LOCATION WHITEMARSH MD+DE
Established Series
SYD-RBT/Rev. MDJ
11/2015
WHITEMARSH SERIES
MLRA(s): 149A, 153C, 153D
Depth Class: Very Deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Poorly drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately low to moderately high in the solum and moderately low to very high in the substratum
Permeability Class (obsolete): Permeability is slow in the solum and slow to rapid in the substratum
Landscape: Coastal Plain, upland
Landform: Flats, depressions, swales
Parent Material: Silty eolian deposits over fluviomarine sediments
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 12.8 degrees Celsius (55 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 1092 millimeters (43 inches)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Typic Albaquults
TYPICAL PEDON: Whitemarsh silt loam, on a one percent slope, in a wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 3 centimeters (0 to 1 inches); slightly decomposed plant material from loblolly pine, sweet gum, and oak.
Oe--3 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches); root mat, moderately decomposed plant material.
A--5 to 10 centimeters (2 to 4 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine and medium, and few coarse roots throughout; few very fine tubular pores; extremely acid; clear smooth boundary.
Eg1--10 to 20 centimeters (4 to 8 inches); light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine and medium and very few coarse roots; few very fine tubular pores; few medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) iron masses; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Eg2--20 to 30 centimeters (8 to 12 inches); light gray (10YR 7/1) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few medium and very few coarse roots; few very fine tubular pores; few medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) iron masses; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Btg1--30 to 61 centimeters (12 to 24 inches); gray (10YR 6/1) silty clay loam; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; very firm, slightly sticky, plastic; common fine and very fine roots in cracks; few fine and medium tubular pores; common prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; common fine and medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) iron masses; few fine and medium faint light gray (10YR 7/1) iron depletions; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Btg2--61 to 94 centimeters (24 to 37 inches); light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silt loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine platy; very firm, sticky, plastic; few fine and medium roots in vertical cracks; few fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; common fine and medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6 and 7.5YR 5/8) iron masses; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Btg3--94 to 140 centimeters (37 to 55 inches); gray (10YR6/1) silt loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium platy; firm, sticky, plastic; few fine and very fine roots between peds; common very fine and fine tubular pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and few medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) iron masses; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
BCg--140 to 157 centimeters (55 to 62 inches); light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silt loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots in cracks; common very fine and fine, few medium tubular pores; few prominent clay films in pores; few medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) iron masses; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
2Cg--157 to 183 centimeters (62 to 72 inches); light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) loam; massive; firm, sticky, plastic; few fine and very fine tubular pores; few medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) iron masses; 3 percent coarse fragments; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Queen Anne's County, Maryland; about 2.4 kilometers northeast of Centreville; approximately one mile north along Brick Schoolhouse Rd. from its intersection with Whitemarsh Rd., 76 meters west of Brick Schoolhouse Rd. USGS Centreville, Maryland topographic quadrangle; latitude 39 degrees 4 minutes 47 seconds N.; and longitude 76 degrees 1 minute 3 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the top of the Argillic: 13 to 61 centimeters (5 to 24 inches), average 30 centimeters (12 inches)
Depth to the base of the Argillic: 66 to 140 centimeters (26 to 55 inches), average 97 centimeters (38 inches)
Solum Thickness (including the BC horizon): 84 to 168 centimeters (33 to 66 inches), average 119 centimeters (47 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 183 centimeters (72 inches)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 0 to 25 centimeters (0 to 10 inches), December to May
Rock Fragments: 0 to 5 percent in the C horizon
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid, except where limed
Range of Individual Horizons
A horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 3
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam
Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow,
or brown and iron depletions in shades of brown, yellow, olive, or gray
E (if it occurs) or Eg horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 1 to 4, chromas of 3 or 4 are no deeper than 25 centimeters (10 inches)
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam
Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow,
or brown and iron depletions in shades of brown, yellow, olive, or gray
Btg horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silty clay loam, less frequently silt loam or silty clay
Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow,
or brown and iron depletions in shades of brown, yellow, olive, or gray
BCg horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam or clay loam, less frequently loam or sandy clay loam
Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow,
or brown and iron depletions in shades of brown, yellow, olive, or gray
C (if it occurs) or Cg horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 8, and chroma of 1 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sand to silty clay loam and commonly stratified
Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow,
or brown and iron depletions in shades of brown, yellow, olive, or gray
COMPETING SERIES:
There are no competing series. Similar series include:
Bladen soil--has a clayey particle-size class, and are thermic Typic Albaquults
Carmichael soil-has a coarse-loamy particle-size class
Elkton soils-do not have an abrupt textural change between the ochric epipedon and the argillic horizon
Fallsington soils-have a fine-loamy particle-size class
Leonardtown soils-have a fragipan
Othello soils- do not have an abrupt textural change between the ochric epipedon and the argillic horizon
Pouncey soils-- have a clayey particle-size class, and are thermic Typic Albaquults
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Coastal Plain, upland
Landform: Flats, depressions, swales
Parent Material: Silty eolian deposits over fluviomarine sediments
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Elevation: 0.3 to 37 meters (1 to 120 feet)
Frost-free period: 180 to 220 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 12.8 degrees Centigrade (55 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1092 millimeters (43 inches)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Butlertown soils on higher landforms are well drained and have a fragipan
Fallsington soils on similar landforms and have a fine-loamy particle-size class
Matapeake soils on higher landforms are well drained
Mattapex soils on higher landforms are moderately well drained
Othello soils on similar landforms have between 18 and 27 percent clay in the particle-size control section and do not have an abrupt textural change between the ochric epipedon and the argillic horizon
Nassawango soils on higher landforms and are well drained
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Poorly drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very shallow and common
Index Surface Runoff: High
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately low to moderately high in the solum and moderately low to very high in the substratum
Permeability Class (obsolete): Permeability is slow in the solum and slow to rapid in the substratum
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: Occasional and brief
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Woodland
Dominant Vegetation: Where wooded-- Whitemarsh soils are usually wooded, but some pedons have been drained for the production of corn, wheat, barley, and soybeans. Areas of second growth forest contain red maple (Acer rubrum), swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana), short-leaf pine (Pinus echinata), white oak (Quercus alba), black oak (Quercus velutina), southern red oak (Quercus falcata), willow oak (Quercus phellos), and black cherry (Prunus serotina) in the canopy; and musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), serviceberry (Amelanchier obovalis), sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), greenbriar (Smilax rotundifolium), Hercules club (Aralia spinosa), Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), strawberry bush (Euonymus americanus), pawpaw (Asimina triloba), swamp azalea (Rhododendron viscosum), highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), sparkleberry (Vaccinium stamineum), lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium vacillans), partridge berry (Mitchella repens), and pink lady's slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule) in the understory. Where the canopy is open there are fox sedge (Carex vulpinoidea), and fetterbush (Leucothoe racemosa).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Maryland and Delaware
Extent: Moderately extensive
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Queen Anne's County, Maryland, 1995.
REMARKS: Whitemarsh soils were previously mapped as the Elkton series. It is distinguished from Elkton by having an abrupt textural change between the ochric epipedon and the argillic horizon.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 30 centimeters (0 to 12 inches) (Oi, Oe, A, Eg1 and Eg2 horizons)
Albic horizon--the zone from 10 to 30 centimeters (4 to 12 inches) (Eg1 and Eg2 horizons)
Argillic horizon--the zone from 30 to 140 centimeters (12 to 55 inches) (Btg1, Btg2, and Btg3 horizons)
Aquic conditions-- the zone from 0 to 183 centimeters (0 to 72 inches)
Series control section--the zone from 0 to 152 centimeters (0 to 60 inches)
The following changes have been made (12/2012):
1) Revisions to formatting and data consistency with NASIS.
2) Revisions made to include NASIS information and laboratory data
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available from the NSSL for the following pedon: S92MD-035-025. Particle size data is available from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD for the following pedons: S94MD-035-059 and S94MD-035-061.
Database Information:
Typical Pedon Data Mapunit ID: 102393
OSD User Pedon ID: 07MD035006_Whitemarsh
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.