LOCATION ELRIN IAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Elrin loam with a slope of 1 percent - on a stream bench - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 5 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak very fine granular structure; friable; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.
A1--5 to 10 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; common fine distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) mottles; weak very fine granular structure; friable; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
A2--10 to 16 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; common fine distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) mottles; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) coats on faces of some peds; weak very fine granular structure; friable; medium acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizons is 12 to 20 inches.)
AB--16 to 20 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; common fine distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) mottles; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) coats on faces of peds; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
Bw1--20 to 27 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam; common fine prominent brown (7.5YR 4/4) mottles; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bw2--27 to 33 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) sandy loam; many fine prominent brown (7.5YR 4/4) mottles; few fine prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) mottles; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; medium acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bw3--33 to 41 inches; mottled dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; medium acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw4--41 to 51 inches; mottled dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and brown (10YR 4/3) loamy sand; weak medium prismatic structure; very friable; medium acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 20 to 40 inches.)
BC--51 to 60 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loamy sand; band of mottled dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) and brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam at 54 to 57 inches; weak medium prismatic structure; very friable; medium acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Des Moines County, Iowa; about 1 mile east and 1 mile north of Kingston; 2,050 feet south and 370 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 32, T. 72 N., R. 1 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum is greater than 48 inches. Free carbonates and pebbles typically are absent to a depth of 5 feet or more but, in some pedons, are as shallow as 4 feet. The 10- to 40-inch control section averages between 14 and 18 percent clay. Depth to the loamy sand ranges from 30 to 48 inches. The lower part of the A horizon and the B horizon range from slightly acid to strongly acid. The Ap or A horizon is black (10YR 2/1), very dark brown (10YR 2/2), or very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2); and is loam or silt loam high in sand. The AB horizon, when present, is dark brown (10YR 3/3) or very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2). The Bw horizon has hues of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2, 3, or 4. If the matrix color is 3 chroma, there are mottles of 2 chroma. Mottles with hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y commonly are present. It is loam in the upper part and sandy loam or fine sandy loam in the lower part. There is a sandy loam horizon at least 6 inches thick between the loam and loamy sand horizons. The BC horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 2 to 4 and is mottled similar to the B2 horizon. The BC horizon generally is loamy sand but loamy fine sand, sandy loam, and sand are permitted.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Hoopeston, Linder, Wesley, and Yahara series. The Hoopeston soils contain no layer of loam thicker than 6 inches and have a thinner solum. The Linder soils have a solum typically thinner than 30 inches and contain 5 to 30 percent gravel below a depth of about 36 inches. Wesley soils formed in coarse textured material overlying lake sediments or glacial till. Yahara soils have a thinner solum, free carbonates within a depth of 24 inches, and are underlain by stratified silts and very fine sands.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Elrin soils are on nearly level stream terraces. The soils formed in medium, moderately coarse, and coarse textured alluvium. The mean annual temperature ranges from about 47 to 54 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from about 30 to 34 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Hoopeston soils and the Bolan and Dickinson soils. The Bolan and Dickinson soils are better drained and are on higher lying stream terraces. The Hoopeston soils are on similar low stream terraces.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: The Elrin soils are somewhat poorly drained. Surface runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the solum and is rapid in the lower part.
USE AND VEGETATION: Corn, soybeans, small grains, and legume hays are the major crops. Some small areas are in bluegrass pastures.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Iowa and possibly western Illinois and northeastern Missouri. The series is inextensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Des Moines County, Iowa, 1980.
REMARKS: This soil formerly has been included in mapping with the Lawler series.