LOCATION MIDDLEMOOR MD+DE
Established Series
Rev. DMB/PSK/DCS/RBT
05/2023
MIDDLEMOOR SERIES
MLRAs: 153D
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Subaqueous (permanently submersed)
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Low to moderately low
Parent Material: Fine-silty barrier cove estuarine deposits over sandy inactive flood-tidal delta lagoonal deposits
Slope: 0 to 1 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 56 degrees F. (13 degrees C.)
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 57 degrees F. (14 degrees C.)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, subactive, nonacid, mesic Fluventic Sulfiwassents
TYPICAL PEDON: Middlemoor silt loam, on a permanently submerged barrier cove, <0.1 percent slope, under 47 inches (120 centimeters) of strongly saline water. (Colors are for moist soils unless otherwise noted.)
Ase1--0 to 2 inches (0 to 5 cm); olive gray (5Y 4/2) silt loam; massive; slightly sticky; moderately fluid; strong sulfurous odor; abrupt boundary.
Ase2--2 to 9 inches (5 to 24 cm); greenish black (10Y 2.5/1) silt loam; massive; slightly sticky; moderately fluid; strong sulfurous odor; abrupt boundary (3 to 40 centimeters thick).
Cseg1--9 to 29 inches (24 to 74 cm); very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) silty clay loam; massive; slightly sticky; moderately fluid; strong sulfurous odor; clear boundary.
Cseg2--29 to 50 inches (74 to 127 cm); very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) silty clay; massive; moderately sticky; moderately fluid; strong sulfurous odor; clear boundary.
2Cseg3--50 to 69 inches (127 to 175 cm); very dark gray (N 3/) sandy loam; massive; slightly sticky; slightly fluid; strong sulfurous odor.
TYPE LOCATION: Worcester County, Maryland; in Rum Harbor and approximately 2,600 feet northwest of the Twin Islands and 1,732 feet west of the Middlemoor salt marsh in Chincoteague Bay. USGS Boxiron topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 3 minutes 27.0 seconds N. longitude 75 degrees 15 minutes 5.1 seconds W., WGS 84.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 80 inches (200 centimeters)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Permanently submersed
Depth to Sulfidic Materials: 0 to 20 inches (0 to 50 centimeters)
Manner of failure/fluidity class: Slightly to very fluid throughout
Shell Fragments: 0 to 10 percent, by volume
Soil Reaction: Slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline throughout the profile
Oxidized reaction: Extremely or ultra acid
Depth to Lithologic Discontinuity: greater than 40 inches (100 centimeters)
Electrical Conductivity: Greater than 16 mmhos/cm throughout
Salinity Class: Slightly to strongly saline
Range of Individual Horizons:
Ase or Aseg horizon:
Color--hue of 5Y, 10Y, N, or neutral value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 or 2
Texture--silt loam, sandy loam, loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay loam with mucky analogs
Cseg horizon:
Color--hue of 10Y or 5GY, value of 2.5 through 3.5, and chroma of 1
Texture--loam, sandy loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, clay loam, or clay
2Cseg horizon:
Color--10Y, 5Y, 5GY, N, or neutral; value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 1 or 2
Texture--sandy loam, loamy sand, or sand
Consistence is nonfluid in the sandier materials
COMPETING SERIES:
Pishagqua soils--have slopes up to 3 percent and allow buried organic materials below 40 inches (100 centimeters)
Tingles soils--fine-silty soils formed in estuarine deposits on lagoon bottoms
Truitt soils--fine-silty soils formed in estuarine deposits over buried organic horizons that formed at or near sea level when it was at a lower elevation (mainland coves)
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Lagoons and Estuaries
Landform: Low-energy barrier coves
Parent Material: Fine-silty mainland cove estuarine deposits over sandy inactive flood-tidal delta lagoonal deposits
Slope: 0 to 1 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: 0.5 to 6.5 feet below mean sea level (0.2 to 2.0 meters)
Water Regime: Tidal, 1.0 to 5.0 feet tidal range (0.3 to 1.5 meters)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Demas soils--are sandy throughout and are on washover-fan flats and slopes associated with storm surge events
Cottman soils--coarse-loamy soils formed in lagoonal deposits on lagoon bottom barrier side landforms
Mantoloking soils--are sandy throughout and are on inactive flood-tidal delta landforms (relict)
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class: Subaqueous (permanently submersed)
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Low to moderately low
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Some areas are vegetated and function as estuarine benthic wildlife habitat. Benthic fauna such as tubeworms, clams, razor clams, juvenile blue crabs, scallops, oysters, and juvenile finfish are common.
Dominant Vegetation: Native vegetation includes both Widgeon (Ruppia maritima) and Eelgrass (Zostera marina). Vegetative cover ranges from 0 to 75% percent of the soil surface.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mid-Atlantic coastal lagoons and estuaries of Delaware (Indian River and Rehoboth Bays), Maryland (Chincoteague and Sinepuxent Bays), and possibly New Jersey. This series is of small extent.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES PROPOSED: Worcester County, Maryland, 2007. The name was taken from Middlemoor marsh located in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland.
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon include:
Ochric epipedon-the zone from 0 to 9 inches (0 to 24 centimeters) (Ase1 and Ase2 horizons).
Peraquic feature-Positive soil water potential (permanently submerged) at the soil surface. (under 47 inches (120 centimeters) of salt water).
Sulfidic materials-a 6 inch (15 centimeter) thick horizon within 20 inches (50 centimeters) of the soil surface that contains sulfidic materials (the Ase1, Ase2, Cseg1, and Cseg2 horizons).
Fluidity Class-the zone from 0 to 50 inches (0 to 127 centimeters) is moderately fluid.
Fluventic feature-the soil organic carbon content is greater than 0.2 percent at a depth of 50 inches (125 centimeters) below the soil surface.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Balduff, D.M. 2007 Ph.D. dissertation, University of Maryland.
NASIS User site and pedon ID: 2005MD047059.
NASIS Data Map Unit ID: 800927.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.