LOCATION MILLSTREAM ILEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquollic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Millstream silt loam - on a west-facing slope with less than 1 percent gradient in a cultivated field at an elevation of 263 meters (862 feet)above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak very fine and fine granular structure; friable; common very fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [18 to 25 cm (7 to 10 inches) thick]
E--20 to 36 cm (8 to 14 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam; weak medium platy structure parting to weak fine granular; friable; common very fine roots; common fine dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) very weakly cemented iron-manganese oxide concretions throughout; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 inches) thick]
Bt1--36 to 53 cm (14 to 21 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay loam; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine roots; many distinct brown (10YR 4/3) and few distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; common fine dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) very weakly cemented iron-manganese oxide concretions throughout; many fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--53 to 69 cm (21 to 27 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine roots; common distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; few distinct very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) organo-clay films on faces of peds and in pores; common fine dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) very weakly cemented iron-manganese oxide concretions throughout; many fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 25 to 76 cm (10 to 30 inches).]
2Bt3--69 to 86 cm (27 to 34 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) sandy clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; friable; common very fine roots; few distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films and very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) organo-clay films on faces of peds and in pores; many medium and coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 3 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
2Bt4--86 to 109 cm (34 to 43 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; very friable; few very fine roots; few distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; many coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; many medium and coarse faint brown (10YR 5/3) iron depletions in the matrix; 3 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
2Bt5--109 to 119 cm (43 to 47 inches); 60 percent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) and 40 percent dark brown (10YR 3/3) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few very fine roots; few distinct very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) organo-clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 12 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the 2Bt horizon is 10 to 58 cm (4 to 23 inches).]
3C--119 to 152 cm (47 to 60 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly loamy sand and gravelly sand; single grain; loose; few very fine roots; 25 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: McHenry County, Illinois; about 8 kilometers (5 miles) west of Woodstock; 1.5 meters (5 feet) north and 488 meters (1,600 feet) west of the southeast corner of sec. 32, T. 45 N., R. 6 E.; USGS Marengo North topographic quadrangle; lat. 42 degrees 19 minutes 39 seconds N., and long. 88 degrees 33 minutes 22 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 371780E 4687314N, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to the base of soil development ranges from 91 to 127 cm (36 to 50 inches) in thickness. Depth to carbonates is 76 to 127 cm (30 to 50 inches). The depth to horizons averaging more than 15 percent sand ranges from 61 to 114 cm (24 to 45 inches). The depth to horizons averaging more than 75 percent sand and more than 15 percent gravel ranges from 81 to 127 cm (32 to 50 inches).
The upper part of the series control section (Ap, A, E, EB, and/or BE horizon) is silt loam. The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3 (4 or 5 dry), and chroma of 1 to 3. The E, EB, or BE horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral.
The second part of the series control section (Bt and/or Btg horizon) has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. Redoximorphic features have chroma of 2 to 8. Texture is silty clay loam or silt loam. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral.
The third part of the series control section (2Bt, 2Btg, 2BC and/or 2BCg horizon) has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. Redoximorphic features have chroma of 1 to 8. Textures range from silty clay loam to loamy sand or their gravelly analogs. Gravel content ranges from 0 to 20 percent. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to slightly alkaline. The calcium carbonate equivalent is 0 to 20 percent.
The lower part of the series control section (3C and/or 3Cg horizon) has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. Redoximorphic features have chroma of 1 to 8. Texture is gravelly loamy sand to extremely gravelly coarse sand. Gravel content ranges from 15 to 70 percent. Reaction is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline. The calcium carbonate equivalent is 15 to 40 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Lamartine series. Lamartine soils average less than 15 percent gravel in the lower part of the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Millstream soils are on outwash plains and stream terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Millstream soils formed in 61 to 114 cm (24 to 45 inches) of loess or other silty material and in the underlying loamy outwash overlying sandy and gravelly deposits. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 7 to 12 degrees C (44 to 53 degrees F.), mean annual precipitation ranges from 740 to 890 mm (29 to 35 inches), frost free days range from 140 to 180 days, and the elevation ranges from 207 to 311 meters (680 to 1020 feet) above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bowes, Dunham, Grundelein, Rush, and Waupecan soils. The well drained Bowes, Rush, and Waupecan soils are on higher positions on the landform. The poorly drained Dunham soils are on lower positions on the landform. The Grundelein soils are on similar landform positions nearby. Dunham, Grundelein, and Waupecan soils have mollic epipedons.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. An intermittent seasonal high water table is at a depth of 30 to 61 cm (1.0 foot to 2.0 feet) at some during the spring in most years. The potential for surface runoff is low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high (4.23 to 42.33 micrometers per second) in the solum and very high ( greater than 141.11 micrometers per second) in the underlying material. Permeability is moderate to moderately rapid in the solum and very rapid in the underlying material.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used to grow corn and soybeans. Some areas are used for growing small grain or meadow. Native vegetation is prairie grass and widely spaced trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Illinois. The extent is small in MLRAs 95B and 110.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: McHenry County, Illinois, 1996. The name Millstream is derived from the Millbrook series which is a similar soil.
REMARKS: This soil was formerly mapped Millbrook in McHenry County. Through MLRA update activities the areas which were mapped Millbrook in several geologic deposits were found to average 15 to 70 percent gravel in the lower part of the series control section whereas Millbrook soils average less than 15 percent gravel.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 36 cm (14 inches) (Ap and E horizons); argillic horizon- the zone from approximately 36 to 109 cm (14 to 43 inches) (Bt1, Bt2, 2Bt3, and 2Bt4 horizons); discontinuities at a depth of 69 cm (27 inches) - the contact between the Bt2 and 2Bt3 horizons and at a depth of 119 cm (47 inches) - the contact between the 2BC and 3C horizons. The 10YR 4/2 clay films in the Bt1, Bt2, 2Bt3, and 2Bt4 horizons are considered iron depletions.