LOCATION CONOVER                 MI+IN WI

Established Series
Rev. MCB
10/2018

CONOVER SERIES

The Conover series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils that are moderately deep or deep to dense till. These soils formed in loamy till on moraines and till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 6 percent but is dominantly 0 to 4 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 810 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Aquic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Conover loam, on a 3 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 230 meters. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 23 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam, light gray (10YR 7/1) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine subangular blocky; friable; common very fine and fine roots and few medium roots; common very fine pores; 3 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); clear wavy boundary. (20 to 30 cm thick)

Bt--23 to 44 cm; brown (10YR4/3) clay loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; common very fine pores; few distinct gray (10YR 5/1) clay films on all faces of peds; common fine and medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron accumulation; common fine distinct gray (2.5Y 6/1) iron depletions; 4 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; noneffervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (20 to 61 cm thick)

Btg--44 to 57 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; common very fine pores; common faint gray (10YR 5/1) clay films on all faces of peds; common fine and medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron accumulation; 7 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; slightly effervescent (11 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 15 cm thick)

BCtk--57 to 99 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) loam; weak very coarse angular blocky structure parting to weak very thick platy; friable; few very fine and fine roots in cracks; common prominent gray (10YR 6/1) clay films on vertical faces of peds; common medium and coarse distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron accumulation; few medium and coarse distinct gray (10YR 5/1) iron depletions; few medium prominent white (2.5Y 8/1) calcium carbonate coats on faces of peds; 7 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent (20 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 60 cm thick)

Cd--99 to 203 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) loam; massive parting to weak very thick platy geogenic structure; firm; few prominent light gray (7/N) silt coats in cracks; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron accumulation in matrix; common medium distinct gray (2.5Y 6/1) iron depletions in cracks; common medium prominent white (2.5Y 8/1) calcium carbonate coats in cracks; 5 irreversible trans-horizon cracks per meter; 7 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent (23 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); strongly alkaline (pH 8.6).

TYPE LOCATION: Shiawassee County, Michigan; about 1 mile south of the village of Carland; 487 feet south and 61 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 1, T. 7 N., R. 1 E.; USGS Ovid East, Michigan topographic quadrangle; lat. 43 degrees 2 minutes 27.23 seconds N. and long. 84 degrees 18 minutes 17.84 seconds W., WGS84.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the solum: 50 to 125 cm.
Depth to carbonates: 40 to 100 cm.
Depth to densic contact: 50 to 150 cm.
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent; typically of mixed lithology.

Ap or A horizon
Value: 2 to 4
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: loam, silt loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam
Reaction (pH): 5.6 to 7.3
Thickness of A horizon: 10 to 15 cm in wooded areas

E horizon, where present
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: loam, silt loam, or fine sandy loam
Reaction (pH): 5.6 to 7.3
Thickness: 5 to 15 cm

Bw horizon, where present:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Reaction (pH): 6.1 to 7.8
Thickness: 5 to 12 cm

Bt horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 or 4, 2 is allowed in the lower part
Texture: clay loam, silty clay loam, loam, or sandy clay loam
Clay content: 18 to 35 percent but typically averages more than 26 percent clay in the particle-size control section
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 12 percent
Reaction (pH): 6.1 to 7.8 in the upper part; 6.6 to 8.4 in the lower part

BCtk, BC, BCk, or C horizon, where present
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loam or clay loam
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 25 percent
Reaction (pH): 7.4 to 8.4

Cd horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loam, silt loam, or clay loam
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 20 to 35 percent
Reaction (pH): 7.4 to 9.0

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bogart, Centerburg, Cygnet, Haney, Houcktown, Jenera, Jugtown, Nicely, Passport, Reaville, Scattersville, Sampoodle, Thackery, Tuscola, Vallonia, Vanlue, and Williamstown series. Bogart, Centerburg, Haney, Jenera, Jugtown, Nicely, Scattersville, Swampoodle, Thackery, Tuscola, and Vanlue soils do not have a densic contact within the series control section. Cygnet soils formed in 102 to 152 cm of loamy glaciolacustrine material containing up to 30 percent rock fragments above the underlying till. Houcktown soils formed in 51 to 102 cm of loamy water-sorted material containing up to 25 percent rock fragments above the underlying till. Passport soils are more than 152 cm to carbonates. Reaville soils have a lithic contact within a depth of 102 cm. Vallonia soils have less than 10 percent clay in the lower part of the series control section. Williamstown soils are dominated by rock fragments of limestone or crystalline lithology.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Conover soils formed in loamy till on moraines and till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 4 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 735 to 965 mm. Mean annual temperature ranges from 8 to 11 degrees C. Frost-free period is 130 to 180 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Brookston, Parkhill, Carlisle, Crosier, and Miami soils. The poorly drained Brookston and Parkhill soils and moderately well drained Miami soils are in a drainage sequence with the Conover soils and are the most common associates. The very poorly drained Carlisle soils formed in organic materials and are in depressions. The somewhat poorly drained Crosier soils occupy landscape positions similar to the Conover soils and have dominant colors with chroma 2 or less in the upper part of the subsoil.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Depth to the top of a perched seasonal high water table ranges from 15 to 46 cm below the surface at some time from September to May in normal years. The potential for surface runoff ranges from low to high depending on slope gradient. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or moderately low in the surface horizon and upper part of the subsoil, moderately low or low in the lower part of the subsoil, and very low or low in the dense till.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Corn, beans, small grain, and legume-grass hay are the principal crops. A small part is in forest. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods, predominantly American beech, sugar maple, basswood, northern red oak.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 97, 98, 99, 110, 111B, and 111C in southern Michigan, southern Wisconsin, and northern Indiana. These soils are extensive, with over 400,000 acres mapped.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Miami County, Ohio, 1916.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 23 cm (Ap horizon).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 23 to 57 cm (Bt and Btg horizons).
Aquic conditions: redoximorphic features present in all horizons below the ochric epipedon and redox depletions with chroma of 2 or less in the upper 25 cm of the argillic horizon.
Densic contact: at a depth of 99 cm.

The taxonomic subgroup was changed from Aquollic to Aquic based on findings from field investigations completed in 2017 to 2018.

Overlap exists between the concepts of the Conover and Williamstown soils. Further study on the depth to low chroma redoximorphic features will be required to differentiate these soils.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data from the typical pedon 18N0101, samples 18N00644-650 from Shiawassee County, Michigan, is available from the NRCS-NSSC-Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE, 07/2018.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.