidal delta lagoonal deposits
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 56 degrees F. (13 degrees C)
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 57 degrees F. (14 degrees C)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Siliceous, mesic Fluventic Psammowassents
TYPICAL PEDON: Indian River sand on an active flood tidal delta flat, inside Barnegat Inlet in Barnegat Bay. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Cg1--0 to 24 inches (0 to 61 centimeters); light gray (5Y 7/1) sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; 3 percent crushed seashell fragments; slightly alkaline; smooth boundary.
Cg2--24 to 31 inches (61 to 80 centimeters); light gray (5Y 7/1) sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; 3 percent crushed seashell fragments; neutral; clear boundary.
Cg3--31 to 49 inches (80 to 124 centimeters); light gray (5Y 7/1) sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; neutral; gradual boundary.
Asegb--49 to 57 inches (124 to 144 centimeters); very dark gray (N 3/) fine sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; slight sulfurous odor; neutral; clear boundary.
ACsegb--57 to 65 inches (144 to 166 centimeters); dark gray (N 4/) sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; nonsticky, nonplastic; moderate sulfurous odor; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Ocean County, New Jersey; approximately 1.3 miles northwest of the lighthouse at Barnegat Inlet; in Barnegat Bay. USGS Barnegat Light topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees, 46 minutes, 43 seconds N. and long. 74 degrees, 07 minutes, 16 seconds W. WGS84.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 80 inches (200 centimeters)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Permanently submersed
Depth to Lithologic Discontinuity: Greater than 35 inches (89 centimeters)
Depth to sulfidic materials: Greater than 40 inches (100 centimeters)
Manner of failure/Fluidity Class: Nonfluid
Shell Fragments: 0 to 10 percent, by volume, throughout the profile
Soil Reaction: Slightly acid to moderately alkaline, throughout the profile
Electrical Conductivity: Greater than 16 mmhos/cm, throughout the profile
Salinity: Greater than 25 ppt throughout the profile
Some pedons may contain buried surface horizons and/or former salt marsh materials below 40 inches (100 centimeters).
Range of Individual Horizons:
Ag or ACg horizon (where present):
Color-hue of N, 5Y 2.5Y or 10YR, value of 2.5 to 4, and chroma of 1
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--fine sand. sand, or loamy fine sand
Cg or Cseg horizon:
Color--hue of N, 10Y, 5Y, or2.5Y, value of 3 to 8, and chroma of 1 or 2
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--fine sand, loamy sand, sand, or coarse sand. Some pedons have thin stratified layers of fine sandy loam or loam textures.
Asegb horizon:
Color-hue of N, 5Y 2.5Y or 10YR, value of 2.5 to 4, and chroma of 1
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--fine sand. sand, or loamy fine sand
ACsegb horizon:
Color--hue of N, 5Y, or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--fine sand, loamy fine sand, or sand
COMPETING SERIES:
Soils in closely related families include:
Demas soils-have sulfidic materials throughout
Mantoloking soils--have sulfidic materials throughout and are on inactive flood-tidal delta landforms (relict)
Massapog soils--have mixed mineralogy, allow for gravels, and do not allow for sulfidic materials below 40 inches (100 centimeters)
Rhodesfolly soils--are on washover fans and allow for up to 10 percent gravel
Trappe soils--have underlying layers with chroma of 3 or more and occur on differing landforms
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Mid-Atlantic coastal plain lagoons and estuaries
Landform: Active flood-tidal delta sand flats and active flood-tidal delta slopes. (These landforms receive fresh sands transported daily by flood-tidal currents from nearby inlet areas)
Parent Material: Sandy lagoonal deposits with origins from barrier island eolian sand deposition
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 50 to 57 degrees F. (10 to 14 degrees C)
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 52 to 58 degrees F. (11 to 14 degrees C)
Bathymetry: 1.0 to 6.6 feet below mean sea level (0.1 to 2.0 meters)
Water Regime: Tidal, 1.0 to 3.0 feet tidal range (0.3 to 0.9 meters)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Demas soils--are on washover-fan flats and slopes associated with storm surge events and have sulfidic materials throughout
Cottman soils--are coarse-loamy and have sulfidic materials within 20 inches (50 centimeters) of the soil surface
Nagunt soils--have buried organic materials within 40 inches (100 centimeters) of the surface; at deeper water depths
Purnell soils--have surface organic layers 8 to 15 inches thick and are not permanently submersed; on adjacent tidal marshes
Trappe soils--have a coarse-loamy particle-size control section and contain sulfidic materials, at shallower water depths
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Subaqueous (permanently submersed)
Permeability: Moderately rapid or rapid
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high to high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Some areas are vegetated and most function as estuarine benthic wildlife habitat. Benthic fauna such as tubeworms, clams, juvenile blue crabs, scallops and juvenile finfish are common.
Dominant Vegetation: Native vegetation includes rooted algae, eelgrass (Zostera marina) and widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima). Vegetative cover ranges from 0 to 100 percent depending on landform. Active flood tidal deltas are often devoid of vegetation as their strong tidal currents limit successful growth.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Mid-Atlantic coastal lagoons and estuaries of Maryland (Chincoteague and Sinepuxent Bays), Delaware (Rehoboth Bay), New Jersey (Barnegat Bay), and possibly Virginia (Chincoteague Bay). This series is of small extent.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ocean County, New Jersey, 2016.
REMARKS: Indian River soils were formerly included with areas of water. They are distinguished by being permanently covered by estuarine waters that support submersed aquatic vegetation. The name comes from the local Indian River Inlet feeds into Indian River and Rehoboth's Bay in Delaware where the soil was first described.
Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Peraquic feature--the zone from 0 to 65 inches (0 to 166 centimeters) is permanently saturated
Reduced conditions--the zone from 0 to 65 inches (0 to 166 centimeters).
Fluventic feature--an irregular decrease in organic carbon from a depth of 10to 49 inches (25 to 125 centimeters).
Particle--size control section--the zone from 0 to 40 inches (0 to 100 centimeters).
Psammowassents--less than 35 percent (by volume) rock fragments and a texture
class of loamy fine sand or coarser in all layers within the particle-size
control section.
ADDITIONAL DATA:
NASIS Site and Pedon ID: 2014NJ029010
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.