LOCATION ROUND LAKE MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Typic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Round Lake sandy loam, on a convex slope of 4 percent, on a glacial moraine, in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 11 inches; black (10YR 2/1) sandy loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common very fine roots; about 3 percent gravel; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 12 inches thick)
Bw--11 to 14 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) sandy loam; moderate to weak fine subangular blocky structure; few dark brown (10YR 3/3) streaks on faces of peds; friable; clay bridging between sand grains; common very fine roots; about 4 percent gravel; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (3 to 14 inches thick)
2Bw--14 to 26 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) loamy coarse sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to single grain; very friable; about 6 percent gravel; clay bridging between sand grains; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
2Bk--26 to 35 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) iron concentrations; about 17 percent gravel; violently effervescent; common carbonate coats on areas of pebbles; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 30 inches thick)
2C--35 to 48 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4); coarse sand; single grain; loose; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron concentrations; about 12 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 30 inches thick)
3Cg--48 to 80 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam with thin strata of silt; massive; moderately sticky; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) iron concentrations; about 2 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Nobles County, Minnesota; about 3.5 miles northeast of Wilmont; located about 480 feet south and 1,500 feet east of the northwest corner of section 20, T. 104 N., R. 24 W.; USGS Wilmont topographic quadrangle; lat. 43 degrees 48 minutes 13 seconds N. and long. 95 degrees 47 minutes 12 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to carbonates is 12 to 40 inches. Depth to lacustrine deposits or glacial till ranges from 40 to 60 inches. The loamy mantle is 10 to 25 inches thick. The thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 7 to 20 inches. A clay increase is mostly typical in the Bw horizons; however, the B/A ratio is less than 1.2.The content of gravel, by volume, ranges from 0 to 15 percent in the upper loamy mantle, 10 to 35 percent in the sandy sediment, 0 to 5 percent in the underlying lacustrine sediments and 2 to 8 percent in the underlying till. Some pedons have thin subhorizons with more than 35 percent gravel. Cobbles range from 0 to 10 percent and stones range from 0 to 5 percent throughout.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2. It is sandy loam, coarse sandy loam or loam. It is neutral to moderately acid.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, or loam averaging less than 18 percent clay. It is moderately acid to neutral.
The 2Bw horizon, when present, has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, loamy sand, sand or their gravelly analogs. It is moderately acid to neutral.
The 2Bk horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 3 or 4. It is loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, sand, or loamy sand or their gravelly analogs. Reaction is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline. Calcium carbonate coats are common on the bottom side of sand grains and pebbles.
The 2BC horizon, when present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 3 or 4. It is loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, sand, loamy sand or their gravelly analogs. It is slightly acid to slightly alkaline.
The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7 and chroma of 3 to 6. It is coarse sand, sand or their gravelly analogues. It is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
The 3Cg or 3C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 2 to 4. It is silt loam, silty clay loam, loam or clay loam. It is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Buckney, Burkhardt, Dickman, Estherville, Mishawaka, and Pilot Grove, series. Buckney, Burkhardt, Dickman, Estherville, Mishawaka series do not have lacustrine silty clay loam, silt loam, or loamy glacial till in the lower third of the series control section. Pilot Grove soils do not have saturation in the lower third of series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Round Lake soils have convex slopes ranging from 1 to 6 percent. They formed in 40 to 60 inches of loamy and sandy outwash sediments over silty clay loam, silt loam or loamy glacial till. They are on moraines, till plains or kames. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 45 to 55 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 25 to 32 inches. Frost-free period ranges from 124 to 190 days. Elevation ranges from 700 to 1,600 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Estherville, Hawick and Zenor soils and other soils formed entirely in glacial till.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Round Lake soils are well drained. Runoff is very low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high in the upper part, high to very high in the middle part and moderately high in the lower part. Soil saturation is either perched or a wetting front that occurs between 3.5 to 6 feet from April to June in normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. The principal crops are corn, soybeans, grain, and hay. Native vegetation is mixed tall and short grass prairie including big bluestem, little bluestem, indiangrass and switchgrass among others.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: LRR M. MLRA 103 and possibly MLRA 107 encompassing parts of south-central Minnesota and possibly northwestern and central Iowa. The series is minor in extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Nobles County, Minnesota, 2004
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon-the zone from the surface to 11 inches (Ap horizon); cambic horizon-the zone from 11 to 14 inches (Bw horizon); calcic horizon-the zone from 26 to 35 inches (2Bk horizon); udic moisture regime.
This soil previously was correlated as Estherville or Hawick when occurring as a component in till-outwash complexes or as consociation in morainic landforms in MLRA 103. Soil saturation is either perched or it has a wetting front that occurs between 3.5 to 6 feet from April to June in normal years.
Drainage class is well drained based on the Soil Survey Manual. Some states would interpret the drainage class as moderately well drained. Drainage class is an interpretation.