LOCATION BELLCREEK IN

Established Series
Rev. GRS-TRZ-KKN
11/2021

BELLCREEK SERIES

The Bellcreek series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils that formed in clayey and loamy alluvium on flood plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 991 mm (39 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 11.1 degrees C (52 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Fluvaquentic Endoaquolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Bellcreek silty clay loam, on a nearly level area in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 287 meters (940 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 25 cm (10 inches); very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine and medium granular; firm; common very fine and fine roots; few very fine interstitial and tubular pores; 1 percent gravel; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. [25 to 36 cm (10 to 14 inches) thick]

Bg1--25 to 43 cm (10 to 17 inches); olive gray (5Y 4/2) silty clay loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; common fine and very fine roots; common very fine interstitial and tubular pores; few distinct very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) organic coatings on faces of peds and in root channels; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of oxidized iron with diffuse boundaries in the matrix; few fine irregular black (10YR 2/1) iron-manganese concretions in the matrix; 1 percent gravel; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

Bg2--43 to 71 cm (17 to 28 inches); dark gray (5Y 4/1) silty clay; moderate coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky; firm; common very fine roots; common very fine interstitial and tubular pores; common very dark gray (5Y 3/1) krotovinas in vertical streaks about 5 cm (2 inches) wide and 61 cm (2 feet) apart; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of oxidized iron with diffuse boundaries in the matrix; few fine irregular black (10YR 2/1) iron-manganese concretions in the matrix; 1 percent gravel; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

Bg3--71 to 122 cm (28 to 48 inches); gray (N 5/) silty clay loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; common very fine roots; common very fine interstitial and tubular pores; common very dark gray (5Y 3/1) krotovinas in vertical streaks about 5 cm (2 inches) wide and 61 cm (2 feet) apart; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron with diffuse boundaries in the matrix; common fine irregular black (10YR 2/1) iron-manganese concretions in the matrix; 1 percent gravel; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

Bg4--122 to 163 cm (48 to 64 inches); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate coarse subangular blocky; firm; few very fine roots; common very fine and fine interstitial and tubular pores; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron with diffuse boundaries in the matrix; common fine irregular black (10YR 2/1) iron-manganese concretions in the matrix; 1 percent gravel; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bg horizon is 76 to 152 cm (30 to 60 inches).]

Cg--163 to 203 cm (64 to 80 inches); gray (5Y 5/1) stratified sandy loam (60 percent) and loam (40 percent); massive; friable; common fine prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) masses of oxidized iron with diffuse boundaries in the matrix; 7 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Delaware County, Indiana; about 5 miles west of Cowan; 1,200 feet west and 100 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 10, T. 19 N., R. 9 E.; USGS Sulphur Springs, Ind. topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 06 minutes 23 seconds N. and long. 085 degrees 29 minutes 05 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 629147 easting and 4440671 northing, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the cambic horizon: 102 cm (40 inches) to more than 203 cm (80 inches)
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 25 to 58 cm (10 to 23 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages 35 to 50 percent clay and 5 to 25 percent sand
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 5 percent in the solum and 0 to 30 percent in the underlying material

Ap or A horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 2, 2.5, or 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: silty clay loam, clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Rock fragment content: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline

Bg horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y, or is neutral
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 0 to 2
Texture: silty clay loam, clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Rock fragment content: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline

Cg horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: stratified silty clay loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loamy sand
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Kiro and Springmeadow series. Kiro soils have a mollic epipedon that is thicker than 58 cm (23 inches). Springmeadow soils have a mollic epipedon that is thinner than 25 cm (10 inches).

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bellcreek soils are in backswamps on flood plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Bellcreek soils formed in clayey and loamy alluvium. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 889 to 1067 mm (35 to 42 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 8.9 to 12.8 degrees C (48 to 55 degrees F). Frost-free period is 150 to 180 days. Elevation is 244 to 305 meters (800 to 1,000 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cohoctah, Shoals, and Sloan soils. The poorly drained or very poorly drained Cohoctah soils are in old drainage channels on flood plains. The somewhat poorly drained Shoals soils are on slightly higher flood-plain steps. The very poorly drained Sloan soils are in narrower backswamps on flood plains.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. Depth to the top of an intermittent apparent high water table ranges from 30 cm (1 foot) above the surface to 15 cm (0.5 foot) below the surface during the winter and spring in normal years. Duration of the high water table is considerably less in drained phases. Potential for surface runoff is very low or negligible. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the solum and moderately high or high in the underlying material. Permeability is moderately slow in the solum and moderate in the underlying material.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used to grow corn and soybeans. A few areas are used for growing small grain, mainly wheat, and for hay and pasture. Also a few areas are in woodland. Native vegetation is mixed hardwood forest.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 111A in east-central Indiana. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Delaware County, Indiana, 1997.

REMARKS: Bellcreek soils have previously been correlated as a taxadjunct to the Saranac series.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 25 cm (Ap horizon).
Cambic horizon: from a depth of 25 to 163 cm (Bg horizons).
Aquic conditions: redoximorphic features in all horizons below a depth of 25 cm.

The representative data mapunit for this pedon is DMU ID 123704 in MO 11.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Data for this pedon, S92IN-035-003, is available from the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.