LOCATION DU PAGE IL+IA IN MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Cumulic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Du Page silt loam - in a pasture with slope gradient of 1 percent at an elevation of 182 meters (598 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A1--0 to 46 cm (0 to 18 inches); very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many very fine roots; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary.
A2--46 to 76 cm (18 to 30 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; common very fine roots; a stratum of fine gravel 3 cm (1 inch) thick at 69 cm (27 inches); strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary.
A3--76 to 89 cm (30 to 35 inches); dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; weak medium granular structure; friable; few very fine roots; 3 percent fine gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. [The combined thickness of the A horizon is 61 to 109 cm (24 to 43 inches).]
C1--89 to 104 cm (35 to 41 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) loam; massive; friable; many light gray (10YR 7/1) shell fragments; 7 percent fine and medium gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary.
C2--104 to 152 cm (41 to 60 inches); dark gray (10YR 4/1) gravelly loam; massive; very friable; many light gray (10YR 7/1) shell fragments; 17 percent fine and medium gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Will County, Illinois; about 1.6 kilometer (1 mile) north of Plainfield; 572 meters (1875 feet) south and 30 meters (100 feet) east of the northwest corner of sec. 10, T. 36 N., R. 9 E; USGS Plainfield topographic quadrangle; lat. 41 degrees, 37 minutes, 04 seconds N., and long. 88 degrees, 12 minutes, 08 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 399840E, 4608038N, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to the base of soil development and the thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 61 to 132 cm (24 to 52 inches). Carbonates are throughout the profile below a depth of 25 cm (10 inches). In some pedons, thin strata of shell fragments, gravel, or sand are as shallow as 61 cm (24 inches). The particle size control section averages between 18 and 27 percent clay. Some pedons have loamy sand below a depth of 102 cm (40 inches).
The upper one-third of the series control section [Ap or A horizon to a depth of 61 cm (24 inches)] has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is silt loam or loam. Coarse fragment content averages less than 5 percent. Reaction ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline.
The middle one-third of the series control section (A, Bw, or AC horizon) has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 2 or 3. It is loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or gravelly analogues of these textures. Sand content averages 30 to 70 percent and coarse fragment content averages less than 25 percent. Reaction ranges from slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline.
The lower one-third of the series control section (C horizon) has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 1 to 4. Some pedons contain redoximorphic features with higher value and chroma. The C horizon commonly contains fragments of snail shells. The dominant textures are loam, silt loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or gravelly analogs of these textures. Thin layers of silt loam, loamy sand, or sand are included. Clay content averages between 6 and 24 percent, sand content averages between 5 and 60 percent, and coarse fragment content averages less than 25 percent. Reaction ranges from slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Dameron, Deloit, Fort Dodge, Olmitz, Racket, Ross, Spillco, Spillville, Terril, and Turlin soils. Dameron, Deloit, Fort Dodge, Olmitz, Racket, Ross, Spillville, Terril, and Turlin soils do not have carbonates within a depth of 61 cm (24 inches). Spillco soils do not have carbonates above a depth of 30 cm (12 inches).
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Du Page soils are on nearly level flood plains. Slope gradients commonly are less than 2 percent but range to as steep as 4 percent along former channels. Du Page soils formed in alluvial sediments washed principally from upland Mollisols which formed in drift and loess of Wisconsinan Age. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 7 to 11 degrees C (45 to 52 degrees F), mean annual precipitation ranges from 640 to 1020 mm (25 to 40 inches), frost free days range from 130 to 180, and elevation ranges from 156 to 415 meters (512 to 1360 feet) above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Lawson, Millington, and Otter soils. The somewhat poorly drained Lawson and poorly drained Otter soils are noncalcareous and are on the lower lying part of the landscape nearby. The calcareous, poorly drained Millington soils are also lower lying and form a drainage sequence with Du Page soils.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained or moderately well drained. The water table typically is below a depth of 183 cm (6 feet), but in some pedons it is at a depth of 107 to 183 cm (3.5 to 6 feet) below the surface at some period between February and April. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high (4.23 to 14.11 micrometers per second). Permeability is moderate. These soils are subject to flooding in the winter and spring.
USE AND VEGETATION: Du Page soils are used to grow pasture, although some areas are used to grow corn and soybeans. Natural vegetation is grasses and widely spaced trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota. The extent is moderate [about 13,760 hectares (34,000 acres) correlated].
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Will County, Illinois, 1951.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features observed in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 89 cm (35 inches) (A1, A2, and A3 horizons).