LOCATION MAYER MN+IAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Typic Endoaquolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Mayer loam, with a slightly convex slope of less than 1 percent, on a glacial outwash plain, in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 25 centimeters; black (N 2/0) loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine shell fragments; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary.
A1--25 to 36 centimeters; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine shell fragments; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.
A2--36 to 46 centimeters; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine shell fragments; few fine faint dark gray (10YR 4/1), prominent gray (5Y 5/1) and olive gray (5Y 5/2) redoximorphic depletions; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 36 to 61 centimeters.)
Bg1--46 to 64 centimeters; olive gray (5Y 5/2) sandy clay loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine prominent olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) redoximorphic concentrations; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Bg2--64 to 71 centimeters; olive gray (5Y 5/2) sandy clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; about 2 percent gravel; many fine faint olive gray (5Y 5/2) and olive gray (5Y 4/2) redoximorphic depletions; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Bg3--71 to 84 centimeters; olive (5Y 5/3) sandy clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine faint olive gray (5Y 5/2) and olive gray (5Y 4/2) redoximorphic depletions; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizon is 15 to 61 centimeters.)
2C--84 to 203 centimeters; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; many fine faint brown (10YR 5/3) redoximorphic concentrations and dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) redoximorphic depletions; about 20 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 103-Central Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies, Carver County, Minnesota subset; about 8 miles west and 3 miles north of Waconia; located about 1,880 feet east and 200 feet north of the southwest corner of section 34, T. 117 N., R. 26 W.; USGS Mayer topographic quadrangle; lat. 44 degrees 53 minutes 30 seconds N. and long. 93 degrees 56 minutes 16 seconds W., NAD83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the mollic epipedon--35 to 62 centimeters
Depth to the sandy and gravelly outwash--50 to 100 centimeters
Depth to carbonates--0 to 25 centimeters
Content of clay in the upper half of the particle-size control section (weighted average)--18 to 30 percent
Content of clay in the lower half of the particle-size control section (weighted average)--1 to 5 percent
Content of sand in the upper half of the particle-size control section (weighted average)--15 to 40 percent
Content of sand in the lower half of the particle-size control section (weighted average)--90 to 99 percent
Ap or A horizon:
Hue--10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y or is neutral
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--0 or 1
Texture--silt loam, loam, or clay loam
Clay content--18 to 30 percent
Sand content--20 to 50 percent
Rock fragment content--0 to 10 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent--5 to 20 percent
Reaction--slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
Some pedons do not have snail shells
Bg horizon:
Hue--10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y or is neutral
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--0 to 3
Texture--silt loam, loam, clay loam, or sandy clay loam
Clay content--18 to 30 percent
Sand content--20 to 65 percent
Rock fragment content--0 to 10 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent--5 to 20 percent
Reaction-- slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
Some pedons have a thin 2BC horizon with texture of sandy loam or loamy sand
2C horizon:
Hue--10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y
Value--3 to 5
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--coarse sand, sand, the gravelly or very gravelly analogues of these textures, or is stratified with these textures
Clay content--1 to 5 percent
Sand content--90 to 99 percent
Rock fragment content--10 to 50 percent
Reaction--slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
Some pedons are non-calcareous in the upper part
3Cg horizon (when present, below a depth of 150 centimeters):
Hue--2.5Y or 5Y
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--loam, clay loam, silty clay loam or sandy loam
Clay content--10 to 30 percent
Sand content--10 to 60 percent
Rock fragment content--1 to 15 percent
Reaction--slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: These are in the
Regal and
Talcot series.
Regal--have an average sand content of more than 70 percent in the upper one third of the particle-size control section
Talcot--have an average clay content of more than 30 percent in the upper half of the particle-size control section
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--50 to 100 centimeters of a loamy mantle and the underlying sandy and gravelly glacial outwash, these sediments are Late Wisconsinan in age
Landform--concave or slightly convex positions on glacial outwash plains, till plains, and stream terraces
Slope--0 to 2 percent
Elevation--210 to 480 meters
Mean annual air temperature--7 to 11 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--600 to 870 millimeters
Frost-free period--155 to 200 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The main ones are the
Biscay,
Cylinder, and
Wadena soils which are members of a hydrosequence with Mayer soils.
Biscay--are at similar landscape positions as the Mayer soils and do not have carbonates in all layers between depths of 25 and 50 centimeters
Cylinder--are at slightly higher landscape positions and have a frequently saturated zone at a depth of 0.3 meter during the wettest periods of normal years
Wadena--are at higher landscape positions and do not have a frequently saturated zone within a depth of 1.8 meters during the wettest periods of normal years
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--very poorly or poorly drained--these soils are frequently saturated at the soil surface during the wettest periods of normal years and this saturation is considered apparent
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--1.00 to 10.00 micrometers per second (moderately high) in the loamy sediments and 10.00 to 705.00 micrometers per second (high or very high) in the underlying materials
Surface runoff potential--negligible to low
Flooding--rarely to frequently flooded for very brief to long duration
Ponding--rarely to frequently ponded for very brief to long duration
USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas are cultivated. The principal crops are corn and soybeans. The native vegetation is a wet site plant community of tall grass prairie.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic sections--Western lake section and Dissected till plains
MLRAs--Rolling Till Prairie (102A),
Central Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (103),
Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (104),
Iowa and Minnesota Loess Hills (107), and
Wisconsin and Minnesota Sandy Outwash (91)
LRR M; southern Minnesota and north-central Iowa
Extent--moderate
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Carver County, Minnesota, 1973.
REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 25 to 100 centimeters;
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 150 centimeters.
Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon include:
mollic epipedon--the zone from surface to a depth of 46 centimeters (Ap, A1, and A2 horizons);
calcareous family class--carbonates in all parts from a depth of 25 to 50 centimeters;
aquic moisture regime--matrix chroma of 2 or less with redoximorphic features below mollic epipedon.
Cation-exchange class is inferred from lab data from similar soils in the surrounding area.
Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, tenth edition, 2006.