LOCATION USEFUL             MO
Established Series
Rev. KOD-RLT
10/2006

USEFUL SERIES


The Useful series consists of deep, moderately well drained, moderately slowly permeable soils that formed in loess and the underlying clayey materials or residuum from dolomite. These soils are on uplands and have slopes of 2 to 15 percent. Mean annual temperature is 56 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 39 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Useful silt loam - on a convex slope of 12 percent at an elevation of 850 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)

Bt1--7 to 13 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) silty clay; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine and fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt2--13 to 21 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine and very fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; many fine prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; neutral; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt3--21 to 31 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay; strong fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine roots; common prominent clay films on faces of peds; common fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; common fine iron-manganese stains on faces of peds; few chert pebbles; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 5 to 28 inches)

2Bt4--31 to 39 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay; strong fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine roots; many prominent clay films on faces of peds; few fine iron-manganese nodules with distinct boundaries, and common iron-manganese stains on faces of peds; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; 10 percent chert gravel; slightly alkaline; gradual smooth boundary.

2Bt5--39 to 45 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) and light gray (2.5Y 7/2) silty clay; strong medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine roots; many prominent grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; common fine prominent olive yellow (2.5Y 6/8) masses of iron accumulation and white (2.5Y 8/1) iron depletions; few fine iron-manganese stains on faces of peds; 5 percent chert gravel; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

2Bt/Cr--45 to 53 inches; light gray (5Y 7/2) and olive yellow (2.5Y 6/8) silty clay loam; strong medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine roots; few prominent grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; few fine iron-manganese stains on faces of peds; 50 percent weathered dolomite protrusions and rounded fragments in place; slightly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary.

2R--53 inches; dolostone

TYPE LOCATION: Osage County, Missouri; about 2 1/2 miles northwest of Bland; 850 feet north, 1,540 feet west of the southeast corner of section 2, T. 41 N., R. 7 W; USGS Belle, Missouri quadrangle, latitude 38 degrees 19 minutes 11.4 seconds N. and longitude 91 degrees 40 minutes 9.4 seconds W.; UTM zone 15, 616,326 m. easting and 4,242,140 m. northing, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to a lithic contact is 40 and 60 inches. The particle-size control section averages 35 to 50 percent clay. The mean annual soil temperature at 20 inches is 55 to 59 degrees F.

The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR (can be 7.5YR where eroded), value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Where the value of the A or Ap horizon is 3 and chroma is 3 or less moist, dry value is 6 or more. Reaction is strongly acid to slightly acid.

The E or BE horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is silt loam. Reaction is strongly acid to neutral.

The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 3 to 8. Chroma is as low as 2 in the layer immediately above the 2Bt horizon. Texture is silt loam, silty clay loam or silty clay or their gravelly or very gravelly analogues. It has from 0 to 35 percent gravel and 0 to 10 percent cobbles. Reaction is strongly acid to moderately alkaline.

The 2Bt or 3Bt horizons have hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay or their gravelly to very gravelly or channery to very channery analogs. Rock fragment content is 0 to 60 percent.

A thin Cr horizon of weathered dolomite also occurs just above the lithic contact in some pedons.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Aaron, Alsup, Brookside, Derinda, Ebal, Goodson, Losantville, Miamian, Morrisville, Shircliff, Skrainka, and Vincent series. Aaron soils do not have a discontinuity in the Bt horizon. Alsup, Derinda, Goodson, and Morrisville soils have a paralithic contact from 40 to 60 inches. In addition, Goodson soils have mollic colors in the surface layer and Morrisville soils have free carbonates at 10 to 30 inches. Losantville soils have free carbonates from 8 to 20 inches. Shircliff soils have free carbonates from 18 to 40 inches and are very deep to a lithic or paralithic contact. Brookside, Ebal, Skrainka, and Vincent soils are very deep to a lithic or paralithic contact.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These moderately sloping to strongly sloping soils are on upland side slopes and secondary summits, commonly with southern or western aspects. Slope gradients are 2 to 15 percent. These soils formed in loess and the underlying clayey materials or residuum from dolomite. Average annual temperature ranges from 53 to 57 degrees F, and average annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 42 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the and Moko soils on similar and lower parts of the landscape; and the Gunlock and Wrengart soils at generally higher elevations, and on northern and eastern aspects. Moko soils have bedrock at depths of less than 40 inches. Gunlock and Wrengart soils do not have bedrock within 60 inches.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The surface runoff index is high. Permeability is moderately slow. The saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high. These soils have a perched water table for brief periods during late winter and early spring in most years.

USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly cleared and used for cropland, hay, and pasture. Some abandoned areas have reverted to hardwood forest. White oak and red oak are the principal species. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Missouri (MLRA 116A and MLRA 115). The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Osage County, Missouri, 1996.

REMARKS: Useful soils were formerly mapped as Bucklick soils, moderately wet, but revision of Soil Taxonomy to include Oxyaquic subgroups dictated reclassification of these soils. The series pedon was selected from an eroded unit because of preponderant acreage.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this series are:
ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to about 7 inches (Ap horizon); argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 7 inches to 53 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, 2Bt4, 2Bt5, and 2Bt/Cr horizons);
lithic feature - hard bedrock contact at 53 inches;
oxyaquic feature - a perched water table in the lower part of the argillic horizon causes oxyaquic conditions.

ADDITIONAL DATA: University of Missouri Soil Characterization Lab Number M92-151-08.
NASIS pedon number 95MO151013.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.