LOCATION NICOLLET MN+IA
Established Series
Rev. TCJ-AGG
05/2011
NICOLLET SERIES
The Nicollet series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils that formed in calcareous loamy glacial till on till plains and moraines. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 9 degrees C (48 degrees F). Mean annual precipitation is about 660 mm (28 inches).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Nicollet clay loam on a 2 percent plane slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 inches); black (10YR 2/1) clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; about 2 percent gravel; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [18 to 28 cm (7 to 12 inches thick)]
A--25 to 43 cm (10 to 17 inches); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; about 5 percent gravel; common black (10YR 2/1) worm casts; slightly acid; gradual irregular boundary. [8 to 38 cm (3 to 15 inches thick)]
Bw--43 to 53 cm (17 to 21 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common very dark gray (10YR 3/1) worm casts; about 5 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bg1--53 to 74 cm (21 to 29 inches); dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) clay loam; moderate fine prismatic structure parting to moderate fine subangular blocky; friable; few very dark gray (10YR 3/1) worm casts; about 5 percent gravel; common fine distinct olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) Fe concentrations; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bg2--74 to 84 cm (29 to 33 inches); dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; friable; few very dark gray (10YR 3/1) worm casts; about 5 percent gravel; few fine faint grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) Fe depletions and a few fine distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) and prominent brown (7.5YR 5/4) Fe concentrations; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the B horizon is 15 to 51 cm (6 to 20 inches.)
BCg--84 to 91 cm (33 to 36 inches); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very dark gray (10YR 3/1) worm casts; about 5 percent gravel; many fine distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) Fe concentrations; slightly effervescent in parts; slightly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary.[0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches thick) ]
BCkg--91 to 152 cm (36 to 60 inches); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) loam; massive in place breaking to angular fragments with greater horizontal than vertical dimensions; friable; about 5 percent gravel; common lime masses; many fine distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) and few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) Fe concentrations; few black (N 2/0) Fe-Mn concretions; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Martin County, Minnesota; about 1.5 miles northeast of Sherburn; 384 m (1,260 feet) north and 30 m (100 feet) east of the southwest corner of sec. 5, T. 102 N., R. 32 W.; USGS Sherburn, MN quadrangle; Lat. 43 degrees 39 minutes 50 seconds N., Long. 94 degrees 42 minutes 43 seconds W. NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to free carbonates ranges from 51 to 122 cm (20 to 48 inches). The mollic epipedon is 25 to 61 cm (10 to 24 inches) thick. Rock fragments of mixed lithology are 1 to 8 percent throughout. The 25 to 102 cm (10 to 40 inch) series control section averages between 24 to 35 percent clay and 20 to 35 percent fine sand and coarser.
The A horizon has value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam. It is moderately acid to neutral.
The upper part of the B horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. The lower part of the B horizon has value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. When matrix chroma is 3 or 4, low chroma mottles are present or the layer is less than 6 inches thick. The B horizon is dominantly clay loam, but loam and silty clay loam are within the range. It is moderately acid to neutral in the upper part and slightly acid to slightly alkaline in the lower part.
The BC or C horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline. The moderately fine substratum phase has textures of loam or clay loam. It has 20 to 30 percent clay and less than 45 percent total sand. The moderately coarse substratum phase has textures of loam, fine sandy loam or sandy loam. It has 12 to 22 percent clay and more than 40 percent total sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Arkton,
Crippin,
Floyd,
Fostoria,
Kensett,
Merton,
Ottosen,
Readlyn,
Snider, and
Wilmonton soils. Arkton and Crippin soils have free lime within 51 cm (20 inches )of the surface, and average more the 35 percent fine sand or coarser in the series control section. Fostoria soils have less than 1 percent rock fragments throughout the series control section. Merton, Ottosen and Snider soils have less than 1 percent course fragments in the upper part of the profile. Kensett soils have a lithic contact at 51 to 61 cm (20 to 24 inches). Readlyn soils are strongly acid or very strongly acid and have less than 1 percent rock fragments in the upper part of the series control section. Wilmonton soils are slightly to strongly alkaline and have secondary carbonates in the upper part of the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nicollet soils have slightly convex or plane slopes. They are on till plains, ground moraines, and terminal moraines. Their slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. They formed in friable, calcareous loam and clay loam glacial till of Late Wisconsinan age. The climate is humid continental with warm summers and cold winters. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 7 to 10 degrees C (45 to 50 degrees F). Mean annual precipitation ranges from 660 to 813 mm (26 to 32 inches). Frost free days range from 155 to 200. Elevation is 244 to 479 m (800 to 1,570 feet) above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Canisteo,
Clarion,
Glencoe,
Okoboji,
Storden,
Swanlake, and
Webster soils which are members of a hydrosequence with Nicollet soils. The well drained Clarion, Storden and Swanlake soils are generally on the more convex slopes and higher in the landscape. Poorly drained Canisteo and Webster soils are on broad nearly level areas. Very poorly drained Glencoe and Okoboji soils are in depressions and swales.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity, measured in micrometers per second, is 4.23 to 14.11 (.6 to 2 inches per hour). Runoff is low. Seasonal high saturation occurs at depths as high as 46 cm (1.5 feet), typically during the months of March through June in normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly cultivated to corn and soybeans. Native vegetation is tall grass prairie.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA-103. South-central Minnesota and north-central Iowa. This soil is extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Nicollet County, Minnesota, 1949.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface to 43 cm (17 inches) (Ap and A); cambic horizon - the zone from 43 to 91 cm (17 to 36 inches) (Bw, Bg1, Bg2, and BCkg); aquic subgroup - color below the mollic epipedon.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station Central File Code Nos. 57, 58, 164, and 628 for results of some laboratory analyses of representative pedons of this series.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.