LOCATION GRINDSTONE MI

Established Series
Rev. LHL-WEF-MLK
08/2012

GRINDSTONE SERIES

The Grindstone series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that are moderately deep to dense till. Grindstone soils formed in loamy till on till plains and moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 6 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 838 mm (33 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 8.9 degrees C (48 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Glossaquic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Grindstone loam, on a 1 percent slope in a field cropped to alfalfa hay on a till plain. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 23 cm (9 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; common fine roots; 2 percent gravel and cobbles; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [13 to 25 cm (5 to 10 inches) thick]

B/E--23 to 28 cm (9 to 11 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay loam (B); pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy loam (E) occurs as coatings on the faces of peds; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron; 2 percent gravel and cobbles; slightly alkaline; abrupt irregular boundary. [5 to 20 cm (2 to 8 inches) thick]

Bt--28 to 51 cm (11 to 20 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium angular blocky; firm; few fine roots; thin continuous brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on vertical faces of peds and thin patchy clay films on horizontal faces; few fine faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions in lower part of horizon; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in lower part of horizon; 2 percent gravel and cobbles; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. [13 to 30 cm (5 to 12 inches) thick]

BC--51 to 69 cm (20 to 27 inches); light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron; common medium distinct gray (10YR 6/1) iron depletions; 3 percent gravel and cobbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 25 cm (10 inches) thick]

Cd1--69 to 140 cm (27 to 55 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) loam; strong thick platy structure; very firm; 4 percent gravel and cobbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.

Cd2--140 to 178 cm (55 to 70 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) loam; moderate thick platy structure; very firm; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron; 4 percent gravel and cobbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Huron County, Michigan; about 1/2 mile south of the town of Port Austin; 1,210 feet north and 1,180 feet west of the center of sec. 32, T. 19 N., R. 13 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the solum: 30 to 84 cm (12 to 33 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 30 to 64 cm (12 to 25 inches)
Depth to densic contact: 61 to 102 cm (24 to 40 inches)

Ap horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: loam, cobbly loam, or sandy loam
Rock fragment content: 2 to 14 percent gravel and 0 to 25 percent cobbles
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline

E part of the B/E horizon: occurs as coatings on the peds
Hue: 10YR
Value: 6 or 7
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: sandy loam or loam
Rock fragment content: 2 to 14 percent gravel and 0 to 8 percent cobbles
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline

Bt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 to 6
Chroma: 2 or 4
Texture: silt loam, clay loam, or loam
Rock fragment content: 2 to 14 percent gravel and 0 to 8 percent cobbles
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline

Cd horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 or 4
Consistence: very firm or extremely firm
Special features: vertical or oblique fracture planes are observable in an exposed cut; faces of the fractures are light gray (10YR 7/1) and immediately below the faces of the fractures the color is yellowish brown (10YR 5/6); fracture planes are at intervals of 30 to 91 cm (12 to 36 inches) and any root penetration of the Cd horizon occurs along these fractures
Rock fragment content: 2 to 14 percent gravel and 0 to 8 percent cobbles

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Aurora, Conesus, Danley, and Nunda series. Aurora soils have a lithic contact within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches). Conesus, Danley, and Nunda soils do not have a densic contact within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches).

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Grindstone soils are on till plains and moraines of Wisconsinan age. Slope gradients are commonly 0 to 2 percent but range to 6 percent. The soils formed in loamy till. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 737 to 940 mm (29 to 37 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 7.2 to 10.0 degrees C (45 to 50 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Grindstone soils are part of a drainage sequence which includes the somewhat poorly drained Shebeon soils and the poorly drained Kilmanagh soils. Badaxe soils are associated in some places where a thin sandy loam layer overlies the loam till.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. Potential for surface runoff is medium or high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the solum and low in the Cd horizon. Permeability is moderate in the solum and very slow in the Cd horizon.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are cultivated. Corn, soybeans, small grains and legume hay are the principal crops.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 99 in the thumb area of lower Michigan. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Huron County, Michigan, 1978.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 23 cm (9 inches) (Ap horizon).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 23 to 51 cm (9 to 20 inches) (B part of B/E horizon and Bt horizon).
Densic contact: at 69 cm (27 inches) (top of the Cd1 horizon).
Aquic conditions: iron depletions in the Bt and BC horizons above the Cd horizon.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data available from the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE for pedon S74MI063003.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.