LOCATION PASTURE POINT           DE+NJ

Established Series
PSK/RBT/DTA
11/2017

PASTURE POINT SERIES

MLRA(s): 153D
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Subaqueous (permanently submersed)
Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high to Moderately low
Landscape: Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Estuaries
Landform: Submerged wave-cut platforms
Parent Material: Sandy Holocene sediments underlain by loamy pre-Holocene sediments
Slope: 0 to 1 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 56 degrees F. (13 degrees C.).
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 58 degrees F. (14 degrees C.)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, subactive, nonacid, mesic Haplic Sulfiwassents

TYPICAL PEDON: Pasture Point mucky loamy fine sand on a nearly level 0.25 percent slope on a submerged wave cut platform, under 1 meter of permanent estuarine water. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 2 inches (0 to 4 centimeters); olive gray (5Y 4/2) loamy fine sand; single grain; loose; non fluid; 2 percent greenish black (10Y 2.5/1) mottles; moderately alkaline; strongly saline; abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 10 centimeters thick)

Cseg1--2 to 11 inches (4 to 27 centimeters); greenish black (10Y 2.5/1) loamy sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; moderately alkaline; strongly saline; sulphurous odor; 3 percent shells fragments, abrupt boundary.

Cseg2--11 to 36 inches (27 to 91 centimeters); black (5Y 2.5/1) fine sandy loam; massive; nonfluid; slightly alkaline; moderately saline; sulphurous odor; 2 percent herbaceous fibers; 2 percent shell fragments; clear boundary. (50 to 120 centimeters thick)

2Cg1--36 to 53 inches (91 to 135 centimeters); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) loamy sand; single grain; loose; nonfluid; 10 percent brown 7.5YR4/4 wood fragments; slightly alkaline; slightly saline; clear boundary.

2Cg2--53 to 78 inches (135 to 198 centimeters); gray (10YR 5/1) sand, single grain; loose; nonfluid; slightly alkaline. (Combined thickness of the C horizons is 10 to 59 inches thick) (25 to 150 centimeters)

TYPE LOCATION: Sussex County, Delaware; approximately 285 feet west of Pasture Point; in Indian River Bay; latitude 38 degrees, 34 minutes, 53 seconds N and longitude 75 degrees, 5 minutes, 21 seconds W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 80 inches (200 centimeters)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Permanently submerged
Depth to Lithologic Discontinuity: pre-Holocene contact < 59 inches (150 centimeters)
Shell Fragments: 0 to 10 percent, by volume
Soil Reaction: Slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline throughout the profile
Electrical Conductivity: Greater than 16 mmhos/cm in the upper solum and 6 to 16 mmhos/cm in the substratum
Salinity Class: Slightly to strongly saline

Range of Individual Horizons:
A or Ag horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR to 10Y, value of 2.5 to 4, and chroma of 0 or 2
Texture-silt loam, silty clay loam, or loam or their mucky analogs

Cseg horizon:
Color--hue of 5Y to 10B, value of 2.5 to 4, and chroma of 0 or 2,
Texture-- silt loam, silty clay loam, or loam or their mucky analogs

Oeseb or Oaseb horizon (if present):
Color--hue if 10YR to 5Y, value of 2.5 to 3, and chroma of 0 or 2,
Texture--muck or mucky peat

2Cg horizon:
Color--hue of 2.5Y to 10B, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 or 2,
Texture-- sandy loam, loam, silty clay, silty clay loam or silt loam

COMPETING SERIES:
Cottman soils--are located on lagoon bottom on barrier island side

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain estuaries
Landform: Submerged wave-cut platforms
Parent Material: Sandy Holocene sediments underlain by loamy pre-Holocene sediments
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 to 6 feet (0 to 2 meters) below mean sea level
Water Regime: Tidal, 1 to 6 feet (0.25 to 2 meters) tidal range

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Broadkill soils--are silty and are not permanently submerged; on adjacent tidal marshes
Figgs soils--have N values of less than 1 throughout its profile
Mispillion soils--are not permanently submerged; on adjacent tidal marshes
Tingle soils--are fine silty and have N values of less than 1 throughout its profile
Transquaking soils--are not permanently submerged and have organic surface layers more than 20 inches (51 centimeters) thick; on adjacent tidal marshes
Trappe soils--are sandy throughout; on similar landforms

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Subaqueous (permanently submersed)
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high to moderately low

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Most areas are un-vegetated and function as estuarine benthic habitat. Benthic fauna such as tubeworms, clams, juvenile blue crabs, scallops and juvenile finfish use these areas.
Dominant Vegetation: Native vegetation includes rooted algae, eelgrass (Zostera marina) and widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima). Vegetative cover ranges from 0 to 5 percent.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Mid-Atlantic coastal estuaries of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and possibly Virginia. This series is of small extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina

SERIES PROPOSED: Sussex County, Delaware, 2012.

REMARKS: Pasture Point soils were formerly included with water.

Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 2 inches (0 to 4 centimeters) (Ag horizon)
Peraquic feature--the zone from 0 to 80 inches (0 to 200 centimeters) has positive water potential
Sulfidic feature--the zone from 8 to 20 inches (20 to 50 centimeters) contains sulfidic materials
Pre-Holocene contact--the zone from 36 to 78 inches (91 to 198 centimeters) (Cg horizons)
n-value--all mineral layers have n value less than 0.7 (Haplic subgroup)

ADDITIONAL DATA: none

Data Map Unit ID: 679305
NASIS OSD Site and Pedon ID: 2012DE005002

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.