LOCATION CATES IN

Established Series
Rev. MLW-BC-TJE
11/2021

CATES SERIES

The Cates series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in residuum from siltstone. Cates soils are on hills and knobs. Slope ranges from 25 to 75 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1016 mm (40 inches), and mean annual air temperature is about 10.6 degrees C (51 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Dystric Eutrudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Cates channery silt loam, on a northwest-facing, 30 percent slope in woods at an elevation of about 189 meters (620 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless stated otherwise.)

Oi--0 to 2 cm (1 inch); partially decomposed leaves from mixed deciduous trees. [0 to 5 cm (0 to 2 inches) thick]

A--2 to 10 cm (1 to 4 inches); dark brown (10YR 3/3) channery silt loam, gray (2.5Y 5/1) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots throughout; 16 percent channers; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [8 to 15 cm (3 to 6 inches) thick]

Bw1--10 to 25 cm (4 to 10 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots throughout; 46 percent channers; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bw2--25 to 43 cm (10 to 17 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots throughout; 47 percent channers; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bw3--43 to 66 cm (17 to 26 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very channery silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine and medium roots throughout; few distinct black (10YR 2/1) manganese or iron-manganese masses on rock fragments; 53 percent channers; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 30 to 56 cm (12 to 22 inches).]

2C--66 to 91 cm (26 to 36 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely channery clay loam; massive; very firm; common fine and medium roots in cracks; 61 percent channers; strongly acid; abrupt irregular boundary. [13 to 30 cm (5 to 12 inches) thick]

2R--91 cm (36 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) strongly cemented, fractured siltstone bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Fountain County, Indiana; about 3 miles west of Westpoint; 2,000 feet east and 160 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 21, T. 22 N., R. 6 W.; USGS Westpoint, Indiana topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 20 minutes 40.2 seconds N. and long. 87 degrees 6 minutes 15 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 491153 easting and 4466002 northing, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to lithic contact: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Rock fragments: dominantly channers, but include flagstones, and are strongly or very strongly cemented
Particle-size control section: averages 35 to 65 percent rock fragments

A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam or loam, or their channery analogs
Rock fragment content: 0 to 34 percent
Reaction: extremely acid to slightly acid

E horizon, where present:
Hue : 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam or loam, or the channery analogs of these textures
Rock fragment content: 0 to 34 percent
Reaction: extremely acid to slightly acid

Bw horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 4 to 6
Texture: channery or very channery analogs of silt loam or loam
Rock fragment content: 20 to 59 percent
Reaction: extremely acid to moderately acid

2C horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 4 to 6
Texture: very channery or extremely channery analogs of clay loam, silt loam, or loam
Rock fragment content: 40 to 85 percent
Reaction: extremely acid to moderately acid

2R layer: strongly cemented, fractured siltstone bedrock

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Alton, Guyanoga (T), and Pennichuck series. Alton and Guyanoga soils do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches). Pennichuck soils have rock fragments of phyllite lithology.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Cates soils are on steep and very steep backslopes of hills and knobs. Slope ranges from 25 to 75 percent. The soils formed in residuum from siltstone. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 914 to 1067 mm (36 to 42 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 10.0 to 12.2 degrees C (50 to 54 degrees F). Frost-free period is 150 to 180 days. Elevation is 152 to 244 meters (500 to 800 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Adeland, Loudonville, Miami, Rainsville, Rockfield, Russell, and Silverwood soils. The moderately deep, somewhat poorly drained Adeland soils and well drained Loudonville soils formed in glacial materials and are on bedrock controlled landforms. The very deep, moderately well drained Miami, Rainsville, and Rockfield soils, and well drained Russell soils are on till plains. The very deep, well drained Silverwood soils are on adjacent terraces underlain with sand and gravel.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Potential for surface runoff is medium or high depending on slope gradient and depth to bedrock. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high. Permeability is moderately rapid.

USE AND VEGETATION: Almost all areas are in mixed oak-hickory forest, the native vegetation.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 111D in west-central Indiana. The series is of small extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fountain County, Indiana, 1999.

REMARKS: Cates soils were previously correlated as Muskingum soils in previous surveys.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 10 cm (Oi, A horizons).
Cambic horizon: from a depth of 10 to 66 cm (Bw horizon).
Lithic contact: at 91 cm (top of 2R layer).

Representative NASIS data mapunit for this pedon is DMU ID 153340 in MO 11.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Lab data is available for the typical pedon, S98IN-045-006, from the National Soil Survey Lab, Lincoln, NE.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.