LOCATION DELWAY NCEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, euic, thermic Terric Haplosaprists
TYPICAL PEDON: Delway muck, salt water marsh--wildlife habitat. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oa1--0 to 28 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) broken face and rubbed, muck; about 30 percent fiber, about 10 percent rubbed; massive; very friable; moderately fluid; many fine and medium roots; strong sulfur odor; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Oa2--28 to 36 inches; black (5YR 2/1) broken face and rubbed, muck; about 10 percent fiber, about 2 percent rubbed; massive; friable; moderately fluid; many fine and medium roots; strong sulfur odor; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the O horizon is 16 to 51 inches.)
Ag--36 to 48 inches; black (10YR 2/1) loam; massive; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots; strong sulfur odor; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
Cg--48 to 80 inches; greenish gray (5GY 6/1) loam; common medium distinct dark gray (5Y 4/1) irregularly shaped masses of iron accumulation with clear boundaries in matrix; massive; firm; strong sulfur odor; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Hyde County, North Carolina; in Swanquarter about 0.1 mile west of the intersection of Secondary Road 1136 and North Carolina Highway 45, 200 feet south of Secondary Road 1136 in marsh; Swanquarter USGS topographic quadrangle; lat. 35 degrees 24 minutes 22 seconds N. and long. 76 degrees 19 minutes 55 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the underlying material and depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Depth to mineral layers ranges from 16 to 51 inches. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid in the O layers and from very strongly acid to slightly alkaline in the A and C horizons. Upon drying reaction is slightly lower in the organic layers. Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR) is more than 13. Delway soils are strongly saline and electrical conductivity is more than 16 millimhos per centimeter.
The O horizons has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2, or hue of N and value of 2 or 3. The organic materials are dominantly sapric material (muck) derived mainly from herbaceous fiber. The unrubbed fiber content ranges from about 10 to 30 percent and rubbed fiber content is less than about 15 percent. Some pedons have thin (less than 5 inches thick) surface layers that are hemic (mucky peat) or fibric (peat) materials.
The Ag horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2, or hue of N, value of 2 or 3. Texture is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam. Where present, iron depletions are in shades of gray and iron accumulations are in shades of red, brown, yellow, and olive.
The Cg horizon has hue of 10YR to 5GY, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2, or hue of N, value of 4 to 6. Texture is loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam. Iron depletions are in shades of gray and iron accumulations are in shades of red, brown, yellow, and olive. Some pedons have a reduced matrix and undergo a change in hue upon exposure to air.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Mattan and the Shinkee series. Mattan soils formed in herbaceous and woody plant remains and are influenced primarily by freshwater. Shinkee soils have mean annual precipitation of less than 16 inches. Similar soils in related families are the Belhaven, Currituck, Croatan, Pamlico, and Ponzer. Belhaven, Croatan, Pamlico, and Ponzer soils are more acid. Currituck soils are underlain by sandy fluvial sediments.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Delway soils are on low-lying brackish marshes of the Lower Coastal Plain. They formed in a mixture of herbaceous plant remains underlain by loamy fluvial and marine sediments. These soils are subject to wind tides and storm surges. Elevation typically is at sea level, and is to 2 feet or less. Slope is 1 percent or less. The mean annual air temperature ranges from 57 to 70 degrees F., the frost free season ranges from 215 to 250 days, and the average annual precipitation ranges from 46 to 58 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Acredale, Argent, Backbay, Brookman, Hydeland, and the Longshoal series. Except for Longshoal, all of these are mineral soils and are on higher elevations. Longshoal soils have organic layers more than 51 inches thick.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained soils with moderately rapid to rapid permeability in the organic layers and moderately slow permeability in the mineral layers. Surface runoff is very slow to ponded. The water level is at or above the soil surface throughout the year. Wind tides and storm tides may cause inundation up to 5 feet.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for wetland wildlife habitat. The vegetation is water tolerant herbaceous plants and includes marshhay cordgrass, switchgrass, saltmarsh bulrush, saltmarsh cordgrass, saltmeadow cordgrass, olney bulrush, big cordgrass, and needlegrass rush (black needlerush).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal marshes in North Carolina and possibly South Carolina and Virginia. The series is of small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hyde County, North Carolina; 1996.
REMARKS: Delway soils were previously mapped with the Delcomb series (LA). The Delcomb series was reclassified as loamy, mixed, euic, hyperthermic Terric Medisaprists.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
Histic epidedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 16 inches. (upper Oa1 horizon)
Aquic conditions - endosaturation and redoximorphic features including masses of iron accumulation in the zone from 48 to 62 inches. (Cg horizon)
MLRA = 153B
ADDITIONAL DATA: Reference data is available from the Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE for the following pedons: S88NC-095-001; S89NC-095-001; and S89NC-095-002
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation NC0294 DELWAY 0- 1 57- 70 215-250 46- 58 0- 2SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness NC0294 FREQ 0-0.5 APPARENT JAN-DEC 60-60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- NC0294 0-36 MUCK 0- 0 - - 50- 95 NC0294 36-80 L CL SICL 0- 0 95-100 12-35 5- 25
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll NC0294 0-36 3.5- 5.5 30-70 16-70 2.0- 20 LOW NC0294 36-80 4.5- 7.8 .5-5. 16-70 0.2- 0.6 LOW