LOCATION COTTER MOEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Pachic Argiudolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Cotter silt loam - on a nearly level slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; black (10YR 2/1) silt loam; dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--8 to 14 inches; black (10YR 2/1) silt loam; dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate medium and fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizons is 8 to 18 inches.)
Bt1--14 to 20 inches; black (10YR 2/1) silty clay loam; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt2--20 to 30 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) silty clay loam; dark brown (10YR 4/3) dry; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt3--30 to 40 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; thin almost continuous black (10YR 2/1) clay and organic matter coatings on peds; common fine roots; strongly acid; diffuse smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 20 to 36 inches.)
BC--40 to 60 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few thin black (10YR 2/1) organic coats on a few peds; common fine roots; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Carroll County, Missouri; 90 feet north of south edge of sections, and on the section line between sections 16 and 17, T. 52 N., R. 24 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mollic epipedon ranges from 24 to 36 inches in thickness.
The A horizon has color value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silt loam, loam, or silty clay loam. Reaction is moderately acid to neutral.
The upper part of the Bt horizon has color value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 to 3. The lower part has color value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 3 or 4 with darker coatings on peds decrease with depth. It is silt loam or silty clay loam with 25 to 35 percent clay in the upper part and 25 to 30 percent clay in the lower part. Reaction is strongly acid to neutral.
The BC and C horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 4. Mottles are below 48 inches in some pedons. It commonly is silt loam or loam with strata of silty clay loam and very fine sandy loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Ashdale, Assumption, Barrington, Broadwell, Catlin, Dana, Dinsdale, Douglas, Elkhart, Elmont, Harrison, Healing, Keltner, Malcolm, Mendota, Ogle, Plano, Proctor, Reading, Richwood, Ripon, Saybrook, Sibley, Sidell, Tama, Toddville, Troxel, Wakenda, Waupecan, and Wiota series. Ashdale soils have 2B horizons with more than 35 percent clay. Assumption, Dana, Dinsdale, Saybrook and Sidell soils have 2B horizons with more than 15 percent sand at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Barrington soils have carbonates at shallow depths. Broadwell soils have thinner mollic epipedons and have loamy sand or sand at a depth of 40 to 60 inches. Catlin, Douglas, Elkhart, Elmont, Harrison, Healing, Keltner, Malcolm, Mendota, Ogle, Plano, Richwood, Procter, Tama, Toddville, Wakenda soils have mollic epipedons less than 24 inches thick. Reading soils contain more clay in the lower solum and C horizons. Ripon soils have limestone bedrock within a depth of 40 inches. Tama soils have a thinner mollic epipedon and more uniform coarse silt to fine silt ratio. Troxel soils have mean annual soil temperature at 20 inches of 47 to 54 degrees F and commonly have loamy outwash in the lower part of the solum. Wiota soils contain more than 30 percent clay in the lower part of the Bt horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cotter soils are on high floodplains and old natural levees along major streams. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. The soils formed in alluvium that mostly eroded from soils formed in loess in the uplands. Mean annual temperature is 53 to 59 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is 32 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the coarser textured Landes and Norborne soils and the finer textured more poorly drained Bremer soils. Landes and Norborne soils are on similar positions and Bremer soils are on lower positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate. Runoff is slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cotter soils are used for agricultural crops. Major crops grown include alfalfa, corn, soybeans, and wheat. Native vegetation is tall grasses mixed with cottonwood and willow trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and west-central Missouri. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Missouri River Alluvial Lands, 1970.
REMARKS: Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this series are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 30 inches (Ap, A, Bt1 and Bt2 horizons); argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 14 to 40 inches (Bt1, Bt2 and Bt3 horizons).