LOCATION RAPPAHANNOCK VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, euic, thermic Terric Sulfisaprists
TYPICAL PEDON: Rappahannock muck - in a tidal marsh at about sea level. (Colors are for moist soil - broken face.)
0a1--0 to 16 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sapric material; about 14 percent fiber rubbed; massive; nonsticky; many fine and medium roots; flows easily between the fingers when squeezed; weak sulfide odor; mildly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (8 to 20 inches thick)
0a2--16 to 30 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) sapric material; about 5 percent fiber rubbed; massive; nonsticky; many fine roots; flows easily between the fingers when squeezed; moderate sulfide odor; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 16 inches thick)
0a3--30 to 41 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) sapric material; about 8 percent fiber rubbed; massive; slightly sticky; common fine roots; flows easily between the fingers when squeezed; moderate sulfide odor; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 25 inches thick)
Cg--41 to 63 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) mucky silty clay loam; massive; sticky, slightly plastic; common fibers and few fine roots; flows easily between the fingers when squeezed; moderate sulfide odor; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (12 to 24 inches thick)
0'a--63 to 75 inches; black (10YR 2/1) sapric material; about 5 percent fiber rubbed; massive; nonsticky; flows easily between the fingers when squeezed; moderate sulfide odor; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
C'g--75 to 80 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sandy loam; massive; nonsticky, nonplastic; flows easily between the fingers when squeezed; weak sulfide odor; mildly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Richmond County, Virginia; approximately 1 mile northeast of Tappahannock, 0.75 mile south of Downing Bridge on US-360 and 200 feet northeast of the Rappahannock River shoreline.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Sulfur content is greater than 0.75 percent in some horizons within 40 inches of the surface. The organic layers of the control section are dominantly sapric materials with hemic materials in layers of some pedons. Fibric materials are in the surface tier of some pedons. Mineral strata are in the control section below the surface tier. Reaction ranges from strongly acid through moderately alkaline throughout the profile. After drying, reaction ranges from very strongly acid through slightly acid. Conductivity of the saturation extract of layers at depths below about 6 inches is 2 to 16 mmho/cm.
The organic materials within all tiers have hue of 10YR through 5GY or neutral, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 0 through 2. They are muck or mucky peat. Rubbed fiber content commonly is 3 to 15 percent but ranges to 60 percent. The n value commonly is greater than 1.0, but ranges from 0.7 to 2.0.
The mineral strata have hue of 10YR through 5GY or are neutral, value of 2 through 5, and chroma of 0 through 2. They range from silt loam through clay in the surface and subsurface tiers and include sandy loam and loamy sand in the bottom tier. The n value commonly is less than 1.0, but ranges from less than 0.4 to 2.0.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no named series in the same family. The Allemands, Axis, Backbay, Bohicket, Capers, Carteret, Currituck, Delcomb, Handsboro, Hobonny, Kenner, Lafitte, Maurepas, Pocaty and Tisonia series are in closely related families. Allemands, Currituck, Delcomb, Hobonny, Kenner, Lafitte, and Maurepas soils have no sulfidic materials within 40 inches of the surface. Handsboro and Tisonia soils have saturation extract conductivity greater than 16 mmho/cm and are inundated daily with sea water. Pocaty soils do not have mineral layers thicker than 12 inches in the control section. Axis, Backbay, Bohicket, Capers, and Carteret are mineral soils.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Rappahannock soils are on tidal marshs along the larger tidal creeks and rivers of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Elevations are approximately sea level. The soils formed in stratified highly decomposed herbaceous plant remains and fluvial sediments deposited in areas subject to daily inundation with brackish water. Slopes range from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual temperature near the type location is 58 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is 41 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Enoree, Levy, Mantachee, Pamunkey, Rumford, State, and Tetotum soils. All of these soils are mineral soils and lack sulfidic materials. In addition, the Pamunkey, Rumford, State, and Tetotum soils are better drained and are on higher elevations. Enoree, Levy, and Mantachee soils normally do not flood daily.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained. Permeability is moderate. Fluctuating tides cover the surface daily. The water table is from 6 inches below the surface to 24 inches above the surface most of the time.
USE AND VEGETATION: Rappahannock soils are used mainly as wetland wildlife habitat. Native vegetation is arrowleaf, cattail, big cordgrass, and other rushes, reeds, and aquatic plants.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal Plain of Virginia. The soils of this series are moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Richmond County, Virginia, 1980.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and fefatures recognized in this pedon are:
Organic soil materials - the zones from 0 to 41 inches (Oa horizons) Terric feature - mineral soil material within 51 inches of the surface - the zone from 41 to 63 inches (Cg horizon)
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation VA0158 RAPPAHANNO 0- 1 58- 65 190-240 35- 47 0- 5SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness VA0158 FREQ 0-0.5 APPARENT JAN-DEC 60-60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- VA0158 0-16 MUCK MPT 0- 0 - 0- 0 - VA0158 0-16 SICL SIL 0- 0 100-100 20-40 - VA0158 16-41 SP HM 0- 0 - 0- 0 - VA0158 41-63 SR LS C 0- 0 100-100 5-40 - VA0158 63-80 VAR - - - -
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll VA0158 0-16 5.1- 8.4 20-65 2-16 0.6- 2.0 LOW VA0158 0-16 5.1- 8.4 5.-20 2-16 0.6- 2.0 LOW VA0158 16-41 5.1- 8.4 20-50 2-16 0.6- 2.0 LOW VA0158 41-63 5.1- 8.4 2.-5. 2-16 0.6- 2.0 LOW VA0158 63-80 - - - 0.01- 20