LOCATION ULSTER IAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Mollic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Ulster loam with a convex slope of 3 percent - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) loam, dark
grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak very fine granular structure; friable; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Bt1--8 to 16 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loam; very dark grayish
brown (10YR 3/2) coatings on faces of peds; weak very fine
subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)
Bt2--16 to 24 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; weak
medium prismatic structure parting to weak fine subangular
blocky; friable; few thin dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay
films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt3--24 to 33 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam;
weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky; very friable; few thin dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 15 to 40 inches.)
2BC--33 to 44 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loamy sand;
weak medium prismatic structure; very friable; strongly acid;
gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
2C1--44 to 78 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sand;
massive; weakly cemented; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
3C2--78 to 87 inches; mottled gray (5Y 5/1) and brown (7.5YR
4/4) loam; massive; firm; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Floyd County, Iowa; 575 feet west and 530 feet
north of the southeast corner, sec. 35, T. 96 N., R. 17 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness typically ranges from
36 to 50 inches. The solum ranges from strongly acid to neutral. Pebbles typically are absent to a depth of 5 feet or more but in
some pedons are as shallow as 4 feet. The control section
averages between 14 and 18 percent clay.
The A horizon typically is very dark gray (10YR 3/1) or very dark brown (10YR 2/2), but very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) is
within the range.
The E, EB, or BE horizon, when present, typically is dark brown
(10YR 4/3).
The Bt and BC horizons typically have hue of 10YR, value of 4 or
5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Sand size in the Bt horizon dominantly
is fine or very fine above 40 inches.
The 2BC or 2C horizon below 36 inches often is stratified loamy
sand, sandy loam, silt loam, or sand. A 3C horizon of loam
texture typically is present at depths between 5 to 8 feet but
may be as shallow as 4 feet.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Backbone,
Billett,
Kingsley,
Oronoco, and
Pardeeville soils in the same family and the Sattre
and
Wapsie soils. Backbone soils have limestone bedrock at
depths between 20 and 40 inches.
Billett soils typically are
sandy loam or fine sandy loam in the upper Bt horizon. Billett
soils formed in loamy outwash, alluvium, or eolian materials.
Kingsley soils have hue of 5YR or 7.5YR in the B and C horizons.
Oronoco soils are finer textured in the 30- to 60-inch zone.
Pardeeville soils formed in coarse textured till and have redder
hue.
Sattre and
Wapsie soils have contrasting textures in the
lower part of the control section. Sattre soils are fine-loamy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ulster soils are on convex slopes on
uplands. Slopes range from 0 to 9 percent. Most areas have
slopes of 4 percent or less. Most areas of Ulster soils are on
low, mound-like features of slightly higher elevation than the associated soils. Mean annual temperature ranges from 42 to 48 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 34
inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bolan, Clyde, Dickinson, Klinger, Maxfield, Oran, and Readlyn soils. Bolan and Dickinson soils occupy similar landscape positions on uplands and have a thicker A horizon. Clyde, Klinger, Maxfield, Oran, and Readlyn soils typically are downslope from Ulster soils on the landscape and are poorer in drainage.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Ulster soils are well drained.
Surface runoff is medium. Permeability is moderate in the solum
and rapid in the upper 2C horizon.
USE AND VEGETATION: Commonly cropped to corn, soybeans, small
grain, and grass legume meadows. Native vegetation was oak and hickory trees and prairie grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North central and northeast Iowa.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Floyd County, Iowa, 1987. The name is taken from Ulster township.
REMARKS: This unit was formerly mapped as Wapsie.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a
depth of 8 inches (Ap horizon); argillic horizon - the zone from
a depth of 8 to 33 inches (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons); udic
moisture regime.