LOCATION BIXBY MN+IA MIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Bixby loam, on a 2 percent slope, in a pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 8 centimeters (0 to 3 inches); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) loam; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak fine and very fine granular structure; friable; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. [5 to 13 centimeters (2 to 5 inches) thick]
E--8 to 23 centimeters (3 to 9 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) loam; weak thin platy structure parting to weak very fine subangular blocky; friable; few dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) organic coats on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 15 centimeters (0 to 6 inches) thick]
BE--23 to 36 centimeters (9 to 14 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy clay loam; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few distinct brown (10YR 4/3) organic coats on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. [0 to 13 centimeters (0 to 5 inches) thick]
Bt1--36 to 53 centimeters (14 to 21 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--53 to 66 centimeters (21 to 26 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt3--66 to 76 centimeters (26 to 30 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common distinct brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 30 to 76 centimeters (12 to 30 inches).]
2C--76 to 203 centimeters (30 to 80 inches); strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) medium and coarse sand; few strata of brown (7.5YR 4/4) medium and coarse sand; single grain; loose; about 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 104-Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies; Fayette County, Iowa subset; about 3 miles southwest of Waucoma, Iowa; located about 15 meters (51 feet) east and 70 meters (230 feet) south of the northwest corner of section 30, T. 95 N., R. 10 W.; USGS Waucoma topographic quadrangle; lat. 43 degrees 1 minute 22 seconds N. and long. 92 degrees 4 minutes 52 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to sandy and gravelly sediments--50 to 102 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Depth to carbonates--greater than 114 centimeters (45 inches)
Clay content of the upper part of the particle-size control section (weighted average)--18 to 30 percent
Clay content of the lower part of the particle-size control section (weighted average)--2 to 8 percent
Sand content of the upper part of the particle-size control section (weighted average)--35 to 50 percent
Sand content of the lower part of the particle-size control section (weighted average)--80 to 95 percent
A or Ap (when present) horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--3 to 5
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--loam or silt loam
Clay content--15 to 27 percent
Sand content--25 to 45 percent
Reaction--moderately acid or slightly acid
E horizon (when present):
Hue--10YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--2 or 3
Texture--loam or silt loam
Clay content--15 to 27 percent
Sand content--25 to 45 percent
Reaction--strongly acid to slightly acid
In cultivated areas, the E horizon is partially or completely mixed in the Ap horizon
BE horizon (when present):
Hue--10YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--3 or 4
Texture--loam, silt loam, or sandy clay loam
Clay content--15 to 27 percent
Sand content--25 to 45 percent
Reaction--strongly acid to slightly acid
Bt horizon:
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--3 to 5
Chroma--3 to 6
Texture--loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, or silt loam or silty clay loam with sand content of more than 15 percent
Clay content--15 to 35 percent
Sand content--15 to 65 percent
Reaction--very strongly acid to moderately acid
2BC (when present) and 2C horizons:
Hue--7.5YR to 2.5Y
Value--3 to 5
Chroma--2 to 6
Texture--loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, sand, coarse sand, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs of these textures
Clay content--2 to 10 percent
Sand content--70 to 98 percent, dominantly medium sand and coarse sand
Rock fragment content--10 to 50 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to slightly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Fox and
Hixton series.
Fox--have carbonates within a depth of 102 centimeters (40 inches)
Hixton--have a paralithic contact with siliceous sandstone within a depth of 102 centimeters (40 inches)
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--50 to 102 centimeters (20 to 40 inches) of loamy sediments over sandy and gravelly alluvium or outwash
Landform--stream terraces, outwash plains, and valley trains
Slopes--0 to 25 percent
Elevation--198 to 335 meters (650 to 1,100 feet) above sea level
Mean annual air temperature--7 to 11 degrees C (45 to 52 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation--710 to 840 millimeters (28 to 33 inches)
Frost-free period--100 to 186 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Hayfield,
Marshan, and
Wapsie soils.
Hayfield--are at lower landscape positions and have a frequently saturated zone within a depth of 0.3 meter (1 foot) in normal years
Marshan--are at lower landscape positions or in drainageways and are frequently saturated at the surface of the soil during the wettest periods in normal years
Wapsie--are in landscape positions similar to those of the Bixby soils and have a clay content that averages less than 18 percent clay in the upper part of the particle-size control section
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--well drained--a frequently saturated zone does not occur within 1.8 meters (6 feet) in normal years
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--4.23 to 14.11 micrometers per second (moderately high) in the loamy sediments and 42.34 to 141.14 micrometers per second (high or very high) in the underlying sandy and gravelly sediments
Surface runoff potential--negligible to high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas are cultivated. The principal crops are corn, legume hay, small grains, and soybeans. The native vegetation is oak-hickory forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic sections--Eastern lake section, Western lake section, Wisconsin driftless section, and Dissected till plains
MLRAs--Central Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (103), Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (104), Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills (105), and Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana Drift Plain (98)
LRR M--eastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota; LRR L--western Michigan
Extent--small
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dodge County, Minnesota, 1959.
REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 36 to 100 centimeters (14 to 39 inches) (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3 and 2C horizons);
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 150 centimeters (0 to 59 inches) (Ap, E, BE, Bt1, Bt2, Bt3 and 2C horizons).
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
ochric epipedon--the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 36 centimeters (14 inches) (Ap, E, and BE horizons);
argillic horizon--the zone from a depth of 36 to 76 centimeters (14 to 30 inches) (Bt1, Bt2 and Bt3 horizons);
an abrupt change in texture at 76 centimeters (30 inches);
udic moisture regime.
Cation-exchange activity class is inferred from lab data from similar soils in the surrounding area.
The type location was moved from Dodge County, Minnesota to Fayette County, Iowa as laboratory data (NSSL) from the site in Dodge County, Minnesota did not support the series concept.
Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, ninth edition, 2003.