LOCATION MAHALALAND IN

Established Series
Rev. MLW-TJE
11/2021

MAHALALAND SERIES

The Mahalaland series consists of very deep, poorly drained and very poorly drained soils that are deep to calcareous, stratified sandy and gravelly outwash. Mahalaland soils formed in loess or other silty material and the underlying loamy outwash. They are on outwash plains and outwash terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1016 mm (40 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 10.6 degrees C (51 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiaquolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Mahalaland silty clay loam, on a level slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 203 meters (664 feet) above mean sea level (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 23 cm (9 inches); black (10YR 2/1) silty clay loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common medium roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.

A--23 to 33 cm (9 to 13 inches); black (10YR 2/1) silty clay loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak coarse subangular blocky structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; common medium roots; common fine and medium pores; neutral; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the A horizon is 25 to 53 cm (10 to 21 inches).]

Btg1--33 to 46 cm (13 to 18 inches); dark gray (5Y 4/1) silty clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common fine pores; many distinct very dark gray (5Y 3/1) organo-clay films on faces of peds; many distinct black (10YR 2/1) organic coatings on faces of peds; common fine distinct olive (5Y 4/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; neutral; clear smooth boundary.

Btg2--46 to 66 cm (18 to 26 inches); dark gray (10YR 4/1) silty clay loam; weak fine prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; common fine roots; common fine pores; many prominent dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay films on faces of peds; common fine prominent olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; neutral; clear smooth boundary.

Btg3--66 to 84 cm (26 to 33 inches); dark gray (10YR 4/1) silty clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak coarse subangular blocky; firm; few fine roots; common fine pores; common distinct dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay films on faces of peds; common fine prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; neutral; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the Btg horizon is 51 to 66 cm (20 to 26 inches).]

2Btg4--84 to 102 cm (33 to 40 inches); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common fine pores; common distinct dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay films on faces of peds; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) krotovinas; common medium prominent light olive brown (2.5Y5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

2Btg5--102 to 117 cm (40 to 46 inches); olive gray (5Y 4/2) sandy clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine pores; common distinct dark gray (5Y 4/1) clay films on faces of peds; 6 percent rock fragments; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the 2Btg horizon is 30 to 51 cm (12 to 20 inches).]

3Cg1--117 to 135 cm (46 to 53 inches); dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) stratified gravelly loamy sand and sandy loam; single grain; loose; 21 percent rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

3Cg2--135 to 203 cm (53 to 80 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 33 percent rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Tippecanoe County, Indiana; about 1 mile south of Lafayette; 2,490 feet west and 2,090 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 13, T. 19 N., R. 8 W.; USGS Stockwell, Indiana topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 21 minutes 7.03 seconds N. and long. 86 degrees 49 minutes 0.04 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 515566 easting and 4466843 northing, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the loess or silty material: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 25 to 53 cm (10 to 21 inches), and extends into the upper part of the Bt horizon in some pedons
Thickness of the solum: 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches)

Ap or A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: silty clay loam or silt loam
Reaction: slightly acid or neutral

Btg horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y, or is neutral
Value: 3 to 6
Chroma: 0 to 2
Texture: silty clay loam
Reaction: slightly acid or neutral

2Btg horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y, or is neutral
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 0 to 2
Texture: loam, silt loam, clay loam, or sandy clay loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent gravel
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

2BCg horizon, where present:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y, or is neutral
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 0 to 2
Texture: loam, silt loam, or sandy loam or the gravelly analogs of these textures
Rock fragment content: 5 to 20 percent gravel
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline; carbonates are present in some pedons

3Cg horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y, or is neutral
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 0 to 3
Texture: stratified gravelly or very gravelly analogs of loamy sand, coarse sand, or sand, with thin strata of sandy loam in the upper part in some pedons
Rock fragment content: 15 to 50 percent gravel
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline; carbonates are present

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Cald, Cyclone, Gabriel, Luray, Mahalasville, Ragsdale, and Treaty series. Cald, Cyclone, Luray, Mahalasville, Ragsdale, and Treaty soils have less than 15 percent rock fragments in the lower part of the series control section. Gabriel soils have a mollic epipedon that is thicker than 53 cm (21 inches).

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Mahalaland soils are on outwash plains and outwash terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. The soils formed in 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches) of loess or other silty material and in the underlying loamy outwash. They are deep to calcareous, stratified sandy and gravelly outwash. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 914 to 1067 mm (36 to 42 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 10.0 to 12.2 degrees C (50 to 54 degrees F). Frost-free period is 165 to 180 days. Elevation is 152 to 244 meters (500 to 800 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bowes, Lafayette, Proctor, Rush, Totanang, Waupecan, and Waynetown soils. The well drained Bowes, Proctor, Rush, and Waupecan soils and the moderately well drained Totanang soils are on higher landscape positions. The somewhat poorly drained Lafayette and Waynetown soils have redox depletions in the upper part of the profile and are on slightly lower landscape positions.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Poorly drained or very poorly drained. In drained areas, depth to the top of an intermittent apparent high water table ranges from 15 cm (0.5 foot) above the surface to 15 cm (0.5 foot) below the surface during the winter and spring in normal years. Potential for surface runoff is negligible or very low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the upper part of the solum and high in the lower part, and high or very high in the underlying material. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the solum and moderately rapid in the lower part, and rapid or very rapid in the underlying material.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are cultivated. Alfalfa, clover, corn, soybeans, and wheat are the principal crops. Native vegetation is forest of ash, elm, and maple, with areas of swamp grasses prominent in many places.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 111D in west-central Indiana. The series is of small extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Tippecanoe County, Indiana, 1998.

REMARKS: These soils were mapped as Mahalasville gravelly substratum soils in Tippecanoe and Montgomery Counties, and as Westland soils in Fountain County. Transects indicate that these soils should be separated from the Westland and Mahalasville soils based on the thickness of the silty material and the underlying gravelly outwash.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 33 cm (Ap, A horizons).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 33 to 117 cm (Btg, 2Btg horizons.
Aquic conditions: redoximorphic features in all horizons below the mollic epipedon.

Representative NASIS data mapunit for this pedon is DMU ID 153351 in MO 11.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Transect data is on file at the MLRA Soil Survey Office in Indianapolis.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.