LOCATION FINCASTLE               IN+IL OH

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

FINCASTLE SERIES

The Fincastle series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils that are deep to dense till. Fincastle soils formed in loess or other silty material and in the underlying loamy till. They are on till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 6 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1016 mm (40 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 10.6 degrees C (51 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Aeric Epiaqualfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Fincastle silt loam, on 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 314 meters (1,030 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 25 cm (10 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine and very fine roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches) thick]

E--25 to 33 cm (10 to 13 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and very fine roots; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 15 cm (6 inches) thick]

Bt1--33 to 53 cm (13 to 21 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine and common very fine roots; common distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; many medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--53 to 69 cm (21 to 27 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; few medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; few very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) very weakly cemented iron-manganese nodules throughout; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 25 to 71 cm (10 to 28 inches).]

2Bt3--69 to 86 cm (27 to 34 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; few very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) very weakly cemented iron-manganese nodules throughout; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 3 percent rock fragments; neutral; clear wavy boundary.

2Bt4--86 to 127 cm (34 to 50 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; few medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; few very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) very weakly cemented iron-manganese nodules throughout; common medium faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 2 percent rock fragments; slightly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the 2Bt horizon is 20 or 76 cm (8 to 30 inches).]

2BCt--127 to 150 cm (50 to 59 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm; common distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; few medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; few very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) very weakly cemented iron-manganese nodules throughout; many medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 6 percent rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 30 cm (12 inches) thick]

2Cd--150 to 200 cm (59 to 79 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; massive; very firm; 9 percent rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Rush County, Indiana; about 4 miles east and 1 mile south of Milroy; 1,750 feet east and 30 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 23, T. 12 N., R. 10 E.; USGS Milroy, Indiana topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees 28 minutes 55.7 seconds N. and long. 85 degrees 22 minutes 46 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 639379 easting and 4371560 northing, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the loess: 56 to 102 cm (22 to 40 inches)
Thickness of the solum: 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches)
Depth to densic contact: 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 89 to 152 cm (35 to 60 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages between 27 and 33 percent clay and 5 to 10 percent fine sand or coarser

Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral

E horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 2
Texture: silt loam
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral
Some pedons do not have an E horizon. Some pedons have an EB or BE horizon.

Bt or Btg horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 2 to 6
Texture: silty clay loam or silt loam
Clay content: 23 to 35 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to slightly acid

2Bt or 2Btg horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 2 to 6
Texture: clay loam or loam, or less commonly silty clay loam
Clay content: 25 to 32 percent
Sand content: 15 to 50 percent
Rock fragment content: 1 to 7 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid in the upper part, and ranges to slightly alkaline in the lower part

2BCt or 2BCg horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 2 to 6
Texture: clay loam or loam
Clay content: 12 to 30 percent
Sand content: 30 to 50 percent
Rock fragment content: 1 to 8 percent
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

2Cd horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: loam or less commonly fine sandy loam
Clay content: 12 to 26 percent
Sand content: 35 to 60 percent
Rock fragment content: 2 to 14 percent; mainly glacial pebbles
Moist bulk density: 1.75 to 2.00 gm/cc
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 40 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Coulterville, Gavers, and Millstadt series. Coulterville soils have more than 5 percent exchangeable sodium in subhorizons of the argillic horizon. Gavers soils are deeper than 152 cm (60 inches) to carbonates. Millstadt soils have sola thicker than 152 cm (60 inches).

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Fincastle soils are on till plains of Wisconsinan age. Slope ranges from 0 to 6 percent. The soils formed in 56 to 102 cm (22 to 40 inches) of loess or other silty material and in the underlying loamy till. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 914 1067 mm (36 to 42 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 9.4 to 12.2 degrees C (49 to 54 degrees F). Frost-free period is 175 to 185 days. Elevation is 168 to 308 meters (550 to 1,100 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cyclone, Miami, Russell, Treaty, Williamstown, and Xenia soils. The poorly drained Cyclone and Treaty soils are on lower landscape positions and have mollic epipedons. The moderately well drained Miami soils, the well drained Russell soils, and the moderately well drained Xenia soils form a drainage sequence with the Fincastle soils. They are on higher lying positions on summits, or on lower lying, more sloping positions on shoulders and backslopes. The moderately well drained Williamstown soils are also on higher lying positions on summits, or on lower lying, more sloping positions on shoulders and backslopes.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Depth to the top of a perched seasonal high water table ranges from 15 to 61 cm (0.5 to 2.0 feet) during winter and spring in normal years. Potential for surface runoff is low to high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum, and low or moderately low in the substratum. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the solum; moderately slow in the lower part of the solum; and slow or very slow in the substratum.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are mostly cultivated. Corn, soybeans, wheat, and clover-grass mixtures are the principal crops. Native vegetation is hardwood forest.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mainly in MLRAs 111A and 111D and to lesser extent in MLRAs 108A, 111B, 111C, 114A, 114B, and 115C in central and south-central Indiana, eastern Illinois, and southwestern Ohio. The type location is in MLRA 111A. The series is of large extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wayne County, Indiana, 1925.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 33 cm (Ap, E horizons).
Albic horizon: from a depth of 25 to 33 cm (E horizon).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 33 to 127 cm (Bt, 2Bt horizons).
Densic contact: at 150 cm (top of the 2Cd horizon).
Aquic conditions: redoximorphic features in all horizons between a depth of 25 and 150 cm.

A bedrock substratum phase is recognized and may become a new series as subset soil surveys with this phase are updated.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available for the typical pedon, S1978IN139012, from the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory (KSSL), Lincoln, Nebraska. Data for pedons sampled by the Agricultural Experiment Station at Purdue University and at The Ohio State University are also available from KSSL.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.