LOCATION NORRIS MOEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, active, acid, mesic, shallow Typic Udorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Norris silt loam - on a 15 percent convex west-facing slope in hardwood forest. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 3 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
C--3 to 13 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) channery silt loam; massive breaking to weak fine and moderate angular blocky fragments; friable; 15 percent soft shale fragments; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (7 to 15 inches thick)
Cr--13 to 60 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) thin bedded soft micaceous shale with yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam in some fractures; broken edges of the shale are brown, dark brown, and olive; easily dug with hand spade; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Howard County, Missouri; 10 miles east and 2 miles north of Fayette, Missouri; 1,250 feet east and 2,700 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 33, T. 51 N., R. 14 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: This soil is strongly acid or very strongly acid throughout. The amount of rock fragments ranges from 0 to 35 percent by volume throughout the profile. The fragments consist mainly of soft to slightly hard micaceous shale and a few pieces of hard sandstone and limestone.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Where disturbed, the A horizon has value of 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. It is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam or their channery analogues.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. It is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam or their channery or flaggy analogues.
The Cr horizon typically has a hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. The colors are variable but seldom as red as the 7.5YR hue. The shale is soft and micaceous and can be dug into with a hand spade. These shales have a high silt and very fine sand content.
COMPETING SERIES: The Norris series is the only member in the family. Other similar series are the Basehor, Bauer, Gosport, Mandeville, Montevallo, Roseland, and Snead series. Basehor soils do not have shale fragments and have hard sandstone bedrock at depths of 10 to 20 inches. Bauer and Snead sols have mollic epipedons. Gosport soils have fine textured sola. Mandeville soils have argillic horizons and thicker sola. Montevallo soils are loamy-skeletal and thermic. Roseland soils have thicker sola and umbric epipedons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on side slopes. Slope gradients are dominantly between 7 and 20 percent but range from 5 to 50 percent. The soils formed in loamy residuum from acid shale. Mean annual temperature ranges from 53 to 57 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 42 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Gasconade, Mandeville, and Snead soils. Gasconade soils have mollic epipedons and occur on similar landscapes. Mandeville soils are on more gentle slopes and somewhat higher landscapes. Snead soils are on similar landscapes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium or rapid. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Almost all is used for forest or is in woodland pasture. Native vegetation is deciduous hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and western Missouri. The series is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Denver, Colorado
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Henry County, Missouri, 1973.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this series are: Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 3 inches (A horizon). Paralithic contact - 13 inches.