LOCATION ACKERMAN IN

Established Series
Rev. RAB-DAG
11/2021

ACKERMAN SERIES

The Ackerman series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils formed in a thin layer of highly decomposed organic material, a thin layer of coprogenous material, and are underlain by fine sand on outwash plains, till plains, and lake plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 889 mm (35 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 10.0 degrees C (50 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Histic Humaquepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Ackerman muck, on a less than 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 211 meters (693 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Oap--0 to 20 cm (8 inches); black (N 2.5/) broken face and rubbed muck, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; less than 5 percent fiber, a trace rubbed; moderate fine granular structure; friable; about 40 percent mineral content; neutral; abrupt irregular boundary. [20 to 41 cm (8 to 16 inches) thick]

Bg--20 to 36 cm (8 to 14 inches); gray (5Y 5/1) silty clay loam (coprogenous material); moderate medium and thick platy structure; firm; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; areas of oxidized iron masses around many root channels are strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and many small root channels are filled with surface material; common cracks 2 to 5 cm (1 to 2 inches) wide filled with surface material; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [5 to 46 cm (2 to 18 inches) thick]

Cg--36 to 66 cm (14 to 26 inches); light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) fine sand; single grain; loose; few medium distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; neutral; clear wavy boundary. [20 to 51 cm (8 to 20 inches) thick]

C--66 to 203 cm (26 to 80 inches); brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) fine sand; single grain; loose; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: White County, Indiana; about 3 1/2 miles south of Headlee; 140 feet south and 1,000 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 28, T. 28 N., R. 2 W.; USGS Idaville, IN topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 51 minutes 13.1 seconds N. and long. 86 degrees 38 minutes 31.4 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 530170 easting and 4522574 northing, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Combined thickness of the muck and coprogenous material: 25 to 76 cm (10 to 30 inches); thickness of the muck does not exceed 41 cm (16 inches)

Oap or Oa horizon:
Hue: 10YR or N
Value: 2 or 2.5
Chroma: 0 or 1
Texture: muck
Mineral content: 10 to 60 percent
Reaction: neutral

Bg horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y
Value: 2 to 5
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: silt loam (coprogenous material) or silty clay loam (coprogenous material)
Structure: platy structure or is massive
Consistence: slightly plastic and shrinks upon drying to form hard clods that are difficult to re-wet Reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline; carbonates are present in some pedons

Cg or C horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 1 to 8
Texture: very fine sand, fine sand, sand, or loamy sand
Reaction: neutral to strongly alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Antung and Scarboro series. Antung soils do not have coprogenous material underlying the organic horizons. Scarboro soils are more acid than neutral in the organic horizons and upper part of the C horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ackerman soils are on nearly level or depressional areas on outwash plains, till plains, and lake plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Ackerman soils formed in a thin layer of highly decomposed organic material, a thin layer of coprogenous material, and are underlain by fine sand. The adjacent soils are typically sandy. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 762 to 1067 mm (30 to 42 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 8.9 to 11.7 degrees C (48 to 53 degrees F). Frost-free period is 130 to 180 days. Elevation is 177 to 311 meters (580 feet to 1,020 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Adrian, Maumee, Moston, and Gilford soils and the competing Antung soils. The very poorly drained Adrian, Antung, and Moston soils are on similar landform positions as Ackerman soils. Adrian and Moston soils formed in more than 41 cm (16 inches) of herbaceous organic deposits. The poorly drained or very poorly drained Gilford and Maumee soils are sandy or loamy throughout, and generally are at the margins of the depressions.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. Depth to the top of an apparent seasonal high water table ranges from 30 cm (1 foot) above the surface to 30 cm (1 foot) below the surface between November and May in normal years. Potential for surface runoff is negligible. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately low in the coprogenous material and very high in the underlying sandy material. Permeability is slow in the coprogenous material and rapid in the underlying sandy material.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the Ackerman soils are cultivated. Corn and soybeans are the principal row crops; mint and some vegetable truck crops are also grown. Native vegetation is water tolerant sedges, reeds, grasses, and shrubs.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 98, 110, 111C, and 111D in northern Indiana. The type location is in MLRA 98. The series is of small extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: White County, Indiana, 1979.

REMARKS: These soils were included with the Adrian series in previous mapping in northwest Indiana.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Histic epipedon: muck from the surface to a depth of 20 cm (8 inches) (Oap).
Coprogenous material: from a depth of 20 to 36 cm (8 to 14 inches) (Bg).
Redoximorphic features: from the surface to a depth of 66 cm (26 inches).

NASIS Data Mapunit ID 154139 represents the drained phase in northern Indiana and the typical pedon.
NASIS Data Mapunit ID 154140 represents the undrained phase in northern Indiana.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Lab characterization data for the typical pedon, WH7401 (S74IN181-1-(1-4)), is available in the April 1979 Purdue Agricultural Station Bulletin No. 222, Soil Characterization in Indiana IV. 1976-1977 data, page 79. Transect data (T99IN-181-001) is on file in the MLRA project office in Plymouth, Indiana. Transect shows 100 percent Ackerman soils.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.