LOCATION IONIA                   MI+OH WI

Established Series
REV-KEP-WEF
11/2021

IONIA SERIES

The Ionia series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils formed in loamy sediments over gravelly deposits on outwash plains, terraces, valley trains, and ground moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 6 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 762 mm (30 inches), and the mean annual temperature is about 12.8 degrees C (55 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, semiactive, mesic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Ionia sandy loam, in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated).

Ap--0 to 20 cm (8 inches); dark brown (10YR 3/3) sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 2 percent gravel; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [13 to 23 cm (5 to 9 inches) thick]

E--20 to 28 cm (8 to 11 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam; moderate medium platy structure; friable; many fine roots; 2 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 13 cm (5 inches) thick]

BE--28 to 46 cm (11 to 18 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine roots; 2 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 18 cm (7 inches) thick]

Bt1--46 to 58 cm (18 to 23 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay loam; moderate medium angular blocky structure; firm; few very fine roots; few faint brown (10YR 5/3) clay films on faces of peds; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of oxidized iron; 4 percent gravel; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. [10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 inches) thick]

Bt2--58 to 86 cm (23 to 34 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay loam; strong medium angular blocky structure; firm; few very fine roots; few faint brown (10YR 5/3) clay films on faces of peds; common medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) masses of oxidized iron; few fine faint brown (10YR 5/3) iron depletions; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. [15 to 28 cm (6 to 11 inches) thick]

BC--86 to 96 cm (34 to 38 inches); dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) sandy loam; massive; friable; few fine prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; 4 percent gravel; slightly acid; abrupt irregular boundary. [0 to 10 cm (4 inches) thick]

2C--96 to 152 cm (38 to 60 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 20 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Ionia County, Michigan; about 2.5 miles south of Ionia; 1100 feet west and 25 feet south of the center of sec. 6, T. 6 N., R. 6 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the solum: 61 to 102 cm (24 to 40 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 61 to 102 cm (24 to 40 inches)
Depth to redoximorphic features: 41 to 86 cm (16 to 34 inches)

Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: sandy loam, loam, or silt loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral

A horizon, where present:
Thickness: 8 to 15 cm (3 to 6 inches)
Hue: 10YR
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to slightly acid

The E horizon is mixed in with the A horizon in some cultivated areas.

E horizon, where present:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: sandy loam, loam, or silt loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to slightly acid but ranges to neutral in cultivated areas

BE horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam
Ped surfaces: some pedons have bleached coatings on surface of peds
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to slightly acid

Bt horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to slightly acid

BC horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loamy sand, sandy loam, or sandy clay loam, or their gravelly analogues
Redoximorphic feature: commonly have chroma of 2 or less
Special features: in places tongues of BC extend into the 2C horizon from 15 cm to several meters
Rock fragment content: 0 to 25 percent
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

2C horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: sand or gravelly sand
Rock fragment content: 5 to 35 percent

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Ionia soils are on outwash plains, terraces, valley trains, and ground moraines. Slope gradients range from 0 to 6 percent, but typically are 0 to 2 percent. These soils formed in loamy sediments over gravelly deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 635 to 889 mm (25 to 35 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 7.2 to 13.9 degrees C (45 to 57 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The Ionia soils are the moderately well drained member of a drainage sequence that includes the well drained Fox, somewhat poorly drained Matherton, and poorly drained or very poorly drained Sebewa soils.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. Potential surface runoff is negligible to medium depending on the slope gradient. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the loamy upper part and high or very high in the substratum. Permeability is moderate in the loamy upper part of the profile and rapid or very rapid in the substratum.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for general farming. Principal crops are corn, beans, small grains, and legume-grass hay. Some areas support a native vegetation of mixed hardwoods including northern red oak, sugar maple, shagbark hickory, and American beech.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 95B, 98, and 111B in southern Michigan, Indiana, western Ohio, and southeastern Wisconsin. This series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ionia County, Michigan, 1965.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 20 cm (8 inches) (Ap horizon).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 46 to 86 cm (18 to 34 inches) (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
Aquic conditions: redoximorphic features present in all horizons below a depth of 46 cm (18 inches).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.