LOCATION BILLETT IL+IA IN MN WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Mollic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Billett sandy loam, on a southeast-facing slope of 1 percent, in a cultivated field, at an elevation of about 226 meters above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 20 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (13 to 24 centimeters thick)
E--20 to 33 centimeters; brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 16 centimeters thick)
Bt1--33 to 71 centimeters; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few distinct very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds and bridges between sand grains; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--71 to 104 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loamy sand; weak coarse prismatic structure; very friable; few fine roots; very few distinct dark brown (10YR 3/3) clay bridges between sand grains; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Bt3--104 to 119 centimeters; brown (10YR 4/3) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few distinct very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; about 2 percent fine gravel; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 45 to 102 centimeters.)
C1--119 to 132 centimeters; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loamy sand; single grain; loose; few fine roots; about 8 percent fine gravel; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
C2--132 to 152 centimeters; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly loamy sand; single grain; loose; about 15 percent fine gravel; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 95B-Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois Drift Plain, Winnebago County, Illinois subset; about 5 miles southeast of Rockford; located about 520 feet south and 1,840 feet west of the center of section 13, T. 43 N., R. 2 E.; USGS Cherry Valley topographic quadrangle; lat. 42 degrees 12 minutes 08 seconds N. and long. 88 degrees 57 minutes 26 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Clay content in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--10 to 18 percent
Sand content in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--40 to 80 percent, less than 50 percent very fine sand
A or Ap horizon:
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam
Clay content--7 to 18 percent
Sand content--50 to 75 percent
Rock fragment content--0 to 10 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to slightly alkaline
Special features--when mixed to a depth of 18 centimeters, matrix value is 3 or less, moist, 5 or less, dry
E horizon (when present):
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--2 to 4
Texture--fine sandy loam or sandy loam
Clay content--7 to 18 percent
Sand content--50 to 75 percent
Rock fragment content--0 to 10 percent
Reaction--strongly acid to neutral
Some pedons have BE or BA horizons
Bt horizon:
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--4 to 6
Chroma--3 to 6
Texture--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy clay loam, fine sand or sand
Clay content--7 to 22 percent
Sand content--50 to 95 percent
Rock fragment content--0 to 15 percent, gravel and 0 to 5 percent, cobbles
Reaction--strongly acid to neutral
Some pedons have redoximorphic features in the lower part
Some pedons have Bw or BC horizons
C horizon:
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--4 to 7
Chroma--3 to 6
Texture--loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sand, fine sand, or the gravelly analogs of these textures
Clay content--1 to 7 percent
Sand content--70 to 95 percent, coarse and very coarse sand content averages less than 10 percent
Rock fragment content--0 to 35 percent, gravel and 0 to 5 percent, cobbles
Reaction--strongly acid to slightly alkaline
Silt plus clay content is less than 10 percent
Some pedons have redoximorphic features in the lower part
Some pedons have thin lamellae of sandy loam, loam, or finer textured material
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Backbone,
Brownchurch,
Desker,
Kingsley,
Oronoco, and
Ulster series.
Backbone--have a lithic contact at a depth of 100 centimeters
Brownchurch--have a sand content of less than 70 percent in the lower part of the series control section
Desker--have a rock fragment content that averages more than 12 percent in the upper part of the series control section
Kingsley--have a sand content that averages less than 70 percent and have more than 10 percent silt plus clay in the lower one-quarter of the control section
Oronoco--have a sand content that averages less than 70 percent and have more than 10 percent silt plus clay in the lower one-quarter of the control section
Ulster--have a fine and very fine sand content that averages more than 50 percent in the particle-size control section
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--water-deposited or wind-deposited loamy or sandy sediments
Landform--nearly level to moderately steep convex crests and side slopes on outwash plains, stream terraces, or hills that border river valleys
Slope--0 to 20 percent
Elevation--185 to 315 meters above mean sea level
Mean annual air temperature--7 to 11 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--750 to 1,020 millimeters
Frost-free period--140 to 180 days
.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Ade,
Alvin,
Bloomfield,
Dickman,
Gotham, and
Onarga soils.
Ade--are on similar landscape positions as the Billett soils and have a mollic epipedon
Alvin--are on similar landscape positions as the Billett soils and have a thinner, dark-colored surface layer
Bloomfield--are on similar landscape positions as the Billett soils and have an argillic horizon consisting of lamellae
Dickman--are on similar landscape positions as the Billett soils and have a mollic epipedon and do not have and argillic horizon
Gotham--are on similar landscape positions as the Billett soils and have an average clay content of less than 10 percent in the particle-size control section
Ongara--are on similar landscape positions as the Billett soils and have a mollic epipedon
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--well drained and moderately well drained--a frequently saturated zone may occur at a depth of 1.2 meters during the wettest periods of normal years
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--10.00 to 100.00 micrometers per second (high) in the upper two thirds of the series control section and 10 to 705 micrometers per second (high or very high) in the lower third of the series control section
Surface runoff potential--negligible to low
USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas are cultivated. The principal crops are corn and soybeans. Some areas are pastured. The native vegetation is big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, other grasses of the tall grass prairie and mixed deciduous trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic sections--Eastern lake section, Western lake section, Dissected till plains, Wisconsin driftless section, and Till plains
MLRAs--Wisconsin and Minnesota Thin Loess and Till (90),
Wisconsin and Minnesota Sandy Outwash (91),
Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois Drift Plain (95B),
Central Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (103),
Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (104),
Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills (105),
Illinois and Iowa Deep Loess and Drift (108),
Indiana and Ohio Till Plain (111), and
Central Mississippi Valley Wooded Slopes (115)
LRR K and M; Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
Extent--large
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lawrence County, Illinois, 1952.
REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 33 to 83 centimeters (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons);
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 150 centimeters (Ap, E, Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, C1 and C2 horizons).
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
ochric epipedon--the zone from the surface to a depth of 33 centimeters (Ap and E horizons);
argillic horizon--the zone from a depth of 33 to 119 centimeters (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons);
udic moisture regime.
Mollic subgroup based on colors and thickness of the ochric epipedon.
Cation-exchange activity class is inferred from lab data from similar soils in the surrounding area.
Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, tenth edition, 2006.