LOCATION SWISS MOEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Swiss gravelly silt loam--on a 13 percent convex northwest facing slope in hardwood forest at an elevation of 880 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 3 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) gravelly silt loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine to medium roots throughout; common very fine and fine vesicular pores; 25 percent subrounded chert gravel and 5 percent subrounded sandstone cobbles; strongly acid (pH 5.1); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
E--3 to 9 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; common very fine to medium roots throughout; common very fine and fine vesicular pores; 25 percent subrounded chert gravel and 5 percent subrounded sandstone cobbles; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)
2Btl--9 to 16 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine to medium roots between peds; few very fine vesicular pores; few distinct discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; common fine irregular reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) soft masses of iron accumulation between peds; 5 percent subrounded sandstone cobbles; very strongly acid (pH 4.7); clear smooth boundary.
2Bt2--16 to 20 inches; 50 percent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) and 50 percent reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine and medium roots between peds; few distinct discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent subrounded sandstone cobbles; very strongly acid (pH 4.7); clear smooth boundary.
2Bt3--20 to 26 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; moderate medium angular blocky structure; firm; few very fine and fine roots between peds; common distinct discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; common fine irregular yellowish red (5YR 5/6) soft masses of iron accumulation between peds; commom fine prominent very pale brown (10YR 8/2) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) irregular iron depletions between peds; 5 percent subrounded sandstone cobbles; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); gradual smooth boundary.
2Bt4--26 to 32 inches; weak red (5R 5/2) clay; weak fine prismatic structure parting to strong fine subangular blocky; very firm; few very fine and fine roots between peds; common distinct discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; common irregular yellowish red (5YR 5/6) soft masses of iron accumulation between peds; common fine prominent very pale brown (10YR 8/2) irregular iron depletions between peds; 5 percent subrounded sandstone cobbles; very strongly acid (pH 4.6); gradual smooth boundary.
2Bt5--32 to 40 inches; 50 percent very pale brown (10YR 8/2) and 50 percent weak red (10R 5/2) silty clay; weak fine prismatic structure parting to strong fine subangular blocky; very firm; few very fine and fine roots between peds; common distinct discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent subrounded sandstone cobbles; very strongly acid (pH 4.9); gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the 2Bt horizon is 18 to 55 inches)
2Cd--40 to 80 inches; weak red (10R 5/2) clay loam; common fine distinct very pale brown (10YR 8/2) irregular mottles between fracture planes; massive, with angular fracture planes 1 to 2 centimeters apart; extremely firm; few very fine and fine roots between fracture planes; 5 percent subrounded sandstone cobbles; moderately acid (pH 5.8); this horizon consists of hard weathered fire clay.
TYPE LOCATION: Osage County, Missouri; about 8 miles northeast of Linn; 780 feet east and 500 feet south of the northwest corner of section 20, T. 44 N., R. 7 W.; USGS Fredericksburg, Missouri quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 33 minutes 31.2 seconds N. and longitude 91 degrees 44 minutes 4.5 seconds W.; UTM zone 15, 610,254 m. easting and 4,268,562 m. northing, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the 2Cd horizon: 40 to more than 80 inches
Depth to bedrock: More than 60 inches
Particle-size control section: 35 to 60 percent clay, 0 to 15 percent gravel, 0 to 15 percent cobbles
Iron depletions and matrix colors with chroma of 2 are more than 10 inches below the top of the argillic horizon.
A or Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 to 5 moist, 5 to 7 dry
Chroma: 2 or 3
Fine earth: silt loam or loam
Rock fragments: 5 to 60 percent gravel, 0 to 15 percent cobbles
Reaction: slightly acid to strongly acid.
E horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 or 4
Fine earth: silt loam or loam
Rock fragments: 15 to 60 percent gravel, 0 to 15 percent cobbles
Reaction: slightly acid to very strongly acid
Some pedons have a BE horizon that is 2 to 6 inches thick
Upper 2Bt horizon:
Hue: 10R to 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 to 8
Fine earth: clay, silty clay, clay loam, silty clay loam
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent gravel, 0 to 15 percent cobbles
Reaction: strongly acid to extremely acid
Lower 2Bt horizon:
Hue: 10R to 10YR
Value: 4 to 8
Chroma: 2 to 8
Fine earth: clay, silty clay, silty clay loam, clay loam
Rock fragments: 0 to 35 percent gravel, 0 to 15 percent cobbles
Reaction: extremely acid to neutral
2C or 2Cd horizon (where present):
Hue: 10R to 10YR
Value: 1 to 8
Chroma: 1 to 8
Fine earth: silty clay loam, clay, or clay loam
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent cobbles
Reaction: very strongly acid to slightly acid
In pedons that do not have a 2Cd horizon, if the matrix color is redder than 10YR, and the chroma is more than 4, there is at least a 20 percent decrease in clay within a depth of 60 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Series in similar families are the Aaron, Alsup, Beemont, Brookside, Derinda, Ebal, Goodson, Gunlock, Losantville, Medary, Miamian, Morrisville, Purdin, Shircliff, Skranka, Useful, Vincent, and Winnegan series. Aaron, Alsup, Beemont, Goodson, Morrisville, and Useful soils have a lithic or paralithic contact at 40 to 60 inches. Brookside soils do not have colors redder than 7.5YR and have a mean annual temperature of 46 to 55 degrees F. Derinda soils have a paralithic contact at 20 to 40 inches. Ebal soils formed in colluvium from siltstone and the underlying residuum from interbedded shale and sandstone. Gunlock soils have horizons with fragic characteristics. Losantville, Miamian, Purdin, and Winnegan soils formed in glacial till. In addition, Losantville soils have carbonates at 8 to 20 inches; Miamian soils have carbonates at 18 to 40 inches; Purdin soils have carbonates at 24 to 40 inches; and Shircliff soils have carbonates at 30 to 60 inches. Medary soils are superactive and lack rock fragments. Skranka soils are active and formed in basic igneous materials. Vincent soils formed in lacustrine sediments and have fewer rock fragments. Winnegan soils are superactive and have carbonates at 24 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Swiss soils are on upland side slopes, and less commonly on summit positions. Slopes commonly are 8 to 20 percent, but range from 3 to 35 percent. These soils formed in cherty sediments and the underlying clay deposits. The A and E horizons are believed to have formed in clastic sediments. The 2Bt horizon formed in clays of Pennsylvanian age. The mean annual temperature is 54 to 57 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is 36 to 45 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Beemont soils on similar positions, Gasconade and Gatewood soils on lower landscape positions, and Union and Lebanon soils on ridgetops. Beemont soils have bedrock from 40 to 60 inches. Gasconade soils have bedrock within depths of 20 inches, and Gatewood soils have bedrock within depths of 20 to 40 inches. Union and Lebanon soils have fragipans.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Permeability is very slow. The saturated hydraulic conductivity is low. The surface runoff index is medium to very high. A high water table is perched in the lower part of the profile (below 2 feet) during late winter and early spring in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas remain in mixed hardwood forest. Some areas have been cleared and are used for pasture. Refractory clay is mined in a few areas.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Ozark Highlands region (MLRA 116A) of central Missouri. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Osage County, Missouri, 1999.
REMARKS: The typical pedon has been moved to Osage County, Missouri. This series was originally proposed as a very-fine, smectitic, mesic Typic Hapludalf.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this series are:
l) Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 9 inches (A and E horizons)
2) Argillic horizon- the zone from a depth of 9 to 40 inches ( 2Bt horizons)
3) The Cd horizon in not considered to be paralithic material due to fracturing less than 10 centimeters apart.
4) Low chroma colors do not necessarily define the present soil drainage, but are often due to the color of the original parent materials.
ADDITIONAL DATA: This soil is mapped in the Pennsylvanian age geologic formation in Missouri.
The University of Missouri soil characterization lab data reference number is M9015149.