LOCATION ELDEAN OH+IN

Established Series
Rev. DRM-TEL-DBD
11/2021

ELDEAN SERIES

The Eldean series consists of very deep, well drained soils that are moderately deep to calcareous sandy and gravelly material. They formed in outwash materials dominantly of limestone origin on outwash terraces, kames, and moraines. In some places, the upper part of the solum formed in silty or loamy alluvium or in loess as much as 46 cm (18 inches thick). Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 965 mm (38 inches), and mean annual air temperature is about 12 degrees C (53 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Eldean loam, on a convex, 0.5 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 244 meters (800 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 23 cm (0 to 9 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/2) loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few roots; 5 percent gravel; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 inches) thick]

BA--23 to 30 cm (9 to 12 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few roots; 5 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 20 cm (8 inches) thick]

Bt1--30 to 46 cm (12 to 18 inches); dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky and angular blocky structure; firm; moderately sticky; few roots; common faint clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--46 to 58 cm (18 to 23 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; moderately sticky; few roots; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; a 1 inch dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) clay "Beta" horizon is at contact with the BC horizon; 10 percent gravel; neutral, grading to slightly alkaline in the lower part; abrupt smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 15 to 76 cm (6 to 30 inches).]

BC--58 to 76 cm (23 to 30 inches); dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) very gravelly clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few faint clay films on faces of peds; light gray (10YR 7/2) masses of calcium carbonate accumulation; 40 percent gravel, common limestone fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear irregular boundary. [13 to 41 cm (5 to 16 inches) thick]

C--76 to 152 cm (30 to 60 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) stratified sand and very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Miami County, Ohio; approximately 1.5 miles northeast of Tipp City, in Elizabeth Township; 40 yards west of State Highway 202, 650 yards north of Tipp Elizabeth Road; northeast quarter, southwest quarter, sec. 31, T. 2 E., R. 10 N.; USGS Tipp City, Ohio topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees 58 minutes 34 seconds N. and long. 84 degrees 08 minutes 51 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 46 to 91 cm (18 to 36 inches)
Rock fragments: primarily limestone with a few crystalline and sedimentary erratics

Ap horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 to 5 (6 or more dry)
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: loam or silt loam, or the gravelly analogs of these textures; eroded pedons range to clay loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 30 percent
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

A horizon, where present:
Thickness: 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches)
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: loam or silt loam, or the gravelly analogs of these textures
Rock fragment content: 0 to 30 percent
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

E horizon, where present:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: loam or silt loam, or the gravelly analogs of these textures
Rock fragment content: 0 to 30 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral

BA or BE horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: silt loam, loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam or the gravelly analogs of these textures
Rock fragment content: 0 to 30 percent

Bt horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 3 to 6
Chroma: 3 to 6 (2 is permitted in thin subhorizons with value of 3 or 4)
Texture: clay, sandy clay, or clay loam or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs of these textures
Rock fragment content: 0 to 30 percent in the upper part and 10 to 59 percent in the lower part
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral except for thin subhorizons that range to very strongly acid

BC horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 3 to 6
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, loam, clay loam, or sandy clay loam or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs of these textures
Special feature: tongues of the Bt or BC horizon extend into the C horizon for 61 to 91 cm (2 to 3 feet) in some pedons; some pedons may contain remnants of weathered limestone
Rock fragment content: 10 to 59 percent
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline, and most pedons contain carbonates

C horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: stratified gravelly coarse sandy loam to extremely gravelly coarse sand or extremely gravelly loamy sand, with strata of sand or loamy sand in some pedons
Rock fragments: 0 to 70 percent in individual strata, with an average of 30 to 70 percent; more than 60 percent is limestone
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 65 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Briggsville, Chrome, Edenton, Lamoille, Newnata, Paintcreek, Redbrush, Upshur, Woodsfield, and Wynn series. Briggsville soils average less than 30 percent rock fragments in the lower part of the series control section. Chrome, Edenton, Newnata, Redbrush, and Wynn soils have a lithic or paralithic contact within a depth of 152 cm (60 inches). Lamoille and Upshur soils are not stratified in the lower part of the series control section with sandy textures. Paintcreek soils do not have carbonates within a depth of 91 cm (36 inches). Woodsfield soils have rock fragments dominantly of shale, siltstone, and sandstone in the lower part of the series control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Eldean soils are on outwash terraces, kames, and moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. They formed in outwash materials dominantly of limestone origin and are moderately deep to calcareous sandy and gravelly outwash. In some places, the upper part of the solum formed in silty or loamy alluvium or in loess as much as 46 cm (18 inches) thick. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 737 to 1016 mm (29 to 40 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from 10 to 12 degrees C (50 to 54 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Casco, Eel, Genesee, Medway, Ockley, Rodman, Ross, Shoals, Sleeth, Sloan, Stonelick, Thackery, Warsaw, and Wea soils. Casco and Rodman soils are on similar landscape positions but have thinner sola. Eel, Genesee, Medway, Ross, Shoals, Sloan, and Stonelick soils are on nearby flood plains. Ockley, Sleeth, and Thackery soils are on similar landscape positions but have sola more than 102 cm (40 inches) thick. Warsaw and Wea soils have mollic epipedons.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to very high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the solum and high or very high in the substratum. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow in the solum and rapid or very rapid in the substratum.

USE AND VEGETATION: The less sloping areas are cultivated. Corn, soybeans, small grains, and hay are the principal crops. The more sloping areas are generally in permanent pasture or woods. Native vegetation is deciduous hardwood forest.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and southwestern Ohio and eastern Indiana; MLRAs 111A, 111B, 111D, and 114A. The type location is in MLRA 111A. The series is of large extent with more than 160,000 acres.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Miami County, Ohio, 1973.

REMARKS: There is evidence that the BC transition horizon contains enough clay to qualify for the fine-loamy particle-size class. If true, a clayey over sandy or sandy-skeletal particle-size family might be more appropriate.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 30 cm (Ap, BA horizons).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 30 to 58 cm (Bt horizon).
Calcareous sandy and gravelly material: at 76 cm (top of the C horizon).

ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory characterization data from The Ohio State University Soil Characterization Laboratory are available for pedons BR-5, CL-5, CH-13, LG-35, MA-14, and UN-27.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.