LOCATION EMELINE            IA+MN
Established Series
Rev. MRL-AGG-TWN
04/2007

EMELINE SERIES


The Emeline series consists of very shallow or shallow, somewhat excessively drained soils formed in 10 to 25 centimeters of loamy material overlying limestone bedrock. These soils are on interfluves, nose slopes and side slopes on dissected, bedrock-controlled uplands. Slope ranges from 2 to 60 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 850 millimeters. Mean annual air temperature is about 9 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Hapludolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Emeline loam, on a 2 percent slope, in a bluegrass pasture. (Colors are for moist soils unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 23 centimeters; black (10YR 2/1) loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine granular; friable; many fine and very fine roots; about 12 percent rock fragments of weathered limestone in lower 10 centimeters; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (10 to 25 centimeters thick)

R--23+ centimeters; fractured limestone bedrock; upper part has black (10YR 2/1) loamy sediments in the fractures.

TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 104 - Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies, Jones County, Iowa subset; about 20 miles north of Monticello, Iowa; located about 400 feet west and 2,040 feet north of the southeast corner of section 10, T. 86 N., R. 3 W; USGS Hopkinton East topographic quadrangle; lat. 42 degrees 16 minutes 23 seconds N. and long. 91 degrees 10 minutes 17 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the mollic epipedon--10 to 25 centimeters
Depth to lithic contact with limestone--10 to 25 centimeters
Depth to carbonates--5 to 25 centimeters
Clay content in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--20 to 35 percent
Sand content in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--20 to 45 percent

A horizon:
Hue--10YR or 7.5YR
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--loam, silt loam, or clay loam
Clay content--20 to 35 percent
Sand content--20 to 45 percent
Rock fragments--less than 15 percent
Reaction--slightly acid to moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bechyn, Bendena, Copaston, Huntley, and Marblehead series.
Bechyn--have a lithic contact with igneous or metamorphic bedrock within a depth of 50 centimeters
Bendena--have a lithic contact with limestone bedrock within a depth of 50 centimeters and are in areas with a mean annual air temperature range of 11 to 14 degrees C
Copaston--have a lithic contact with limestone bedrock at depths of 25 to 50 centimeters
Huntley--have a lithic contact with shale bedrock within a depth of 50 centimeters
Marblehead--have a clay content that averages less than 20 percent in the particle-size control section

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--10 to 25 centimeters of loamy material overlying limestone bedrock
Landform--interfluves, nose slopes and side slopes on dissected, bedrock-controlled uplands
Slope--2 to 60 percent
Elevation--155 to 400 meters above sea level
Mean annual air temperature--6 to 11 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--735 to 965 millimeters
Frost-free period--145 to 205 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ostrander, Rockton, and Terril soils.
Ostrander--are at higher landscape positions on interfluves and side slopes and do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 200 centimeters
Rockton--are at slightly higher landscape positions and have a lithic contact with limestone within depths of 50 to 100 centimeters
Terril--are at lower landscape positions on base slopes and do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 200 centimeters

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--somewhat excessively drained--a frequently saturated zone does not occur within a depth of 1.8 meters in normal years
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--1.00 to 10.00 micrometers per second in the loamy materials and 0.01 to 10.00 micrometers per second in the limestone bedrock depending on the amount of weathered rock
Surface runoff potential--low to high

USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas are either used for pasture or as natural areas. Some areas are in woodland. The native vegetation is big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, and other grasses of the tall grass prairie.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic section--Dissected till plains
MLRAs--Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (104), Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills (105), and Illinois and Iowa Deep Loess and Drift (108)
LRR M; northeastern and east-central Iowa and southeastern Minnesota
Extent--small

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jones County, Iowa, 1988.

REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 23 centimeters;
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 23 centimeters.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
mollic epipedon--the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 23 centimeters (A horizon);
lithic contact--the contact with limestone bedrock at a depth of 23 centimeters;
udic moisture regime.

Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, tenth edition, 2006.

These soils were previously included with the Sogn series in mapping. Sogn soils are Haplustolls and typically are in a drier climate.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.