LOCATION SARANAC                 MI+IN OH

Established Series
Rev. NWS
11/2021

SARANAC SERIES

The Saranac series consists of very deep, poorly drained or very poorly drained soils formed in loamy and clayey alluvium on flood plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation is 787 mm (31 inches), and mean annual temperature is 9.4 degrees C (49 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Fluvaquentic Endoaquolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Saranac clay loam - on a 1 percent slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 20 cm (8 inches); very dark brown (10YR 2/2) clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate coarse granular structure; firm; many fine roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.

A--20 to 28 cm (8 to 11 inches); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) clay loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; firm; many fine roots; few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the A horizon is 20 to 38 cm (8 to 15 inches).]

Bg--28 to 51 cm (11 to 20 inches); gray (10YR 5/1) silty clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; many fine roots; common medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. [13 to 102 cm (5 to 40 inches) thick]

Cg--51 to 127 cm (20 to 50 inches); gray (10YR 5/1) silty clay loam; thin lenses of silt loam, loam, and clay; massive; firm; common fine roots; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Ionia County, Michigan; about one half mile south of Ionia; 1,200 feet east and 750 feet south of the center of sec. 24, T. 7 N., R. 7 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the solum: 38 to 127 cm (15 to 50 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 46 to 178 cm (18 to 70 inches)
Rock fragments: typically absent but range from 0 to 5 percent throughout the series control section

Ap or A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: clay loam, loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline

Bg horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y, or is neutral
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 0 to 2
Texture: clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline

C horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay with thin strata of silt loam, loam, or fine sand in some pedons
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

Gravelly and stratified substratum phases are recognized.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Dunning series. Dunning soils are in warmer climates where the mean annual air temperature is more than 11.7 degrees C (53 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Saranac soils are on flood plains. Slope ranges from 0 to about 2 percent. Saranac soils formed in loamy and clayey alluvium. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 737 to 1067 mm (29 to 42 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 8.9 to 11.7 degrees C (48 to 53 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ceresco, Cohoctah, Shoals, and Sloan soils. The somewhat poorly drained Ceresco and Shoals soils are on slightly higher landscape positions on flood plains. Cohoctah and Sloan soils are on similar positions and have more sand and less clay in the control section.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Poorly drained or very poorly drained. Depth to the seasonal high water table ranges from 15 cm (0.5 foot) above the surface to 15 cm (0.5 foot) below the surface during late fall and into the spring in normal years. The potential for surface runoff is negligible. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or moderately low. Permeability is moderately slow or slow. These soils are subject to frequent or occasional flooding during this same period.

USE AND VEGETATION: About 50 percent is cropped to corn and soybeans; smaller amounts are in hay. The remainder is in permanent pasture or woodland. Native vegetation is chiefly ash, swamp white oak, alder, red maple, and silver maple.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 98, 111A, 111B, and 111D in southern Michigan, northern and central Indiana, and northern Ohio. The type location is in MLRA 98. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ionia County, Michigan, 1965.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the pedon are:
Mollic epipedon: from surface to a depth of 28 cm (11 inches) (Ap, A).
Cambic horizon: from a depth of 28 to 51 cm (11 to 20 inches) (Bg).
Aquic conditions: redoximorphic features in the lower part of the mollic epipedon and in all underlying horizons.

A till substratum phase is currently recognized in Ohio and may become a new series when evaluated during MLRA updating activities.

---

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.