LOCATION BLUFORD IL
Established Series
Revised CCC-SEW-TJE
09/2022
BLUFORD SERIES
The Bluford series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils on till plains. They formed in loess and the underlying pedisediment. Slope ranges from 0 to 7 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 12 degrees C (54 degrees F.), and mean annual precipitation is about 1067 millimeters (42 inches).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Aeric Fragic Epiaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Bluford silt loam, on a southwest-facing slope of about 2 percent in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 167 meters (549 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 18 centimeters (0 to 7 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; moderate medium granular structure; very friable; few very fine roots; few fine spherical iron-manganese nodules throughout; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [15 to 25 centimeters (6 to 10 inches) thick]
E1--18 to 38 centimeters (7 to 15 inches); light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silt loam, white (2.5Y 8/1) dry; moderate medium platy structure; very friable; few very fine roots; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and few medium faint brown (10YR 5/3) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; common fine spherical iron-manganese nodules throughout; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
E2--38 to 51 centimeters (15 to 20 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, pale yellow (2.5Y 8/2) dry; moderate medium platy structure parting to moderate very fine subangular blocky; very friable; few very fine roots; common prominent white (10YR 8/1) (dry) silt coatings on faces of peds; common medium faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. [8 to 36 centimeters (3 to 14 inches) thick]
Btg--51 to 89 centimeters (20 to 35 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine roots; common faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; common medium faint gray (10YR 5/1) iron depletions in the matrix; common medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron on faces of peds and in pores; few fine spherical iron-manganese nodules throughout; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. [31 to 64 centimeters (12 to 25 inches) thick]
2Btgx--89 to 107 centimeters (35 to 42 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay loam; moderate coarse prismatic structure; firm; few faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films and common prominent white (10YR 8/1) silt coatings on faces of peds; few fine faint gray (10YR 6/1) iron depletions and common medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron on faces of peds and in pores; few fine spherical iron-manganese nodules throughout; brittle; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. [15 to 61 centimeters (6 to 24 inches) thick]
2Btg--107 to 152 centimeters (42 to 60 inches); gray (10YR 5/1) silty clay loam; weak coarse prismatic structure; very firm; few faint dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay films in root channels; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; common fine spherical iron-manganese nodules throughout; about 1 percent gravel; very strongly acid. [0 to 102 centimeters (0 to 40 inches) thick]
TYPE LOCATION: Crawford County, Illinois; about 1,585 feet south and 925 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 16, T. 8 N., R. 13 W.
USGS topographic quadrangle--Annapolis, Illinois
Latitude 39.1396398
Longitude -87.8577450
Datum--WGS84
Coordinate Source--estimated from GIS layer
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to horizon with fragic soil properties--61 to 122 centimeters (24 to 48 inches)
Thickness of the loess--76 to 140 centimeters (30 to 55 inches)
Particle-size control section--averages 35 to 42 percent clay and less than 8 percent sand
Ap or A horizon--
Hue--10YR
Value--3 to 5 (6 or 7 dry)
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--silt loam
Reaction--very strongly acid or strongly acid and ranges to neutral in areas that have been limed
E horizon--
Hue--10YR
Value--4 to 6
Chroma--2 to 4, with some part of the E horizon having a chroma of 3 or 4
Texture--silt loam
Reaction--very strongly acid to neutral
Some pedons have a BE horizon.
Bt and/or Btg horizon--
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--4 to 6
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--silty clay loam or silty clay
Reaction--very strongly acid to slightly acid
Other features--silt coatings on the faces of peds are dominantly in the upper part of the Btg horizon and range from gray to white
2Btgx horizon--
Hue--7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y
Value--4 to 6
Chroma--1 or 2, with multicolored horizons ranging to 8
Texture--silt loam, loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam
Fragic soil properties--Consistence is firm, very firm, or extremely firm, and is slightly brittle or brittle in 30 to 60 percent of the volume of one or more subhorizons; prisms, polygons, or other structural units typically have horizontal dimensions of less than 10 centimeters (4 inches) in diameter, but some pedons have very coarse structure below a depth of 102 centimeters (40 inches).
Sand content--15 to 30 percent
Reaction--very strongly acid to moderately acid
2Btg or 2BCg horizon--
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--4 to 6
Chroma--1 or 2, with multicolored horizons ranging to 6
Texture--silty clay loam, silt loam, or loam
Rock fragment content--0 to 5 percent
Reaction--very strongly acid to moderately acid
3Agb or 3Btgb horizon, where it occurs within 200 centimeters--
Hue--7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y
Value--4 to 6
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--silty clay loam, clay loam, silt loam, or loam; sand content ranges from 15 to 40 percent
Rock fragment content--0 to 5 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to slightly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES:
There are no other series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Bluford soils are on ground moraines on till plains of Illinoian age. Slope ranges from 0 to 7 percent. Bluford soils formed in 76 to 140 centimeters (30 to 55 inches) of loess and the underlying pedisediment. The loess is late Wisconsin age Peoria Loess and underlying material is early Wisconsin age pedisediment or Roxana Silt which overlie a strongly developed Sangamon age paleosol in Illinoian till. In some pedons, this paleosol occurs within a depth of 200 centimeters.
Mean annual temperature--12 to 14 degrees C (54 to 57 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation--965 to 1219 millimeters (38 to 48 inches)
Frost-free period--180 to 200 days
Elevation--107 to 213 meters (350 to 700 feet) above mean sea level
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
The moderately well drained
Ava soils and the poorly drained
Wynoose soils are in a drainage sequence with the Bluford soils. Ava soils are on nearby side slopes below or on convex crests above the Bluford soils. Wynoose soils are on slightly lower positions.
Hickory soils are well drained, fine-loamy, and are on side slopes below.
Hoyleton soils are somewhat poorly drained, are mollic intergrades, and are on similar positions nearby or on broader interfluves that are farther from dissected parts of the till plain.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--somewhat poorly drained
Water table--depth to the top of an apparent water table ranges from 15 to 61 centimeters (0.5 to 2 feet) between January and May in normal years
Saturated hydraulic conductivity class--moderately high
Permeability class--moderately slow
USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas of Bluford soils are cultivated. Soybeans, corn, and wheat are the common crops. Native vegetation is deciduous forest consisting mainly of oak and hickory species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
MLRA 113 in southern Illinois. The series is extensive.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washington County, Illinois, 1927
REMARKS:
Typical Pedon Taxonomic Features--
Ochric epipedon--from the surface to a depth 51 centimeters (Ap and E horizons)
Argillic horizon--from a depth of 51 to 152 centimeters (Btg, 2Btgx, and 2Btg horizons)
Fragic soil properties--brittleness from a depth of 89 to 107 centimeters (2Btgx horizon)
Aquic conditions--redoximorphic features in all horizons below a depth of 18 centimeters
A bench phase is recognized for soils on structural benches that occur along some of the major tributaries of the Mississippi River.
Taxonomic Version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Characterization data is available from the NRCS-NSSC Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, Nebraska.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.