LOCATION LIMECREEK IAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Limecreek silty clay loam, on a convex, 3 percent slope, in a bluegrass meadow. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; black (10YR 2/1) silty clay loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate fine and very fine granular structure; friable; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
A--7 to 13 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; black (10YR 2/1) coats on faces of peds; moderate fine and very fine granular structure; friable; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 10 to 20 inches.)
2Bw1--13 to 18 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) clay loam; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) coats on faces of peds; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; neutral; gradual smooth boundary.
2Bw2--18 to 25 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) clay loam; few fine faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; discontinuous very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) coats on faces of peds; moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 10 to 20 inches.)
3C1--25 to 51 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) silty clay loam; massive, with evidence of rock structure; friable; pebble band of brachiopod fossils and cherty limestone fragments in the upper part; few fossils throughout; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
3C2--51 to 60 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) loam; common fine and medium distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; massive, with evidence of rock structure; firm; few soft dark concretions (manganese oxides); strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Floyd County, Iowa; about 6 miles west and 1 mile south of Marble Rock; located about 280 feet south and 25 feet east of the northwest corner of section 21, T. 94 N., R. 18 W.; USGS Aureola topographic quadrangle; lat. 42 degrees 57 minutes 01 seconds N. and long. 92 degrees 59 minutes 07 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to carbonates typically coincide closely with the thickness of the loamy, erosional sediments at 20 to 40 inches. The mollic epipedon is 10 to 20 inches thick unless eroded. A stone line that consists mainly of brachiopod fossils and cherty limestone fragments typically separate the loamy mantle and the underlying fossiliferous, siltstone and shaley limestone residuum.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silty clay loam with a clay content ranging from 27 to 30 percent. It is slightly acid to slightly alkaline. It contains 0 to 5 percent coarse fragments.
The AB or BA horizon, when present, has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Some pedons have low chroma mottles in this horizon. The sand content of the A, AB, or BA horizon typically ranges from about 14 to 20 percent. It is dominantly fine or very fine sand.
The 2Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. The clay content ranges from 22 to 30 percent and the sand content ranges from 18 to 40 percent. It is silty clay loam, loam or clay loam. It contains 0 to 10 percent coarse fragments. Reaction is slightly acid or neutral.
The 3C horizon typically has hue of 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. The percent of sand, silt, and clay is highly variable between horizons but the textures are silty clay loam to loam. The shaley limestone may have as much as 70 percent silt or sand or as little as 15 percent of either. The sand fraction typically is very fine and fine. Clay content ranges from 10 to 50 percent in subhorizons of the C. They average between 20 to 35 percent for all horizons of the C horizon above 60 inches. It contains 0 to 5 percent coarse fragments. Reaction ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Arbor, Aredale, Bode, Clarion, Cresken, Everly, Farrar, Frontenac, Garmore, Kenyon, Liscomb, Moland, Neeper(T), Ocheyedan, Ostrander, and Rossfield series. The Arbor, Aredale, Cresken, Garmore, Kenyon, Ostrander and Neeper(T) soils have carbonates and are more acid above 40 inches of the control section. The Bode, Clarion, Farrar, Frontenac, Ocheyedan, Moland and Rossfield soils do not have 2 chroma mottles above 24 inches and are more acid in the control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on nearly level and gently sloping ridge crests and on gently sloping and moderately sloping side slopes. They formed in 20 to 40 inches of loamy erosional sediments overlying stratified fossiliferous, siltstone and shaley limestone material. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 46 to 50 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from about 30 to 34 inches. Elevation ranges from 950 to 1,350 feet above mean sea level. Frost-free period ranges from 145 to 165 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Calamine and Mottland soils. Calamine soils are on lower-lying floodplains. Mottland soils have less than 20 inches of surficial sediments over arenaceous limestone. They typically are on more sloping areas.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Permeability is moderate. Surface runoff is slow to medium. Depth to seasonal high water table is 4 to 6 feet in normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Native vegetation was prairie grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North central Iowa. These soils are of minor extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Floyd County, Iowa, 1989.
REMARKS: This unit was formerly included with the Rossfield soils. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include: Mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 13 inches; (Ap and A horizon); Cambic horizon - the zone from a depth of 13 to 25 inches (2Bw1 and 2Bw2 horizons); Udic moisture regime.