LOCATION SANDUSKY OH

Established Series
Rev. AR-JEE-JAG
09/2012

SANDUSKY SERIES

The Sandusky series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils formed in 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches) of material weathered from calcareous tufa underlain by lacustrine sediments. These soils are on lake plains near spring orifices and seepage areas of calcium carbonate charged water. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 838 mm (33 inches), and mean annual air temperature is about 11 degrees C (51 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, carbonatic, mesic Fluvaquentic Endoaquolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Sandusky gravelly coarse sandy loam, on a broad, nearly level area in a cultivated field at an elevation of 187 meters (614 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 23 cm (0 to 9 inches); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) gravelly coarse sandy loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; 15 percent tufa fragments; few shell fragments; violently effervescent; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. [18 to 30 cm (7 to 12 inches) thick]

Cg--23 to 33 cm (9 to 13 inches); light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) gravelly coarse sandy loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; many distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) coatings on faces of peds; few fine distinct light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; few dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) krotovina; 15 percent tufa fragments; few shell fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary.

C1--33 to 48 cm (13 to 19 inches); very pale brown (10YR 7/3) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; few fine faint light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; few dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) krotovina; few tufa fragments; few shell fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

C2--48 to 63 cm (19 to 25 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly coarse sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; common faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) coatings on faces of peds; 15 percent tufa fragments; a thin layer of very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam in the lower part; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the C horizon is 25 to 76 cm (10 to 30 inches).]

2Cg1--63 to 74 cm (25 to 29 inches); light gray (10YR 7/2) loam; many medium faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) mottles; massive; very friable; few fine roots; few fine distinct very pale brown (10YR 7/4) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary.

2Cg2--74 to 165 cm (29 to 65 inches); gray (10YR 5/1) silty clay loam grading to silt loam in the lower part; some vertical partings in the upper part; firm; many medium and coarse distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and few fine and medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Sandusky County, Ohio; about 9 miles northeast of Clyde, in Townsend Township; 670 feet west and 418 feet north of southeast corner of sec. 12, T. 5 N., R. 17 E.; USGS Castalia, Ohio topographic quadrangle; lat. 41 degrees 24 minutes 07.8 seconds N. and long. 82 degrees 50 minutes 54.9 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to lacustrine sediments: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 18 to 38 cm (7 to 15 inches)

Ap or A horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, or is neutral
Value: 2, 2.5 or 3 (5 or less dry)
Chroma: 0 to 2
Texture: loam, coarse sandy loam, or silt loam or the gravelly analogs of these textures
Tufa fragments: 0 to 34 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

C or Cg horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y
Value: 4 to 8
Chroma: 1 to 3; chroma of 3 is not permitted immediately below the mollic epipedon
Texture: commonly fine sandy loam, loam, sandy loam, or coarse sandy loam or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs of these textures; subhorizons of loamy sand or loamy coarse sand with thin strata of silty clay loam or silt loam are in some pedons
Tufa fragments: averages 0 to 35 percent, ranging from 0 to 50 percent in individual subhorizons
Calcium carbonate equivalent: more than 40 percent, commonly ranging from 70 to 85 percent
Reaction: moderately alkaline

2C or 2Cg horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: dominantly silty clay loam with strata of silt loam or silty clay
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Fairplay series. Fairplay soils formed in marl and have a calcic horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sandusky soils are on broad, nearly level lake plains near subterranean springs or seepage areas with calcium carbonate charged water. Slope gradients are less than 1 percent. The soils formed in calcareous tufa and other materials impregnated with calcium carbonate. They are underlain by moderately fine textured lacustrine sediments within a depth of 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches). Mean annual precipitation ranges from 686 to 914 mm (27 to 36 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from 7 to 11 degrees C (45 to 52 degrees F). Frost-free period is 190 to 200 days. Elevation is 183 to 191 meters (600 to 625 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Colwood, Gilford, Lenawee, Toledo, and Weyers soils. Colwood and Gilford soils formed in loamy and sandy lacustrine sediments and other water sorted material. They are on similar topographic positions near the edge of the lake plain. Lenawee and Toledo soils lack a mollic epipedon and formed in lacustrine sediments. They are on similar topographic positions but lack the overlying materials formed from calcareous tufa. Weyers soils are underlain by moderately fine textured lacustrine material below a depth of 102 cm (40 inches). They are on similar topographic positions as Sandusky soils but are closer to the subterranean springs.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. The depth to the top of an intermittent perched water table ranges from the surface to 15 cm (0.5 foot) between November and June in normal years. The potential for surface runoff is negligible. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high in the materials weathered from tufa and moderately low in the underlying lacustrine sediments. Permeability is moderately rapid in the materials weathered from tufa and moderately slow or slow in the underlying lacustrine sediments.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Corn and soybeans are the principal crops. Many areas are used for wildlife habitat. Native vegetation is reeds and grasses with scattered willows and red cedar.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Ohio; MLRA 99. The series is of small extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sandusky County, Ohio, 1983.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 23 cm (Ap horizon).
Aquic conditions: throughout the profile.

Sandusky soils do not have a calcic horizon because there are no horizons enriched by secondary carbonates. The high chroma in subhorizons of Sandusky soils is inherited from the parent material. These soils appear to have an irregular decrease in organic carbon but are on lake plains and do not receive stream overflow. The darker layers have been buried by an accumulation of calcareous tufa. Sandusky soils were formerly identified as a variant of the Warners series.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to the laboratory data and engineering test data for pedon SN-19, the typical pedon.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.