LOCATION PAINTBRUSH MOEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Fragiaquic Paleudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Paintbrush silt loam - on a southeast facing convex slope of 5 percent under warm-season grasses. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent chert gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--9 to 13 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent chert gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--13 to 21 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent chert gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 10 to 27 inches.)
2Btx1--21 to 30 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) extremely cobbly silty clay loam; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; massive; very firm; few fine roots in upper part; few distinct clay films on vertical faces of some chert fragments; 40 percent chert gravel and 35 percent chert cobbles; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
2Btx2--30 to 37 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) extremely cobbly clay loam; many fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; massive; very firm; moderately brittle; few distinct clay films on vertical faces of some chert fragments; 40 percent chert gravel and 35 percent chert cobbles; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
2Btx3--37 to 43 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) gravelly clay loam; many medium distinct reddish yellow (5YR 6/6) mottles; massive; very firm; few distinct clay films on vertical faces of some chert fragments; moderately brittle; 20 percent chert gravel; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the 2Btx horizon is 14 to 30 inches.)
3Bt1--43 to 52 inches; mottled red (2.5YR 4/6) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) clay; weak very fine angular blocky structure; very firm; many prominent clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent chert gravel; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
3Bt2--52 to 60 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) clay; common medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) mottles; weak very fine angular blocky structure; very firm; many prominent clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent chert gravel; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Pettis County, Missouri; about 10 miles south of Sedalia; 1,200 feet south and 210 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 29, T. 44 N., R. 21 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the 2Btx horizon ranges from 18 to 40 inches. Chert gravel by volume is 0 to 10 percent in the A and Bt horizons, 15 to 55 percent in the 2Btx horizon, and 5 to 20 percent in the 3Bt horizon. Chert cobble by volume is less than 5 percent in the Ap and Bt horizons, ranges to 40 percent in the 2Btx horizon and is less than 10 percent in the 3Bt horizon. Gravel plus sand coarser than very fine averages more than 15 percent in the upper 20 inches of the argillic horizon.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam or loam. Reaction is strongly acid to neutral. An E horizon is present in pedons that have not been cultivated. Some pedons have a BE horizon.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR to 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Mottles with higher value and chroma are usually present. Mottles with chroma of 2 or less occur within 30 inches of the soil surface. It is silt loam, silty clay loam or clay loam. Reaction is slightly acid to very strongly acid.
The 2Btx horizon has mottled colors with hue of 10YR to 2.5YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 1 to 8. It is gravelly, very gravelly, extremely gravelly, cobbly, very cobbly, and extremely cobbly analogues of silt loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam. Chert gravel is often horizontally oriented and there is variable moderately expressed brittleness in the fine material. Reaction is strongly acid to slightly acid.
The 3Bt horizon has hue of 10R to 7.5YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8, with mottles of lower chroma in some pedons. It is clay or silty clay or their gravelly or cobbly analogues. Reaction is medium acid to neutral.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. A series in a similar family is the Hoberg series. Hoberg soils have a fragipan.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Paintbrush soils are on low ridgetops and planar or convex sideslopes and nose slopes. Slopes range from 2 to 9 percent. These soils formed in a thin mantle of loess or colluvium and the underlying loamy and clayey residuum from limestone. Mean annual temperature ranges from 54 to 57 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 42 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bahner, Eldon, Friendly, and Maplewood series. Bahner soils have less sand and more clay in the series control section and are lower in the landscape. Friendly and Maplewood soils have more clay in the series control section and are on concave sideslopes at higher elevations. Eldon soils average more than 35 percent gravel and cobble in the series control section and are on lower sideslopes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the profile and slow in the lower part. The saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the upper part, and moderately low in the lower part. Runoff is medium to high. The upper depth of a perched water table is present at 1.5 to 3.0 feet during November to April.
USE AND VEGETATION: A large portion of these soils is used for grass and legume pasture or hay crops. The remaining acreage is used mostly for grain sorghum, soybeans and small grains. Native vegetation is mixed grasses and hardwood trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Springfield Plain (MLRA 116B) area of southwestern Missouri. This series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pettis County, Missouri, 1990.
REMARKS: Paintbrush soils are similar to the Hoberg series. Reaction and density of the 2Btx were inconsistent with the concept of fragipans.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this series are:
ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 9 inches (Ap horizon); argillic horizon - the zone from 9 to 65 inches (Bt1, Bt2, 2Btxl, 2Btx2, 2Btx3, 3Bt1 and 3Bt2 horizons).