LOCATION MCKEE FL
Established Series
Rev. CW:TEC
10/2018
MCKEE SERIES
The Mckee series consists of very poorly drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in loamy or clayey tidal deposits. They occur on nearly level mangrove islands and swamps. Slopes are less than one percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, nonacid, hyperthermic Typic Hydraquents
TYPICAL PEDON: Mckee mucky clay loam in a mangrove swamp. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 1 inch; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) mucky clay loam; massive; nonsticky; very fluid, flows easily between fingers when squeezed, and leaves little or no residue in hand; few to common fragments of partly decomposed wood; about 20 percent organic matter; strongly saline; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
Cg1--1 to 15 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) clay loam; massive; nonsticky; very fluid, flows easily between fingers when squeezed; about 5 percent organic matter; many fine and medium roots decreasing with depth; strongly saline; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (11 to 25 inches thick)
Cg2--15 to 40 inches; grayish green (5G 4/2) sandy clay; massive; slightly sticky; very fluid, flows easily between fingers when squeezed; few fine and medium roots; strongly saline; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (15 to 30 inches thick)
Cg3--40 to 60 inches; dark greenish gray (5GY 4/1) sandy clay; massive; slightly sticky; very fluid to slightly fluid, flows easily between fingers when squeezed; few fine and medium roots; strongly saline; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (15 to 25 inches thick)
Cg4--60 to 80 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) sandy loam; massive; slightly sticky; very fluid to slightly fluid, flows with some difficulty between fingers when squeezed; moderately saline; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Indian River County, Florida; 1.1 miles east of U.S. Highway 1 and South Gifford Road intersection, 1/4 mile west of Indian River, 40 feet north of mosquito impoundment road, SW1/4SE1/3NE1/4, sec. 25 T. 32 S., R. 39 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: These soils are continuously saturated with saline water. Soil salinity is greater than 16 mmhos/cm to a depth of 60 inches, and ranges from 8 to 16 mmhos/cm below 60 inches. The n value of all mineral horizons to a depth of 40 inches or more is greater than 1.0, and ranges from 0.7 to 1.0 at depths of more than 40 inches. Reaction ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline throughout. The mineral layers within the 10- to 40-inch control section have a clay content of 35 to 59 percent.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2; hue of 5Y, value of 2, chroma of 1 or 2; value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1; or it is neutral, with value of 4 or less. Texture is clay, clay loam, or mucky clay loam. Few to common fragments of partly decomposed wood and leaves are present in this horizon.
The Cg horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2; hues of 5Y, 5GY, and 5BG, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1; hue of 5G, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2; or it is neutral with values of 4 or less. Texture is clay, clay loam, or sandy clay to a depth of 40 inches or more. Depth to textures of sandy loam, loamy fine sand, and fine sand range from 40 to 80 inches. Some pedons have a 2C horizon with shell fragments below a depth of 60 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other known series in the same family. Closely related soils are the
Barbary,
Gentilly,
Levy,
Larose,
Novato,
Scatlake,
Tatlum, and
Turnbull series. Barbary, Gentilly, Larose, and Scatlake soils have 60 percent or more clay in the fine-earth fraction and are thermic. Levy and Novato soils have mixed mineralogy. Addi- tionally, Levy soils have a pH less than 5.0 in 0.01 molar calcium throughout the control section and have a thermic temperature regime. Novato soils are isomesic. Tatlum soils have a fine-silty control section, and mixed mineralogy. Turnbull soils have a clayey substratum over sandy or sandy-skeletal material.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Mckee soils are in mangrove islands and tidal swamps, at or near sea level. These soils formed in unconsolidated loamy or clayey tidal deposits. Slopes range from 0 to 0.5 percent. Near the type location, the mean annual rainfall is about 55 inches, and the mean annual temperature is about 74 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing
Turnbull series, as well as the
Kesson and
St.
Augustine series. The Turnbull and Kesson series occur in tidal swamps and tidal flats. Kesson soils formed in thick marine deposits of sand and shell fragments. The St. Augustine series are somewhat poorly drained and were formed be dredge and fill operations. The materials from this operation were spread over the surface of former tidal areas, as well as mangrove islands along the Intracostal Waterway.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Mckee soils are very poorly drained. Permeability is very slow in the upper part of the C horizon and moderate in the A and lower part of the C horizon. They are continuously saturated. Fluctuating tides overwash the surface twice daily.
USE AND VEGETATION: Wetland wildlife habitat, sport and commercial finfish and shellfish and crustacean spawning grounds, and neutral erosion control during tropical storms. Also, where accessible by elevated road or levee, these areas are well suited to beekeeping for mangrove honey production. Vegetation is red, black and white mangrove, with some areas of saltwort, glasswort, seashore saltgrass, and seashore paspalum.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Atlantic coast of Central and Southern Florida. This series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES PROPOSED: Indian River County, Florida; 1984. Soil named after an area south of Vero Beach, Florida, where in the early history of Indian River County, a private garden displayed many varieties of subtropical and tropical plants to the public.
REMARKS: This series was formerly mapped as Tidal Marsh, Hydraquents, and Turnbull Variant soils. If drained, the classification of these soils changes. These and similar soils were mapped in St. Lucie and in Volusia Counties.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.