LOCATION SHEEPSHEAD FL
Tentative Series
ARW
09/2026
SHEEPSHEAD SERIES
MLRA(s)--152A
Depth class--Very deep
Drainage class--Subaqueous
Water depth range--0 to 2 meters (0 to 6 feet)
Parent material--Sandy and loamy lagoonal deposits over fine-loamy lagoonal deposits
Geomorphic location--Barrier coves
Slope range--0 to 1 percent
Mean annual air temperature--21 degrees C (70 degrees F)
Mean annual water temperature--24 degrees C (75 degrees F)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, siliceous, hyperthermic Typic Fluviwassents
TYPICAL PEDON: Sheepshead shelly fine sandy loam in a barrier cove under 1.3 meters of salt water. (colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated; electrical conductivity is 1:5 by volume solution mixture unless otherwise stated).
Cseg1--0 to 24 centimeters; very dark greenish gray (5GY 3/1) shelly fine sandy loam; massive; slightly sticky, nonplastic; moderately fluid; slight sulfurous odor; 30 percent shell fragments; no color change with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide; strong effervescence with 30 percent hydrogen peroxide; saline (3.7 dS/m); strongly alkaline (pH 8.6), strongly alkaline (pH 8.5) oxidized pH; clear boundary
Cseg2--24 to 62 centimeters; 80 percent greenish gray (10Y 5/1) and 20 percent very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) sand; single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 10 percent shell fragments at bottom of horizon; slight sulfurous odor; no color change with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide; moderate effervescence with 30 percent hydrogen peroxide; saline (2.2 dS/m); strongly alkaline (pH 8.5), strongly alkaline (pH 8.7) oxidized pH; gradual boundary
Cseg3--62 to 122 centimeters; very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) sand; single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 12 percent shell fragments; slight sulfurous odor; no color change with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide; slight effervescence with 30 percent hydrogen peroxide; saline (3.0 dS/m); strongly alkaline (pH 8.6), moderately alkaline (pH 8.4) oxidized pH; gradual boundary
Cseg4--122 to 172 centimeters; 90 percent very dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) and 10 percent dark greenish gray (10Y 4/1) sand; single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonfluid; 5 percent shell fragments; slight sulfurous odor; no color change with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide; slight effervescence with 30 percent hydrogen peroxide; saline (2.8 dS/m); moderately alkaline (pH 8.4), moderately alkaline (pH 8.0) oxidized pH; abrupt boundary
2Cseg5--172 to 214 centimeters; dark greenish gray (5GY 4/1) loam; massive; moderately sticky, nonplastic; moderately fluid; 1 percent very fine mica flakes; vertical channels of greenish gray (10Y 6/1) fine sand; slight sulfurous odor; no color change with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide; slight effervescence with 30 percent hydrogen peroxide; saline (3.6 dS/m); moderately alkaline (pH 8.1), moderately alkaline (pH 8.1) oxidized pH
TYPE LOCATION: Franklin County, Florida; Big Bayou; approximately 9.9 kilometers (6.1 miles) east of Indian Pass, approximately 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) north of the intersection of Insulator Road and 5 Road, and approximately 3.8 kilometers (2.4) miles west by southwest of Sheepshead Bayou; USGS topographic quadrangle: West Pass, FL
Latitude--29.671111
Longitude-- -85.124490
Datum--WGS84
Coordinate source--from hand-held GPS
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to bedrock--Greater than 200 centimeters
Manner of failure--Nonfluid to very fluid throughout
Sulfurous odor--Slight to moderate throughout
Soil reaction--Neutral to strongly alkaline throughout profile (pH 6.6 to 9.0)
Oxidized reaction--Neutral to strongly alkaline throughout profile (pH 6.6 to 9.0)
Electrical conductivity (1:5 soil to water solution)--2.0 to 5.0 dS m-1 throughout profile
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Shell fragments--0 to 30 percent
Sand--75 to 95 percent
Clay--2 to 14 percent
Total soil organic carbon stock 0 to 100 centimeters--4 to 10 kg m-2
Total soil organic carbon stock 0 to 200 centimeters--12 to 20 kg m-2
Aseg horizons (where present):
Hue--2.5Y to N
Value--2.5 or 3
Chroma--none or 1
Texture--Loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam and their shelly analogs
Organic carbon density--12 to 20 kg m-3
Cseg horizons:
Hue--2.5Y to N
Value--2.5 to 5
Chroma--none to 2
Texture--Sand, fine sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam and their shelly analogs
Organic carbon density--2 to 12 kg m-3
2Cseg horizons (where present):
Hue--10Y to N
Value--3 to 7
Chroma--none to 2
Texture--Sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam
Organic carbon density--10 to 20 kg m-3
COMPETING SERIES:
These are the
Buttonwood and
Endeavor series
Buttonwood soils--Formed in barrier coves and contain submerged spodic horizons as lithologic discontinuities
Endeavor soils--Formed on relict flood-tidal delta flats and slopes with some horizons containing greater than 30 percent shell fragments and have mixed mineralogy
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape--Bays and Lagoons along the Gulf Coast
Landform--Barrier coves and lagoon bottoms
Parent material--Loamy and sandy lagoonal deposits
Slope--0 to 1 percent
Water depth range--0 to 2 meters (0 to 6 feet) below mean sea level
Water salinity range--20 to 35 parts per thousand
Water temperature range--18 to 30 degrees C (64 to 86 degrees F)
Soil temperature range--19 to 27 degrees C (66 to 81 degrees F)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the
Amtrac,
Apalachicola,
Dry Bar,
Pelican Reef, and
Thalinectes soils.
Amtrac soils--Are on high-energy lagoon bottoms and barrier coves and formed in coarse-loamy lagoon deposits.
Apalachicola soils--Are on bay and lagoon bottoms and formed in fine-loamy lagoonal deposits.
Dry Bar soils--Are on shoals and reefs and formed in sandy-skeletal lagoonal deposits.
Pelican Reef soils--Are on relict flood-tidal deltas and formed in sandy lagoonal deposits.
Thalinectes soils--Are on washover-fans and longshore bars and formed in sandy lagoonal deposits.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--Subaqueous
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--High to very high
Soil moisture regime--Peraquic
Soil is continuously inundated by salt water.
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses--These soils are used for Northern hard-shell clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) and, to a lesser extent, Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) cultivation and production. Non-cultivated areas also support native Southern Quahog clam (Mercenaria campechiensis).
Typical vegetation--Vegetation is largely absent on Sheepshead soils managed for aquaculture. Sheepshead soils in a natural state support turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum), widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima), and some shoal grass (Halodule wrightii).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General area--Bays and Lagoons along the Gulf
Land Resource Region(s)--T - Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region
MLRA(s)--152A
Extent--Small
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Special Projects Office
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Florida, 2026
REMARKS:
Typical Pedon Taxonomic Features:
Fluidity--Moderately fluid from 0 to 24 centimeters and 172 to 214 centimeters
Peraquic feature--Zero or positive soil water potential at the soil surface (permanently submerged)
Reduced matrix--The zone from 0 to 214 centimeters has a soil color matric with a chroma of 2 or less
Lithologic discontinuity--The zone from 172 to 214 centimeters
Taxonomic Version: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Thirteenth Edition, 2022
Other: Named after Sheepshead Bayou near where first observed. Sheepshead soils were previously mapped as water in Florida soil survey publications.
NASIS User Site and Pedon ID: S2025FL037010
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.