LOCATION TRANSQUAKING            MD+DE NJ

Established Series
JEB-WDC/Rev. JAK
06/2024

TRANSQUAKING SERIES


TAXONOMIC CLASS: Euic, mesic Typic Sulfihemists
DEPTH CLASS: Very deep
DRAINAGE CLASS: Very poorly drained, and flooded by tidal waters
PERMEABILITY: Rapid in the organic deposits and slow in the mineral material
SURFACE RUNOFF: Very slow or ponded
PARENT MATERIAL: Organic deposits underlain by loamy mineral sediments
SLOPE: 0 to 1 percent
MEAN ANNUAL AIR TEMPERATURE (type location): 56 degrees F.
MEAN ANNUAL PRECIPITATION (type location): 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.)

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.

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

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

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-   1 

SOI-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  


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.