LOCATION SUGARVALLEY             OH

Established Series
Rev. JRA-DBD-SJH
11/2021

SUGARVALLEY SERIES

The Sugarvalley series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in loess and in the underlying water modified till on ground moraines of Wisconsinan age. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 991 mm (39 inches), and mean annual air temperature is about 12 degrees C (53 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Sugarvalley silt loam, on a linear, 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 334 meters (1,095 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and very fine roots throughout; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) masses of oxidized iron throughout; common fine faint dark brown (10YR 3/3) iron-manganese masses throughout; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [13 to 30 cm (5 to 12 inches) thick]

BE--25 to 41 cm (10 to 16 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and very fine roots throughout; few distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) organic coatings on faces of peds; common medium faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron throughout; common fine faint very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) iron-manganese masses throughout; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 15 cm (6 inches) thick]

Bt1--41 to 76 cm (16 to 30 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; many fine roots throughout; common distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; common fine distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; common fine and medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron throughout; common fine and medium distinct very dark gray (10YR 3/1) iron-manganese masses throughout; common coarse distinct very dark gray (10YR 3/1) iron-manganese concretions throughout; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--76 to 104 cm (30 to 41 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; many fine roots throughout; common distinct gray (10YR 5/1) clay films on faces of peds; common medium prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; many medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron throughout; common fine and medium prominent very dark gray (10YR 3/1) iron-manganese masses throughout; neutral; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 25 to 76 cm (10 to 30 inches).]

2Bt3--104 to 129 cm (41 to 51 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; many fine roots throughout; common distinct gray (10YR 5/1) clay films on faces of peds; common medium prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; many medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron throughout; common fine prominent very dark gray (10YR 3/1) iron-manganese masses throughout; about 28 percent sand; 8 percent rock fragments; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 76 cm (30 inches) thick]

2BC--129 to 155 cm (51 to 61 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots between peds; few distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay films along root channels and on vertical faces of peds; common medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; few medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron throughout; few fine distinct very dark gray (10YR 3/1) iron-manganese masses throughout; 5 percent subrounded shale fragments and 15 percent subrounded limestone fragments; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. [13 to 51 cm (5 to 20 inches) thick]

2C--155 to 200 cm (61 to 79 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly sandy loam; massive; friable; few fine roots throughout to 68 inches; common medium faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions throughout; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation throughout; pockets of grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) and gray (10YR 5/1) clay loam with common coarse prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron throughout the pockets; few fine distinct very dark gray (10YR 3/1) iron-manganese masses throughout; 5 percent subrounded limestone fragments and 10 percent subrounded granite fragments; violently effervescent; slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Preble County, Ohio; about 3.2 miles north of Fairhaven, in Dixon Township; about 600 feet west and 400 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 20, T. 7 N., R. 1 E.; USGS Fairhaven, OH topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees 41 minutes 09.79 seconds N. and long. 84 degrees 46 minutes 52.99 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 76 to 140 cm (30 to 55 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches)
Thickness of the loess: 76 to 127 cm (30 to 50 inches)
Depth to densic contact (very firm till): greater than 200 cm (79 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages 18 to 34 percent clay and 2 to 10 percent fine sand or coarser

Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 2 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral

E horizon, where present:
Thickness: 8 to 23 cm (3 to 9 inches)
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 2 percent
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

BE horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: silt loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 2 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral

Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 6
Texture: silty clay loam or silt loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 2 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral

2Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 6
Texture: silt loam, loam, or clay loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline

2BC horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: loam, clay loam, or sandy loam, or the gravelly analogs of these textures; some pedons have strata of silt loam
Rock fragment content: 5 to 25 percent
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline; carbonates are present in some pedons

2C horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loam or sandy loam, or the gravelly analogs of these textures; some pedons have pockets or strata of silt loam, clay loam or loamy sand
Consistence: friable or firm
Clay content: averages 5 to 10 percent
Sand content: averages 35 to 55 percent
Rock fragment content: 5 to 25 percent
Moist bulk density: 1.70 to 1.95 g/cm3 and is not restricting to roots and water penetration
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 20 to 40 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Appleriver, Blair, Bunkum, Fishhook, Freeburg, Geff, Glenford, Keene, Muren, Reesville, Torox, and Xenia series. Appleriver soils have a paralithic contact within a depth of 152 cm (60 inches). Blair, Bunkum, Fishhook, Freeburg, Geff, Keene, and Muren soils do not have carbonates within a depth of 152 cm (60 inches). Glenford soils do not have a lithologic discontinuity within a depth of 127 cm (50 inches). Reesville soils formed entirely in loess and do not have a 2B horizon. Torox soils have moist bulk density of less than 1.70 g/cm3 in the lower part of the series control section. Xenia soils average more than 10 percent clay in the lower part of the series control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sugarvalley soils are on ground moraines of Wisconsinan age. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. The soils formed in loess and in the underlying water modified till. The till is dense but is not restricting to root and water penetration. Climate is humid and temperate. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 864 to 1118 mm (34 to 44 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from 11 to 13 degrees C (51 to 55 degrees F). Frost-free period is 130 to 160 days. Elevation is 317 to 349 meters (1,040 feet to 1,145 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cyclone, Fincastle, Morningsun, Ragsdale, Treaty, and Xenia soils. The poorly drained Cyclone, Ragsdale, and Treaty soils are in depressions. Fincastle soils are on slight rises on the same landform and are underlain by dense till that is restricting to root and water penetration. The moderately well drained Morningsun and Xenia soils are on higher or slightly more sloping areas. Morningsun soils do not have redoximorphic features in the upper part of the argillic horizon. Xenia soils are underlain by dense till that is restricting to root and water penetration.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The depth to the top of an intermittent apparent high water table ranges from 15 to 61 cm (0.5 to 2.0 feet) from December through April in normal years. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Principal crops are corn, soybeans, small grain and hay. Native vegetation is mixed, deciduous forest with oaks, hickory and maple as dominant species.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Ohio and possibly eastern Indiana; MLRA 111D. The series is of small extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Preble County, Ohio, 2005.

REMARKS: This soil was formerly mapped as Reesville series in the Preble County Soil Survey published in June 1969. Field investigations indicate that these soils in the Boston Plains area formed in loess and the underlying water modified till that is dense but not restricting to root and water penetration.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 41 cm (Ap, BE horizons).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 41 to 129 cm (Bt, 2Bt horizons).
Aquic conditions: redox depletions and concentrations in all horizons between 25 and 200 cm.

Revised 04/2015 to update competing series differentiae (Glenford) and to update terminology used to describe redox features in profile.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data are available for PB-78, the typical pedon, and PB-74 from the Soil Characterization Laboratory at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.