LOCATION DIGBY OH+IN

Established Series
Rev. DNM-RAR
11/2021

DIGBY SERIES

The Digby series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in loamy outwash overlying gravelly, loamy and sandy outwash deposits. They are on terraces and outwash plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 6 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 889 mm (35 inches), and mean annual air temperature is about 11 degrees C (51 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Aeric Endoaqualfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Digby loam, on a 0 to 2 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 250 meters (820 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 2 percent fine gravel; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [18 to 30 cm (7 to 12 inches) thick]

BEg--20 to 36 cm (8 to 14 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; common medium faint brown (10YR 5/3) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 2 percent fine gravel; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 20 cm (8 inches) thick]

Btg--36 to 61 cm (14 to 24 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common faint brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on vertical and horizontal faces of peds; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 2 percent fine gravel; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt--61 to 91 cm (24 to 36 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common faint brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on vertical and horizontal faces of peds; many medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 5 percent fine gravel; neutral; gradual smooth boundary.

B'tg--91 to 112 cm (36 to 44 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common faint brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on vertical and horizontal faces of peds; many medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 5 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt and Btg horizons is 28 to 96 cm (11 to 38 inches).]

Cg1--112 to 122 cm (44 to 48 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly sand; single grain; loose; many coarse faint brown (10YR 5/3) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 20 percent fine gravel; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

Cg2--122 to 152 cm (48 to 60 inches); gray (10YR 6/1) gravelly sandy loam; single grain; loose; 25 percent fine gravel; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Mercer County, Ohio; approximately 4.7 miles north-northwest of Neptune, in Union Township; 2280 feet east and 120 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 25, T. 4 S., R. 3 E.; USGS Elgin, Ohio topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 40 minutes 12 seconds N. and long. 84 degrees 26 minutes 58 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 61 to 112 cm (24 to 44 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 76 to 122 cm (30 to 48 inches)
Rock fragments: rounded or subrounded glacial pebbles of mixed lithology

Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 5 (6 or more dry)
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: loam, silt loam, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 14 percent
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

Some pedons have an E horizon.

BE or BEg horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: loam, silt loam, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam
Rock fragment content: 2 to 14 percent
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

Bt or Btg horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: clay loam, sandy clay loam, or loam or the gravelly analogs of these textures; thin subhorizons of fine sandy loam or sandy clay are in some pedons
Rock fragment content: 2 to 15 percent in the upper part and 5 to 34 percent in the lower part
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral in the upper part and moderately acid to slightly alkaline in the lower part

Some pedons have a BC or BCg horizon.

C or Cg horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: stratified sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or sand or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs of these textures; thin layers of loam or silt loam in some pedons
Rock fragment content: 5 to 40 percent in individual strata, and averages more than 15 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Angola, Appleton, Ayrshire, Burdett, Crawleyville, Darien, Mitiwanga, Mongle, Nuhi, Ovid, Shadeland, Sleeth, and Whitaker series. Angola, Mitiwanga, Nuhi, and Shadeland soils have a lithic contact within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches). Appleton soils are not stratified in the lower part of the series control section. Ayrshire and Whitaker soils average less than 15 percent rock fragments in the lower part of the series control section. Burdett and Darien soils have rock fragments dominated by shale within the series control section. Crawleyville and Mongle soils are more acid than slightly alkaline in the lower part of the series control section. Ovid soils have hue redder than 10YR in the argillic horizon. Sleeth soils do not have subhorizons in the lower part of the series control section with less than 85 percent sand and are commonly more than 112 cm (44 inches) to the base of the argillic horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Digby soils are on terraces and outwash plains. Slope gradients are typically 0 to 4 percent but range to 6 percent. The soils formed loamy outwash overlying gravelly, loamy and sandy outwash deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 864 to 1067 mm (34 to 42 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from (49 to 55 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Belmore, Haney, and Millgrove soils. The well drained Belmore, moderately well drained Haney, and very poorly drained Millgrove soils are part of a toposequence with the Digby soils. Belmore and Haney soils are on higher positions on the landscape, and Millgrove soils are in depressions.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The depth to the top of an intermittent apparent high water table ranges from 15 to 46 cm (0.5 to 1.5 feet) between January and May in normal years. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the solum and high in the underlying material. Permeability is moderate in the solum and rapid in the underlying material.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are drained and cultivated. Principal crops are corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, hay crops, with some tomatoes and sugar beets. Native vegetation is deciduous hardwood forest.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and west-central Ohio and northeastern Indiana; MLRA 111B. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Paulding County, Ohio, 1957.

REMARKS: The clayey substratum phase has fine-textured till or lacustrine material within a depth of 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches). The till substratum phase has till (with 27 to 42 percent clay) within a depth of 71 to 122 cm (28 to 48 inches). These phases will need to be evaluated during MLRA update activities.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 36 cm (Ap, BEg horizons).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 36 to 112 cm (Btg, Bt, B'tg horizons).
Aquic conditions: redox features in all horizons below a depth of 20 cm.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.