LOCATION KISH ILEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Typic Endoaquolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Kish loam - on a southwest-facing slope with less than 1 percent gradient in a cultivated field at an elevation of 264 meters (865 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Apk--0 to 15 cm (0 to 6 inches); black (10YR 2/1) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common very fine roots; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Ak--15 to 28 cm (6 to 11 inches); black (10YR 2/1) loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine granular; friable; common very fine roots; 1 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of A horizon is 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches).]
Bg1--28 to 53 cm (11 to 21 inches); dark gray (2.5Y 4/1) loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation throughout; common fine and medium faint grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) iron depletions throughout; 1 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.
Bg2--53 to 76 cm (21 to 30 inches); dark gray (2.5Y 4/1) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; common fine strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) very weakly cemented iron oxide concretions throughout; few black (2.5Y 2.5/1) krotovina; common fine and medium distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) masses of iron accumulation throughout; many medium and coarse faint dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) and gray (2.5Y 5/1) iron depletions throughout; 4 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.
Bg3--76 to 97 cm (30 to 38 inches); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; many fine and medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation throughout; 4 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bg horizon is 25 to 76 cm (10 to 30 inches).]
BCg--97 to 119 cm (38 to 47 inches); light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) loam; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; many medium and coarse prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation throughout; 7 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 inches) thick]
Cg--119 to 152 cm (47 to 60 inches); 45 percent light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2), 40 percent brown (7.5YR 5/3), and 15 percent grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) stratified loam, sandy loam, and loamy coarse sand; massive; very friable; 14 percent gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: McHenry County, Illinois; about 1.6 km (1 mile) northwest of Huntley; 617 m (2,025 feet) south and 37 m (120 feet) east of the northwest corner of sec. 29, T. 43 N., R. 7 E; USGS Huntley, Illinois, topographic quadrangle; lat. 42 degrees 10 minutes 37 seconds N. and long. 88 degrees 27 minutes 05 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 380125 easting and 4670445 northing, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to the base of soil development ranges from 76 to 127 cm (30 to 50 inches). The mollic epipedon ranges from 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches) in thickness. Carbonates are in all parts of the fine-earth fraction between 25 to 51 cm (10 and 20 inches). Reaction is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline throughout the series control section. The calcium carbonate equivalent ranges from 5 to 30 percent. The particle-size control section has between 18 and 34 percent clay and 15 to 50 percent fine and coarser sand. The sand fraction is well sorted (poorly graded) throughout the series control section.
The Apk, Ap, Ak, or A horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or is neutral; value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam.
Some pedons have an AB horizon.
The Bg or BCg horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, or is neutral; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 0 to 2. It is loam, clay loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, or sandy loam. Gravel content ranges from 0 to 10 percent.
The Cg horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y or 5Y; value of 5 or 6; and chroma of 1 to 4. It is loam, sandy loam, or silt loam with strata of coarser textures a common feature. Gravel content ranges from 2 to 15 percent. The calcium carbonate equivalent is generally higher in this section than in the upper two-thirds of the series control section.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Canisteo, Hetz, Hooppole, Jeffers, and Tilfer series in the same family. Canisteo soils have a poorly sorted (well graded) sand fraction in the lower two-thirds of the series control section. Hetz soils have less than 410 mm (16 inches) of average annual precipitation and are at elevations above 1829 m (6,000 feet). Hooppole soils contain more than 75 percent sand in the lower part of the series control section. Jeffers soils have appreciable amounts of gypsum and have horizons with firm consistence in the series control section. Tilfer soils have a lithic contact at depths between 51 to 102 cm (20 and 40 inches).
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Kish soils have concave to slightly convex slopes with gradient of 0 to 2 percent in shallow depressions and on rims of depressions. They have formed in loamy glacial outwash or in a thin, silty mantle and outwash. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 7 to 12 degrees C (44 to 53 degrees F), 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 183 to 311 meters (600 to 1020 feet) above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Brenton, Elburn, Harpster, Lena, and Pella soils. The somewhat poorly drained Brenton and Elburn soils are on slightly higher landform positions. Harpster and Pella soils are fine-silty and are on similar landform positions nearby. The very poorly drained Lena soils are on slightly lower landform positions.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Poorly drained. An apparent seasonal high water table is 15 cm (0.5 foot) above the surface to 46 cm (1.5 feet) below the surface in normal years. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high (4.23 to 14.11 micrometers per second). Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly under cultivation; corn and soybeans are the principal crops. Native vegetation is hydrophytic grasses, reeds, and sedges.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Illinois. Extent is small in MLRA 95B.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: McHenry County, Illinois, 1996. Name is derived from the Kishwaukee River, which is near the type location.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 28 cm (11 inches) (Apk and Ak horizons); cambic horizon - the zone from approximately 28 to 119 cm (11 to 47 inches) (Bg1, Bg2, Bg3, and BCg horizons); calcareous family - carbonates at 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches); aquic moisture regime - low chroma below mollic epipedon.