LOCATION LILAH IA+MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, mesic Psammentic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Lilah sandy loam, on a west-facing, convex slope of 5 percent, in a pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 15 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; about 6 percent rock fragments (2 to 5 millimeters in diameter); moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (13 to 23 centimeters thick)
BA--15 to 23 centimeters; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) worm casts; common distinct pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry silt and sand coats on faces of peds; about 6 percent rock fragments (2 to 5 millimeters in diameter); strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 13 centimeters thick)
Bt1---23 to 38 centimeters; brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) and brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; common clay bridging between sand grains; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry silt and sand coats on faces of peds; about 20 percent rock fragments (2 to 5 millimeters in diameter); strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (13 to 20 centimeters thick)
2Bt2--38 to 71 centimeters; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) gravelly loamy sand; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very friable; common distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; clay bridging between many sand grains; few thin (5 to 10 millimeters) horizontal lamellae of brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam with many dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; about 18 percent rock fragments (2 to 5 millimeters in diameter); very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (25 to 51 centimeters thick)
2Bt3--71 to 99 centimeters; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) sand; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very friable; few thin (3 to 8 millimeters thick) horizontal lamellae of brown (7.5YR 4/4) loamy sand with clay bridging at intervals of 1.5 to 8 centimeters; about 7 percent rock fragments (2 to 5 millimeters in diameter); very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (23 to 46 centimeters thick)
2C--99 to 203 centimeters; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) loamy sand; single grain; loose; about 2 percent rock fragments (2 to 75 millimeters in diameter); very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 104-Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies; Howard County, Iowa subset; about 1 mile south and 1 mile west of the town of Chester; located about 2,345 feet north and 96 feet east of the southwest corner of section 15, T. 100 N., R. 13 W.; USGS Lime Springs topographic quadrangle; lat. 43 degrees 28 minutes 44 seconds N. and long 92 degrees 22 minutes 30 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to carbonates--more than 150 centimeters
Clay content of the particle-size control section (weighted average)--2 to 12 percent
Sand content of the particle-size control section (weighted average)--80 to 95 percent, dominantly medium sand and coarse sand
A or Ap horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--sandy loam
Clay content--5 to 15 percent
Sand content--55 to 75 percent
Rock fragment content--2 to 15 percent
Reaction--strongly acid to neutral
E horizon (when present):
Hue--10YR
Value--4
Chroma--2 or 3
Texture--sandy loam
Clay content--5 to 15 percent
Sand content--55 to 75 percent
Rock fragment content--2 to 15 percent
Reaction--very strongly acid to slightly acid
Bt horizon:
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--3 to 6
Texture--sandy loam or gravelly sandy loam
Clay content--10 to 18 percent
Sand content--55 to 85 percent
Rock fragment content--5 to 25 percent
Reaction--very strongly acid to slightly acid
Some pedons have layers, less than 20 centimeters thick, with textures of loamy fine sand or finer
2Bt horizon:
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--3 to 8
Texture--loamy sand, sand, loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, gravelly loamy sand, gravelly sand, gravelly loamy coarse sand, or gravelly coarse sand
Clay content--2 to 10 percent
Sand content--75 to 95 percent
Rock fragment content--10 to 50 percent
Reaction--very strongly acid to slightly acid
Lamellae may or may not be present
Some pedons have a thin layer of gravelly sandy loam
2C horizon:
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--4 to 8
Texture--loamy sand, sand, loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, gravelly loamy sand, gravelly sand, gravelly loamy coarse sand or gravelly coarse sand
Clay content--2 to 6 percent
Sand content--75 to 95 percent
Rock fragment content--2 to 20 percent
Reaction--very strongly acid to slightly acid
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Bristol,
Gotham,
Montieth,
Shavenaugh, and
Vistula series.
Bristol--have a sand content of more than 75 percent in the upper third of the series control section and are slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline in the lower third of the series control section
Gotham--have a rock fragment content of 0 to 2 percent in the upper third of the series control section and have horizons with medium sand and coarse sand content of less than 50 percent
Montieth--have a paralithic contact with sandstone within a depth of 102 centimeters
Shavenaugh--have carbonates within a depth of 127 centimeters
Vistula--have a sand content of more than 75 percent in the upper third of the series control section, have redoximorphic features in the lower third of the series control section, and have carbonates in the lower third of the series control section
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--25 to 50 centimeters of loamy sediments and the underlying sandy and gravelly outwash
Landform--outwash areas on dissected till plains and treads and risers on stream terraces
Slope--0 to 35 percent
Elevation--210 to 400 meters above sea level
Mean annual air temperature--6 to 10 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--735 to 965 millimeters
Frost-free period--145 to 205 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Burkhardt,
Clyde,
Dickinson, and
Racine soils.
Burkhardt--are in similar landscape positions to those of the Lilah soils and have a mollic epipedon 17 to 49 centimeters thick
Clyde--are at lower elevations in flat to concave drainageways and are frequently saturated at the surface of the soil during the wettest periods of normal years
Dickinson--are in similar landscape positions to those of the Lilah soils, have a mollic epipedon 30 to 60 centimeters thick and have a rock fragment content of 0 to 5 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Racine--are in similar landscape positions to those of the Lilah soils and have a clay content that averages 20 to 28 percent in the particle-size control section
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage class--excessively drained--a frequently saturated zone does not occur within a depth of 1.8 meters in normal years
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--10.00 to 100.00 micrometers per second in the loamy sediments and 100.00 to 705.00 micrometers per second in the sandy and gravelly outwash
Surface runoff potential--negligible to low
USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas are pastured. Some areas are cultivated. The principal crops are oats and hay. The native vegetation is mixed big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, other grasses of the tall grass prairie and deciduous trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic sections--Dissected till plains, Wisconsin driftless section
MLRAs--Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (104) and Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills (105)
Local physiographic area--Iowa Erosion Surface
LRR M; northeastern Iowa and southern Minnesota
Extent--small
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Howard County, Iowa, 1969
REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 23 to 73 centimeters (Bt1, 2Bt2, and 2Bt3 horizons);
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 150 centimeters (Ap, BA, Bt1, 2Bt2, 2Bt3 and 2C horizons).
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
ochric epipedon--the zone from the surface to a depth of 15 centimeters (Ap horizon);
argillic horizon--the zone from a depth of 23 to 99 centimeters (Bt1, 2Bt2, and 2Bt3 horizons);
udic moisture regime.
Lilah series could be challenged for coarse-loamy particle-size family depending on the thickness and texture of the upper 75 centimeters of the argillic horizon.
Lilah series may classify as a Mollic Hapludalfs, but the sandy loam portion of the argillic horizon is thought to be consistently less than 20 centimeters thick and this series is classified on that basis. There is some question as to the presence of an argillic horizon as the illuvial horizon does not always have a 3 percent (absolute) increase in total clay than the eluvial horizon.
Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, tenth edition, 2006.