LOCATION FEDJI MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy over loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Fedji loamy fine sand with a convex slope of 4 percent on a ground moraine in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 10 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) loamy fine sand, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of A horizon is 8 to 16 inches.)
BA--10 to 15 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loamy fine sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--15 to 21 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loamy fine sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--21 to 24 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loamy fine sand; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; about 5 percent coarse fragments in lower part; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 3 to 26 inches.)
2Bw3--24 to 39 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky; friable; about 5 percent coarse fragments; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
2C--39 to 60 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) loam; massive; friable; about 5 percent gravel; few fine prominent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) Fe concentrations and many medium faint grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) Fe depletions; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Blue Earth County, Minnesota; 700 feet east and 44 feet north of the southwest corner of northwest 1/4, sec. 31, T. 107 N., R. 28 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to free carbonates range from 30 to 60 inches. The depth to the loamy 2B horizon of glacial till or lacustrine sediments ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The upper sediments lack rock fragments, and the lower sediments contain as much as 8 percent by volume of rock fragments. The mollic epipedon ranges from 10 to 24 inches in thickness.
The Ap and A horizons have hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. They have textures of loamy fine sand or loamy sand. The reaction is moderately acid to neutral. Some pedons have an AB horizon.
The Bw horizons typically have hue of 10YR, but the hue ranges to 7.5YR, value and chroma of 3 or 4 in the upper part, and value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 3 through 5 in the lower part. The Bw horizons have textures of loamy fine sand, sand, fine sand and loamy sand. The 2Bw horizon typically is loam or clay loam but includes silt loam and silty clay loam. Some pedons have a 2Bt horizon but it does not meet the requirement for an argillic horizon. The Bw and 2Bw horizons are moderately acid to neutral.
The 2C horizon has hue of 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 through 5. It is typically loam or clay loam. A silty substratum phase has textures of silt loam and silty clay loam. Calcium carbonate content ranges from 5 to 20 percent. It is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline. Iron depletions and/or concentrations are typically present in this horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: No other series is in the family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils have plane or convex slopes with gradients of 1 to 8 percent on glacial moraines and on the periphery of outwash plains, lake plains, and deltas. These soils formed in 20 to 40 inches of dominantly sandy sediments and loamy glacial till or lacustrine sediments. These sediments are from the Des Moines lobe of the Late Wisconsin glaciation. Mean annual air temperature is 45 to 48 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is 24 to 30 inches. Frost free days range from 140 to 170 days. Elevation above sea level ranges from 1050 to 1250 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The Clarion, Darfur, Fieldon, and Lasa soils are the main ones. The Darfur and Fieldon soils are poorly drained and are on surrounding flats and drainageways. The well drained Clarion soils and somewhat excessively drained Lasa soils are on terrain similar to that of the Fedji soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Surface runoff is slow to medium. Permeability is rapid in the upper sediment and moderate in the lower sediments. A seasonal high water table exist from 3.5 to 6 feet during periods of March to June in normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are cultivated. Corn and soybeans are the primary crops. Native vegetation is tall grass prairie.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Minnesota. Inextensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Blue Earth County, Minnesota, 1975.
REMARKS: Diagnostic features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 15 inches (Ap and BA horizon); cambic horizon - the zone from 15 to 24 inches (Bw and 2Bw horizons); saturation in the lower part based on redox features in the 2C horizon.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to MAES Central File Code No. 1608 for results of some laboratory analysis of the typical pedon.