LOCATION ELIZABETH          IL+WI

ELIZABETH SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Hapludolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Elizabeth silt loam, on a northwest-facing, linear convex slope of 14 percent, in a pasture, at an elevation of about 229 meters. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

A1--0 to 15 centimeters; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silt loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine and very fine roots; less than 10 percent limestone cobbles; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

A2--15 to 25 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) cobbly silt loam; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate medium granular; friable; many fine and very fine roots; about 25 percent limestone cobbles; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

A3--25 to 48 centimeters; dark brown (10YR 3/3) extremely cobbly loam; brown (10YR 5/3) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; few fine and very fine roots; about 90 percent limestone cobbles (7 to 16 centimeters in the smallest dimension); slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; diffuse wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 18 to 50 centimeters.)

2R--48 centimeters; fractured dolomitic limestone bedrock; upper 5 to 15 centimeters has dark colored silt loam in the fractures.

TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 105-Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills, Jo Daviess County, Illinois subset; located about 1,900 feet west and 560 feet south of the northeast corner of section 10, T. 27 N., R. 2 E.; USGS Hanover topographic quadrangle; lat. 42 degrees 21 minutes 16 seconds N. and long. 90 degrees 15 minutes 57 seconds W. NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to lithic contact of limestone--18 to 50 centimeters
Content of clay in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--18 to 35 percent
Content of sand in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--less than 15 percent

A horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--2 or 3, moist--3 to 5, dry
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--silt loam, loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam or the cobbly, very cobbly, extremely cobbly, channery, very channery, extremely channery, flaggy, very flaggy, or extremely flaggy analogues of these textures
Clay content--18 to 30 percent
Sand content--10 to 45 percent
Rock fragment content?upper part-less than 15 percent, lower part-35 to more than 90 percent, rock fragment content increases rapidly with depth
Reaction--slightly acid to moderately alkaline

Some pedons do not contain carbonates above the bedrock

Some pedons have a thin Cr horizon

2R horizon:
Fractured dolomitic limestone but in some places it is solid level-bedded limestone
Some pedons have silty or clayey material, properties similar to A horizon, interbedded between the slabs of rock within depths of 5 to 50 centimeters of the rock contact

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Knobby and Moko series.
Knobby--have a clay content that averages 5 to 18 percent in the particle-size control section
Moko--have a rock fragment content of 35 to 90 percent throughout the series control section

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--18 to 50 centimeters of loamy material weathered from dolomitic limestone
Landform--gently sloping to very steep ridges and side slopes on uplands
Slope--4 to 65 percent
Elevation--180 to 430 meters above sea level
Mean annual air temperature--9 to 12 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--750 to 920 millimeters
Frost-free period--145 to 180 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Dubuque, Fayette, Lacrescent, and Palsgrove soils.
Dubuque?are on slightly higher landscape positions on ridges and side slopes and have a lithic contact with limestone within a depth of 50 to 100 centimeters
Fayette--are on higher landscape positions on interfluves and side slopes and do not have a lithic contact within the series control section
Lacrescent--are on lower landscape positions on valley sides, have mollic epipedons 25 to 50 centimeters thick and do not have a lithic contact within the series control section
Palsgrove--are on slightly higher landscape positions on ridges and side slopes and have a lithic contact with limestone within a depth of 100 to 150 centimeters

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--somewhat excessively drained--saturation does not occur within a depth of 1.8 meters during the wettest periods of normal years
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--4.23 to 14.11 micrometers per second (moderately high) in the loamy material and 0.01 to 10.00 micrometers per second (low to moderately high) in the limestone bedrock depending on the amount of weathered rock
Surface runoff potential--low to high

USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas are pastured or forested. The native vegetation is mixed prairie grasses and deciduous trees.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic sections--Eastern lake section, Western lake section, Wisconsin driftless section, Dissected till plains, Till plains
MLRAs--Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois Drift Plain (95B),
Central Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (103),
Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (104),
Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills (105),
Illinois and Iowa Deep Loess and Drift (108),
Iowa and Missouri Heavy Till Plain (109), and
Central Mississippi Valley Wooded Slopes (115)
LRR K and LRR M; northwestern Illinois, northeastern Iowa, southeastern Minnesota, and southwestern Wisconsin
Extent--moderate

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jo Daviess County, Illinois, 1987.

REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 25 to 48 centimeters (A3 horizon);
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 48 centimeters (A1, A2, and A3 horizons).

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
mollic epipedon--the zone from the surface to a depth of 48 centimeters (A1, A2, and A3 horizons);
lithic contact-- the contact with limestone bedrock at 48 centimeters;
udic moisture regime.

Cation-exchange activity class is inferred from lab data from similar soils in the surrounding area.

Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, ninth edition, 2003.

These soils were previously identified as the Sogn series in mapping. The classification of Sogn series was changed to Haplustolls.