LOCATION BEEMONT MOEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, smectitic, mesic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Beemont gravelly silt loam - on a 10 percent concave south-facing slope in hardwood forest at an elevation of 810 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 2 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) gravelly silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate very fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; 15 percent chert gravel; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
E1--2 to 7 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly silt loam; weak very fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 20 percent chert and sandstone gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
E2--7 to 17 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; common fine roots; 35 percent chert and sandstone gravel; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the E horizon is 6 to 24 inches.)
2Bt1--17 to 22 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent chert gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
2Bt2--22 to 36 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) clay; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few faint clay films on faces of peds; few fine prominent pale brown (10YR 6/3) iron depletions; 10 percent chert gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
2Bt3--36 to 52 inches; mottled dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly silty clay; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few faint clay films on faces of peds; 15 percent chert gravel; few flat fragments up to 5 inches long in lower part; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 12 to 48 inches.)
3R--52 inches; fractured sandstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Franklin County, Missouri; about 1/2 mile southwest of Kiel; 1750 feet north and 2200 feet east of the southwest corner of section 34, T. 44 N., R. 3 W.; USGS New Haven quadrangle, latitude 38 degrees 31 minutes 21 seconds N. and longitude 91 degrees 14 minutes 55 seconds W..
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum and depth to bedrock ranges from 40 to more than 60 inches.
The A or Ap horizon has value of 3 to 5, 5 to 7 dry, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam or loam or their gravelly or very gravelly analogues or cobbly very fine sandy loam. It is slightly acid to very strongly acid.
The E horizon has value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is gravelly silt loam, gravelly loam, very gravelly silt loam, very gravelly loam or cobbly very fine sandy loam. It is slightly acid to extremely acid.
A gravelly or very gravelly BE horizon or B/E horizon, 2 to 6 inches thick, is present in some pedons.
The 2Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR; value of 4 to 8; and chroma of 2 to 8. The upper part is clay with amounts of clay ranging from 60 to 85 percent and the content of coarse fragments ranging from 0 to 15 percent. The lower part is silty clay loam, silty clay, clay or their gravelly or cobbly analogs. Rock fragments range from 0 to 35 percent in the lower half. Reaction is strongly acid or very strongly acid throughout the 2Bt, but can range to moderately alkaline in the layer immediately above bedrock.
Some pedons have C or Cr horizons that are clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay or their channery analogues.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Series in similar families are the Bardley, Doniphan, Gatewood, Goss, and Macedonia series. Swiss, Doniphan, Goss, and Macedonia soils are deeper than 60 inches to bedrock. Bardley and Gatewood soils have bedrock at depths of 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Beemont soils are on upland side slopes and less commonly on summit positions. The slope gradient commonly is 9 to 14 percent, but ranges from 3 to 20 percent. These soils formed in residuum from cherty materials mixed with residuum from shale and some sandstone overlying bedrock. The mean annual temperature ranges from 53 to 57 degrees, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 45 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Union and Lebanon soils on the ridgetops; and the Gasconade, Gatewood, and Bucklick soils which are on lower landscape positions. Union and Lebanon soils have fragipans. Gasconade soils are less than 20 inches to bedrock. Bucklick soils are fine.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is high or very high. Permeability is very slow. The saturated hydraulic conductivity is low. A temporary water table perches in the layer just above bedrock in late winter and spring in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas remain in mixed hardwood forest. Post oak, blackjack oak, black oak, and eastern red cedar are the principal species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Ozarks area (MLRA 116A) region of Missouri. The soil is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Missouri, 1986.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the series are:
ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 17 inches (A, E1, and E2 horizons);
argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 17 inches to 52 inches (2Bt1, 2Bt2 and 2Bt3 horizons);
lithic contact - 52 inches.