LOCATION SANDBRIDGE              VA+NC

Tentative Series
JDK-RBT
08/2026

SANDBRIDGE SERIES

MLRA(s)--153B
Depth class--Very deep
Drainage class--Very poorly drained
Parent material--Herbaceous organic material over sandy marine deposits
Geomorphic location--Back barrier and relict inlet marshes
Slope range--0 to 1 percent
Mean annual air temperature--17 degrees C (63 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation--1270 millimeters (50 inches)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, euic, thermic Terric Sulfihemists

TYPICAL PEDON: Sandbridge mucky peat in an oligohaline marsh at about sea level (colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated; electrical conductivity is 1:1 by volume solution mixture unless otherwise stated).

Oese1--0 to 28 centimeters; very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) broken face and black (7.5YR 2.5/1) rubbed mucky peat; 55 percent fibers, 30 percent rubbed; von Post H4; many very fine and fine roots, and common medium roots; slight sulfurous odor; very slightly saline (2.2 dS/m); strongly acid (pH 5.5), moderately acid (pH 5.6) oxidized pH; clear boundary.

Oese2--28 to 41 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) broken face and very dark brown (10YR 2/2) rubbed mucky peat; 40 percent fibers, 20 percent rubbed; von Post H6; many very fine and fine roots, common medium roots; moderate sulfurous odor; nonsaline (1.8 dS/m); slightly acid (pH 6.5), strongly acid (pH 5.2) oxidized pH; clear boundary (41 to 65 centimeters thick).

Aseg--41 to 55 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) fine sandy loam; structureless, massive; moderately sticky, nonplastic; slightly fluid; few fine roots; 5 percent herbaceous plant fibers; moderate sulfurous odor; nonsaline (1.3 dS/m); neutral (pH 6.6), ultra acid (pH 2.8) oxidized pH; clear boundary (10 to 18 centimeters thick).

Cseg--55 to 200 centimeters; dark gray (N 4/) loamy fine sand; structureless, single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; no sulfurous odor; nonsaline (1.3 dS/m); neutral (pH 6.7), ultra acid (pH 3.0) oxidized pH.

TYPE LOCATION: City of Virginia Beach, Virginia; in False Cape State Park on Horse Island; approximately 3.4 kilometers (2.1 miles) northeast of the intersection of Marsh Causeway and Knotts Island Road, and approximately 3.7 kilometers (2.3 miles) northwest of the intersection of Sandfiddler Road and Red Snapper Road; USGS topographic quadrangle: Knotts Island.

Latitude--36.555528
Longitude-- -75.896855
Datum--WGS84
Coordinate source--From hand-held GPS

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to bedrock--Greater than 200 centimeters
Soil moisture regime--Peraquic
Manner of failure / fluidity class--Nonfluid to moderately fluid throughout the mineral horizons
Shell fragments--0 to 10 percent throughout the mineral horizons
Sulfurous odor--None to strong throughout
Soil reaction--Strongly acid to slightly alkaline throughout (pH 5.1 to 7.8)
Oxidized reaction--Strongly acid to moderately acid in the organic horizons (pH 5.1 to 6.0) and ultra acid to extremely acid in the mineral horizons (pH < 3.5 to 4.4)
Depth to hypersulfidic / sulfidic materials--0 to 100 centimeters
Electrical conductivity (1:1 soil to water solution)--0.7 to 2.2 dS/m throughout
Salinity class--Nonsaline to very slightly saline
Total soil organic carbon stock 0 to 100 centimeters--20 to 32 kg m-2
Total soil organic carbon stock 0 to 200 centimeters--26 to 37 kg m-2

Oese horizons:
Hue--7.5YR to 2.5Y
Value--2 to 3
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--Mucky peat
Von Post humification scale--H4 to H6
Organic carbon density--24 to 71 kg m-3

Aseg horizons:
Hue--10YR to 5Y
Value--2 to 3
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--Loamy sand, fine sandy loam, loam, or their mucky analogs
Organic carbon density--25 to 40 kg m-3

Cseg or CAseg horizons:
Hue--2.5Y to 10Y, or Neutral
Value--3 to 5
Chroma--0 to 2
Texture--Fine sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, or their mucky analogs
Organic carbon density--2 to 17 kg m-3

COMPETING SERIES:
There are no competing series in the same family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape--Southeast coastal plain estuaries
Landform--Oligohaline marshes on back-barriers and relict flood-tidal deltas
Parent material--Herbaceous organic material over sandy marine deposits
Slope--0 to 1 percent
Elevation--0 to 1 meter
Water salinity range--0.5 to 5 parts per thousand
Frost free period--230 to 360 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the Carteret, Corolla, Currituck, Duckston, and Newhan soils.
Carteret soils--are mineral soils that do not contain sulfidic materials in the upper 100 centimeters.
Corolla soils--are moderately well drained to somewhat poorly drained and found between dunes.
Currituck soils--do not have sulfidic materials in the upper 100 centimeters and are on similar landforms.
Duckston soils--are poorly drained and found in interdunal swales.
Newhan soils--are excessively drained and found on dunes.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--Very poorly drained
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--Moderately high to high
Soil moisture regime--Peraquic
Flooding--Very frequent, for very brief durations. The soils are flooded by wind tides. Sandbridge soils are not normally subject to inundation from lunar tides.

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses--Sandbridge soils are used mainly as wetland wildlife habitat.
Typical vegetation--Dominantly black needlerush (Juncus roemerianus), Olney's three square (Schoenoplectus americanus), big cordgrass (Spartina cynosuroides), and narrowleaf cattail (Typha angustifolia). Areas transitional to higher elevations have scattered eastern baccharis (Baccharis halimifolia), waxmyrtle (Myrica cerifera), and black willow (Salix nigra) shrubs. In some areas, much of the native vegetation has been overtaken by invasive common reed (Phragmites australis).

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General area--Coastal plain estuaries in North Carolina and Virgina
Land Resource Regions--T - Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region
MLRA(s)--153B
Extent--Small

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Special Projects Region

SERIES ESTABLISHED: City of Virginia Beach, Virginia, 2026

REMARKS:
The series is named after the community of Sandbridge in the City of Virginia Beach, VA. Sandbridge soils were previously mapped as Backbay and Currituck in Virginia and North Carolina soil surveys, respectively.

Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are (Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Thirteenth Edition, 2022):
Hemic soil materials--The zone from 0 to 41 centimeters has a fiber content after rubbing that is between one-sixth and two-fifths of the original soil volume.
Hypersulfidic materials--The zone from 41 to 200 centimeters has a pH of 4.0 or less after 16 weeks of moist aerobic incubation.
Hyposulfidic materials-- The zone from 28 to 41 has an initial pH that decreases by 1 or more units but remains at a value of 4.0 or more after 16 weeks of moist aerobic incubation.
Fluidity--The zone from 41 to 55 centimeters has a fluidity class of slightly fluid.
Peraquic feature--Zero or positive water potential at or near the soil surface.

NASIS User Site and Pedon ID: S2026VA810118
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.