LOCATION TRANSQUAKING            MD+DE NJ

Established Series
JEB-WDC/Rev. JAK-ATD
02/2025

TRANSQUAKING SERIES

MLRA(s)--149A, 153C, 153D
Depth Class--Very deep
Drainage Class--Very poorly drained
Flooding--Very frequent, very brief
Parent Material--Herbaceous organic deposits over estuarine deposits
Geomorphic Location--Estuarine and coastal tidal salt marshes
Slope--0 to 1 percent
Elevation--0 to 1 meter
Mean Annual Air Temperature-13 degrees C (56 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation--1144 millimeters (45 inches)

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.)

Oise--0 to 23 centimeters; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) peat; fiber content is 75 percent of the soil volume after rubbing; von Post value H3; many fine, medium, and coarse roots throughout; neutral (pH 7.0), extremely acid (pH 4.0) oxidized pH; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 30 centimeters thick)

Oese1--23 to 56 centimeters; black (10YR 2/1) mucky peat; fiber content is 33 percent of the soil volume after rubbing; von Post value H5; common fine and medium roots throughout; neutral (pH 7.0), extremely acid (pH 3.5) oxidized pH; clear smooth boundary.

Oese2--56 to 117 centimeters; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) mucky peat; fiber content is 25 percent of the soil volume after rubbing; von Post value H5; neutral (pH 7.0), extremely acid (pH 4.4) oxidized pH; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Oese horizons is 31 to 130 centimeters)

Oase--117 to 165 centimeters; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) muck; fiber content is 10 percent of the soil volume after rubbing; von Post value H8; neutral (pH 7.0), extremely acid (pH 4.0) oxidized pH; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 33 centimeters thick)

Cseg--165 to 203 centimeters; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) silty clay; massive; friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very fluid; neutral (pH 7.0), extremely acid (pH 3.6) oxidized pH.

TYPE LOCATION: Dorchester County, Maryland; approximately 12.9 kilometers southeast of Cambridge, MD, approximately 2 kilometers southeast of the intersection of Bucktown Road and Decoursey Bridge Road, approximately 2.6 kilometers east of the intersection of Bucktown Road, Greenbrier Road, and Bestpitch Ferry Road, and approximately 558 meters south-southwest of the Decoursey Bridge, on a small marsh island in the Transquaking River east of the mouth of Scotland Creek. USGS topographic quadrangle--Blackwater River, MD

Latitude--38.4605140
Longitude-- -76.0021010
Datum--WGS84
Coordinate source--unknown

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to bedrock--Greater than 200 centimeters
Thickness of organic soil material--40 to not more than 130 centimeters
Reaction--Slightly acid to moderately alkaline (pH 6.1 to 8.4)
Oxidized reaction--Ultra acid to strongly acid throughout (pH <3.5 to 5.5)
Electrical conductivity (EC)--greater than 8 dS/m (5.6 ppt), typically greater than 16 dS/m
Depth to hypersulfidic materials--0 to 100 centimeters
Sulfur Content--0.75 to 3.5 percent
Organic carbon stock 0 to 100 centimeters--41 to 56 kg m-2
Organic carbon stock 0 to 200 centimeters--74 to 109 kg m-2
Other characteristics--Some pedons have thin layers of silt and very fine sand in the organic horizons

Oise horizon (where present):
Hue--10YR to 5Y or neutral
Value--2 to 4
Chroma--0 to 3
Texture--peat
Von Post--H2 to H3
Organic carbon density--20 to 54 kg m-3

Oese horizon:
Hue--5YR to 5Y or neutral
Value--2 to 4
Chroma--0 to 3
Texture--mucky peat
Von Post--H4 to H6
Organic carbon density--24 to 122 kg m-3

Oase horizon (where present):
Hue--7.5YR to 5Y
Value--2 to 5
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--muck
Von Post--H7 to H9
Organic carbon density--19 to 66 kg m-3

Cseg horizon:
Hue--10YR to 5GY or neutral
Value--2 to 4
Chroma--0 or 2
Texture--silt loam, silty clay loam, or silty clay
Organic carbon density--12 to 46 kg m-3
Other characteristics--some pedons have thin organic layers and/or thin sandy layers up to several centimeters thick stratified within the Cseg horizon

COMPETING SERIES:
These are the Ipswich soils:
Ipswich soils--are underlain by glaciofluvial sandy nonfluid mineral materials and have mean annual air temperatures less than 52 degrees F.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape--Coastal Plain
Landform--Tidal marsh
Parent Material--Herbaceous organic deposits over estuarine deposits
Slope Range--0 to 1 percent
Elevation--0 to 1 meter
Mean annual air temperature--11 to 15 degrees C (52 to 59 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation--1052 to 1240 millimeters (41 to 49 inches)
Frost free period--190 to 260 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the Appoquinimink, Bestpitch, Boxiron, Broadkill, Honga, Mispillion, and Sunken soils.
Appoquinimink soils--have buried organic layers at least 40 centimeters thick overlain by fine-silty mineral materials (thapto-histic), on similar landforms
Bestpitch soils--have organic soil materials 40 to 130 centimeters thick underlain by fine estuarine deposits, on similar landforms
Boxiron soils--have an organic surface at least 20 but less than 40 centimeters thick (histic epipedon), on similar landforms
Broadkill soils--have organic soil materials less than 20 centimeters thick, on similar landforms
Honga soils--have organic soil materials 40 to 130 centimeters thick underlain by loamy, nonfluid flvuiomarine deposits with a relict argillic horizon, on submerging upland landforms
Mispillion soils--have organic soil materials 40 to 130 centimeters thick underlain by loamy estuarine deposits, on similar landforms
Sunken soils--have organic soil materials less than 20 centimeters thick underlain by fine-silty fluviomarine deposits with a relict argillic horizon, on slightly higher submerging upland landforms

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class--Very poorly drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity--High to very high in the organic horizons and moderately low to moderately high in the underlying mineral horizons
Flooding Frequency and Duration--Very frequent and very brief
Soil Moisture Regime--Peraquic (continuously saturated throughout)

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses--Transquaking soils are mainly used for their ecological and environmental benefits as tidal salt marsh ecosystems that provide essential plant and animal habitat, water quality benefits, and coastal protection from storms and sea level rise.
Natural Vegetation--Typically olney threesquare (Scirpus americanus), saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens), saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), saltgrass (Distichlis spicata), and marsh hibiscus (Hibiscus palustris).

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General Area--Tidal salt marshes of the mid-Atlantic coastal plain within the states of Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey
Land Resource Regions (LRR)--S - Northern Atlantic Slope Diversified Farming Region and T - Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region
MLRA(s)--149A, 153C, 153D
Extent--Moderate

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: SPECIAL PROJECTS OFFICE

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dorchester County, Maryland, 1992

REMARKS:
Transquaking soil were previously mapped as Tidal Marsh miscellaneous areas. Oxidized pH analysis indicates these soils have hypersulfidic materials (pH of 4.0 or less after 16 weeks of moist incubation), causing them to typically become ultra acid to extremely acid when drained. Historically, large areas of these soils were ditched for mosquito control, which has led to marsh degradation in some areas.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon (Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Thirteenth Edition):
Aquic conditions--the zone from 0 to 203 centimeters is continuously saturated (endosaturation)
Fibric soil materials--the zone from 0 to 23 centimeters has a fiber content after rubbing that is three-fourths or more of the soil volume (Oise horizon)
Hemic soil materials--the zone from 23 to 117 centimeters has a fiber content after rubbing that is between one-third and three-fourths of the soil volume (Oese horizons)
Sapric soil materials--the zone from 117 to 165 centimeters has a fiber content after rubbing that is less than one-sixth of the soil volume (Oase horizon)
Hypersulfidic materials--the zone from 0 to 56 centimeters and 117 to 203 centimeters (oxidized pH of 4.0 or less after 16 weeks of moist incubation)
Fluidity--the zone from 165 to 203 centimeters is very fluid (n value > 1.0)

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.

Database information:
NASIS site and pedon ID for typical pedon--2007MD019008
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.