LOCATION SOUTHRIDGE MN+IAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty over clayey, mixed over smectitic, superactive, mesic Typic Paleudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Southridge silt loam with a 15 percent convex south-facing slope in the uplands in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry, few masses of brown (10YR 4/3); weak very fine granular structure; friable; few very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) coatings on faces of peds; many fine and very fine roots; medium acid; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
BE--8 to 16 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam, moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine roots; few thin brown (10YR 4/3) porous coatings on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
Bt1--16 to 33 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine roots; common thin dark brown (10YR 3/3) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds, common moderately thick very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay films in pores; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
2Bt2---33 to 60 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay; strong medium and fine angular blocky structure; very firm; common moderately thick and thick very dark brown (10YR 2/2) clay films in pores and on faces of peds; about 5 percent chert fragments; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Houston County, Minnesota; about 3 miles south and 3 miles east of Houston: 300 feet south and 2,520 feet west of northeast corner of section 23, T. 103 N., R. 6 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to free carbonates ranges from 60 to 100 inches or more. Thickness of loess is typically 20 to 36 inches but ranges from 15 to 40 inches. Depth to dolomite bedrock is typically 60 to 90 inches but may range to 120 inches or more. The content of chert and dolomite fragments is 5 to 25 percent in the 2Bt horizon. Fragments are dominantly cherty.
The Ap horizon and in uncultivated areas the A and E horizons, where mixed to a depth of 7 inches, have value of 3 or 4 moist, 6 or more dry and chroma of 2 or 3. The A and E horizons typically are silt loam but they are silt in a few pedons. It typically is slightly acid or medium acid but the Ap horizon in some pedons is neutral.
The B horizon in the loess has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4 chroma. It is silt loam or silty clay loam averaging 18 to 30 percent clay. It is very strongly acid through slightly acid.
The 2B horizon typically has 5YR hue but the range includes 2.5YR and 7.5YR. It has value and chroma range of 4 through 6. It averages 55 to 80 percent clay and exceeds by 25 percent (absolute) the average clay content of the B horizon in the loess. It is firm or very firm. It is very strongly acid through medium acid.
COMPETING SERIES: No other series are in this family. Similar series are Baylis, Fayette, NewGlarus, Palsgrove, Rollingstone, Seaton, Valton, and Wildale. Baylis soils lack contrasting textures and have more coarse fragments in the lower part of the solum. Fayette soils lack contrasting textures. NewGlarus soils have bedrock within depths of 40 inches. Palsgrove soils formed in thicker loess and have bedrock within depths of 60 inches. Rollingstone and Wildale soils formed in a thinner loess mantle. Seaton soils lack contrasting textures. Valton soils have a thin dark colored surface layer.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Southridge soils have plane or convex slopes on shoulders and summits of dissected uplands. They have slopes with gradient of 2 to 20 percent. They formed in 15 to 40 inches of loess and in underlying thick clayey pedisediment or residuum from dolomite. Mean annual temperature ranges from 47 to 53 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 34 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Blackhammer, Lamoille, Nodine, Rollingstone, Seaton, and Valton soils. Blackhammer soils are fine-silty and on similar positions. Lamoille soils lack contrasting textures and are on steep and very steep hill slopes. Rollingstone, Seaton, and Valton soils are on similar positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium on the gentle slopes and rapid on the steeper slopes. Permeability is moderate in the upper part and slow in the lower part of the solum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of Southridge soils are cultivated. Corn, alfalfa hay, and small grain are the principal crops. The remaining areas are used for pasture or woodland. Native vegetation was deciduous forest, with white oak, northern red oak, basswood, and hickory being the more common species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Minnesota and possibly in northeastern Iowa, and southwestern Wisconsin. The soils of this series are of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Houston County, Minnesota, 1981.
REMARKS: Southridge soils were mapped as Dubuque deep phase in prior mapping in this area. Some pedons do not meet requirements for contrasting family and could be placed in fine-silty. These pedons are considered similar inclusions in mapping.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, Central File Code No. 2355 for some results of laboratory analysis of the typical pedon.