LOCATION SALTPOND                DE

Established Series
PSK/Rev. JWB
09/2021

SALTPOND SERIES

MLRA(s): 153D (Northern Tidewater Area)
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Poorly drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Very high
Landscape: Coastal plain, barrier islands
Parent Material: Sandy alluvial and eolian derived marine sediments
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature (Type Location): 13 degrees C. (56 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation (Type Location): 1118 mm (44 inches)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Haplic Sulfaquents

TYPICAL PEDON: Saltpond mucky sand on a smooth 1 percent slope. (Colors are for a moist soil, unless noted.)

Ase--0 to 10 cm (0 to 4 inches); very dark gray (2.5Y 3/1) mucky sand, single grain structure; loose; few medium common fine roots; presence of hydrogen sulfide gas; slightly acid; slightly saline; clear wavy boundary. (2.5 to 15 cm thick)

Cseg1--10 to 41 cm (4 to 16 inches); gray (2.5Y 6/1) sand, single grain structure; loose; few fine roots; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) organic stains; presence of hydrogen sulfide gas; neutral; moderately saline; gradual wavy boundary.

Cseg2--41 to 69 cm (16 to 27 inches); light gray (10YR 7/1) sand; single grain loose; few fine roots; few fine distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) iron accumulations with clear boundaries throughout; presence of hydrogen sulfide gas; neutral; moderately saline; clear wavy boundary.

Cseg3--69 to 89 cm (27 to 35 inches); light gray (5Y 7/1) sand; massive; friable; few fine roots; common medium distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) iron accumulations with clear boundaries throughout and few fine distinct brown (10YR 5/3) organic coats; presence of hydrogen sulfide gas; neutral; moderately saline; abrupt wavy boundary.

Cg4--89 to 135 cm (35 to 53 inches); light greenish gray (5GY 7/1) coarse sand; single grain; loose; common medium distinct light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/3) mottles with clear boundaries in the matrix; 5 percent, by volume, fine rounded gravel; neutral; moderately saline; clear wavy boundary.

Cg5--135 to 183 cm (53 to 72 inches); gray (5Y 5/1) sand; single grain; loose; 0.25 inch thick stratified bands of black (N 2/0) mineral grains; few fine faint light gray (5Y 7/2) mottles with clear boundaries in the matrix; neutral; moderately saline. (combined thickness of the Cg horizon is 152 to 183 cm)

TYPE LOCATION: Sussex County, Delaware; Approximately 1 mile north of Fenwick Island, 150 feet west of US 1 on a sparsely vegetated dune over wash fan. Adjacent to Assawoman Bay. USGS Assawoman Bay, Delaware topographic quadrangle; 38 degrees, 29 minutes, 59.18 seconds N. Latitude, 75 degrees, 03 minutes, 21.40 seconds W. Longitude, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 183 cm (72 inches)
Depth to buried A or O horizons (if they occur): More than 64 cm (25 inches)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 inches), tidally influenced
Rock Fragments: 0 to 5 percent, by volume in the A horizon and 0 to 20 percent in C horizon, mostly rounded quartzite and chert gravel
Soil Reaction: Neutral to slightly acid in the natural state and upon drying is ultra acid or extremely acid
Salinity: Slightly to strongly saline throughout (electrical conductivity of 4 mmhos/cm or more)
Odor: Sulphurous (rotten egg) odor detectable within 50 cm (20 inches) of the mineral surface

RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:

O Horizon (if it occurs)
Color--hue of 7.5 YR to 2.5Y, value 2 to 4, chroma 1 to 3
Texture--mucky peat or peat

Ase horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, chroma of 1 to 4
Texture--sand, loamy sand, or sandy loam and their mucky analogs

Cseg or Cg horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR to 5GY, value of 4 to 7, chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral with value of 4 to 7
Texture--sand, loamy sand, or sandy loam
Redoximorphic Features--iron depletions in shades of olive, gray, or white and iron accumulations in shades of red, brown, yellow, or olive. Sulfurous (rotten egg) odor present.

Ab horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue 10YR or 2.5Y, value 2 to 4, chroma 1 to 3
Texture--sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, or loam and their mucky analogs

Buried O horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue 7.5YR, value 2 to 4, chroma 1 to 3
Texture--mucky peat or peat

COMPETING SERIES: None

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Coastal plain, barrier islands
Landform: Low-lying dunes and dunes on washover fans
Geomorphic Component: Dips and rises
Elevation: 0 to 0.6 meters (0 to 2 feet) above mean sea level
Parent Material: Sandy alluvial and eolian derived marine sediments
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 12 to 14 degrees C. (54 to 58 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1092 to 1168 mm (43 to 46 inches)
Frost Free Period: 175 to 200 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Acquango soils--do not have a seasonal high water table above 183 cm (72 inches); on higher dune positions
Appoquinimink soils--formed in high N value estuarine silts over organic material 41 cm (16 inches) or more thick; on lower tidal marsh positions that are tidally flooded twice daily
Brockatonorton soils--do not have a seasonal high water table above 50 cm (20 inches); on higher dune positions
Broadkill soils--formed in high N value estuarine silts; on lower tidal marsh positions that are tidally flooded twice daily
Hooksan soils--do not have a seasonal high water table above 183 cm (72 inches); on higher dune positions
Mispillion soils--formed in organic material 40 to 130 cm (16 to 51 inches) thick and high N value estuarine silts; on lower tidal marsh positions that are tidally flooded twice daily
Pawcatuck soils--formed in organic material 40 to 130 cm (16 to 51 inches) thick; on lower tidal marsh positions that are tidally flooded twice daily
Purnell soils--formed in organic material 20 to 40 cm (8 to 16 inches); on lower tidal marsh positions that are tidally flooded twice daily
Transquaking soils--formed in organic material 130 cm (51 inches) or more thick; on lower tidal marsh positions that are tidally flooded twice daily

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Poorly drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very Shallow (0 to 25 cm) and permanent (present continuously)
Flooding Frequency and Duration: Very frequent, very brief. This soil is tidally flooded twice daily.
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Very high
Permeability (obsolete): Very rapid
Shrink-swell Potential: Low

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses--Few areas are cleared and used for recreational purposes such as campsites. Most areas are in a natural vegetated condition for wildlife.
Dominant Vegetation--Includes sea rocket (Cakile edentula), seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervires), bayberry (Morella caroliniensis) salt myrtle (Leiophyllum buxifolium), groundsel-tree (Baccharis halimifolia) pine and shore juniper (Juniperus virginiana). In lower lying positions salt hay grass (Spartina patens), smooth cord grass ( Spartina alterniflora), and black needle rush (Juncus roemerianus) can be found.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
Extent: Small; 2,000 to 5,000 acres

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sussex County, Delaware, 2006

REMARKS: Saltpond soils were previous mapped as coastal beaches and tidal marsh. Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 10 cm (A horizon).
b. Aquic conditions--the zone from 0 to 183 cm is permanently saturated (endosaturation)
c. Sulfidic material--the zone from 0 to 89 cm

Series control section--the zone from 0 to 150 cm

ADDITIONAL DATA:
Data Mapunit ID (type location)--496366

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.