LOCATION EITZEN MN+IAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, nonacid, mesic Mollic Udifluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Eitzen silt loam, on a slightly concave slope of 1 percent, on a flood plain, in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; neutral; clear smooth boundary; (7 to 10 inches thick)
C--8 to 25 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; common thin strata of dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very fine sandy loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; massive, laminated; friable; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (10 to 28 inches thick)
Ab1--25 to 38 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) dry; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine subangular blocky; friable; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Ab2--38 to 48 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; friable; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Ab horizon is 16 to 46 inches thick.)
Btb1--48 to 55 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few thin brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (12 to 24 inches thick)
Btb2--55 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; very friable; few thin dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; few thin light gray (10YR 7/2) coatings of clean sand and silt particles on faces of peds; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Houston County, Minnesota; about 3 miles southeast of Spring Grove; about 2,550 feet north and 360 feet west of the southeast corner of section 17, T. 101 N., R. 6 W; USGS Wilmington quadrangle; lat. 43 degrees 33 minutes 03 seconds N. and long. 91 degrees 34 minutes 20 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the recent silty alluvial sediments and depth to the buried soil ranges from 20 to 36 inches. The control section has 18 to 27 percent clay and 5 to 15 percent of fine sand and coarser particles.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. Dry value is 4 or 5. It is moderately acid to neutral.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3, but it has value of 3 to 5 in thin strata. It is silt loam, with thin strata of loam, very fine sandy loam, or loamy very fine sand. It is moderately acid to neutral.
The Ab horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is strongly acid to slightly acid.
Some pedons have an ABb horizon.
The Btb horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It has mottles in some pedons. It is silt loam or loam. It has faint or distinct clay films on faces of peds. It has as much as 5 percent rock fragments in the lower part in some pedons. It is moderately acid or strongly acid.
A 2BC or 2C horizon or both with loamy sand to coarse sand textures are below depths of 60 inches in some pedons. These horizons also have as much as 10 percent rock fragments in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Nodaway series. Nodaway soils have more than 36 inches of recent alluvial sediments overlying a buried soil.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Eitzen soils have slightly concave to slightly convex slopes on flood plains. Slope gradients range from 0 to 6 percent. These soils are on narrow flood plains in the upper parts of stream valleys. They formed in 20 to 36 inches of recent silty alluvial sediments which overlie a buried soil. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 34 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 47 to 52 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Frankville, Mt. Carroll, Newhouse, Port Byron, and Valton soils. All of these soils are well drained and are on adjacent hill slopes. Mt. Carroll and Port Byron soils formed in thick loess and are on summits. Frankville soils formed in a thin mantle of loess and in a thin layer of clayey residuum from limestone and are on summits and shoulders. Newhouse soils formed in a thin mantle of loess and in loamy underlying erosional sediment. Valton soils formed in a thin mantle of loess and in a clayey underlying erosional sediment. The latter three soils are on adjacent hill slopes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained and moderately well drained. Subject to occasional flooding of very brief duration. Surface runoff is medium. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are mostly used for cropland and pasture. Corn, alfalfa, and small grain are the major crops. Native vegetation is savanna and tall grass prairie.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 105. Southeastern Minnesota and possibly northeastern Iowa, north-western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. This series is of minor extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Houston County, Minnesota, 1981.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon include: irregular decrease of organic carbon with depth; mollic subgroup - surface to 8 inches, dark surface too thin to be a mollic epipedon (Ap).
In the past, this soil was included in mapping units of Chaseburg and Judson soils.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to MN Agr. Exp. Sta. Central File Code Nos. 2346 and 2350 for results of some laboratory analyses of pedons of this series.