LOCATION WAUPECAN IL+IN OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiudolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Waupecan silt loam - with a slope of less than one percent in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 268 meters (880 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common very fine roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--20 to 33 cm (8 to 13 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common very fine roots; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the A horizon is 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches).]
BA--33 to 48 cm (13 to 19 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine roots; common distinct very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) organic coatings on surfaces along pores; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt1--48 to 71 cm (19 to 28 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine roots; common distinct brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--71 to 97 cm (28 to 38 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine roots; common distinct brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 33 to 152 cm (13 to 60 inches).]
2Bt3--97 to 112 cm (38 to 44 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay loam; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine roots; common distinct brown (7.5YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; 1 percent dolomitic pebbles; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
2Bt4--112 to 124 cm (44 to 49 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; many distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; 2 percent dolomitic pebbles; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
2Bt5--124 to 140 cm (49 to 55 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; many distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) clay bridging between sand grains; 8 percent dolomitic pebbles; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the 2Bt horizon is 8 to 51 cm (3 to 20 inches).]
3C--140 to 178 cm (55 to 70 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 32 percent dolomitic pebbles and cobblestones; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Kane County, Illinois; about 1.2 km (3/4 mile) north and 0.4 km (1/4 mile) west of Hampshire; 69 m (225 feet) south and 443 m (1,455 feet) west of the northeast corner of sec. 21, T. 42 N., R. 6 E.; USGS Hampshire topographic quadrangle; lat. 42 degrees 06 minutes 34 seconds N., and long. 88 degrees 32 minutes 08 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 373038 easting and 4663072 northing, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to the base of argillic horizon ranges from 102 to 183 cm (40 to 72 inches). The mollic epipedon is 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches) in thickness. The depth to horizons with more than 15 percent sand is 61 to 122 cm (24 to 48 inches). The depth to horizons with more than 15 percent rock fragments and 75 percent sand ranges from 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches). The particle-size control section averages from 25 to 35 percent clay and less than 15 percent sand coarser than very fine.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is slightly acid or neutral except pedons that have been limed include slightly alkaline.
Some pedons have an AB horizon or a BA horizon.
The Bt or BA horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 through 6. It typically is silty clay loam, but some subhorizons range to silt loam. Reaction is moderately acid to neutral.
The 2Bt or 2BC horizon has hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR; value of 3 through 5; and chroma of 3 through 6. It is clay loam, loam, sandy clay loam, silt loam, sandy loam, loamy sand, or their gravelly analogs with some pedons being stratified. Most pedons have a subhorizon just above a coarser textured layer that contains an enrichment of clay or organic carbon. One or more subhorizons contain 5 percent or more gravel, but these soils contain less than 35 percent rock fragments within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches). Reaction is moderately acid to neutral.
The 3C horizon has hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR; value of 3 through 6; and chroma of 3 through 6. It ranges from very gravelly sandy loam to sand and gravel with some pedons being stratified. Some pedons contain as much as 35 percent cobbles. Reaction is neutral to moderately alkaline and contains carbonates in some part within a depth of 152 cm (60 inches).
COMPETING SERIES: These are Ashdale, Broadwell, Dinsdale, Douglas, Elkhart, Elmont, Healing, Lycurgus, Malcolm, Meadowbank, Mendota, Mickle, Ogle, Osco, Parkway, Plano, Proctor, Richwood, Ripon, Sibley, Sidell, Tama, Tecumseh, Toddville, and Wakenda series. Ashdale and Ripon soils have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 cm (60 inches). Broadwell, Dinsdale, Douglas, Elmont, Healing, Lycurgus, Meadowbank, Mickle, Ogle, Parkway, Plano, Proctor, Richwood, Sidell, Tama, Tecumseh, Toddville, and Wakenda soils average less than 15 percent rock fragments in the lower part of the series control section. Malcolm and Mendota soils are less than 102 cm (40 inches) to the base of soil development. Elkhart, Osco, and Sibley soils average less than 15 percent sand throughout the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Waupecan soils are on nearly level to gently sloping glacial outwash plains and stream terraces. Slope gradients range from 0 to 5 percent. Waupecan soils formed in loess or other silty material 61 to 122 cm (24 to 48 inches) in thickness and in the underlying sandy and gravelly outwash sediments. Mean annual air temperature varies from 7 to 12 degrees C (45 to 54 degrees F), mean annual precipitation varies from 610 to 1020 mm (24 to 40 inches), frost free days range from 140 to 180 days, and the elevation ranges from 155 to 311 m (510 to 1020 feet) above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Bowes and Plano soils and the Batavia, Drummer, Elburn, Longlois, Troxel, Warsaw, and Wea soils. The Bowes, Batavia, and Longlois soils are closer to drainageways on similar parts of the landscape. Batavia and Longlois soils, like Bowes, have a dark colored surface layer less than 25 cm (10 inches) in thickness. In addition, Batavia soils contain less than 15 percent gravel in the lower part or the series control section, and Longlois soils contain 15 percent or more fine sand or coarser sand in the particle-size control section. Plano and Wea soils are on similar parts of the landscape nearby. Wea soils average more than 15 percent fine sand or coarser in the particle-size control section. Troxel soils have a mollic epipedon more than 51 cm (20 inches) thick and are in shallow depressions and concave parts of the outwash plains and stream terraces. The poorly drained Drummer and somewhat poorly drained Elburn soils are on lower parts of the landform nearby. Warsaw soils have a strongly contrasting particle-size class and are on similar parts of the landform nearby.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is low or medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high (4.23 to 42.33 micrometers per second) in the solum and very high (greater than 141.11 micrometers per second) in the substratum. Permeability is moderate to moderately rapid in the solum and very rapid in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Commonly cropped. Corn, soybeans, small grain, and grass-legume mixtures are the common crops. Native vegetation is prairie grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Illinois and Indiana. Extent is moderate.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kendall County, Illinois, 1973.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of about 33 cm (13 inches) (Ap and A horizons); argillic horizon - the zone from a depth of 48 to 140 cm (19 to 55 inches) (Bt1, Bt2, 2Bt3, 2Bt4, and 2Bt5 horizons); lithologic discontinuities from loess to outwash at a depth of 97 cm (38 inches) and from outwash to gravelly and sandy deposits at a depth of 140 cm (55 inches); udic moisture regime.