LOCATION WABASH                  MO+IA IL KS NE OH

Established Series
Rev. GEK-JCR-RJB
06/2015

WABASH SERIES

The Wabash series consists of very deep, poorly and very poorly drained soils formed in alluvium. These soils are on flood plains in river valleys. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 11 degrees C. Mean annual precipitation is about 900 millimeters.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Cumulic Vertic Endoaquolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Wabash silty clay, on a slope of 0.5 percent, in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 15 centimeters; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silty clay, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak and moderate fine granular structure; firm; few fine faint dark gray (10YR 4/1) iron depletions; few fine black concretions (oxides); moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary.

A1--15 to 23 centimeters; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; strong fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine faint dark gray (10YR 4/1) iron depletions; few fine black concretions (oxides); moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.

A2--23 to 48 centimeters; black (10YR 2/1) silty clay, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; very firm; few pressure faces; few fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) iron masses; many fine concretions (oxides); slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 45 to 100 centimeters.)

Bg1--48 to 97 centimeters; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; some large spots and streaks of dark gray (5Y 4/1); moderate fine subangular blocky structure; very firm; common pressure faces; common coarse distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) iron masses; many fine concretions (oxides); some exteriors of peds are very dark gray (N 3/0); slightly acid; diffuse smooth boundary. (35 to 80 centimeters thick)

Bg2--97 to 152 centimeters; dark gray (N 4/0) silty clay; large spots and streaks of dark gray (5Y 4/1); weak fine subangular blocky structure; common pressure faces; extremely firm; many fine concretions (oxides); slightly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 109-Iowa and Missouri Heavy Till Plain, Livingston County, Missouri subset; about 4 miles south of Utica on the east side of Missouri State Highway "C"; located about 2,620 feet south and 20 feet east of the northwest corner of section 7, T. 56 N., R. 24 W.; USGS Utica West topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees 40 minutes 42 seconds N. and long. 93 degrees 38 minutes 50 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the mollic epipedon--90 to 115 centimeters
Depth to carbonates--greater than 100 centimeters
Depth to redoximorphic concentrations--0 to 23 centimeters
Clay content in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--45 to 60 percent
Sand content in the particle size-control section (weighted average)--less than 15 percent
Rock fragment content--0 percent

A horizon:
Hue--10YR to 5Y or is neutral
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--0 to 2
Texture--silty clay, clay or silty clay loam
Clay content--35 to 60 percent
Sand content--less than 5 percent
Reaction--strongly acid to neutral

Overwash phase (when present):
Hue--10YR to 5Y
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--silt loam
Clay content--20 to 27 percent
Sand content--5 to 20 percent
Reaction--strongly acid to neutral
Thickness--15 to 50 centimeters

Bg horizon:
Hue--10YR to 5Y or is neutral
Value--2 to 5
Chroma--0 to 2
Texture--silty clay or clay
Clay content--40 to 60 percent
Sand content--less than 15 percent
Reaction--strongly acid to neutral

Cg horizon (when present):
Hue--10YR to 5Y or is neutral
Value--2 to 5
Chroma--0 to 2
Texture--silty clay or clay
Clay content--40 to 60 percent
Sand content--less than 15 percent
Reaction--strongly acid to slightly alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Chehalem, Clamo, Derrynane, Okoboji, Peotone, Rantoul, Shiloh, Southbrook, Zoe, and Zook series.
Chehalem--have greater than 5 percent paragravel in the series control section and are in areas that have a mean annual precipitation range of 1,000 to 1,520 millimeters
Clamo--have carbonates within a depth of 75 centimeters
Derrynane--have a sand content of more than 30 percent in the lower one fourth of the series control section and have 2 to 8 percent rock fragments in the lower third of the series control section
Okoboji--have a clay content that averages 35 to 40 percent in the particle-size control section
Peotone--have mollic epipedons 60 to 90 centimeters thick
Rantoul--have mollic epipedons 60 to 90 centimeters thick
Shiloh--have a clay content that averages 35 to 45 percent in the particle-size control section
Southbrook--have a sand content of more than 70 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Zoe--have carbonates within a depth of 60 centimeters
Zook--have a clay content that averages 35 to 45 percent in the particle-size control section

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--alluvium
Landform--flood plains in river valleys
Slope--0 to 2 percent
Elevation--100 to 500 meters above sea level
Mean annual air temperature--6 to 17 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--585 to 1,220 millimeters
Frost-free period--155 to 255 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Colo, Dockery, Vesser, and Zook soils.
Colo--are on landscape positions similar to those of the Wabash soils and have a clay content that averages 27 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section
Dockery--are on slightly higher landscape positions on flood plains, have ochric epipedons, and have a clay content that averages 18 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section
Vesser--are on slightly higher landscape positions on stream terraces, base slopes, and alluvial fans, have argillic horizons, and have a clay content that averages 30 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section
Zook--are on landscape positions similar to those of the Wabash soils and have a clay content that averages 35 to 45 percent in the particle-size control section

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--poorly drained and very poorly drained--these soils are frequently saturated from the soil surface to a depth of 0.3 meter during the wettest period of years when precipitation is within one standard deviation of the 30 year mean of annual precipitation, this saturation is considered apparent
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--0.01 to 0.10 micrometers per second
Flooding--rare to frequent flooding for brief to long periods can occur in any month during the year due to precipitation events and snowmelt
Ponding--rare to frequent ponding, up to 0.15 meters in depth, for brief to long periods can occur in any month during the year due to precipitation events and snowmelt

USE AND VEGETATION:
Drained areas are cultivated. The principal crops are corn and soybeans. The native vegetation is big bluestem, western wheatgrass, sedges, blue grama, other species of the tall grass prairie that are tolerant of excessive wetness, and scattered deciduous trees. See Additional Data section for native vegetative cover in Iowa.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic sections--Western lake section, Dissected till plains, Till plains, and Osage plain
MLRAs--Bluestem Hills (76),
Central Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (103),
Nebraska and Kansas Loess Drift Hills (106),
Iowa and Missouri Deep Loess Hills (107),
Illinois and Iowa Deep Loess and Drift (108),
Iowa and Missouri Heavy Till Plain (109),
Cherokee Prairies (112),
Central Claypan Areas (113),
Southern Illinois and Indiana Thin Loess and Till Plain (114), and
Central Mississippi Valley Wooded Slopes (115)
LRR M; northern Missouri, southern Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Kansas, and Ohio
Extent--large

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Tippecanoe County, Indiana, 1905.

REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 25 to 100 centimeters (A2, Bg1, and Bg2 horizons);
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 152 centimeters (Ap, A1, A2, Bg1, and Bg2 horizons).

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
mollic epipedon--the zone from the surface to a depth of 97 centimeters (Ap, A1, A2, and Bg1 horizons);
cambic horizon--the zone from a depth of 48 to 152 centimeters (Bg1 and Bg2 horizons);
aquic conditions--redoximorphic depletions and accumulations within a depth of 50 centimeters.

Vertic subgroup based on linear extensibility greater than 6.0 centimeters between the surface and a depth of 100 centimeters, and presence of cracks 5 millimeters or more wide through a thickness of 30 centimeters or more for some time in normal years.

Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, tenth edition, 2006.

ADDITIONAL DATA:
Laboratory data--National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, Nebraska several pedons (http://ssldata.sc.egov.usda.gov/).

In Iowa, the native vegetative cover is a herbaceous wetland community commonly inhabited with Bluejoint Grasses, White Cutgrasses, Fox Sedges, Oval Sedges, Inland Rushes, Torreys Rushes, Dark Green Bulrushes, Flatstem Spikerushes, Blue Vervains, Indian Hemps, Winged Loosestrifes, Wild Mints, and Water Horehounds. Source: Iowa State Office, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Des Moines, IA.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.