LOCATION MILTON OH+IL IN MI WI

Established Series
Rev. DRM-JRA-DBD
11/2021

MILTON SERIES

The Milton series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils formed in loess and the underlying till and residuum from limestone or dolomite. They are on till plains. Mean annual precipitation is about 940 mm (37 inches), and mean annual air temperature is about 11 degrees C (52 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Milton silt loam, on a west-facing, 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 287 meters (942 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, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 inches) thick]

Bt1--20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 15 cm (6 inches) thick]

2Bt2--30 to 48 cm (12 to 19 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay loam; strong medium subangular blocky structure; very firm; many faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; few rock fragments; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary.

2Bt3--48 to 63 cm (19 to 25 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay; strong coarse subangular and angular blocky structure; very firm; many prominent dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; few rock fragments of limestone, igneous, and sedimentary rocks; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the 2Bt horizon is 20 to 56 cm (8 to 22 inches).]

3Bt4--63 to 74 cm (25 to 29 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay; strong coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm; many prominent dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; few fragments of partially and highly weathered limestone; neutral; abrupt wavy and irregular boundary. [0 to 25 cm (10 inches) thick]

3R--74 cm (29 inches); limestone.

TYPE LOCATION: Miami County, Ohio; 0.5 mile east of West Milton, in Union Township; southeast corner of SE 1/4 of NE 1/4, sec. 21, T. 6 N., R. 5 E.; 190 feet north and 80 feet west of junction of Iddings and Shearer Roads; USGS West Milton, Ohio topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees 57 minutes 27.8 seconds N. and long. 84 degrees 18 minutes 48.5 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the ochric epipedon: 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 inches)
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Thickness of the solum: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Depth to a lithic contact: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Rock fragments: mainly glacial pebbles of mixed lithology in horizons formed in till and locally enriched with limestone or dolomite in lower subhorizons; mainly limestone or dolomite in horizons formed in residuum

Ap horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam or loam; may be clay loam or silty clay loam in severely eroded pedons
Rock fragment content: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral

A horizon:
Thickness: 2.5 to 10 cm (1 to 4 inches)
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: silt loam or loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral

E or BE horizon, where present:
Thickness: 2.5 to 20 cm (1 to 8 inches)
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: loam or silt loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid

Bt horizon formed in loess, where present:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: silt loam or silty clay loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral

Bt or 2Bt horizon (when formed in till):
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: clay, silty clay, silty clay loam, or clay loam
Rock fragment content: 1 to 12 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral in the upper part and slightly acid to slightly alkaline in the lower part

2Bt or 3Bt horizon (when formed in residuum):
Hue: 5YR to 5Y
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: clay or silty clay, or less commonly sandy clay loam or clay loam or the channery or cobbly analogs of these textures
Rock fragment content: 2 to 25 percent
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline

C or 2C horizon, when formed in till, where present:
Thickness: up to 1/4 of the thickness of the solum
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: loam or clay loam
Rock fragment content: 1 to 12 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline and contains carbonates

2C or 3C horizon, when formed in residuum, where present:
Thickness: up to 1/4 of the thickness of the solum
Hue: 5YR to 5Y
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: ranges from clay to very channery or very cobbly sandy loam
Rock fragment content: 2 to 50 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline and contains carbonates

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Beasley, Bledsoe, Bonnell, Brashear, Bratton, Bucklick, Caneyville, Cosperville, Donahue, Eden, Elba, Enott, Estate, Faywood, Fredonia, Haggatt, Heitt, Heverlo, Jessup, Kewaunee, Lowell, Markland, Mountpleasant, Muncie, Shrouts, and Vandalia series. Beasley, Bledsoe, Bonnell, Brashear, Bucklick, Cosperville, Elba, Enott, Estate, Haggatt, Heitt, Jessup, Kewaunee, Lowell, Markland, Mountpleasant, Muncie, and Vandalia soils do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches). Bratton, Caneyville, Donahue, Faywood, and Fredonia soils do not have subrounded glacial pebbles of mixed lithology in the B horizon. Eden, Heverlo, and Shrouts soils have a paralithic contact within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches).

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Milton soils are on till plains of Wisconsinan age. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. The soils formed in loess and the underlying till and residuum from limestone or dolomite. Climate is humid and temperate. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 686 to 1067 mm (27 to 42 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from 7 to 13 degrees C (45 to 55 degrees F). Frost-free period is 155 to 210 days. Elevation is 198 to 305 meters (650 to 1000 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Millsdale and Randolph soils that form a toposequence with Milton soils. The very poorly drained Millsdale soils and somewhat poorly drained Randolph soils are on lower topographic positions.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the solum and high or very high in the underlying limestone where it is fractured and porous. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow, but water movement is rapid in the underlying limestone where it is fractured and porous.

USE AND VEGETATION: A large part is cultivated. Principal crops are corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, and hay. Steep areas remain in woodland or permanent pasture. Native vegetation is deciduous forest of sugar maple, oak, hickory, black walnut, elm, and ash.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western and central Ohio, central and northern Indiana, southern Michigan, northern Illinois, and southern Wisconsin; MLRAs 95B, 99, 111A, 111B, 111D, 111E, and 114A. The type location is in MLRA 111A. The series is of moderate extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Miami County, Ohio, 1916.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 20 cm (Ap horizon).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 20 to 74 cm (Bt, 2Bt, 3Bt horizons).
Lithic contact: at 74 cm (top of the 3R layer).

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data are available for the following pedons: GN-22, HK-27, MM-1 (type location), MM-11, MM-19, MT-16, MT-20, and RO-80 from the Soil Characterization Laboratory at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.