LOCATION MUREN IN+ILEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Muren silt loam - on a 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 140 meters (460 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots, moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches) thick].
BE--20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 inches) thick]
Bt1--30 to 53 cm (12 to 21 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; common fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; common black (10YR 2/1) masses of iron and manganese accumulation throughout; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--53 to 76 cm (21 to 30 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; common fine prominent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and distinct pale brown (10YR 6/3) iron depletions in the matrix; common black (10YR 2/1) masses of iron and manganese accumulation throughout; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt3--76 to 119 cm (30 to 47 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; many fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; few black (10YR 2/1) masses of iron and manganese accumulation throughout; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of Bt horizon is 64 to 127 cm (25 to 50 inches)]
C--119 to 152 cm (47 to 60 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; massive; friable; common medium prominent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; few black (10YR 2/1) masses of iron and manganese accumulation throughout; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Pike County, Indiana; about 1.5 miles northeast of Union; 990 feet southwest and 665 feet southeast of the north corner of donation 233, T., 1 N., R. 9 W.; U.S.G.S. Union, IN topographic quadrangle; lat. 38 degrees, 28 minutes, 31.7 seconds North and long. 87 degrees, 24 minutes, 44.58 seconds West. NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 464027.8 easting and 4258445.6 northing, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 76 to 118 cm (30 to 70 inches)
Series control section averages: less than 7 percent sand and contains no rock fragments Clay content in the series control section decreases regularly from the maximum within the argillic horizon
Depth to carbonates: greater than 203 cm (80 inches)
Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: silt loam or silt
Clay content: 8 to 18 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid in unlimed areas and ranges to neutral in limed areas
Some pedons have an E horizon
Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 to 6, with iron depletions having chroma of 2 or less in the upper 25 cm (10 inches) of the argillic horizon
Texture: silty clay loam or silt loam
Clay content: 18 to 32 percent clay
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid
Some pedons have a BC horizon.
C horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 7
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: silt loam or silt
Clay content: 8 to 15 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Appleriver, Blair, Bunkum, Fishhook, Freeburg, Geff, Glenford, Keene, Reesville, Sugarvalley, Torox, and Xenia series. Appleriver soils have a paralithic contact within a depth of 152 cm (60 inches). Blair, Bunkum and Geff soils have, in some part of the series control section, a horizon that averages more than 7 percent sand. Fishhook soils average more than 32 percent clay in the lower part of the series control section. Freeburg soils have a dominant chroma of 2 or less in the series control section. Glenford soils are stratified in the lower part of the series control section and have an irregular decrease in clay content below the maximum within the argillic horizon. Keene soils average more than 5 percent rock fragments in the lower part of the series control section. Reesville, Sugarvalley, Torox and Xenia soils contain carbonates in the series control section within a depth of 152 cm (60 inches).
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Muren soils are on nearly level to strongly sloping ridgetops and side slopes on loess hills. The slope gradient is dominantly 0 to 6 percent, but ranges to 30 percent. Muren soils formed in more than 203 cm (80 inches) of loess. The mean annual temperature ranges from 11 to 14 degrees C (52 to 57 degrees F), the mean annual precipitation ranges from 1016 to 1168 mm (40 to 46 inches), frost free days range from 170 to 210 days and elevation ranges from 104 to 259 meters (340 to 850 feet) above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alford, Hosmer, Iva, and Princeton soils. Muren soils are in a drainage sequence with the well drained Alford soils and the somewhat poorly drained Iva soils. Alford soils are on higher landform positions and do not have iron depletions in the upper part of the argillic horizon. Hosmer soils are on similar landform positions and have fragipans. Princeton soils are on similar landform positions and have fine-loamy argillic horizons. Iva soils are on lower landform positions, have grayer colors in the subsoil and have a water table within a depth of 30 centimeters (1 foot) in most years.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. The depth to an intermittent apparent high water table is 30 to 76 cm (1.0 foot to 2.5 feet) from December to April in normal years. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high (4.23 to 14.11 micrometers/sec) in the subsoil. Permeability is moderate (0.6 to 2.0 inches per hour).
USE AND VEGETATION: Soils are cropped to corn, soybeans, wheat, and legume-grass mixtures. Native vegetation is deciduous forest mostly of maple, tulip-poplar, oak, and hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Muren soils are mapped in southern Indiana and southern Illinois, mainly in MLRA's 113, 114B and 115A. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pike County, Indiana, 1930.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 30 cm (12 inches) (Ap and BE horizons); Argillic horizon - the zone from 30 to 119 cm (12 to 47 inches) (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons); Redoximorphic features - the zone from 30 to 152 cm (12 to 60 inches).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data for this pedon is published in Purdue Station Bulletin No. 360, soil no. 580IN125-27.