LOCATION MADAUS IN+MI

Established Series
Rev. GLH-RAB-MLK
09/2012

MADAUS SERIES

The Madaus series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils formed in herbaceous organic materials overlying marly material and sand deposits on outwash plains, lake plains, lake terraces, flood plains, moraines, and till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 889 mm (35 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 10.0 degrees C (50 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty over sandy or sandy-skeletal, carbonatic over mixed, mesic Histic Humaquepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Madaus muck, on a less than 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 233 meters (764 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

Oap--0 to 23 cm (9 inches); black (N 2.5/) broken face and rubbed muck; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and fine roots throughout; about 1 percent fiber, a trace rubbed; 1 percent shell fragments; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. [18 to 41 cm (7 to 16 inches) thick]

C1--23 to 33 cm (9 to 13 inches); gray (5Y 6/1) marly silt loam; massive; friable; common very fine and fine roots throughout; common very fine and fine interstitial and tubular pores with moderate continuity; common fine prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) irregular masses of oxidized iron in root channels; about 1 percent fiber, a trace rubbed; 3 percent shell fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

C2--33 to 79 cm (13 to 31 inches); light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) marly silt loam; massive; friable; common very fine and fine roots throughout; common very fine and fine interstitial and tubular pores with moderate continuity; common medium distinct gray (10YR 6/1) cylindrical iron depletions in cracks; about 1 percent fiber, less than 1 percent rubbed; 3 percent shell fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

C3--79 to 122 cm (31 to 48 inches); gray (10YR 6/1) marly silt loam; massive; friable; common very fine and fine interstitial and tubular pores with moderate continuity; about 1 percent fiber, less than 1 percent rubbed; 1 percent shell fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the C horizon is 10 to 112 cm (4 to 44 inches).]

2Cg--122 to 203 cm (48 to 80 inches); dark gray (5Y 4/1) sand; single grain; loose; 5 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Elkhart County, Indiana; about 3 miles east of Elkhart; 90 feet south and 600 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 7, T. 37 N., R. 6 E.; USGS Bristol, IN topographic quadrangle; lat. 41 degrees 40 minutes 53 seconds N. and long. 85 degrees 52 minutes 23 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 593795 easting and 4615021 northing, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the organic surface layer: 18 to 41 cm (7 to 16 inches)
Depth to sand: 43 to 142 cm (17 to 56 inches)

Oa or Oap horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR or N
Value: 2, 2.5, or 3
Chroma: 0 to 2
Texture: muck
Reaction: slightly acid to moderately alkaline

C horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y
Value: 4 to 8
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: marly silt loam or marly silty clay loam
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

2Cg or 2C horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR to 5Y
Value: 4 to 7
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: loamy sand, fine sand, sand, or coarse sand, or their gravelly analogues
Rock fragment content: 0 to 25 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

A clay substratum is recognized below 152 cm (60 inches).

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family. Similar soils in related families are the Aurelius, Edwards, Kjar, Martisco, Rondeau, and Warners series. Aurelius soils have loamy substratum layers within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches). Edwards and Rondeau soils have more than 41 cm (16 inches) of muck over marly material. Kjar soils are moderately or strongly saline within the series control section. Martisco soils do not have a sandy particle-size class within the particle-size control section. Warners soils have a mollic epipedon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Madaus soils are in marshy depressions on outwash plains, lake plains, lake terraces, flood plains, moraines, and till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Madaus soils formed in herbaceous organic materials overlying marly material and sand deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 711 to 1067 mm (28 to 42 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 6.1 to 11.1 degrees C (43 to 52 degrees F). Frost-free period is 120 to 180 days. Elevation is 177 to 466 meters (580 to 1,530 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Adrian, Antung, Edselton, Edwards, Houghton, Martisco, Moston, and Toto soils. These very poorly drained soils are on similar landform positions as Madaus soils. Adrian and Antung soils formed in herbaceous organic material over sandy deposits. Edselton soils formed in more than 41 cm (16 inches) of herbaceous organic materials over marly material. Houghton soils formed in herbaceous organic material more than 130 cm (51 inches) thick. Edwards and Martisco soils do not have sandy textures within the particle-size control section. Moston and Toto soils formed in herbaceous organic material over coprogenous material.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. Depth to the top of an apparent high water table ranges from 30 cm (1 foot) above the surface to 30 cm (1 foot) below the surface between November and May in normal years. In the northern range of the Madaus series, the depth of seasonal high water table in the undrained phase can range from 30 cm (1 foot) above the surface to 30 cm (1 foot) below the surface between September and June. Potential for surface runoff is negligible. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the organic material, moderately low in the marly material, and high or very high in the sandy material. Permeability is moderately slow to moderately rapid in the organic material, slow in the marly material, and rapid in the sandy material.

USE AND VEGETATION: Soils that have been drained are used for truck crops and beans. Undrained soils are in native vegetation consisting of marsh grasses, sedges, cattails and water tolerant trees.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 96, 97, 98, 110, and 111C in Indiana and Michigan. The series is of small extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pulaski County, Indiana, 2001.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Histic epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 23 cm (9 inches) (Oap horizon).
Aquic conditions: redoximorphic features present in all horizons below the Oap horizon.
Carbonatic soil material: from 23 to 122 cm (9 to 48 inches) (C1, C2, C3).

The Madaus series was earlier considered a sandy substratum phase of the Martisco soils. The Madaus series was developed to replace the Martisco soils with a sandy 2C horizon in the lower part of the particle-size control section in the Elkhart County and Pulaski County, Indiana soil surveys. Many areas mapped Edwards soils that have been drained and subsequently subsided will be re-correlated to the Madaus series during the update process.

The clay substratum phase located in the northern range of the series will become a new series during the update process.

NASIS Data Mapunit ID 155026 represents the typical pedon.
NASIS Data Mapunit ID 155025 represents the undrained phase.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Lab characterization data is available for the typical pedon (S94IN-039-014) from the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE. Transect data (T94IN-039-146) for the typical pedon is on file in the MLRA project office in Plymouth, Indiana. Transect shows 100 percent Madaus and similar soils.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.