LOCATION TRANSQUAKING MD+DE NJEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Euic, mesic Typic Sulfihemists
TYPICAL PEDON: Transquaking peat, on a smooth 0 percent slope, in an estuarine tidal marsh. (Colors are for a moist, rubbed soil.)
Oi--0 to 9 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) peat (fibric soil material); fiber content is three-fourths of the soil volume after rubbing; 50 percent, by weight, mineral soil material; many fine, medium, and coarse live roots; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
Oe1--9 to 22 inches; black (10YR 2/1) mucky peat (hemic soil material); fiber content is about one-third of the soil volume after rubbing; 30 percent, by weight, mineral soil material; common fine and medium live roots; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Oe2--22 to 46 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) mucky peat (hemic soil material); fiber content is about one-forth of the soil volume after rubbing; 30 percent, by weight, mineral soil material; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Oe horizon is 12 to 51 inches)
Oa--46 to 65 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) muck (sapric soil material); fiber content is one-tenth of the soil volume after rubbing; 40 percent, by weight, mineral soil material; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 13 inches thick)
Cg--65 to 80 inches; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) silty clay; massive; friable; sticky, plastic; n value greater than 1.0, material flows easily between the fingers when squeezed; 10 percent organic matter; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Dorchester County, Maryland; about 1.5 miles east of Bucktown, 2,000 feet south of De Coursey Bridge Road, 800 feet east of the confluence of the Transquaking River and Scotland Creek; Latitude 38 degrees 27 minutes 37 seconds N. and Longitude 76 degrees 00 minutes 06 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the Organic Deposits: 52 to 80 inches or more
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 60 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 0 inches, January to December
Rock Fragments: by volume, mostly
Soil Reaction: Slightly acid to neutral in the natural state and upon drying is ultra acid or extremely acid.
Electrical Conductivity: Greater than 8 mmhos/cm, typically greater than 16 mmhos/cm
Sulfur Content: 0.75 to 3.5 percent
High n-value: Greater than 1.0
Mineral Content of Organic Layers: 20 to 70 percent, by weight. Thin layers of silt and very fine sand are in the organic horizons of some pedons.
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
Surface tier, 0 to 12 inches (Oi or Oa horizon):
Color--hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 4, chroma of 1 to 3
It is peat (fibric soil material) or mucky peat (hemic soil material)
Subsurface tier, 12 to 36 inches (Oe or Oa horizon):
Color--hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 5, chroma of 1 to 4
Texture--mucky peat (hemic soil material) or muck (sapric soil material)
Bottom tier, 36 to 51 inches (Oa horizon):
Color--hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, chroma of 1 or 2
Texture--muck (sapric soil material)
Cg horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR to 5GY, value of 3 or 4, chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral with value of 3 or 4
Texture--silt loam, silty clay loam, or silty clay. Some pedons have thin sandy mineral layers less than 1 inch thick, stratified within the horizon. Organic Matter Content: 1 to 20 percent. Some pedons have thin organic layers stratified within the mineral horizons.
COMPETING SERIES:
Ipswich soils--have mean annual air temperatures less than 52 degrees F. and have sandy mineral material with n values less than 1.0 and bulk density greater than 1.00 g/cm3, underlying the organic deposits
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Coastal Plain
Landform: Brackish estuarine marshes along tidally influenced rivers and creek
Elevation: 0 to 1 foot
Parent Material: Organic deposits underlain by loamy mineral sediments. The organic deposits formed form salt tolerant herbaceous plants.
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 52 to 58 degrees F.
Mean Annual Precipitation: 42 to 48 inches
Frost Free Period: 190 to 210 days
They formed dominantly in moderately decomposed overlying high n value loamy mineral sediments. Slopes range from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual temperature ranges from 52 to 58 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation ranges from 42 to 48 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Bestpitch soils--have organic material less than 51 inches thick underlain by fine-textured mineral material with high n-value, on slightly higher landforms
Honga soils--have organic material less than 51 inches thick underlain by loamy mineral material with low n-value, on slightly higher landforms
Elkton soils--poorly drained mineral soils that have a fine-silty particle-size control section with 27 to 35 percent clay and sola more than 40 inches thick, on higher landforms
Othello soils--poorly drained mineral soils that have a fine-silty particle-size control section with 18 to 27 percent clay and sola less than 40 inches thick, on higher landforms
Sunken soils--have organic material less than 16 inches thick underlain by low n-value loamy mineral material, on submerging uplands
USE: Mainly as wetland wildlife habitat.
VEGETATION: Dominant vegetation is olney threesquare (Scirpus americanus), saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens), saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), saltgrass (Distichlis spicata), and marsh hibiscus (Hibiscus palustris).
DISTRIBUTION: Coastal Plain of Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey
EXTENT: Moderate
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dorchester County, Maryland, 1992
REMARKS: Transquaking soil were previously mapped as Tidal Marsh miscellaneous area. These soils become ultra acid when drained.
Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Fibric material--the zone from 0 to 9 inches has a fiber content after rubbing that is three-fourths or more of the soil volume (Oi horizon)
Hemic material--the zone from 9 to 46 inches has a fiber content after rubbing that is between one-third and three-forths of the soil volume (Oe horizons)
Sapric material--the zone from 46 to 65 inches has a fiber content after rubbing that is less than one-sixth of the soil volume (Oa horizon)
Aquic conditions--the zone from the soil surface to a depth of 80 inches is continuously saturated (endosaturation).
Sulfidic materials--incubated samples, to a depth of 80 inches, show a drop in pH of 0.5 or more units to a pH value of 4.0 or less within 8 weeks
High n-value--the zone from 65 to 80 inches has an n-value greater than 1.0, the material flows easily between the fingers (Cg horizon)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to publication "Tidal Marsh Soils of Maryland", Darmody, R.G. and Foss, J.E., Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station Publication MP 930, October 1978.
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation MD0137 TRANSQUAKING 0- 1 54- 58 190-210 42- 48 0- 1SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness MD0137 FREQ 0- 0 APPARENT JAN-DEC >60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- MD0137 0- 9 PEAT MPT 0- 0 - 0- 0 40- 90 MD0137 9-46 MPT MUCK 0- 0 - 0- 0 80-100 MD0137 46-65 MUCK MPT 0- 0 - 0- 0 20- 70 MD0137 65-80 SIC SICL 0- 0 100-100 30-40 20- 40
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll MD0137 0- 9 6.1- 7.3 30-80 8-32 2.0- 20 LOW MD0137 9-46 6.1- 7.3 60-80 8-32 2.0- 20 LOW MD0137 46-65 6.1- 7.3 25-80 8-32 2.0- 20 LOW MD0137 65-80 6.1- 7.3 .5-20 8-32 0.06- 0.2 MODERATE