LOCATION SAND POINT              MD

Established Series
BMW/DCS/RBT
04/2021

SAND POINT SERIES


MLRA(s): 149A
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Subaqueous (permanently submersed / continuously inundated)
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Very high to moderately high in the substratum
Parent Material: sandy estuarine deposits over glauconitic coarse-loamy fluviomarine deposits
Slope: 0 to 25 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 57 degrees F. (14 degrees C)
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 57 degrees F. (14 degrees C)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, glauconitic, mesic Sulfic Fluviwassents

TYPICAL PEDON: Sand Point fine sand on a southeast facing, 1 percent slope on a submerged wave-built terrace under 1.5 m of estuarine water. (Colors are for moist soil).

Ase -- 0 to 5 cm; greenish black (10Y 2.5/1) fine sand; dark olive brown (2.5Y 3/3) surface film; single grain; nonfluid; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8), moderately acid (pH 5.9) after 16 weeks; color reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide, slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; abrupt boundary.

Cseg1 -- 5 to 25 cm; very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) fine sand; single grain; nonfluid; 2 percent shell fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0), moderately acid (pH 5.8) after 16 weeks; no reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide, very slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; gradual boundary.

Cseg2 -- 25 to 61 cm; dark greenish gray (10Y 4/1) fine sand; single grain; nonfluid; 2 percent shell fragments; slight hydrogen sulfide odor; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0), moderately acid (pH 6.0) after 16 weeks; no reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide, very slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; gradual boundary.

Cseg3 -- 61 to 88 cm; dark greenish gray (10Y 4/1) loamy fine sand; massive; nonfluid; 1 percent shell fragments; slight hydrogen sulfide odor; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0), extremely acid (pH 4.0) after 16 weeks; no reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide, very slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; gradual boundary.

2Cseg1 -- 88 to 135 cm; very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) loam; massive; moderately fluid; 1 percent shell fragments; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5), very strongly acid (pH 4.7) after 16 weeks; no reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide, very slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide; clear boundary.

2Cseg2 -- 135 to 200 cm; very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) loam; massive; moderately fluid; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0), extremely acid (pH 3.7) after 16 weeks; no reaction with 3% hydrogen peroxide, very slightly effervescent with 30% hydrogen peroxide.

TYPE LOCATION: Anne Arundel County, Maryland; Rhode River; approximately 795 feet southeast of the end of Cadle Creek Road and 890 feet northwest of the road intersections of Cliff Drive and Cherrystone Drive in the Beverly Beach community in the Rhode River. USGS 7.5 minute South River quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees, 52 minutes, 48.94 seconds N and longitude 76 degrees, 30 minutes, 54.60 seconds W, WGS 1984; Major Land Resource Area 149A.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 200 centimeters
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Permanently submersed
Depth to Lithologic Discontinuity: 64 to 100 centimeters
Depth to hyper-sulfidic materials: 50 to 100 centimeters
Depth to hypo-sulfidic materials: 0 to 100 centimeters
Manner of Failure / Fluidity Class: Nonfluid to slightly fluid in the sands and moderately fluid in the lithologic discontinuity
Shell Fragments: 0 to 10 percent, by volume, throughout
Soil reaction: Strongly acid to moderately alkaline; oxidized reaction: Extremely acid to moderately acid
Salinity: Between 7 to 15 ppt throughout the profile.

RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
Ase horizon:
Color-hue of 10Y, 5Y or 5GY value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1
Texture-fine sand, sand, loamy sand


Cseg or Cse horizon:
Color-hue of 10Y, N, 2.5Y or 5GY value of 2.5 to 6, chroma of 1 or 2
Texture-fine sand, loamy fine sand, sand, or coarse sand

2Cseg horizon:
Color-hue of 10Y, N, 5GY or 2.5Y, value of 2.5 to 5, chroma of 1
Texture-loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or silty clay loam

COMPETING SERIES: None.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Coastal Plain sub-estuaries
Landform: Submerged wave-built terraces, shoals, and estuarine tidal creek platforms
Parent Material: Sandy estuarine deposits over glauconitic fluviomarine deposits (paleosols)
Slope: 0 to 25 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 52 to 59 degrees F. (11 to 15 degrees C.)
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 52 to 58 degrees F. (11 to 14 degrees C.)
Bathymetry: 0 to 300 centimeters below mean sea level
Water Regime: Tidal, 0 to 27 centimeter tidal range (0 to 1 foot)

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Contees Wharf soils-are fine-silty and do not have contact with pre-Holocene materials within 100 centimeters of the soil surface.
Dutchman Point soils-are sandy throughout and do not have a contact with pre-Holocene materials within 100 centimeters of the soil surface.
Rhode River soils-are coarse-loamy, are on wave-cut platforms, and do not have sulfidic materials within 100 centimeters of the soil surface.
Sellman soils--are fine textured and are moderately to very fluid throughout the upper 100 centimeters

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class: Subaqueous drainage
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Very high to moderately high in the substratum
Soil Moisture Regime: Peraquic
Soil is permanently submerged with salt or brackish water with a range of 7 to 15 ppt

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Most areas of this soil are used for recreational fishing, swimming, and boating. Commercial uses include shell fishing and aquaculture.
Dominant Vegetation: Benthic fauna such as clams, blue crabs, and oysters are associated with this soil. Eelgrass (Zostera marina), sea lettuce (Ulva sp.), and horned pondweed (Zannichellia palustris) may occur on these soils

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

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain sub-estuaries of the Chesapeake Bay. MLRA 149A. This series is of small extent.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 2018.

REMARKS: This subaqueous series is named for Sand Point, a feature within the Rhode River sub-estuary of Chesapeake Bay and were areas formerly included with water.

Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon-the zone from 0 to 5 centimeters (Ase horizon)
Peraquic feature-the zone from 0 to 200 centimeters is permanently saturated
Lithologic Discontinuity-pre-Holocene contact (Tertiary aged marine deposits of the Aquia and Nanjemoy formations), the zone from 88 to 200 centimeters (2Cseg1 and 2Cseg2 horizons).

ADDITIONAL DATA:
NASIS Data Mapunit ID: 800964
NASIS OSD Site and Pedon ID: S2015MD003039


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.