LOCATION BENFIELD                KS+NE

Established Series
Rev. CEW, WAW, BKN
07/2020

BENFIELD SERIES

The Benfield series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in pedisediment over residuum weathered from shales. Benfield soils are on hillslopes on uplands in Bluestem Hills, MLRA 76. Slopes range from 3 to 35 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 935 millimeters (37 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 13 degrees C (55 degrees F), at the type location.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, mesic Udertic Argiustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Benfield silty clay loam - on an east facing, convex 27 percent slope in rangeland at an elevation of 400 meters (1312 feet). (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.) As described on March 1, 2000.

A1--0 to 15 centimeters (0 to 6 inches); black (10YR 2/1) exterior, moist, gravelly silty clay loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) exterior; moderate medium granular structure; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; many fine roots throughout; 20 percent coarse cherty limestone gravel; noneffervescent; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.

A2--15 to 30 centimeters (6 to 12 inches); very dark brown (10YR 2/2) exterior, moist, gravelly silty clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) exterior; moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; many fine roots throughout; 5 percent cherty limestone cobbles and 20 percent coarse cherty limestone gravel; noneffervescent; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizons is 10 to 30 centimeters (4 to 12 inches).)

2Bt1--30 to 51 centimeters (12 to 20 inches); very dark brown (7.5YR 2/3) exterior, moist, silty clay; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine roots throughout; 15 percent patchy faint very dark brown (7.5YR 2/3) moist, clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent coarse cherty limestone gravel; noneffervescent; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.

2Bt2--51 to 66 centimeters (20 to 26 inches); dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) exterior, moist, silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine roots throughout; 15 percent patchy faint dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist, clay films on faces of peds; strong effervescence; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 33 to 68 centimeters (13 to 27 inches).)

2Btk--66 to 85 centimeters (26 to 33 inches) dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) exterior, moist, silty clay; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine roots throughout; 5 percent patchy faint dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) moist, clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent fine spherical carbonate nodules between peds; strong effervescence; slightly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (12 to 46 centimeters (5 to 18 inches) thick.)

3BCk--85 to 99 centimeters (33 to 39 inches); olive (5Y 5/4) exterior, moist, very paragravelly silty clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; 10 percent fine irregular carbonate nodules between peds; 60 percent fine, medium, and coarse shale paragravel; violent effervescence; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 49 centimeters (4 to 19 inches) thick.)

3Cr--99 to 112 centimeters (39 to 44 inches); calcareous, olive colored shale; slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Riley County, Kansas; about 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) west and 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles) north of Manhattan; located about 466 meters (1530 feet) east and 12 meters (40 feet) north of the southwest corner, sec. 27, T. 9 S., R. 7 E.; Keats USGS quadrangle; latitude 39 degrees 13 minutes 58.8 seconds N. and longitude 96 degrees 38 minutes 20.1 seconds W., WGS84.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture regime: ustic bordering on udic
Soil temperature regime: mesic
Mollic epipedon thickness: 18 to 51 centimeters (7 to 20 inches)
Depth to the argillic horizon: 10 to 30 centimeters (4 to 12 inches)
Depth to paralithic contact: 25 to 100 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 35 to 52 percent
Sand content: 2 to 20 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 30 percent cherty limestone gravels and cobbles.

A horizon:
Hue: of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1 or 2 dry or moist
Texture: silt loam, silty clay loam, and their gravelly counterparts
Clay content: 25 to 35 percent
Sand content: 1 to 10 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 34 percent cherty limestone gravel and cobbles
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline

2Bt horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 6 dry or moist
Texture: silty clay, silty clay loam, clay, or their gravelly counterparts
Clay content: 35 to 52 percent
Sand content: 2 to 20 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 30 percent cherty limestone gravel and cobbles.
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

2Btk horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR to 5Y
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 6 dry or moist
Texture: silty clay, silty clay loam, clay, or their gravelly counterparts
Clay content: 35 to 60 percent
Sand content: 5 to 20 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 30 percent cherty limestone gravel and cobbles.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction: moderately alkaline

3BC horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 5Y
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4 dry or moist
Texture: silty clay loam, clay, silty clay, or their paragravelly or gravelly counterparts.
Clay content: 27 to 45 percent
Sand content: 5 to 30 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 60 percent shale paragravel or gravel
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: pedisediment over residuum derived from shale
Landform: hillslopes on uplands
Slopes: 3 to 35 percent
Elevation: 300 to 505 meters (980 to 1650 feet)
Mean annual air temperature: 12 to 14 degrees C (53 to 58 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: 810 to 1060 millimeters (32 to 42 inches)
Precipitation pattern: Precipitation is usually evenly distributed throughout the year with the exception of November through February being the driest months and May and June being the wettest months. Summer precipitation occurs during intense summer thunderstorms.
Frost-free period: 160 to 200 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Clime, Florence, Labette, and Tully soils. Clime soils do not have an argillic horizon. They are on similar topographic positions as Benfield soils.
The deep, clayey-skeletal Florence soils are generally above or below the Benfield soils.
Labette soils are less sloping and are usually on higher topographic positions. The deep Tully soils are formed from alluvium or colluvium and are on foot slopes below the Benfield soils.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage: well
Runoff: high to very high
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: moderately low

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for rangeland with some gentler slopes cultivated to wheat or grain sorghum. Native vegetation is tall prairie grasses.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Dominantly in the Bluestem Hills of Kansas with minor areas in southern Nebraska and central Kansas; Land Resource Region H; Central Great Plains Winter Wheat and Range Region, MLRA 74, Central Kansas Sandstone Hills; MLRA 75, Central Loess Plains, MLRA 76, Bluestem Hills; Land Resource Region M; Central Feed Grains and Livestock Region, MLRA 106 Nebraska and Kansas Loess-Drift Hills; MLRA 107B, Iowa and Missouri Deep Loess Hills. The Benfield series is extensive.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Salina, Kansas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Saline County, Kansas, 1952.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section: the zone from 30 to 80 centimeters (12 to 32 inches) (2Bt1, 2Bt2, and 2Btk horizons)
Mollic epipedon: the zone from 0 to 51 centimeters (0 to 20 inches) (A1, A2, and 2Bt1 horizons)
Argillic horizon: the zone from 30 to 85 centimeters (12 to 33 inches) (2Bt1, 2Bt2, and 2Btk horizons)
Secondary carbonates: the zone from 66 to 99 centimeters (26 to 39 inches) (2Btk and 3BCk horizons) Lithologic discontinuity: 51 centimeters (20 inches) and 66 centimeters (26 inches) (the upper boundary of the 2Bt and 3BCk horizons)
Paralithic contact: around 99 centimeters (39 inches) (Cr horizon)

02/2003 The type location was redescribed in March 2000. Classification changed from udic argiustolls to udertic argiustolls based on laboratory samples.

02/2016 BKN Updated intro to current standards. Added in metric units. Added clay content, sand content, and fragments to RIC. East facing, convex, 27 percent slope, and elevation of 400 meters was added to the typical pedon. Added quadrangle, latitude, longitude, and datum to type location. Changed geographic setting to tabular and added in landform, slope, elevation, precipitation pattern, MAAT, MAP, and FFD to geographic setting. Deleted competing series. Updated geographically associated soils by deleting Irwin, Kipson, and Sogn. Changed permeability to Ksat. Added LRRs and MLRAs to distribution and extent. Added particle-size control section and secondary carbonates to remarks. Added lab data to additional data.

06/2020 BKN Added RIC for Btk horizon.

Keys to Soil Taxonomy: Twelfth Edition, 2014.
Additional data: Kansas State University Pedology Laboratory data is available for Pedon IDs 97KS161049 and 69KS161001. Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory data is available for Pedon IDs 89KS161043, S1987KS161001, and S1987KS161005

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.