LOCATION EEL IN+MI OH

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

EEL SERIES

The Eel series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that formed in alluvium and are on flood plains and flood-plain steps. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 965 mm (38 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 10.0 degrees C (50 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Fluvaquentic Eutrudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Eel silt loam, on a nearly level slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 293 meters (960 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap1--0 to 15 cm (6 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine pores; neutral; clear smooth boundary.

Ap2--15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine pores; neutral; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the Ap or A horizon is 18 to 33 cm (7 to 13 inches).]

Bw1--25 to 38 cm (10 to 15 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) loam; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; many fine pores; many fine faint brown (10YR 5/3) and few medium faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

Bw2--38 to 56 cm (15 to 22 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; many fine pores; few fine faint brown (10YR 4/3) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; few fine faint brown (7.5YR 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; neutral; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 25 to 76 cm (10 to 30 inches).]

Bg--56 to 86 cm (22 to 34 inches); dark gray (10YR 4/1) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine and medium pores; thin strata of silty clay loam; few medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; few fine faint dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) manganese masses in the matrix; 1 percent rock fragments; neutral; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 30 cm (0 to 12 inches) thick]

BC--86 to 107 cm (34 to 42 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; thin strata of silty clay loam; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; many medium distinct gray (10YR 6/1) iron depletions in the matrix; 1 percent rock fragments; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 28 cm (0 to 11 inches) thick]

Cg--107 to 152 cm (42 to 60 inches); light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) loam; massive; friable; thin strata of silty clay loam and sandy loam; few medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; many fine faint gray (10YR 5/1) iron depletions in the matrix; 2 percent rock fragments; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Randolph County, Indiana; about 2 miles southwest of Ridgeville along Bear Creek; 220 feet south and 540 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 15, T. 21 N., R. 13 E.; USGS Ridgeville, Indiana topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 16 minutes 43 seconds N. and long. 85 degrees 04 minutes 20 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 663884 easting and 4460492 northing, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the cambic horizon: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages 20 to 30 percent clay and 15 to 30 percent fine sand or coarser

Ap or A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5; value of 2 or 3 allowed in A horizons 5 to 13 cm (2 to 5 inches) thick
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: commonly silt loam or loam, and includes clay loam and silty clay loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 5 percent gravel
Reaction: slightly acid or neutral

Bw or Bg horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 1 to 6
Texture: silt loam, loam, or clay loam, and includes thin strata of silty clay loam or sandy loam
Clay content: averages 20 to 32 percent
Sand content: averages 20 to 35 percent
Rock fragment content: 0 to 5 percent gravel
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline

BC or BCg horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 1 to 6
Texture: silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam, and includes thin strata of textures ranging from silty clay loam to very fine sandy loam
Clay content: averages 15 to 25 percent
Sand content: averages 25 to 55 percent
Rock fragment content: 0 to 7 percent gravel
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline

C or Cg horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam, and includes strata of silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sand, or fine sand
Clay content: averages 8 to 25 percent
Sand content: averages 30 to 80 percent
Rock fragment content: 0 to 14 percent gravel
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. In closely related families are the Flatrock, Lobdell, and Weaver series. Flatrock and Lobdell soils do not have carbonates above a depth of 102 cm (40 inches) and are in the active cation-exchange activity class. Weaver soils have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 cm (60 inches) and are in the active cation-exchange activity class.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Eel soils are on flood plains and flood plain-steps along streams draining till plains of Wisconsinan age. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. The soils formed in alluvium. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 813 to 1067 mm (32 to 42 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 8.3 to 12.2 degrees C (47 to 54 degrees F). Frost-free period is 130 to 180 days. Elevation is 104 to 305 meters (340 to 1000 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Genesee, Gessie, Shoals, and Sloan soils. The well drained Genesee and Gessie soils are on natural levees adjacent to stream channels and on higher lying flood plain-steps. The somewhat poorly drained Shoals soils are in channels or lower lying flood plain-steps. The very poorly drained Sloan soils have a mollic epipedon and are in backswamps.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. Depth to the top of an intermittent apparent high water table ranges from 46 to 61 cm (1.5 to 2.0 feet) at some time in normal years. Potential for surface runoff is very low or low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderate or moderately rapid in the substratum. These soils are subject to flooding.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are being used to grow cultivated crops, mainly corn and soybeans. A few areas are used for hay, pasture or are in forest. Native vegetation is mixed hardwood trees.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 98, 99, 111A, 111B, 111D, 111E, 114A, 114B, and 115A in Indiana, southern Michigan, and Ohio. The type location is in MLRA 111B. The series is of large extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Clay County, Indiana, 1922.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 25 cm (Ap horizon).
Cambic horizon: from a depth of 25 to 86 cm (Bw, Bg horizons).
Aquic conditions: redoximorphic features in all horizons below a depth of 38 cm.

Representative data for this pedon is the Eel component of DMU ID 153341 in MO 11.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Lab data for this pedon, S78IN135-14, is published in Station Bulletin No. 274, Agricultural Experiment Station, Purdue University; file no. RA7814.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.