LOCATION WULFERT FLEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy or sandy-skeletal, siliceous, euic, hyperthermic Terric Sulfisaprists
TYPICAL PEDON: Wulfert muck--in a mangrove swamp. (Colors are for wet soil.)
Oa1--0 to 2 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) muck; 15 percent fiber, 3 percent rubbed; massive; friable; many fine roots, common medium roots; about 55 percent mineral material; 0.5 percent sulfur; 318 mmho/cm conductivity; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Oa2--2 to 12 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) muck; 75 percent fiber, 3 percent rubbed; massive; friable; common coarse roots; about 56 percent mineral material; 1.5 percent sulfur; 350 mmho/cm conductivity; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Oa3--12 to 36 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) muck; 95 percent fiber, 16 percent rubbed; massive; friable; common fine and medium roots; about 79 percent mineral material; 2.4 percent sulfur; 245 mmho/cm conductivity; extremely acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Oa horizons range from 16 to 51 inches)
Cg--36 to 80 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) fine sand; single grained; loose; about 10 percent, by volume, shell fragments; about 0.3 percent sulfur; 74 mmho/cm conductivity; few medium distinct light gray (5Y 7/1) streaks; extremely acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Lee County, Florida; approximately 0.2 mile north of intersection of the power line and dike and about 75 feet west; SE 1/4, SE 1/4, Sec. 7, T. 46 S., R 22 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Sulfur content ranges from 0.7 to 2.4 percent in the Oa2 and Oa3 horizons. The organic material in all tiers is dominantly sapric material, but in some pedons, hemic material occurs. Conductivity of the saturation extract above the C ranges from about 200 to 400 mmho/cm. Reaction of the Oa horizons ranges from extremely acid to neutral in the natural state and from extremely acid to slightly acid after drying. Reaction of the Cg horizon in the natural state ranges from extremely acid to slightly alkaline and from extremely acid to moderately acid after drying.
The Oa horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 3 or less. Mineral content ranges up to 80 percent. Texture is muck.
The Cg horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. Redoximorphic features in shades of yellow, brown, or gray range from none to many. Content of shell fragments range from 0 to 20 percent, by volume. Texture is sand, fine sand, loamy fine sand, loamy sand, their gravelly or mucky analogs.
COMPETING SERIES: The Weekiwachee series is the only known series in the same family. Weekiwachee soils are on similar positions and are moderately deep to limestone bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wulfert soils are in tidal swamps and marshes along the Gulf Coast in Peninsular Florida. Slopes are less than 1 percent. They formed in moderately thick deposits of hydrophytic plant remains and sandy marine sediments containing shell fragments. The climate is humid subtropical. The average annual precipitation ranges from 50 to 60 inches, and the average annual temperature ranges from 70 to 74 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Captiva and Kesson series. They are both sandy throughout. The poorly drained Captiva soils are on higher positions and have mollic epipedons. Kesson soils are on similar positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained; rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Wulfert soils are used mainly for wildlife habitat. The native vegetation is dominated by American mangrove, black mangrove, needlegrass rush, seashore saltgrass, marshhay cordgrass, and smooth cordgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Gulf Coast tidal area of Peninsular Florida. The series is of small known extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Manatee County, Florida; 1980.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon:
Histic epipedon the zone from 0 to 36 inches (Oa1, Oa2, and Oa3 horizons).
Wulfert soils are flooded during normal daily high tides.
The revision changed the series classification to recognize the 1992 amendments to Soil Taxonomy that introduced changes in classification of Histosols.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Sample number S36-6-(1-4). Soil Characterization Lab., IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.