LOCATION JOLIET IL+MN NY OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Endoaquolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Joliet silt loam on a 1 percent slope in a grassland prairie at an elevation of 162 meters (530 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A1--0 to 18 cm (0 to 7 inches); black (10YR 2/1) silt loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate fine and medium granular structure; friable; common very fine to medium roots; 1 percent rock fragments; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.
A2--18 to 30 cm (7 to 12 inches); black (10YR 2/1) silt loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine to medium roots; 2 percent rock fragments; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
A3--30 to 38 cm (12 to 15 inches); black (10YR 2/1) silt loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; 5 percent rock fragments; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the A horizon is 10 to 38 cm (4 to 15 inches).]
Bg--38 to 48 cm (15 to 19 inches); dark gray (2.5Y 4/1) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; few very fine roots; 5 percent rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. [8 to 13 cm (3 to 5 inches) thick]
2R--48 cm (19 inches); unweathered limestone bedrock; strongly effervescent.
TYPE LOCATION: Will County, Illinois; about 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) south of Channahon; 207 meters (680 feet) south and 452 meters (1,484 feet) east of the northwest corner of section 33, T.34 N., R.9 E., USGS Channahon topographic quadrangle; lat.41 degrees 23 minutes 17 seconds N., and long. 88 degrees 13 minutes 3 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16T, 398203E, 4582555N, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 18 to 41 cm (7 to 16 inches). The depth to the base of soil development ranges from 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches). Rock fragments are limestone channers, and glacial erratics of mixed lithology.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3 (5 or less dry), and chroma of 1 or 2. It is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam. The silt loam and silty clay loam textures are estimated to contain from 15 to 20 percent sand. Rock fragment content ranges from 0 to 15 percent. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to moderately alkaline.
The Bg horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, or N; value of 3 to5; and chroma of 0 to 2. It is loam, clay loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam. Rock fragment content ranges from 0 to 15 percent. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to moderately alkaline.
Some pedons have a Cg horizon 1 to 3 inches thick immediately above the bedrock.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Romeo, and Little Cottonwood series in the same family and the Faxon series in a related family. Romeo soils have a lithic contact between 10 to 25 cm (4 and 10 inches). Faxon soils have a lithic contact between 51 to 102 cm (20 and 40 inches). Little Cottonwood soils overlie quartzite bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Joliet soils formed in 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches) of loamy glacial drift on nearly level limestone or dolostone bedrock. Slope gradients generally range from 0 to 2 percent but are as high as 4 percent in some pedons. Mean annual temperature ranges from 9 to 12 degrees C (48 to 53 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation ranges from 740 to 1020 mm (29 to 40 inches), frost free days range from 140 to 180 days, and elevation ranges from 152 to 311 meters (500 to 1,020 feet) above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Joliet soils are associated with the moderately deep, poorly drained Millsdale soils, the well drained Channahon soils, the competing Romeo soils, and the deep, well drained Plattville soils.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Poorly drained. An intermittent perched seasonal high water tables is at a depth of 0 to 30 cm (0 to 1 foot) below the surface at some time during the spring in most years. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high (4.23 to 14.11 micrometers per second). Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in pasture; some areas are used for general farming. Native vegetation is water-tolerant prairie grasses and sedges.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin and Ohio. Extent is small, about 3238 hectares (8,000 acres).
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Will County, Illinois, 1951.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 15 inches (A1, A2 and A3 horizons); lithic contact at 48 cm (19 inches).