LOCATION WHITTINGTON MD
Tentative Series
GPD
01/2016
WHITTINGTON SERIES
MLRA(s): 153C, 153D
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Very poorly drained (permanently submersed)
Permeability: Moderate to very rapid
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible
Parent Material: Barrier island washover sediments
Slope: 0 to 1 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 56 degrees F.
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 57 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Siliceous, mesic Typic Psammaquents
TYPICAL PEDON: Whittington sand on a smooth 0.2 percent slope on an overwash fans of a barrier island under 1.5 feet of permanent estuarine water. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 8 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) fine sand; single grain; very friable; 1 percent, by volume shell fragments; moderately alkaline; strongly saline; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
Cg1--8 to 17 inches; dark greenish gray (10Y 3/1) fine sand; few fine distinct dark gray (N 4/0) mottles; single grain; friable; moderately alkaline; strongly saline; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
2Cg2--17 to 28 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) sand; single grain; firm; slightly alkaline; strongly saline; clear smooth boundary.
2Cg3--28 to 45 inches; light gray (N 6/0) sand; single grain; firm; 15 percent, by volume shell fragments; slightly alkaline; strongly saline; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the 2Cg horizon is 20 to 48 inches.)
3Agb--45 to 60 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) loamy fine sand; massive; firm; 15 percent, by volume dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) organic fragments; 5 percent, by volume shell fragments; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Worcester County, Maryland; approximately 400 feet north of Great Egging Island, 700 feet southwest of the Assateague Island Ferry Landing, Sinepuxent Bay, in an unvegetated area; lat. 38 degrees, 12 minutes, 25.19 seconds N. and long. 75 degrees, 8 minutes, 57.18 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 80 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Permanently submersed
Depth to Lithologic Discontinuity: 17 to 66 inches
Shell Fragments: 0 to 25 percent, by volume throughout the profile
Soil Reaction: Slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline throughout the profile
Electrical Conductivity: Greater than 16 mmhos/cm throughout the profile
Salinity: Greater than 25 ppt throughout the profile
Other Features: Some pedons do not have a buried surface horizon below 40 inches
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
A or Ag horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4, or is neutral with value of 3 to 5
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--fine sand, loamy fine sand or sand.
Cg horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR to 10Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral with value of 4 to 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--fine sand, sand or loamy fine sand
2Cg horizon:
Color--hue of 2.5Y to 10Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral with value of 3 to 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sand or loamy sand
3Agb (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral with value of 2 to 5
Texture (fine earth fraction)--loamy fine sand, fine sandy loam, or loam
COMPETING SERIES:
Demas soils (tentative)--formed in mixed estaurine sediments, do not have layers with chroma of 3 or more, at slightly deeper water depths
Trappe soils (tentative)--formed in mixed estuarine sediments, have layers with value of 3 or more, at slightly deeper water depths
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Estuaries
Landform: Overwash Fans
Parent Material: Barrier island washover materials overlying loamy estuarine deposits
Slope: 0 to 1 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 50 to 57 degrees F.
Mean Annual Water Temperature: 52 to 58 degrees F.
Bathymetry: 0.7 to 2.8 feet below MSL
Water Regime: Tidal, 1.0 to 2.0 feet tidal range
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Tizzard soils--have a coarse-loamy particle-size control section; at slightly deeper water depths
Demas soils (tentative)--formed in mixed estaurine sediments, at slightly deeper water depths
Purnell soils--are not permanently submerged; on adjacent tidal marshes
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Very poorly drained (permanently submersed)
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible
Permeability: Moderate to very rapid
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Most areas are vegetated and function as estuarine benthic wildlife habitat. Benthic fauna such as tubeworms, clams, juvenile blue crabs, scallops and juvenile finfish are common.
Dominant Vegetation: Native vegetation includes rooted algae, eelgrass (Zostera marina) and widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima). Vegetative cover ranges from 0 to 15 percent.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Mid-Atlantic coastal estuaries of Maryland and Delaware and possibly Virginia. This series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES PROPOSED: Worcester County, Maryland, 1998.
REMARKS: Whittington soils were formerly included with miscellaneous areas of water. They are distinguished by being permanently covered by estuarine waters that support submersed aquatic vegetation. These soils would classify in the proposed "Subaquic" subgroup. The initial name proposed for this series was "Fenwick". Refer to "Subaqueous Soil Survey of Sinepuxent Bay, Maryland;" G.P. Demas, J.H. Brown, and M.C. Rabenhorst; July 1998.
Diagnostic horizons and other diagnostic soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon (oxidized)--the zone from 0 to 8 inches (A horizon)
Peraquic feature--the zone from 0 to 60 inches is permanently saturated
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Data Map Unit ID: To be developed
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.