LOCATION MISPILLION DE+MD NJ
Established Series
CDP/Rev. JAK
09/2021
MISPILLION SERIES
MLRA(s): 153C, 153D
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, euic, mesic Terric Sulfihemists
Depth Class: Very deep
Agricultural Drainage Class: Very poorly drained
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible or low
Internal Free Water Occurance: Very shallow, Permanent
Permeability: Moderately rapid to rapid in the organic layers and slow in the mineral layers
Parent Material: Organic deposits from dominantly herbaceous plants, underlain by loamy fluvial or marine mineral sediments
Slopes: 0 to 1 percent
MEAN Annual Air Temperature (type location): 55 degrees F.
MEAN Annual Precipitation (type location): 44 inches
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, euic, mesic Terric Sulfihemists
TYPICAL PEDON: Mispillion mucky peat, on a smooth 0 percent slope, in an estuarine salt marsh. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oese1--0 to 25 centimeters (0 to 10 inches); very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) mucky peat (hemic soil material); about 80 percent by volume fibers, 40 percent after rubbing; 55 percent by weight mineral soil material; many fine, medium, and coarse live roots; neutral (pH 6.8), ultra acid (pH 2.4) after moist incubation; clear smooth boundary.
Oese2--25 to 61 centimeters (10 to 24 inches); black (N 2/0) mucky peat (hemic soil material); about 60 percent by volume fibers, 25 percent after rubbing; 25 percent by weight mineral soil material; common fine, medium and coarse live roots; neutral (pH 6.8), ultra acid (pH 2.9) after moist incubation; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Oe horizon is 4 to 24 inches thick.)
Oase--61 to 102 centimeters (24 to 40 inches); black (10YR 2/1) and very dark brown (10YR 2/2) muck (sapric soil material); about 30 percent by volume fibers, 10 percent after rubbing; 30 percent by weight mineral soil material; few medium and coarse live roots; neutral (pH 7.3), ultra acid (pH 2.9) after moist incubation; abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 28 inches thick)
Cseg1--102 to 137 centimeters (40 to 54 inches); black (5Y 2.5/1) mucky silt loam; massive; slightly sticky, nonplastic; few coarse live roots; few white uncoated sand grains and few small shell fragments; n value greater than 1.0, soil flows easily between the fingers when squeezed; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Cseg2--137 to 175 centimeters (54 to 69 inches); dark gray (N 4/0) silty clay loam; massive; sticky, slightly plastic; n value greater than 1.0, soil flows easily between the fingers when squeezed; neutral; gradual smooth boundary.
Cseg3--175 to 203 centimeters (69 to 80 inches); dark gray (5Y 4/1) and gray (10YR 5/1) silt loam with thin lenses of loam; massive; slightly sticky, nonplastic; n value between 0.7 and 1.0, soil flows with difficulty when squeezed; few small shell fragments; few very thin, less than 0.5 inch thick lenses of loamy fine sand; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Sussex County, Delaware; near the town of Lewes, 200 feet south of the edge of woodland, approximately 2,850 feet west and 4,600 feet south of the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal bridge at Rehoboth Beach; lat. 38 degrees 41 minutes 46 seconds N. and long. 75 degrees 6 minutes 13 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the Organic Soil Layers: 40 to 130 centimeters (16 to 51 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 150 centimeters (60 inches)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: +12 to 0 inches, January to December, continuously saturated flooded twice daily by tidal waters
Rock Fragments: 0 to 5 percent, by volume in the mineral layers, mostly shells and shell fragments
Electrical Conductivity: Greater than 8 mmohs/cm throughout the soil
Soil Reaction: Slightly acid to mildly alkaline throughout the profile, after moist incubation, ultra acid or extremely acid
Other Features: High n-value, more than 0.7, typically more than 1.0; some pedons have thin lenses of silt, silt loam, or very fine sand throughout the organic layers
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
Surface tier, 0 to 30 centimeters (0 to 12 inches Oese horizon):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, chroma of 1 to 3, or is neutral with value of 2 to 4
Texture--mucky peat (hemic soil materials). The fiber content before rubbing is greater than one-half of the soil volume
Mineral Material Content: 20 to 70 percent, by weight
Subsurface tier, 30 to 90 centimeters (12 to 36 inches Oese or Oase horizon):
Color--hue of 5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 5, chroma of 1 to 3, or is neutral with value of 2 to 4
Texture--muck (sapric soil materials) or mucky peat (hemic soil materials). Some pedons have thin layers of fibric materials.
Mineral Material Content: 20 to 75, percent by weight
Bottom tier, 90 to 130 centimeters (36 to 51 inches Oese or Oase horizon):
Color--hue of 5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 5, chroma of 1 to 3, or is neutral with value of 2 to 4
Texture--muck (sapric soil materials) or mucky peat (hemic soil materials). Some pedons have thin layers of fibric materials.
Mineral Material Content: 20 to 75, percent by weight
Cseg horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 5GY, value of 2 to 6, chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral with value of 2 to 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam, silty clay loam, or loam
Organic Matter Content: 0 to 15 percent and may contain thin lenses of organic material or sand from 0.5 to several inches thick
COMPETING SERIES:
Honga soils--have an underlying argillic horizon and typically have n-value less than 0.7, on similar landforms
Westbrook soils--typically have n-value less than 0.7, on similar landforms
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Coastal Plain marshes
Landform: Salt marshes in estuaries and along tidally influenced rivers
Elevation: 0 to 2 feet
Parent Material: Organic deposits from dominantly herbaceous plants, underlain by loamy fluvial or marine mineral sediments
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 52 to 58 degrees F.
Mean Annual Precipitation: 38 to 48 inches
Frost Free Period: 200 to 210 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Appoquinimink soils--mineral deposits 16 to 40 inches thick overlying buried, very thick organic deposits, on similar landforms
Boxiron soils--are mineral soils with a histic epipedon, on similar landforms
Matunuck soils--have an organic surface layer less than 16 inches thick and are sandy throughout the mineral horizons.
Nanticoke soils--have a fine-silty particle-size control section, on fresh to slightly brackish-water marshes
Transquaking soils--have organic layers more than 51 inches thick to mineral layers, on similar landforms
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Very poorly drained
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible or low
Internal Free Water Occurance: Very shallow, Permanent
Permeability: Moderately rapid to rapid in the organic layers and slow in the Index
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
Major Uses: Wetland wildlife, shellfish, and small crustacean habitat. Large areas of these soils in Delaware have been ditched to provide better drainage for mosquito control.
Vegetation: Salt-tolerant wetland herbaceous species, predominantly salt marsh cordgrass, salt hay, salt wort and spike grass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Coastal and estuarine areas of Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland
Extent: Moderate
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Worcester County, Maryland, 1995.
REMARKS: Mispillion soils were formerly mapped as Tidal Marsh miscellaneous areas. These soils are flooded by tidal waters twice daily and by storm surge, except in areas protected by dikes and tide gates. In protected areas, the soils are commonly ponded under several inches of brackish water. These soils become extremely acid when drained or removed from the marsh.
Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Aquic conditions--the zone from the soil surface to a depth of 80 inches is continuously saturated (endosaturation)
High n-value--the zone from the surface to 32 inches has n-value greater than 0.7, typically greater than 1.0 (the material flows easily between the fingers when squeezed)
Sulfidic materials--incubated samples, to a depth of 80 inches, show a drop in pH of 0.5 or more units to a pH value of 4.0 or less within 8 weeks
Hemic soil materials--the zone from 0 to 24 inches has a fiber content after rubbing that is one-sixth to two-fifths of the soil volume
Sapric soil materials--the zone from 24 to 40 inches has a fiber content after rubbing that is less than one-sixth of the soil volume
ADDITIONAL DATA:
SERIES DATA MAPUNIT: To be developed
SERIES INTERPRETATION RECORD(S): DE0015
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
DE0015 MISPILLION 0- 1 52- 57 200-210 38- 48 0- 2
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness
DE0015 FREQ +1-0 APPARENT - >60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC-
DE0015 0-24 MPT PEAT HM - - 0- 0 -
DE0015 24-40 SP HM - - 0- 0 -
DE0015 40-80 L SICL SIL 0- 0 100-100 15-35 -
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll
DE0015 0-24 5.1- 7.8 20-90 8-16 2.0- 6.0 LOW
DE0015 24-40 5.1- 7.8 30-80 8-16 2.0- 6.0 LOW
DE0015 40-80 5.1- 7.8 2.-10 8-16 0.2- 0.6 LOW
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.