LOCATION BEAUCOUP IL+IN MO OH
Established Series
Rev. CLL-GRS-RDC
01/2011
BEAUCOUP SERIES
The Beaucoup series consists of very deep, poorly drained and very poorly drained soils on flood plains. They formed in silty alluvium. Slope gradients range from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 965 mm (38 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 12.2 degrees C (54 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Fluvaquentic Endoaquolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Beaucoup silty clay loam - in a nearly level cultivated field at an elevation of about 146 meters (480 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 15 cm (0 to 6 inches); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; common fine roots; common fine pores; few fine distinct irregular yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of oxidized iron-manganese lining root channels and pores; neutral; gradual smooth boundary
A--15 to 38 cm (6 to 15 inches); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; weak fine prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; friable; few very fine roots; few very fine pores; few fine distinct irregular dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) masses of oxidized iron-manganese lining root channels and pores; neutral; gradual smooth boundary [Combined thickness of the A horizon is 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches).]
Bg1--38 to 61 cm (15 to 24 inches); dark gray (10YR 4/1) silty clay loam; weak fine prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; friable; few very fine roots; few very fine pores; few fine distinct irregular dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron-manganese throughout; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Bg2--61 to 89 cm (24 to 35 inches); gray (5Y 5/1) silty clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; friable; few very fine roots; few very fine pores; common faint dark gray (5Y 4/1) clay films lining root channels and pores; few fine prominent irregular dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron-manganese throughout and few fine prominent rounded strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) and dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) masses of oxidized iron-manganese throughout; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Bg3--89 to 122 cm (35 to 48 inches); gray (5Y 5/1) silty clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; friable; few very fine roots; few very fine pores; few faint dark gray (5Y 4/1) clay films lining root channels and pores; few fine prominent irregular dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron-manganese throughout and few fine prominent rounded strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) and dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) masses of oxidized iron-manganese throughout; neutral; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bg horizon is 31 to 89 cm (12 to 35 inches).]
BCg--122 to 152 cm (48 to 60 inches); gray (5Y 5/1) stratified silt loam and silty clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure; friable; few very fine pores; very few faint dark gray (5Y 4/1) clay films lining root channels and pores; common fine prominent irregular dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron-manganese throughout and few fine prominent rounded strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) and dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) masses of oxidized iron-manganese throughout; neutral; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 38 cm (0 to 15 inches) thick]
Cg1--152 to 178 cm (60 to 70 inches); dark gray (10YR 4/1) stratified silt loam and silty clay loam; massive; friable; common fine prominent irregular dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) masses of oxidized iron-manganese throughout; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Cg2--178 to 203 cm (70 to 80 inches); dark gray (10YR 4/1) stratified silt loam and silty clay loam; massive; friable; common fine prominent irregular dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) masses of oxidized iron-manganese throughout; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Adams County, Illinois; about 3.5 miles northwest of Ursa; 727 feet south and 2,577 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 9, T. 1 N., R. 9 W. USGS Long Island, IL topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 5 minutes 39 seconds N. and long. 91 degrees 26 minutes 50 seconds W.; UTM Zone 15, 632420 easting and 4439184 northing, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of soil development: 89 to 165 cm (35 to 65 inches)
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 25 to 61 cm (10 to 24 inches), extends into the upper part of the B horizon in some pedons.
Particle-size control section: averages 27 to 35 percent clay, 0 to 15 percent sand
Depth to carbonates: below 102 cm (40 inches), where present
Ap or A horizon:
Hue: neutral (N) or 10YR
Value: 2 or 3 (4 or 5 dry)
Chroma: 0 to 2
Texture: silty clay loam or less commonly silt loam
Clay content: averages 18 to 35 percent
Reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline
Other features:
Some pedons have a BA horizon.
Bg or Btg horizon:
Hue: N (neutral), 10YR, 2.5Y or 5Y
Value: 3 to 6
Chroma: 0 to 2
texture: silty clay loam
Clay content: averages 27 to 35 percent
Reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline
BCg and/or Cg horizons:
Hue: N (neutral), 10YR, 2.5Y or 5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 0 to 2
texture: typically stratified silty clay loam, silt loam, loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam or very fine sandy loam
Clay content: averages 10 to 30 percent; sand content averages 5 to 40 percent.
Reaction: slightly acid to moderately alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Blackoar,
Bridgeson,
Copperas,
Ettrick,
Fella,
Gorham,
Jollygiant (T),
Leshara,
Lummi,
Sauvie,
Sepo and
Wapato soils. Blackoar, Ettrick, and Lummi soils average less than 27 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Bridgeson, Sauvie and Wapato soils are dominated by amorphous clays inherited from volcanic ash. Copperas soils have a paralithic contact within a depth of 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches). Fella, Leshara and Sepo soils have carbonates within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches). Gorham soils average more than 40 percent sand in the lower part of the series control section. Jollygiant (T) soils have a difference between average winter and summer soil temperature of less than 8.9 degrees C (48 degrees F), and have a mean January soil temperature greater than 8.3 degrees C (47 degrees F).
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Beaucoup soils are on flood plains. Slope gradients range from 0 to 2 percent. Beaucoup soils formed in silty clay loam alluvial sediments and are commonly stratified in the lower part of the solum and in the C horizon. Mean annual temperature ranges from 10.0 to 14.4 degrees C (50 to 58 degrees F), mean annual precipitation ranges from 762 to 1143 mm (30 to 45 inches), frost free period ranges from 160 to 210 days, and elevation ranges from 104 to 244 meters (340 feet to 800 feet) above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Armiesburg,
Darwin,
Gorham, and
Tice soils. The well drained Armiesburg soils and the somewhat poorly drained Tice soils form a drainage sequence with the Beaucoup soils and are on natural levees and higher parts of the flood plain. The poorly and very poorly drained Darwin soils have higher linear extensibility and form deep wide cracks when dry. They are on similar or lower adjacent parts of the flood plain. The poorly drained Gorham soils are on adjacent similar parts of the flood plain or on low undulating natural levees on the flood plain.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Poorly drained and very poorly drained. Where drained, the seasonal high water table is 15 cm (0.5 foot) above the surface to 31 cm (1 foot) below the surface in the spring. In the undrained condition, the seasonal high water table is as much as 61 cm (2 feet) above the surface to 15 cm (0.5 foot) below the surface between the months of December and July in most years. Unless protected, Beaucoup soils are frequently or occasionally flooded for brief to long duration. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to low. 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). Permeability is moderate or moderately slow (0.2 to 2.0 inches per hour).
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Beaucoup soils are cultivated. Corn and soybeans are the principal crops. Native vegetation is water-tolerant vegetation and deciduous forest
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western, northwestern, and southern Illinois; Indiana, Ohio and Missouri. Beaucoup soils are extensive in MLRA's 108B, 111C, 111D, 111E, 113, 114B, 115A, 115B, 115C and 120A (over 149,000 acres correlated). The type location is in MLRA 115C.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jackson County, Illinois, 1929.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of approximately 15 inches (38 cm), (Ap and A horizons);
fluventic properties: stratification and irregular decrease in organic carbon.
Endosaturation
ADDITIONAL DATA: Particle size data are on file for several pedons of the Beaucoup soils at the NRCS MLRA Office Region 11.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.