LOCATION SEDALIA            MO
Established Series
KOD-KDV
02/97

SEDALIA SERIES


The Sedalia series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained, slowly permeable soils on uplands. These soils formed in a thin mantle of loess and the underlying loamy and clayey residuum from cherty limestone. Slope gradients range from 2 to 9 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 56 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is about 38 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Aquollic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Sedalia silt loam - on a 7 percent somewhat concave, west facing sideslope in fescue. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 7 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) silt loam; brown (10YR 5/3) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; many very fine and fine roots; about 5 percent chert gravel; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)

Bt1--7 to 11 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) mottles; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine and fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; about 5 percent chert gravel; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bt2--11 to 17 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay; few fine faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine and fine roots; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; about 5 percent chert gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bt3--17 to 24 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam; common fine prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine and fine roots; many prominent clay films on faces of peds; about 5 percent chert gravel; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt4--24 to 30 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam; common fine prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and few fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine and fine roots; common prominent clay films on faces of peds; 14 percent chert gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 12 to 36 inches.)

2Bt5--30 to 37 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) extremely gravelly clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common prominent clay films on faces of peds; 65 percent chert gravel and 5 percent chert cobbles; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 16 inches thick)

3Bt6--37 to 47 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) clay; many medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) mottles; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very firm; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; about 5 percent chert gravel; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.

3Bt7--47 to 60 inches; light gray (10YR 7/1) and yellow (10YR 7/6) clay; common fine distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) mottles; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very firm; common faint clay films on faces of peds; about 5 percent chert gravel; slightly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Pettis County, Missouri; about 3 miles west of Sedalia, north of Hwy. 50; 3100 feet south and 200 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 25, T. 46 N., R. 22 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the 2Bt horizon ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Chert gravel by volume is 0 to 10 percent in the A and Bt horizons; 15 to 50 percent in the 2Bt horizon and 5 to 25 percent in the 3Bt horizon. Chert cobble by volume is less than 5 percent in the A and Bt horizons; 5 to 40 percent in the 2Bt horizon and less than 10 percent in the 3Bt horizon.

The A horizon has color value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 2 or 3. It commonly is silt loam, but includes silty clay loam. Reaction is medium acid to neutral. An E horizon is present in some pedons that have not been cultivated.

The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. It is silty clay loam or silty clay. Reaction is strongly acid to slightly acid.

The 2Bt and 3Bt horizons have mottled colors with hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 1 to 8. The 2Bt horizon is gravelly, very gravelly, extremely gravelly, cobbly, very cobbly, or extremely cobbly analogues of silty clay loam or clay loam and the 3Bt horizon is clay, gravelly clay, or cobbly clay. Reaction is medium acid to neutral.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Armstrong, Hoyleton, Mystic, Pershing and Sunbury series. These soils have less than 15 percent coarse fragments in all horizons of their control sections.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sedalia soils are on concave sideslopes in heads of drainageways. These soils formed in a thin mantle of loess and the underlying cherty loamy and clayey residuum from limestone. Mean annual temperature ranges from 55 to 57 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 42 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Bluelick, Eldon, Pembroke and Pershing series. Bluelick soils are well drained and are on convex slopes. Eldon soils are gravelly throughout and are on lower sideslopes. Pembroke soils are well drained, do not have a 2Bt horizon and are on higher landscape positions. Pershing soils do not have a 2Bt horizon and are on higher landscape positions.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Permeability is slow. Runoff is medium. The upper depth of a perched water table is at 1.5 to 3.0 feet during November to April.

USE AND VEGETATION: A large portion of these soils are used for grass and legume pasture or hay crops. The remaining acreage is used mostly for row crops. Native vegetation is mixed grasses and trees.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Ozark border area in central Missouri. This series is of limited extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pettis County, Missouri, 1990.

REMARKS: There seems to be a geographical boundary, south of which Btx horizons occur in the discontinuity (e.g. Bahner, Friendly, Maplewood, Paintbrush series), and north of which there is no consolidation within the discontinuity (Sedalia 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 7 to 62 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, Bt4, 2Bt5, 3Bt6 and 3Bt7 horizons).


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.