LOCATION HITT IL
Established Series
Rev. GOW-BWR-AAC
01/2011
HITT SERIES
The Hitt series consists of deep, well drained soils formed in loess, glacial till, and residuum weathered from bedrock on uplands. Slope ranges from 1 to 12 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 890 mm (35 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 8.3 degrees C (47 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiudolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Hitt silt loam. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.) Hitt silt loam on a north-facing, linear convex, 2 percent slope in a cultivated alfalfa field at an elevation of 259 meters (850 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 23 cm (0 to 9 inches); very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; slightly acid (pH 6.1); clear smooth boundary.
A--23 to 36 cm (9 to 14 inches); very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam, brown (10YR 4/3) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of A horizon ranges from 25 to 48 centimeters (10 to 19 inches).]
Bt1--36 to 46 cm (14 to 18 inches); dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; few distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. [10 to 15 centimeters (4 to 6 inches) thick]
2Bt2--46 to 56 cm (18 to 22 inches); dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; few distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent nonflat subrounded 2 to 20 millimeter mixed rock fragments; moderately acid (pH 5.6); clear smooth boundary.
2Bt3--56 to 69 cm (22 to 27 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent nonflat subrounded 2 to 20 millimeter mixed rock fragments; moderately acid (pH 5.9); gradual smooth boundary.
2Bt4--69 to 81 cm (27 to 32 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent nonflat subrounded 2 to 20 millimeter mixed rock fragments; moderately acid (pH 5.9); clear smooth boundary.
2Bt5--81 to 104 cm (32 to 41 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; 2 percent nonflat subrounded 2 to 20 millimeter mixed rock fragments and 5 percent flat very angular 2 to 20 millimeter limestone fragments; moderately acid (pH 5.9); abrupt smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of 2Bt horizon ranges from 41 to 61 centimeters (16 to 24 inches).]
3Bt6--104 to 114 cm (41 to 45 inches); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; strong medium angular blocky structure; very firm; few fine roots between peds; few distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent flat very angular 2 to 20 millimeter limestone fragments; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. [5 to 25 centimeters (2 to 10 inches) thick]
3R--114 cm (45 inches); broken limestone.
TYPE LOCATION: Winnebago County, Illinois; located about 2200 feet east and 2200 feet south of northwest corner, sec. 36, T. 27 N., R. 10 E. USGS Pecatonica topographic quadrangle; lat. 42 degrees 17 minutes 53 seconds N. and long. 89 degrees 17 minutes 33 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 25 to 48 cm (10 to 19 inches)
Thickness of the solum: commonly 102 to 127 cm (40 to 50 inches), but ranges to 152 cm (60 inches) thick.
Hitt soils formed in thin loess, glacial till and residuum weathered from limestone.
Thickness of the loess: typically 25 to 64 cm (10 to 25 inches)
Thickness of the glacial till: 50 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Combined thickness of loess and glacial till: about 91 to 127 cm (36 to 50 inches)
Depth to limestone bedrock: 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches) and is considered to be a lithic contact.
Dominant clay mineral in the loess and upper part of the 2Bt horizon developed from glacial till: smectite.
Illite increases with depth in the 2Bt horizon and becomes the dominant clay mineral in the lower part of the 2Bt.
Ap and A horizons:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: silt loam
BA horizon or a thin Bt horizon formed in loess:
Hue: typically 10YR or 7.5YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: silty clay loam
Many of the properties of the 2Bt and 3Bt horizons are believed to have been inherited from an exhumed Paleosol of late Sangamon Age.
2Bt horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR, 5YR or 7.5YR, hue of 5YR or redder is present on faces of peds or in the matrix in at least on subhorizon of the 2Bt horizon.
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 3 to 5
Texture: typically clay loam, but includes thin subhorizons of sandy clay loam in some pedons.
The upper 51 cm (20 inches) of the argillic horizon: averages between 27 and 35 percent clay, 15 to 35 percent fine sand or coarser. Reaction of the Bt and 2Bt horizons: moderately to strongly acid
3Bt horizon formed in residuum weathered from limestone:
Hue; commonly 5YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: silty clay or clay with a variable content of chert
Clay content: commonly 55 to 70 percent
Reaction: neutral to moderately acid
Other features:
In pedons that contain the upper boundary of the 3Bt horizon within 40 inches of the surface, the thickness of the 3Bt horizon is 13 cm (5 inches) or less.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Atkinson,
Burchard,
Cokato,
Cresco,
Cresent,
Durand,
Friesland,
Griswold,
Jasper,
Joslin,
Keosauqua,
Kishwaukee,
Marbletown,
Moingona,
Morrill,
Nuxmaruhanixete,
Parmod,
Penfield,
Reedslake,
Ringwood,
Rockton,
Schoolcraft,
Shelby,
Sibleyville,
Velma, and
Winnebago series. All of the soils except Atkinson, Marbletown, Rockton, and Sibleyville lack a lithic or paralithic contact within depths of 152 cm (60 inches). Atkinson, Burchard, Cokato, Cresco, Cresent, Friesland, Griswold, Jasper, Keosauqua, Kishwaukee, Marbletown, Moingona, Nuxmaruhanixete, Parmod, Penfield, Reedslake, Ringwood, Schoolcraft, Shelby, and Velma soils lack 5YR or redder hue in the lower solum. Rockton, and Sibleyville soils have a lithic or paralithic contact at depths less than 102 cm (40 inches).
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hitt soils are on gently undulating to rolling till plains and moraines which are partially controlled by underlying limestone bedrock. Slope gradient ranges from 1 to 12 percent. These soils formed in Late Sangamon paleosols formed in sandy loam, loam, or clay loam Illinoian glacial till and residuum from weathered limestone bedrock, except the upper 25 to 64 cm (10 to 25 inches) above the 2B is formed in loess. Summers are hot and winters are cold. Mean annual temperature is between 7.2 and 13.9 degrees C (45 and 57 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation ranges from 710 to 1016 mm (28 to 40 inches).
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Ogle or
Tama soils commonly occur on ridgetops upslope from the Hitt soils where the loess mantle is thicker.
Durand and
Winnebago soils occur in many places with Hitt soils in similar side slope positions, where the drift is thicker.
Dodgeville soils occur on steeper slopes or on similar slopes where glacial deposits do not occur above the bedrock. Hitt is the dark colored member of a biosequence containing
Oneco and
Woodbine series.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Runoff is low to medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high (4.23 to 14.11 micrometers per second) in the loess and till and moderately low to moderately high (0.42 to 1.41 micrometers per second) in the residuum. Permeability is moderate in the loess and till and slow in the residuum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for cultivated crops such as corn, small grain and meadow crops and for pasture. Native vegetation was prairie grass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: LLAs K and M, MLRAs 95B, 108A, and 108B in northwestern Illinois and possibly northeastern Iowa, southwestern Minnesota. Known extent is small but believed to be moderate.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Stephenson County, Illinois, 1969.
REMARKS: In minor areas parent material 2 has been slightly influenced by glacial melt water and thus could be identified as glacial drift.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
mollic epipedon--the zone from the surface to a depth of 36 cm (14 inches) (Ap and A horizons);
argillic horizon--the zone from a depth of 36 to 114 cm (14 to 45 inches) (Bt1, 2Bt2, 2Bt3 and 2Bt4,
2Bt5, and 3Bt6 horizons);
lithic contact at a depth of 114 cm (45 inches) (Cr horizon).
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.