LOCATION KEYVACA FL

Established Series
Rev. GWH-MFV-AMS
12/2025

KEYVACA SERIES

MLRA(s): 156A
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Auburn, Alabama
Depth Class: Very shallow
Drainage Class: Moderately well drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high and negligible in the rock material
Parent Material: Loamy residuum from oolitic limestone bedrock
Slope: 0 to 1 percent
Elevation: 0.3 to 3 meters above mean sea level.
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 24 degrees C (75 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1345 millimeters (53 inches)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, isohyperthermic Lithic Haprendolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Keyvaca very gravelly loam on an Everglades Flatwoods Upland. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 10 centimeters (0 to 4 inches); dark brown (10YR 3/3) very gravelly silt loam, brown (10YR 4/3) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable, soft; nonsticky, nonplastic; many fine, medium, and large roots throughout; 40 percent limestone gravels, 5 percent limestone cobbles; strongly effervescent with 1N HCl; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt wavy boundary. [10 to 25 centimeters (4 to 10 inches) thick]

R--10 centimeters (4 inches); weakly to strongly cemented rippable oolitic limestone.

TYPE LOCATION: Monroe County, Florida; Big Pine Key; USGS quadrangle Big Pine Key, FL.
Latitude: 24.6967278
Longitude: -81.3743583
Datum: WGS84
Estimated from other source

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum thickness: 10 to 25 centimeters (4 to 10 inches)
Depth to seasonally high-water table: 106 to 203 centimeters (42 to 80 inches)
Soil Reaction: Slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline throughout (pH 7.4 to 8.4)
Depth of mollic epipedon: 10 to 25 centimeters (4 to 10 inches)
Depth to limestone bedrock: 10 to 25 centimeters (4 to 10 inches)
Rock fragments: 35 to 50 percent, gravels, cobbles, and/or stones

Calcium carbonate equivalence: 40 to 90 percent or more
EC (mmhos/cm): 4 to 16 or more
Sodium Absorption Ratio: 0 to 10 percent or more
Exchangeable Sodium Percent: 0 to 13 percent or more

Particle-size control section (weighted averages):
Clay content: 8 to 27 percent
Sand content: 15 to 55 percent
Silt content: 40 to 80 percent

A horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR
Value: 2 or 3 moist, 3 to 5 dry
Chroma: 1 to 3 moist, 2 or 3 or dry
Texture: very gravelly; loam, silt loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam; or their cobbly and very cobbly analogies
Clay content: 8 to 40 percent
Rock fragments: 30 to 50 percent gravel and 5 to 25 percent cobble

R horizon: weakly to strongly cemented oolitic limestone bedrock; solution holes up to 100 centimeters or more deep can be filled with sandy and/or loamy material.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Pennekamp series.
Pennekamp soils have more than 45 percent silt, have highly decomposed organic soil material Oa horizons, occur over coral limestone, and occur slightly higher on the landscape

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Lower Coastal Plain
Landform(s): low broad flats and low rises on the Islands of Key West
Parent material: loamy residuum from oolithic limestone bedrock
Mean annual temperature: 23 to 27 degrees C (75 to 81 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: 940 to 1570 millimeters (37 to 62 inches)
Frost-free period: 365 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cudjoe, Islamorada, Keylargo, Keywest, Lignumvitae, Matecumbe, and Saddlebunch soils.
Cudjoe soils: have marly silt loam particle-sized control section, have bedrock at depths greater than 25 centimeters, have water tables at less than 15 centimeters, and occur on slightly lower positions in the tidal zone where they are frequently flooded.
Islamorada and KeyLargo soils: are composed entirely of highly decomposed organic materials over oolitic limestone, the depth to bedrock is greater than 50 centimeters, and occur on similar positions, in addition, Islamorada and KeyLargo are subject to tidal flooding.
Keywest soils: have stratification of marl and muck materials over oolitic limestone, have bedrock at depths greater than 150 centimeters, have water tables of less than 15 centimeters (6 inches), and occur in slightly lower landscape positions.
Lignumvitae soils: have marly silt loam particle-sized control section, have bedrock at depths greater than 50 centimeters, have water tables at less than 15 centimeters (6 inches), and occur on slightly lower landscape positions in the tidal zone where they are frequently flooded.
Matecumbe soils: have highly decomposed organic soil materials, have very shallow depths to bedrock, and with internally free water also very shallow
Saddlebunch soils: have marly silt loam particle-sized control section, have less limestone rock fragments, have water tables at less than 30 centimeters (12 inches), and occur on slightly lower positions in the tidal zone where they are frequently flooded.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class: Moderately well drained and is always within the limestone bedrock
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (KSAT): Moderately high
Runoff: Medium
Depth to seasonal high-water table: 106 to 203 centimeters (42 to 80 inches) and is always within the limestone bedrock

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: wildlife habitat, recreation, and residential housing
Dominant vegetation: South Florida slash pine, poisonwood, wiregrass, silver palm, locustberry and plumy brake fern, and less commonly, cabbage palm, saw palmetto, satinleaf, pine fern, partridge pea, and waxmyrtle.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Major Land Resource Area: 156A
Extent: Small

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Monroe County, Florida, 1989.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this Pedon:

Particle-size control section: is 10 centimeters (4 inches)
Mollic epipedon: 0 to 10 centimeters (0 to 4 inches - A horizon)
Lithic contact: 10 centimeters (4 inches - R horizon)
Skeletal feature: more than 35 percent limestone fragments - 0 to 10 centimeters (0 to 4 inches - A horizon)

ADDITIONAL DATA:
Laboratory data is available on the National Soil Survey website at: http://ncsslabdatamart.sc.egov.usda.gov/querypage.aspx

OSD User Site ID: S1988FL087010

OSD User Pedon ID: S1988FL087010
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.