LOCATION SAN FELIPE PR

Established Series
SRT/ASR/RBT
10/2021

SAN FELIPE SERIES

MLRA(s): 273
MLRA Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Very poorly drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately low to moderately high
Parent Material: Highly decomposed organic materials over fine fluviomarine deposits
Slope: 0 to 1 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 26 degrees C. (79 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1041 millimeters (41 inches)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, euic, isohyperthermic Terric Sulfisaprists

TYPICAL PEDON: San Felipe muck--wildlife habitat (Colors are for moist soil).

Oase1--0 to 8 centimeters (0 to 3 inches); black (5Y 2.5/1) muck; 9 percent rubbed fiber content; H8 von Post; structureless massive; moderately alkaline; strong sulfurous odor (monosulfidic black ooze material); clear smooth boundary.

Oase2--8 to 48 centimeters (3 to 19 inches); black (5Y 2.5/1) muck; 9 percent rubbed fiber content; H7 von Post; structureless massive; very friable; moderately alkaline; strong sulfurous odor; clear smooth boundary.

Cseg--48 to 121 centimeters (19 to 48 inches); very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) mucky silty clay; very sticky, very plastic, moderately fluid; moderately alkaline; moderate sulfurous odor; abrupt smooth boundary.

2Aseb--121 to 138 centimeters (48 to 54 inches); black (5Y 2.5/1) broken face mucky loam; moderately alkaline; strong sulfurous odor; clear smooth boundary.

2Csegb--138 to 203 centimeters (54 to 80 inches; dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) mucky clay; moderately alkaline; strong sulfurous odor.

TYPE LOCATION: Salinas municipality, Puerto Rico. Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) property. Approximately 2,263 feet northeast from the Jobos Bay NERR main building at bearing 77.17 degrees. Approximately 3,374 feet south of camino Tomas Colon at San Felipe community at bearing 177.40 degrees. Latitude: 17 degrees 57 minutes 28.90 seconds north, Longitude: 66 degrees 12 minutes 59.30 seconds west WGS 84.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth of organic material: 40 to 130 centimeters (16 to 51 inches)
Depth to seasonally high water table: 0 to 15 centimeters (0 to 6 inches)
Soil Reaction: Moderately alkaline throughout
Sulfurous odor: Moderate to strong throughout
Fiber content: Unrubbed ranges from 5 to 50 percent; rubbed is primarily less than 17 percent but could range as high as 40 (includes Oese horizons)
Salinity: Ranges from 32 to 100 ppt and averages between 60 to 70 ppt.

Range of Individual Horizons:
Oase horizon:
Color-hue of 7.5YR to 5Y or neutral, value of 2.5, and chroma of 1.
Texture-muck

Oese horizon (where present):
Color-hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y or 5GY, value of 2 to 3 and value of 1 to 3.
Texture-mucky peat

Cseg horizon:
Color-Hue of 2.5Y, 5Y or gley, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1
Texture-clay or silty clay but sometimes includes clay loam or silty clay loam with mucky analogs

Some pedons have 2Aseb or 2Oaseb horizons with similar characteristics to the organic layers above.

2Csegb horizon:
Color-Hue of 2.5Y to 5Y or gley, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 1
Texture-clay or silty clay but sometimes includes clay loam or silty clay loam materials
Shell fragments-0 to 10 percent

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

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Semiarid coastal plain in southern Puerto Rico (MLRA 273).
Landform: Tidal mangrove swamps and estuaries in and near coastal areas.
Parent Material: Highly decomposed organic materials over fine fluviomarine deposits
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 22 to 31 degrees C. (71 to 88 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 508 to 1,600 millimeters (20 to 63 inches)

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
El Indio soils are sandier, occupy higher positions in the landscape and protect these tidal mangrove swamp soils.
Mar Negro soils have thicker organic soil horizons and occur on similar landscape positions.
The Manglillo soils have coarser textured substratum layers and occupy positions slightly lower in the landscape.
Ursula soils lack organic materials thicker than 40 centimeters and occur on similar landscape positions.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONUCTIVITY:
Drainage class: Very poorly drained
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (KSAT): Moderately low to moderately high
Flooding frequency and duration: Very frequent for extremely brief duration from tides, these areas are subject to flooding by storm surge and hurricanes

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Water quality, water storage, and wildlife habitat.
Dominant Vegetation: Consists of black and some red mangrove.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern semiarid coastal plains of Puerto Rico (MLRA 273). The series is of small extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Salinas Municipality, Puerto Rico; 2021. The name is from San Felipe community, where it was originally recognized.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
1. Histic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 48 centimeters (0 to 19 inches; Oase1 and Oase2 horizons).
2. Sapric soil material - the zone from 0 to 48 centimeters (0 to 19 inches; Oase1 and Oase2 horizons).
3. Peraquic feature - Tidal brackish water at or above the soil surface throughout the year and endosaturation ranges from 0 to 203 centimeters (0 to 80 inches).
4. Sulfidic feature - the zone from 0 to 203 centimeters (0 to 80 inches) contains sulfidic soil materials.

These soils were formerly included in the tidal swamp miscellaneous land mapunits.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.