LOCATION BEARDSTOWN IL

Established Series
Rev. DEC-JWS
01/2011

BEARDSTOWN SERIES

The Beardstown series consists of deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in stratified loamy and sandy materials on outwash plains and stream terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 4 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 11.7 degrees C (53 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 864 mm (34 inches).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Udollic Endoaqualfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Beardstown loam - on a northeast-facing slope of about 2 percent in a cultivated field at an elevation of 133 meters (435 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 23 cm (0 to 9 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak medium granular; friable; few very fine and fine roots; common faint very dark gray (10YR 3/1) organic coatings on faces of peds; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [ 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches) thick]

E--23 to 36 cm (9 to 14 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak medium platy; friable; few very fine roots; few faint very dark gray (10YR 3/1) organic coats and common distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry, silt coatings on faces of peds; common fine and medium dark stains (iron-manganese oxides); moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. [10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 inches) thick]

BE--36 to 53 cm (14 to 21 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) loam; few fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottles; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; few faint dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films and common distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry, silt coatings on faces of peds; few fine dark stains (iron-manganese oxides); very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches) thick]

Bt1--53 to 81 cm (21 to 32 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) loam; common fine and medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; many faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films and distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry, silt coatings on faces of peds; few fine dark concretions and accumulations (iron-manganese oxides); very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bt2--81 to 97 cm (32 to 38 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay loam; common medium and coarse distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; many faint brown (7.5YR 5/2) clay films and common distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry, silt coatings on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bt3--97 to 104 cm (38 to 41 inches); mottled brown (10YR 5/3) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) stratified loam and sandy loam; common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; common faint brown (7.5YR 4/2) clay films and distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry, silt coatings on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 36 to 91 cm (14 to 36 inches).]

BC--104 to 122 cm (41 to 48 inches); mottled brown (10YR 5/3) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) stratified loamy sand and sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common faint brown (7.5YR 4/2) clay films on vertical faces of peds and distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry, silt coatings on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 56 cm (0 to 22 inches) thick]

C--122 to 152 cm (48 to 60 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) stratified loamy sand and sandy loam; massive; very friable; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Cass County, Illinois; about 3 miles southwest of Beardstown; 1482 feet south and 1425 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 32, T. 18 N., R. 12 W.; USGS Arenzville West, IL topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees, 58 minutes, 27 seconds N., long. 90 degrees, 28 minutes, 15 seconds W.; NAD 83

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the solum: 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches)
The upper 20 inches of the argillic horizon: averages 18 and 30 percent clay, 15 and 50 percent fine sand and coarser

Ap or A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: loam, silt loam or sandy loam
Reaction: typically medium acid, slightly acid or neutral, where limed

E horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: loam, silt loam or sandy loam
Reaction: medium acid or strongly acid
Redoximorphic features: with hue of 10YR, 7.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 1 to 8 in some pedons

Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, sandy loam or silty clay loam, textures grade fine to coarser with increasing depth
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral
Redoximorphic features: with hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 1 to 8 in many pedons
Clay films on the faces of peds: with hue of 2.5Y, 10YR or 7.5YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 1 or 2

C horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 1 to 6
Texture: sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, sand, fine sand or silt loam and typically is stratified.
Reaction: strongly acid to moderately alkaline
Carbonates: below a depth of 152 cm (60 inches) in some pedons
Redoximorphic features: present in some pedons

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Cantril, Conover, Dundas, Manheim, Metamora, Monitor, Riceville, Romulus, Schley, and Skyberg series in the same family, and the Darroch, La Hogue, and Whitaker series. Cantril and Riceville soils have more clay in the lower part of the solum and are formed in till. Conover, Metamora, and Romulus soils have sola less than 102 cm (40 inches) in thickness, and contain free carbonates at about the same depth as solum thickness. Dundas soils average more than 30 percent clay in the control section. Manheim soils contain a high content of black shale fragments in the upper part of the sola. Monitor soils contain from 5 to 30 percent gravel within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches). Schley and Skyberg soils have a 2B horizon formed in glacial till and are not stratified in any part above a depth of 152 cm (60 inches). Darroch and La Hogue soils have a mollic epipedon. Whitaker soils have moist color value of 4 through 6 in the Ap horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Beardstown soils are on outwash plains and stream terraces. Slope gradients range from 0 to 4 percent. Beardstown soils formed in stratified loamy and sandy outwash material. Mean annual temperature varies from 7.8 degrees C (46 to 54 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation varies from 813 to 914 mm (32 to 36 inches).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alvin, Ambraw, Dickinson, Gilford, Millbrook, and Orio soils. The well drained Alvin and well drained to somewhat excessively drained Dickinson soils contain less clay in the control section and are on higher or more sloping ridges of wind-worked materials nearby. Ambraw soils are Fluvaquentic Haplaquolls. They are on flood plains or low terraces below the Beardstown soils. The very poorly drained Gilford soils are on nearby level or depressional parts of outwash plains and lake plains below Beardstown soils. Millbrook soils have a fine-silty argillic horizon and are on similar parts of the landscape nearby. The poorly drained and very poorly drained Orio soils are on nearly level or depressional parts of outwash plains and stream terraces.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Surface runoff is slow or medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high (4.23 to 14.11 micrometers per second) or moderately high (1.41 to 4.23 micrometers per second) in the solum and high (14.11 to 42.34 micrometers per second) in the underlying material. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow in the solum and moderately rapid in the underlying material.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for cropland. The principal crops are corn, soybeans, and small grain. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods and prairie grasses.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 95B, 108B, 110, 114B, and 115C in northern and west-central Illinois. The extent is moderate.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cass County, Illinois, 1939.

REMARKS: Classification adjusted to agree with ST Issue#17 on 23 Aug 94 by CLG. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 23 cm (9 inches) (Ap horizon); albic horizon - the zone from a depth of 23 to 36 cm (9 to 14 inches) (E horizon); argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 53 to 104 cm (21 to 41 inches) (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons); an aquic moisture regime - as evidenced by chroma of 2 in the E horizon and chroma of 2 in clay films on faces of peds throughout the subsoil.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.