LOCATION WAGNER ILEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Vertic Albaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Wagner silt loam. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silt loam; strong fine and medium granular structure; friable; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Eg--8 to 15 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) silt loam; few fine faint very dark gray (10YR 3/1) mottles and few fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) mottles; moderate thick platy structure; friable; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Btg1--15 to 18 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) silty clay loam; medium fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) mottles; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium angular blocky; firm; distinct very dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay films on peds; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
Btg2--18 to 29 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) silty clay; many fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) mottles; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium angular blocky; firm; distinct very dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay films on peds; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary. (The combined thickness of the Btg horizon is 12 to 30 inches.)
BCg--29 to 40 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) silty clay; many fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) mottles; weak coarse angular blocky structure; firm; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
Cg1--40 to 49 inches; light gray (10YR 6/1) heavy silty clay loam; many fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) mottles; massive; firm; few black (10YR 2/1) cylindrical areas of root channels about one-fourth inch in diameter; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.
Cg2--49 to 80 inches; light gray (5YR 6/1) heavy silty clay loam; common medium prominent dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) mottles; massive; firm; few lime concretions; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Greene County, Illinois; about 4 miles southwest of Walkerville; 1,452 feet south and 1,279 feet east of northwest corner of sec. 33, T. 11 N., R. 13 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to the base of the argillic horizon ranges from 36 to 60 inches. The particle size control section ranges from 40 to 47 percent clay.
The upper one-fifth of the control section (A or Ap horizon) has value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silt loam. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to moderately alkaline.
The second one-fifth of the control section (Eg horizon) has value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. It contains mottles with higher chroma. It is silt loam. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral.
The next two-fifths of the control section (Btg and BCg horizons) have properties as follows:
The Btg horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. It contains mottles with higher chroma. It is silty clay or silty clay loam. Average clay content ranges from contains 40 to 47 percent and individual subhorizons range from 38 to 50 percent clay. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid.
The BCg horizon has colors like the Btg horizon. Average clay content ranges from 36 to 42 percent. In some pedons it has very thin strata of very fine sand to silt loam. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid.
The lower one-fifth of the control section (Cg horizon) has colors like the Btg horizon. It is dominantly silty clay loam and averages between 32 and 38 percent clay. Strata of well sorted material have sand contents that range from 1 percent to 90 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Appanoose, Belinda, Brooklyn, Chariton, Cisne, Cowden, Denny, Glensted, Holcomb, Putnam, Rubio, and Smileyville soils. Appanoose, Chariton, and Putnam soils average more than 47 percent clay in the particle size control section. Belinda soils have the base of the argillic horizon extending to more than 60 inches. Brooklyn soils average less than 32 percent clay in the lowest part of the control section. Cisne and Glensted soils average more than 1 percent coarse fragments in the lower one-fourth to one-half of the control section. Cowden, Denny, and Rubio soils do not have strata in the lowest part of the control section with as much as 90 percent sand. Holcomb soils have an umbric epipedon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wagner soils are on terrace treads. Slopes most commonly are 0 to 1 percent and range from 0 to 3 percent. They formed in slackwater alluvium or lacustrine sediments mostly of silty clay loam textures. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 and 42 inches, mean annual air temperature ranges from 52 and 56 degrees F., frost free days range from 170 to 200, and elevation ranges from 340 to 680 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Beaucoup, Darwin, Okaw, Racoon, and Tice series. The Beaucoup, Darwin, and Tice soils have mollic epipedons and are on flood plains nearby. Okaw soils have light surface layers and are in similar positions on nearby terraces. Racoon soils have thicker A horizons, lack the abrupt transitions into the argillic horizon, and are fine-silty and are in similar positions nearby.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Wagner soils are poorly drained. Surface runoff is slow to ponded. Permeability is very slow. The seasonal high water is within a depth of 1.5 feet during the spring in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Largely cropped to corn, soybeans, and wheat. Native vegetation is prairie grasses and sedges.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Illinois. The extent is small (about 5000 acres correlated).
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washington County, Illinois, 1927.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 15 inches (Ap and Eg horizons); albic horizon - the zone from 8 to 15 inches (Eg horizon); argillic horizon - the zone from 15 to 40 inches (Btg horizon); aquic conditions - chroma of 1 and redox concentrations in all horizons below the Ap horizon; positive reaction to alpha-alpha dipyridyl is assumed.