LOCATION MYSTIC                  IA+MO

Established Series
Rev. LDL-MRL-TWN
01/2011

MYSTIC SERIES

The Mystic series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in alluvial sediments derived from glaciers. These soils are on treads and risers of high structural benches that border valleys of major streams and their tributaries. Slope ranges from 5 to 18 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 10 degrees C. Mean annual precipitation is about 940 millimeters.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Aquertic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Mystic silt loam, near the summit of a convex tread, on a slope of 6 percent, in a wooded pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 15 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (12 to 24 centimeters thick)

BE--15 to 23 centimeters; brown (7.5YR 4/2) clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; common distinct very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) organic coats on all faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 20 centimeters thick)

Bt1--23 to 48 centimeters; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; many fine roots; common distinct reddish brown (5YR 4/3) clay films on all faces of peds; few fine distinct dark red (2.5YR 3/6) redoximorphic concentrations; few fine prominent grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2)redoximorphic depletions; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bt2--48 to 76 centimeters; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay loam; brown (7.5YR 4/4) kneaded; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common distinct gray (2.5Y 5/1) clay films on all faces of peds; very few white (10YR 8/1) dry sand grains on all faces of peds; common fine prominent dark red (2.5YR 3/6) redoximorphic concentrations; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bt3--76 to 99 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common distinct brown (10YR 5/3) clay films on all faces of peds; few white (10YR 8/1) dry sand grains on all faces of peds; common medium faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) redoximorphic concentrations; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt4--99 to 137 centimeters; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy clay loam; weak fine prismatic structure parting to moderate fine subangular blocky; firm; few fine roots; common distinct brown (10YR 5/3) clay films on all faces of peds; few white (10YR 8/1) dry sand grains on all faces of peds; common coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) redoximorphic concentrations; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 55 to 120 centimeters.)

BC--137 to 160 centimeters; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) clay loam with several thin strata of sandy clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure; friable; few very fine roots; few white (10YR 8/1) dry sand grains on vertical faces of peds; few fine black (N 2.5/0) concretions (iron and manganese oxides); few medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) redoximorphic concentrations; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 30 centimeters thick)

C--160 to 200 centimeters; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) stratified loam, clay loam, and sandy loam; massive; friable; few fine black (N 2.5/0) concretions (iron and manganese oxides); common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and common medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) redoximorphic concentrations; slightly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 109-Iowa and Missouri Heavy Till Plain; Wayne County, Iowa subset; about 3 miles east and 3 miles south of Clio; located about 2,320 feet south and 243 feet east of the northwest corner of section 22, T. 67 N., R. 22 W.; USGS Cleopatra topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 35 minutes 17 seconds N. and long. 93 degrees 23 minutes 0 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to carbonates--greater than 160 centimeters
Clay content in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--35 to 45 percent
Sand content in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--18 to 30 percent

A or Ap horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--3
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--silt loam, loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam
Clay content--20 to 35 percent
Sand content--15 to 40 percent
Rock fragment content--0 percent
Reaction--very strongly acid to neutral

E horizon (when present):
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--2 or 3
Texture--silt loam or loam
Clay content--15 to 25 percent
Sand content--10 to 40 percent
Rock fragment content--0 percent
Reaction--very strongly acid to slightly acid

In some pedons the E horizon has been incorporated into the Ap horizon

BE horizon (when present):
Hue--5YR or 7.5YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--2 to 4
Texture--clay loam or silty clay loam
Clay content--30 to 35 percent
Sand content--15 to 40 percent
Rock fragment content--0 percent
Reaction--very strongly acid to slightly acid

Bt horizon:
Hue--2.5YR to 2.5Y
Value--3 to 6
Chroma--2 to 4
Texture--clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay loam, clay, or silty clay
Clay content--25 to 50 percent
Sand content--5 to 50 percent
Rock fragment content--0 percent
Reaction--very strongly acid to slightly acid

Some pedons have thin, less than 15 centimeters thick, strata of coarser textures

BC and C horizons:
Hue--5YR to 2.5Y
Value--4 to 6
Chroma--2 to 8
Texture--sandy loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, silt loam, loam, or is stratified with these textures
Clay content--10 to 30 percent
Sand content--30 to 70 percent
Rock fragment content--2 to 15 percent
Reaction--slightly acid or neutral

Moderately coarse to fine textured sediments high in quartz are common in the lower part of the BC horizon and in the C horizon

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Armstrong, Clafork, Malmo, Otoe, and Pering series.
Armstrong--have rock fragments in the upper third of the series control section
Clafork--have brittle horizons in the lower third of the series control section
Malmo--have carbonates within a depth of 100 centimeters
Otoe--have a sand content of 1 to 10 percent in the particle-size control section and have carbonates within a depth of 127 centimeters
Pering--have a sand content of less than 10 percent in the particle-size control section and do not have carbonates in the series control section

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--late Sangamon paleosol and alluvial sediments derived from glaciers
Landform--treads and risers of high structural benches that border valleys of major streams and their tributaries
Slope--5 to 18 percent
Elevation--155 to 460 meters above sea level
Mean annual air temperature--8 to 12 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--840 to 1,040 millimeters
Frost-free period--170 to 210 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Caleb, Gara, and Shelby soils.
Caleb--are on lower landscape positions on side slopes and have a clay content that averages 18 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section
Gara--are on slightly higher landscape positions on side slopes and have a clay content that averages 30 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section
Shelby--are on higher landscape positions on side slopes and have a clay content that averages 30 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--somewhat poorly drained--a frequently saturated zone occurs between depths of 0.3 and 1 meter during the wettest periods of years when precipitation is within one standard deviation of the 30 year mean of annual precipitation
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--0.10 to 1.00 micrometers per second

USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas are used for hay and pasture but some areas are used for cultivated crops. The native vegetation is mixed big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, other grasses of the tall grass prairie, and deciduous trees.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic section--Dissected till plains
MLRAs--Illinois and Iowa Deep Loess and Drift, West-Central Part (108C), Illinois and Iowa Deep Loess and Drift, Western Part (108D), and Iowa and Missouri Heavy Till Plain (109)
LRR M; southern Iowa and northern Missouri
Extent--moderate

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Appanoose County, Iowa, 1970.

REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 23 to 73 centimeters;
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 150 centimeters.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
ochric epipedon--the zone from the surface to a depth of 23 centimeters (Ap and BE horizons);
argillic horizon--the zone from a depth of 23 to 137 centimeters (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, and Bt4 horizons;)
udic moisture regime.

These landform areas are distinctly higher in elevation than the modern flood plains but are lower in elevation than the adjacent late Wisconsin recent dissection slopes.

Type location was moved in 2008 because original location has been disturbed.

Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, tenth edition, 2006.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.