LOCATION ELY                     IA+MO

Established Series
Rev. RAL-TWN-LDC
09/2016

ELY SERIES

The Ely series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in colluvium. These soils are on footslopes of drainageways and alluvial fans. Slope ranges from 0 to 9 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 9 degrees C. Mean annual precipitation is about 920 millimeters.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquic Cumulic Hapludolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Ely silty clay loam, on a north-facing footslope of 3 percent in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 20 centimeters; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine granular; friable; few fine roots; few fine vesicular pores; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.

A1--20 to 38 centimeters; black (10YR 2/1) silty clay loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine granular; friable; few fine roots; few fine vesicular pores; neutral; clear smooth boundary.

A2--38 to 61 centimeters; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine granular; friable; few fine roots; few fine vesicular pores; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 50 to 75 centimeters.)

BA--61 to 81 centimeters; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine vesicular pores; few fine faint dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) redoximorphic depletions; few fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) redoximorphic concentrations; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 25 centimeters thick)

Bg1--81 to 99 centimeters; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak fine and medium subangular blocky; friable; few fine roots; few fine vesicular pores; common dark gray (10YR 4/1) silt coats on faces of peds; common distinct dark brown (10YR 3/3) organic coats on faces of peds; few fine irregular masses of iron-manganese; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) redoximorphic concentrations; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bg2--99 to 119 centimeters; brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; friable; few fine roots; few fine vesicular pores; common gray (10YR 5/1) silt coats on faces of peds; few fine irregular masses of iron-manganese; common fine faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), and few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) redoximorphic concentrations; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizon is 25 to 66 centimeters.)

BCg--119 to 147 centimeters; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; friable; few fine roots; few fine vesicular pores; few fine irregular masses of iron-manganese; few fine faint gray (10YR 5/1) redoximorphic depletions; common fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) redoximorphic concentrations; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 30 centimeters thick)

Cg--147 to 203 centimeters; gray (10YR 5/1) and brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay loam; massive; friable; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) redoximorphic concentrations; few fine irregular masses of iron-manganese; slightly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 108C-Illinois and Iowa Deep Loess and Drift, West-Central Part, Keokuk County, Iowa subset; about 1 mile west and 1 mile north of Keswick; located about 320 feet south and 1,120 feet west of the northeast corner of section 20, T. 77 N., R. 12 W.; USGS What Cheer topographic quadrangle; lat. 41 degrees 27 minutes 58 seconds N. and long. 92 degrees 15 minutes 47 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of mollic epipedon--60 to 90 centimeters
Depth to carbonates--greater than 122 centimeters
Content of clay in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--27 to 35 percent
Content of sand in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--less than 15 percent

Ap or A horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--silt loam or silty clay loam
Clay content--20 to 35 percent
Sand content--less than 20 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral (5.6 to 7.3)

BA horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--3
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--silt loam or silty clay loam
Clay content--24 to 35 percent
Sand content--less than 15 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral (5.6 to 7.3)

Bg (upper part):
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--2
Texture--silty clay loam
Clay content--27 to 35 percent
Sand content--less than 15 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral (5.6 to 7.3)

Bg horizon (lower part):
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--2 to 4
Texture--silty clay loam
Clay content--27 to 35 percent
Sand content--less than 15 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral (5.6 to 7.3)

Some pedons have few faint and distinct clay films on ped faces and on surfaces along pores and along root channels

Cg horizon:
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--2 to 4
Texture--silt loam or silty clay loam
Clay content--18 to 35 percent
Sand content--less than 15 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral (5.6 to 7.3)

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Lawson, Littleton and Smithland series.
Lawson--do not have cambic horizons
Littleton--average less than 27 percent clay in the particle-size control section
Smithland--average more than 35 percent clay in the particle-size control section and have mollic epipedons more than 90 centimeters thick

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--colluvium
Landform--footslopes of drainageways and alluvial fans
Slope--0 to 9 percent
Mean annual air temperature--8 to 11 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--870 to 960 millimeters
Elevation--170 to 360 meters above sea level
Frost-free period--150 to 180 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cantril, Colo, Gara, and Otley soils.
Cantril--are in landscape positions similar to those of the Ely soils, do not have mollic epipedons, and have argillic horizons
Colo--are at lower landscape positions on floodplains and drainageways and are frequently saturated at the soil surface during the wettest periods of years when precipitation is within one standard deviation of the 30 year mean of annual precipitation
Gara--are at higher landscape positions on side slopes and have argillic horizons with matrix chroma of 3 to 6
Otley--are at higher landscape positions on side slopes and have a clay content that averages 35 to 40 percent in the particle-size control section

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--somewhat poorly drained--a frequently saturated zone occurs between depths of 0.3 and 1.0 meter during March to June in years when precipitation is within one standard deviation of the 30 year mean of annual precipitation, this saturation is considered apparent
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--1.0 to 10.00 micrometers per second

USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas are cultivated. The principal crops are corn, soybeans, oats, and meadow. The natural vegetation is big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, and other grasses of the tall grass prairie.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic sections--Wisconsin driftless section, Dissected till plains
MLRAs--Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (104),
Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills (105),
Iowa and Missouri Deep Loess Hills (107),
Illinois and Iowa Deep Loess and Drift (108), and
Iowa and Missouri Heavy Till Plain (109)
LRR M; south-central, eastern, and western Iowa, and northern Missouri
Extent--moderate

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Iowa County, Iowa, 1965

REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 25 to 100 centimeters (BA, Bg1, and Bg2 horizons);
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 150 centimeters (Ap, A1, A2, BA, Bg1, Bg2, BCg, and Cg horizons).

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
mollic epipedon--the zone from the surface to a depth of 81 centimeters (Ap, A1, A2, and BA horizons);
cambic horizon--the zone from a depth of 81 to 147 centimeters (Bg1, Bg2, and BCg horizons);
udic moisture regime.

Field experience suggests that these soils are not saturated with water enough of the time to be classified as Aquolls, even though redoximorphic features in the mollic epipedon and the gray colors of the silt and very fine sand coats in the cambic horizon might be interpreted by some as evidence of poor drainage. The typical pedon lacks clear evidence of an erratic organic matter decrease with depth or a content of organic matter in excess of 0.5 percent at a depth of 125 centimeters below the surface, but other evidence suggests that the series is best classified in a Cumulic subgroup.

Cation-exchange activity class is supported by lab sample 02IA003001, Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory.

Some pedons have a Btg horizon but these do not have the clay increase to meet the requirements of an argillic horizon.

Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, twelfth edition, 2014.

ADDITIONAL DATA:
Laboratory data--Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, Nebraska--pedon 02IA003001
Laboratory data--Iowa State University, Ames, IA--many pedons
OSD type location: Pedon Number 1999IA107016

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.