LOCATION DEKOVEN KY+TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, thermic Typic Endoaquolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Dekoven silt loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silt loam, gray (10YR 5/1, 4/1) dry; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
A--8 to 22 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silt loam, gray (10YR 5/1, 4/1) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common roots; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 11 to 24 inches)
Bg--22 to 60 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) silty clay loam, many medium distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) mottles; weak medium granular structure; friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few roots; mildly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Henderson County, Kentucky; on Kentucky Highway 54, 1.5 miles northwest of Zion.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is more than 48 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to mildly alkaline.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 3 or less. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam. Some pedons have an overwash of 6 to 15 inches thick with 10YR hue, value of 4, and chroma of 3 or 4.
The Bg horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, 5GY, 5G or N; value of 3 to 6; and chroma of 2 or less, with mottles in shades of brown or yellow. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam. Some horizons have buried horizons.
When present some pedons have Ab, Bgb, or BCb horizons. The Ab horizon has bue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. The Bgb and BCb horizons have hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma 1 or 2. Mottles are in shades of olive, brown, or gray. Texture for these horizons is silt loam or silty clay loam.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing soils in the same family. Soils in similar families are the Lanton, Roellen, and Egam series. The Lanton series has a thicker (24 inches or more) mollic epipedon. The Roellen is fine textured. The Egam series also is fine textured and better drained, with dominant chromas of 2 or more to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Dekoven soils are in depressional areas on flood plains adjacent to the thick loess uplands. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in alluvial material derived from loess. Mean annual temperature ranges from 59 to 65 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 45 to 55 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Lanton, Roellen, Routon and Dowellton series. Routon and Dowellton soils lack mollic epipedons and have argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained, with very slow runoff and moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Hardwoods - chiefly oaks, beech, maple, ash, hickory, gum, elm, sycamore, willow, and cypress. Most areas are cleared and used for crops and pasture. Principal crops are corn, soybeans, cotton and hay. Yields generally are high.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky and Tennessee, possibly Arkansas. Acreage probably is moderate, with estimated total acreage of 75,000.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Little Rock, Arkansas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dyer County, Tennessee, 1963.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - 0 to 22 inches (Ap, A).
Cambic horizon - 22 to 60 inches (Bg).
Aquic soil moisture regime.