LOCATION OLEPHANT IN
Established Series
Rev. BGN-KKN
11/2021
OLEPHANT SERIES
The Olephant series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loess and in the underlying paleosol in lacustrine deposits. The Olephant soils are on dissected lake plains. Slope ranges from 1 to 3 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1118 mm (44 inches), and mean annual air temperature is about 12 degrees C (54 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Ultic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Olephant silt loam, on a 2 percent slope in a cultivated field. (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; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common very fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [18 to 25 cm (7 to 10 inches) thick]
BE--20 to 36 cm (8 to 14 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. [10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches) thick]
Bt1--36 to 63 cm (14 to 25 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; weak very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; common faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--63 to 76 cm (25 to 30 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine tubular pores; many faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt3--76 to 94 cm (30 to 37 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine tubular pores; many distinct brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt4--94 to 122 cm (37 to 48 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine tubular pores; common distinct brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; common fine distinct pale brown (10YR 6/3) iron depletions in the matrix; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt5--122 to 140 cm (48 to 55 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine tubular pores; common distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; few fine iron and manganese oxide concretions; few fine distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; few fine prominent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; many prominent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay depletions on vertical faces of peds; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt6--140 to 163 cm (55 to 64 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine tubular pores; few distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay films on vertical and horizontal faces of peds; few fine iron and manganese oxide concretions; common fine distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; few fine prominent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletion in the matrix; common prominent light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay depletions on vertical faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 127 to 178 cm (50 to 70 inches).]
2Btb--163 to 203 cm (64 to 80 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm; common faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on vertical and horizontal faces of peds; few fine rounded iron and manganese oxide concretions; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; few fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; common distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay depletions on vertical faces of peds; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Owen County, Indiana; about 2.5 miles southwest of Quincy; 1,850 feet south and 2,600 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 33, T. 12 N., R. 3 W.; USGS Cataract topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees 26 minutes 10 seconds N. and long. 86 degrees 45 minutes 5 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: more than 203 cm (80 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages 24 to 35 percent clay and 3 to 10 percent sand
Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam
Reaction: very strongly acid or strongly acid in unlimed areas, and ranges to neutral in limed areas
Bt, BE horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: silt loam or silty clay loam
Clay content: 24 to 32 percent
Sand content: 5 to 10 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid or strongly acid in unlimed areas, and ranges to neutral in the upper part in limed areas
2Btb horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 1 to 8
Texture: commonly clay loam or loam, and less commonly silty clay loam
Clay content: 20 to 35 percent
Sand content: 18 to 35 percent
Rock fragment content: 0 to 3 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Bearthicket,
Cidermill,
Elk,
Elkinsville,
Parke,
Pike,
Rickert,
Tobinsport,
Wellrock, and
Wellston series. Bearthicket soils have similar soil properties but are on flood plains and low stream terraces and formed in alluvium in MLRAs 116A and 116B. Cidermill, Elk, Elkinsville, Wellrock, and Wellston soils are less than 203 cm (80 inches) to the base of the argillic horizon. Parke, Pike, and Tobinsport soils average more than 35 percent sand in the lower part of the series control section. Rickert soils have less than 18 percent sand in the lower part of the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Olephant soils are on footslopes below knolls on lake plains. Slope ranges from 1 to 3 percent. The soils formed in 152 to 183 cm (60 to 72 inches) of loess and in the underlying paleosol in lacustrine deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 1067 to 1143 mm (42 to 45 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from 12 to 13 degrees C (53 to 56 degrees F).
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Dubois,
Haubstadt,
Otwell,
Peoga,
Ryker, and
Stinesville soils. The somewhat poorly drained Dubois soils are on flats of lake plains. The moderately well drained Haubstadt soils are on summits and shoulders of dissected lake plains. The moderately well drained Otwell soils are on backslopes of dissected lake plains. The poorly drained Peoga soils are on broad flats of lake plains. The well drained Ryker and Stinesville soils are on shoulders and backslopes of higher lying dissected till plains.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. The depth to the top of an intermittent perched high water table ranges from 107 to 152 cm (3.5 to 5 feet) between December and April in normal years. The potential for surface runoff is slow or medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the solum and moderately slow in the lower part.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for growing corn, soybeans and wheat. Native vegetation is deciduous hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Indiana; MLRA 114B. The series is of small extent.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Owen County, Indiana, 1996.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 36 cm (A, BE horizon).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 36 to 203 cm (Bt, 2Btb horizons).
Aquic conditions: redox depletions with chroma of 2 or less in all horizons below a depth of 122 cm.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data for pedon S92IN119-22 is at the National Soil Survey Lab, Lincoln, NE.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.