LOCATION NEEDLEYE MOEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Aquic Fragiudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Needleye silt loam - on a 3 percent east-southeast facing slope in alfalfa and orchard grass. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; moderate fine and very fine granular structure; friable; common fine roots; few worm channels and casts; 5 percent chert gravel; common fine dark concretions (oxides); neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--7 to 11 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) silty clay loam; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; few worm channels and casts; 5 percent chert gravel; common fine dark concretions (oxides); strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--11 to 16 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; few fine distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; moderate fine and very fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common faint clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent chert gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt3--16 to 21 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate fine subangular and angular blocky structure; firm; many faint clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent chert gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt4--21 to 29 inches; gray (10YR 6/1) and dark gray (10YR 4/1) silty clay loam; common medium and fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; weak coarse medium and thin platy structure parting to moderate very fine angular blocky; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent chert gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 12 to 30 inches.)
2Btx--29 to 38 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and brown (10YR 5/3) extremely gravelly silty clay loam; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2), grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) mottles; massive; 70 percent brittleness, very firm; few distinct clay films on the chert fragments; about 65 percent chert gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (8 to 30 inches thick)
3Bt--38 to 72 inches; dark red (2.5YR 3/6) and red (2.5YR 4/6) gravelly clay; common medium and large prominent gray (10YR 6/1) mottles; moderate fine angular blocky structure; very firm; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; about 35 percent chert gravel; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Greene County, Missouri, 2 miles north and 1 mile west of Strafford; 1,285 feet south and 660 feet west of the northeast corner, sec. 28, T. 30 N., R. 20 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The A and upper B horizons contain less than 5 percent chert by volume. The lower B horizon above the fragipan contains 0 to 20 percent chert by volume. Chert content in the fragipan ranges from 20 to 70 percent and below the fragipan ranges from 10 and 50 percent. The chert cobble content ranges from 0 to 5 percent above the fragipan and from 5 to 25 percent in and below the fragipan.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 6, and in most pedons, a chroma of 2, but ranging to 4. A horizons with values of 3 or less are 4 or less inches thick.
The E horizon, when present, has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 3 or 4. Reaction is neutral to very strongly acid.
The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Mottles with value of 4 or more and chroma of 2 or less are present in the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon. Lower Bt horizons above the fragipan have 10YR hue and value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2, and have high chroma mottles. It is silt loam or silty clay loam and ranges to include gravelly silty clay loam just above the fragipan. It is strongly acid to extremely acid.
The 2Btx horizon is mottled. It is gravelly, very gravelly and extremely gravelly analogues of silty clay loam or silt loam. A few distinct clay films, flows or plugs are common. It is strongly acid to extremely acid.
A 3Bt horizon is present in most pedons below the fragipan. It commonly has hue of 2.5YR, but ranges to 10YR, with value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Distinct or prominent mottles are common. It is gravelly or very gravelly analogues of clay or silty clay and extremely acid to strongly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Johnsburg and Pekin series. Both of these soils have fewer rock fragments in the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These gently sloping soils of the uplands are on the tops, terminal points, and side slopes near the crest of broad ridges. Slope gradients are commonly 1 to 3 percent, but range from 0 to 5 percent. The regolith consists of a thin mantle of loess over residuum from cherty limestone. Mean annual temperature ranges from 54 to 57 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 45 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bado, Viraton, and Wilderness soils. Bado soils contain more clay in the argillic horizon and are on nearly level and depressional areas. Viraton soils are fine-loamy and Wilderness soils are loamy-skeletal. Viraton soils are on similar areas, and Wilderness soils are on steeper side slopes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Needleye soils are somewhat poorly drained. Permeability above the fragipan is moderately slow and very slow in the fragipan. The saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high above the fragipan and low in the fragipan. The surface runoff class is high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is cultivated. Small grain, grass, legume and row crops are the principal crops. The remaining acreage is in woodland. Post oak and blackjack oak dominate the existing woodland species. Native vegetation is hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Ozark Highlands (MLRA 116A) in southern Missouri. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wright County, Missouri, 1979.
REMARKS: Soils of the Needleye series were formerly included with soils of the Lebanon or Viraton series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this series are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 7 inches (Ap horizon); argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 7 inches to 72 inches or more (Bt, Bt2, Bt3, Bt4, 2Btx, and 2Bt horizons); fragipan - the zone from approximately 29 to 38 inches (2Btx horizon).