LOCATION VANMETER IA+IL MOEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, illitic, mesic Oxyaquic Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Vanmeter silt loam, on a side slope of 50 percent, in a wooded pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium platy structure; friable; many roots; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
BA--6 to 12 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay loam, moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many roots; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bw1--12 to 20 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silty clay; moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; many roots; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--20 to 30 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) clay; moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; few roots; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 10 to 22 inches.)
Cr--30 to 60 inches; olive (5Y 4/3) and very dark gray (5Y 3/1) clay shale; moderate medium platy rock structure; very firm; white soft lime accumulations; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Dallas County, Iowa; about 1 mile north and 1/4 mile east of Van Meter; 275 feet south and 50 feet east of the center of sec. 22, T. 78 N., R. 27 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to calcareous shale ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Some pedons have a loamy or silty mantle up to 20 inches thick over the clayey residuum. The particle-size control section averages 35 to 60 percent clay. Shale fragments range from 0 to 15 percent by volume. The soil typically is calcareous. Some pedons are noncalcareous.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silt loam, loam, silty clay loam or the flaggy analogues of these textures. Clay content ranges from 18 to 35 percent. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to moderately alkaline.
The Bw horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. It is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Average clay content in the control section ranges from 35 to 60 percent. Some pedons have thin, patchy, clay films. Reaction ranges from slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline.
The Cr horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 8, and chroma of 1 to 6. The texture varies widely due to stratification in the original shale. In some pedons the Cr horizon contains thin beds of siltstone, sandstone, and lignite, and fragments of sandstone and lignite. Reaction is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Chatsworth series. Chatsworth soils do not have weathered calcareous clay shale within the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Vanmeter soils are on convex side slopes and escarpment-like areas that parallel major streams on uplands. Slopes range from 5 to 60 percent. Vanmeter soils formed in residuum from calcareous clay shale. Some areas have a thin mantle of silty or loamy material over the weathered shale. The geological origin of the mantle is uncertain although it is thought to be loess, till, loess-till mixture, pedisediments, or residuum from interbedded shale and sandstone. Mean annual air temperature is about 48 to 54 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation is about 30 to 35 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Clinton, Judson, Ladoga, and Nodaway soils. Clinton soils are on the higher elevations on summits of interfluves, do not have weathered calcareous clay shale within the series control section, have ochric epipedons that have matrix value of 4 or more moist or matrix value of 6 or more dry after mixing to a depth of 7 inches, and have an argillic horizon with a clay content of 36 to 42 percent. Judson soils are on the lower elevations on footslopes, do not have weathered calcareous clay shale within the series control section, have a mollic epipedon 32 to 52 inches thick, and have a clay content of 30 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section. Ladoga soils are on the higher elevations on summits of interfluves, do not have weathered calcareous clay shale within the series control section, have ochric epipedons that have matrix value less than 4 moist or matrix value less than 6 dry after mixing to a depth of 7 inches, and have an argillic horizon with a clay content of 36 to 42 percent. Nodaway soils are on the lower elevations in floodplains, do not have weathered calcareous clay shale within the series control section, and have a clay content of 18 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Permeability is very slow. Surface runoff potential is high or very high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are pastureland or woodland. Some areas are left idle. The native vegetation is deciduous forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: LRR M, MLRAs 107, 108, 109, 115; south-central Iowa, central Illinois, and northern Missouri. This series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dallas County, Iowa, 1980.
REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 10 to 40 inches (BA, Bw1, Bw2, and Cr horizons); series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 60 inches (A, BA, Bw1, Bw2, and Cr horizons).
Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this pedon: ochric epipedon--the zone from the surface to a depth of 6 inches (A horizon); cambic horizon--the zone from 6 to a depth of 30 inches (BA, Bw1 and Bw2 horizons); udic moisture regime.
Taxonomy version--second edition, 1999.
This soil has been mapped as an inclusion in the Gosport series in previous surveys.