LOCATION ORMAS IN+MI

Established Series
Rev. RAB-GLH-DAG
11/2021

ORMAS SERIES

The Ormas series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in wind reworked sandy outwash on high terraces or uplands with a plane or convex surface. They are deep or very deep to calcareous gravelly and sandy deposits. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 889 mm (35 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 10.0 degrees C (50 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, active, mesic Arenic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Ormas loamy sand, on a less than 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 242 meters (795 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 25 cm (10 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loamy sand, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [23 to 35 cm (9 to 14 inches) thick]

E--25 to 46 cm (10 to 18 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loamy sand; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; common fine roots; 1 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. [15 to 79 cm (6 to 31 inches) thick]

Bt1--46 to 58 cm (18 to 23 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loamy sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine roots; very few faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds and on surfaces of gravel; 3 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 23 cm (9 inches) thick]

Bt2--58 to 81 cm (23 to 32 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loamy sand; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds and on surfaces of gravel; 5 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. [13 to 30 cm (5 to 12 inches) thick]

2Bt3--81 to 112 cm (32 to 44 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly sandy clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; many faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds and on surface of gravel; 15 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.

2Bt4--112 to 127 cm (44 to 50 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly loamy sand; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; few faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay bridging between sand grains; 15 percent gravel; slightly acid; abrupt irregular boundary. [Combined thickness of the 2Bt horizon is 20 to 53 cm (8 to 21 inches).]

2C1--127 to 158 cm (50 to 62 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 20 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

2C2--158 to 203 cm (62 to 80 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; 20 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Wabash County, Indiana; about 1 1/4 miles southeast of Liberty Mills; 1,320 feet north and 2,750 feet east of the southwest corner of sec. 26, T. 30 N., R 7 E.; USGS South Whitley West topographic quadrangle; lat. 41 degrees 1 minute 9.12 seconds N. and long. 85 degrees 42 minutes 42.55 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 608308 easting and 4541693 northing, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to calcareous sand and gravel: 114 to 190 cm (45 to 75 inches)
Clay content: averages 10 to 25 percent in the argillic horizon

Ap or A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: loamy sand, loamy fine sand, or sand
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

E horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loamy sand, loamy fine sand, or sand
Rock fragment content: 0 to 5 percent gravel
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

Bw horizon: (where present)
Thickness: 0 to 23 cm (9 inches)
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: loamy sand, loamy fine sand, or sand
Rock fragment content: 0 to 5 percent gravel
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

Bt horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 to 8
Texture: coarse sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, or sandy clay loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent gravel
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid

2Bt horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 to 8
Texture: gravelly coarse sandy loam, gravelly loam, gravelly loamy sand, or gravelly sandy clay loam
Rock fragment content: 15 to 30 percent gravel
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid above 102 cm (40 inches) and moderately acid to slightly alkaline below 102 cm (40 inches)

2C horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: gravelly coarse sand, gravelly sand, gravelly loamy sand, or very gravelly coarse sand
Rock fragment content: 15 to 59 percent gravel
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Delton, Metea, Okee, and Prissel series. Delton soils have subhorizons with more than 25 percent clay in the lower part of the argillic horizon. Metea, Okee, and Prissel soils have less than 15 percent rock fragments in the lower part of the argillic horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ormas soils are on high terraces or uplands with a plane or convex surface. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. Ormas soils formed in wind reworked sandy outwash. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 762 to 1067 mm (30 to 42 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 8.9 to 11.7 degrees C (48 to 53 degrees F). Frost-free period is 130 to 180 days. Elevation is 177 to 466 meters (580 to 1,530 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Brady, Branch, Bronson, Chelsea, Fox, Kosciusko, and Oshtemo soils. The somewhat poorly drained Brady soils and the moderately well drained Branch and Bronson soils are on lower positions and in drainageways. The excessively drained Chelsea soils are on knolls and ridges and are sandier and do not have an argillic horizon. The well drained Fox and Kosciusko soils are on similar landforms and have loamy surface layers and a more clayey argillic horizon. The well drained Oshtemo soils are on similar landforms and do not have sandy surface layers more than 51 cm (20 inches) thick.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Potential for surface runoff is negligible to medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or very high. Permeability is rapid in the sandy material, moderately rapid in the loamy material, and very rapid in the underlying gravelly sand.

USE AND VEGETATION: Soils are mostly cultivated. Corn and soybeans are the principal row crops. A few areas are used for pasture or are in woodland. Native vegetation is deciduous forest.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 97, 98, 111B, 111C, and 111D in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. The type location is in MLRA 111B. The series is of large extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Miami County, Indiana, 1977.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 46 cm (18 inches) (Ap, E horizon).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 58 to 127 cm (23 to 50 inches) (2Bt2, 2Bt3, 2Bt4 horizons).
Arenic features: no texture above 50 cm finer than loamy fine sand.

A sandy substratum phase is recognized.

NASIS Data Mapunit ID 155032 represents the typical pedon in complex with Moon soils.
NASIS Data Mapunit ID 155033 represents the 1 to 5 percent slope phase in complex with Moon soils.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Lab characterization data is available for the typical pedon (WB7808) from the Purdue University Soil Characterization Laboratory, AES Bulletin No. 274, Vol. 5, Pg. 117. Transect data (T99IN-169-001) is on file at the MLRA project office in Plymouth, Indiana. Transect shows 90 percent Ormas soils and 10 percent Oshtemo soils.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.