LOCATION GLENCOE MN+IAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Cumulic Endoaquolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Glencoe clay loam with a concave slope of less than 1 percent in a depression on a ground moraine in cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 10 inches; black (N 2/0) clay loam; massive; friable; about 2 percent gravel; cloddy; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--10 to 24 inches; black (N 2/0) clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; about 2 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of A horizon is 16 to 32 inches.)
ABg--24 to 35 inches; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few tongues of dark olive gray (5Y 3/2) and olive gray (5Y 4/2); about 2 percent gravel; neutral; gradual irregular boundary. (0 to 26 inches thick)
Bg--35 to 48 inches; olive gray (5Y 4/2) loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; friable: few tongues of very dark gray (5Y 3/1); about 5 percent gravel; common fine prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) and common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) Fe concentrations; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 30 inches thick)
Cg--48 to 60 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) loam; massive; friable; about 5 percent gravel; many medium distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) Fe concentrations; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Steele County, Minnesota; about 5 miles northwest of Owatonna; 2,640 feet south, 2,660 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 24, T. 108 N., R. 21 W.; USGS Medford West quadrangle; lat. 44 degrees 8 minutes 46 seconds N. and long. 93 degrees 17 minutes 45 seconds W., NAD27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to free carbonates is 30 to 60 inches or more. The Ap in a few pedons will have small amounts of free carbonates. The thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 24 to 80 inches. The control section averages between 22 and 35 percent clay and from 15 to 30 percent fine sand and coarser. Rock fragments of mixed lithology comprise 0 to 5 percent of the volume of the A and B horizons and 2 to 8 percent of the C horizon. Some pedons have an 0 horizon up to 6 inches in thickness. A stratified substratum phase is recognized with silt loam, sand, sandy loam, and loamy sand textures below 40inches.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y or neutral, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 0 or 1. It is clay loam, silty clay loam, or loam with 25 to 35 percent clay. Ponded phases may have mucky modifiers. It is commonly neutral but ranges from slightly alkaline to slightly acid.
AB horizon has colors and textures similar to the A and Bg horizons.
The Bg horizon has hue of 5Y or 2.5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 or 2. Dark colored tongues from the A horizon range from few to common. It is loam, clay loam or silty clay loam. Near the center of some depressions, some pedons have B horizons that have a slight clay increase relative to the A horizons. It is neutral to slightly alkaline, but in some pedons the lower part of the B horizon is slightly alkaline with slight effervescence. The Bg horizon is absent in some pedons.
The Cg horizon has hue of 5Y or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is loam, clay loam or silty clay loam. It is slightly alkaline, with weak or strong effervescence. Calcium carbonate segregations are present in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Coland, Comfrey, Delft, Gielow, James Canyon, Keddie, Kimmerling, Konner, McClave, Peoh, Romnell, Shandep, and Wenas series. Coland and Comfrey soils do not have rock fragments in their control sections. In addition, Coland soils are deeper to free carbonates. Delft soils are poorly drained, are not in closed depressions, have prismatic structure in subsoil, and do not have tongues of the A horizon in the Bg horizon. Gielow, James Canyon, Keddie, Kimmerling, Konner, McClave, Peoh, and Wenas soils are drier in the soil moisture control section during the 120 days following the summer solstice. Romnell soils contain appreciable amounts of gypsum in their sola. Shandep soils do not have tongues of A horizon in the Bg horizon and have a coarse textured 2C horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Glencoe soils typically are in closed depressions or low gradient swales within the Des Moines lobe of the Late Wisconsinan glaciation. The Glencoe soils are formed in loamy colluvial sediments and loamy glacial till. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 52 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 25 to 32 inches. The frost free days range from 124 to 172. The elevation above sea level range from 700 to 1600 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Canisteo, Clarion, Harps, Nicollet, and Webster soils. The well drained Clarion soils are on the sloping uplands. Somewhat poorly drained Nicollet and the poorly drained Canisteo, Webster, and Harps soils are on nearly level to gently undulating slopes. All the above have mollic epipedons less than 24 inches thick. In addition, the Canisteo and Harps soils contain free carbonates throughout. The Glencoe soils also are associated with the Hayden and Lester soils and their respective topographic associates in some places.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained. Surface runoff is negligible. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly drained and cropped to corn and soybeans. Native vegetation was a wet site plant community of the tall grass prairie plant formation.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Minnesota and possibly north- central Iowa. Large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dakota County, Minnesota, 1945.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon-the zone from the surface to a depth of 35 inches (Ap, A, and ABg horizons); cumulic subgroup-mollic epipedon is more than 24 inches thick; aquic moisture regime-low chroma immediately below the A horizons.