LOCATION MARSEILLES ILEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Marseilles silt loam - on a north-facing slope of about 38 percent in a pasture at an elevation of about 669 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 4 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many very fine and few fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
BE--4 to 9 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; moderate medium platy structure parting to weak very fine subangular blocky; friable; many very fine roots; common distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry clay depletions on faces of peds; few fine accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); neutral; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--9 to 15 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine and few fine roots; common distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry clay depletions and common distinct dark brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; few fine accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--15 to 23 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay loam; strong fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine and few fine roots; few distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry clay depletions and many distinct dark brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; few fine accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 0 to 24 inches.)
2Bt3--23 to 36 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam; few medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) redox concentrations; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; common very fine and few medium roots; many prominent dark brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; few fine accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (12 to 34 inches thick)
2Cr1--36 to 51 inches; olive gray (5Y 5/2) soft shale; few medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) redox concentrations; firm; common very fine and few fine roots; common prominent dark brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on shale fragments; few fine accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
2Cr2--51 to 60 inches; olive (5Y 5/3) soft shale; very firm; few very fine roots; few prominent dark brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on shale fragments; few fine accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Bureau County, Illinois; about 2 miles west of Tiskilwa; 2,200 feet west and 1,180 feet south of the northeast corner of sec. 14, T. 15 N., R. 8 E.; USGS Wyanet topographic quadrangle; lat. 41 degrees 17 minutes 20 seconds N., and long. 89 degrees 32 minutes 13 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to the base of the argillic horizon ranges from 20 to 40 inches and commonly is the same as the depth to the paralithic contact. The depth to the residuum ranges from 0 to 30 inches. The particle size control section averages between 24 and 35 percent clay and less than 15 percent fine sand or coarser.
The upper one-third of the series control section (A, Ap, BE, E) has properties as follows. The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam or silty clay loam. Clay content ranges from 20 to 35 percent and sand content is less than 15 percent. The BE or E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. The upper one-third of the control section is strongly acid to neutral.
The middle one-third of the control section (Bt horizon that formed in loess) has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Some pedons have chroma of 2 or less below the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon. The Bt horizon is silt loam or silty clay loam. Clay content ranges from 24 to 35 percent and sand content is less than 15 percent. It is moderately acid or slightly acid.
The lower one-third of the control section (2Bt) has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is clay loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, or silty clay. Clay content ranges from 25 to 42 percent and sand content is less than 25 percent. Some pedons exhibit areas of rock structure or contain up to 15 percent fragments of weathered shale. The 2Bt horizon is very strongly acid to slightly acid.
The 2Cr horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, or is neutral, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 4. It is soft, noncalcareous shale with a variable amount of hard fragments of shale, and some pedons contain fragments of sandstone.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Birkbeck, Elco, Eleroy, Epley, Gallipolis, Grays, Iona, Middletown, Richview, Rockfield, Rozetta, St. Charles, Stonehead, Sylvan, Throckmorton, Westgate, Winfield, Wingate and Wrengart series. Birkbeck, Elco, Iona, Middletown, Richview, Rozetta, St. Charles, Sylvan, and Winfield soils do not have a paralithic contact within a depth of 60 inches. Eleroy and Stonehead soils have a paralithic contact below a depth of 40 inches. Epley soils have more than 30 percent clay in the middle and lower part of the control section. Gallipolis soils are very strongly acid or strongly acid in the lower part of the control section and have mean annual precipitation of 39 to 43 inches. Grays, Throckmorton, and Wingate soils have an ochric epipedon more than 6 inches thick with moist color value of 3.5 or less and have horizons with more than 10 percent sand within a depth of 40 inches. Middletown soils have more than 60 percent sand in the lower 1/3 of the control section. Rockfield soils have horizons with more than 10 percent sand within a depth of 40 inches. St. Charles soils have strata with sand content that ranges to more than 35 percent sand in the lower half of the control section. Westgate soils have hues redder than 7.5YR in the 2Bt horizon. Wrengart soils have a brittle horizon in the middle part of the control section and have more than 15 percent gravel in the lower half of the control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Marseilles soils are on bedrock controlled hills and benches and side slopes of the valleys and incised drainageways in glaciated areas. Slopes range from 0 to 60 percent. These soils typically formed in a mantle of loess or other silty material and in brownish and grayish colored residuum weathered from noncalcareous Pennsylvanian shale. Some pedons formed entirely in residuum. The loess is dominantly montmorillonitic and the layers formed in residuum weathered from shale are illitic. Mean annual temperature ranges from 46 to 57 degrees F, mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 45 inches, frost-free period ranges from 160 to 200 days, and elevation ranges from 600 to 1020 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Atlas, Elco, Fayette, Hickory, and Loran soils, all of which are upslope from the Marseilles soils and have thicker sola. Atlas soils contain more clay in the control section and formed in till. Elco soils formed in loess and the underlying till. Fayette soils formed in loess. Hickory soils formed in till and contain more sand in the control section. Loran soils contain mottles with chroma of 2 or less higher in the solum and have a mollic epipedon. They formed in materials similar to Marseilles soils, but are deeper to the paralithic contact.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained and well drained. The moderately wet phase has a perched water table at a depth of 1.5 to 3.5 feet at some time between February and June in most years. Runoff is medium on the gentle slopes and rapid on the steep slopes. Permeability is moderate in the loess and slow in the residuum weathered from shale.
USE AND VEGETATION: Marseilles soils are used for pasture, cropland, and woodland. Cultivated crops are corn, soybeans, small grain, and meadow. Native vegetation is deciduous hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and Western Illinois. Extent is moderate.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: La Salle County, Illinois, 1969.
REMARKS: With this revision, the typical pedon is moved from La Salle County to Bureau County. A new typical pedon was selected to depict a more typical landform position and slope.
These soils have a seasonally perched water table on the shale bedrock and water that moves laterally along the surface of the bedrock, but they do not have an aquic moisture regime.
The water seeps into these soils at the interface of the overlying loess or till, or along the surface of the shale bedrock or the slowly permeable residuum weathered from shale. Soils with steep slopes are as likely to have them as soils with lesser slopes. A well drained phase is recognized for soils without a wetness problem.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of approximately 4 inches (A horizon); argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 9 to 36 inches (Bt1, Bt2, and 2Bt3 horizons).