LOCATION ESTHERVILLE MN+IAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Typic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Estherville sandy loam with a plane slope of about 1 percent on a glacial outwash plain in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; black (10YR 2/1) sandy loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--7 to 13 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; few tongues and channels of black (10YR 2/1) and very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2); moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of A horizon is 7 to 20 inches.)
Bw1--13 to 18 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; dark brown (10YR 3/3) on faces of peds; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very friable; about 5 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 9 inches thick)
2Bw2--18 to 23 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) loamy coarse sand; single grained; loose; about 10 percent gravel; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
2C--23 to 60 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2), yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and (10YR 5/6) gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; about 15 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Steele County, Minnesota; about 7 miles south and 5 miles west of Owatonna; about 1,120 feet west and 160 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 11, T. 106 N., R. 21 W.; USGS Hope quadrangle; lat. 43 degrees 59 minutes 37 seconds N. and long. 93 degrees 18 minutes 35 seconds W., NAD27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to free carbonates is 12 to 40 inches. The loamy mantle is 10 to 20 inches thick. The thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 7 to 20 inches. The content of rock fragments range from 0 to 15 percent by volume in the loamy mantle and 10 to 35 percent in underlying sediments. Some pedons have over 35 percent gravel in the substratum. Rock fragments commonly are 2 to 5 mm. in size and of mixed lithology.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2. It is sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, or loam. It is neutral to moderately acid.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 or 4. The ped exteriors are commonly one unit lower in value and chroma. The Bw horizon is sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, or loam averaging less than 18 percent clay. It is moderately acid to neutral.
The 2Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, loamy sand or sand. It is moderately acid to neutral.
The 2BC when present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 to 4. It is loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, loamy sand or their gravelly analogs. It is slightly acid to slightly alkaline.
Some pedons have 2Bk horizons.
The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7 and chroma of 2 to 6. It is coarse sand or sand or their gravelly analogues. Thin strata of medium and fine sands and discontinuous strata containing gravel or fragments of shale are in some pedons. The 2C horizon typically is calcareous throughout, but the upper few inches are leached in some pedons. It is neutral to moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Buckney, Burkhardt and Dickman series. Burkhardt soils are not calcareous in the C horizon above 40 inches. Buckney and Dickman soils do not contain gravelly textures above a depth of 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Estherville soils have plane or convex slopes ranging from 0 to 70 percent. They formed in sandy and gravelly outwash on broad outwash plains, stream terraces, valley trains, and on kames in glacial moraines. Mean annual temperature is about 45 to 55 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation is about 25 to 36 inches. The frost free days range from 124 to 190. Elevation above sea level ranges from 700 to 1600 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Hawick, Linder, Biscay, and Mayer soils The excessively drained Hawick soils primarily are on steeper slopes. The somewhat poorly drained Linder soils are on nearby lower lying or less sloping terrain. The poorly drained Biscay and Mayer soils are on nearby lower lying terrain. The Salida, Cylinder, Hanska, Lemond, and Talcot soils are associates in some places.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Estherville soils are somewhat excessively drained. Runoff is very low to medium. Permeability is moderately rapid in the upper part and rapid or very rapid in the lower part.
USE AND VEGETATION: Largely cultivated to corn, soybeans, grain, and hay. Selected areas are irrigated for corn and vegetables. Native vegetation was tall grass prairie.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Minnesota and north-central Iowa. The series is of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jackson County, Minnesota, 1923.
REMARKS: Family classification changed to agree with pedon, data on interpretation sheet, and dominant condition in most recently correlated counties. Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon-the zone from the surface to 13 inches (Ap and A horizons); cambic horizon-the zone from 13 to 18 inches (Bw1 horizon); udic moisture regime.
Competing series not updated on this revision.