Belhaven soil and landscape
A soil profile of Belhaven muck from the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia. The Great Dismal Swamp is a large swamp in the Coastal Plain Region of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It is located in parts of the southern Virginia independent cities of Chesapeake and Suffolk and northern North Carolina counties of Gates, Pasquotank, and Camden. Some estimates place the size of the original swamp at over one million acres.
MLRA(s): 153A, 153B
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Very poorly drained
Permeability: Moderately slow to moderately rapid
Surface Runoff: Very slow
Parent Material: Highly decomposed organic matter underlain by loamy marine sediments
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 60 degrees F.
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 51 inches
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, dysic, thermic Terric Haplosaprists
Thickness of Organic Layers: 16 to 51 inches
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 60 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 0 to 12 inches, November to May
Soil Reaction: Organic layers are ultra acid to extremely acid (in 0.01 M CaCl2) except where the surface has been limed. The underlying mineral horizons are extremely acid through moderately alkaline
Fiber content of Oa horizons: 15 percent to 45 percent unrubbed and less than 10 percent rubbed. The amount of fiber is highest in the lower tier. The organic material of this layer has a slick feel and is paste-like (colloidal). It is massive under natural wet conditions. Upon aeration after drainage, structure of the organic material evolves. Excessive drying causes shrinkage and hard subangular blocky peds to form. These peds dry irreversibly.
Other Features: Logs, stumps, and fragments of wood occupy 0 to 5 percent of the upper organic horizons in cleared areas that are cultivated and 5 to 35 percent in undrained areas. Pieces of charcoal range from common (2 to 8 percent) in the upper tier to few (less than 2 percent) in the lower tiers
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Mostly woodland
Dominant Vegetation: Where wooded--plant communities that reflect past history of treatment. Areas with a history of severe burning have scattered pond pine and a dense undergrowth of both large holly and small gallberry and huckleberry, fetterbush lyonia, swamp cyrilla, loblollybay gordonia, greenbrier and southern bayberry, as well as scattered red maple, red bay, sweetbay magnolia, and reeds. Similar areas may have a smaller population of these species and contain large amounts of broomsedge. Areas without severe burning have red maple, Southern bald cypress, pond pine, Atlantic white-cedar, red bay, sweet bay, and other hydrophytic species. Where cultivated--corn, soybeans, small grain, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Lower Coastal Plain of North Carolina and Virginia
Extent: Moderate
For more detailed information, please visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BELHAVEN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Belhaven soil and landscape
A soil profile of Belhaven muck from the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia. The Great Dismal Swamp is a large swamp in the Coastal Plain Region of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It is located in parts of the southern Virginia independent cities of Chesapeake and Suffolk and northern North Carolina counties of Gates, Pasquotank, and Camden. Some estimates place the size of the original swamp at over one million acres.
MLRA(s): 153A, 153B
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Very poorly drained
Permeability: Moderately slow to moderately rapid
Surface Runoff: Very slow
Parent Material: Highly decomposed organic matter underlain by loamy marine sediments
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 60 degrees F.
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 51 inches
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, dysic, thermic Terric Haplosaprists
Thickness of Organic Layers: 16 to 51 inches
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 60 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 0 to 12 inches, November to May
Soil Reaction: Organic layers are ultra acid to extremely acid (in 0.01 M CaCl2) except where the surface has been limed. The underlying mineral horizons are extremely acid through moderately alkaline
Fiber content of Oa horizons: 15 percent to 45 percent unrubbed and less than 10 percent rubbed. The amount of fiber is highest in the lower tier. The organic material of this layer has a slick feel and is paste-like (colloidal). It is massive under natural wet conditions. Upon aeration after drainage, structure of the organic material evolves. Excessive drying causes shrinkage and hard subangular blocky peds to form. These peds dry irreversibly.
Other Features: Logs, stumps, and fragments of wood occupy 0 to 5 percent of the upper organic horizons in cleared areas that are cultivated and 5 to 35 percent in undrained areas. Pieces of charcoal range from common (2 to 8 percent) in the upper tier to few (less than 2 percent) in the lower tiers
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Mostly woodland
Dominant Vegetation: Where wooded--plant communities that reflect past history of treatment. Areas with a history of severe burning have scattered pond pine and a dense undergrowth of both large holly and small gallberry and huckleberry, fetterbush lyonia, swamp cyrilla, loblollybay gordonia, greenbrier and southern bayberry, as well as scattered red maple, red bay, sweetbay magnolia, and reeds. Similar areas may have a smaller population of these species and contain large amounts of broomsedge. Areas without severe burning have red maple, Southern bald cypress, pond pine, Atlantic white-cedar, red bay, sweet bay, and other hydrophytic species. Where cultivated--corn, soybeans, small grain, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Lower Coastal Plain of North Carolina and Virginia
Extent: Moderate
For more detailed information, please visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BELHAVEN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit: