LOCATION HOMER              IN+IL NY OH

HOMER SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Aeric Endoaqualfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Homer fine sandy loam, on a less than 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 788 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) fine sandy loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; 2 percent fine gravel; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 11 inches thick)

E--8 to 16 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) fine sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common medium very dark brown (10YR 2/2) worm casts; common fine faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions throughout; 2 percent fine gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)

Bt--16 to 22 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) sandy clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; many faint dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; common fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) masses of iron oxide accumulation in the matrix; common fine faint dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 10 percent fine gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 20 inches thick)

2Btg--22 to 30 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly sandy clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; very many faint dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films around gravel and as bridging between sand grains; common fine prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) masses of iron oxide accumulation in the matrix; 25 percent fine gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 25 inches thick)

2BC--30 to 35 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly coarse sandy loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron oxide accumulation in the matrix; 18 percent fine gravel; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)

3C--35 to 60 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly loamy coarse sand; single grain; loose; 20 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

3Cg--60 to 80 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; 25 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Fulton County, Indiana; about 2.5 miles north of Fulton; 1,640 feet north and 2,120 feet west of the southeast corner of sec. 2, T. 29 N., R. 2 E.; U.S.G.S. Fulton topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 59 minutes 10.14 seconds N. and long. 86 degrees 16 minutes 5.55 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 561556 easting and 4537482 northing, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the loamy material: 24 to 40 inches
Depth to the 2Bt horizon or 2BCg horizon: 15 to 30 inches
Particle-size control section: averages 20 to 35 percent clay

Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: loam, silt loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral
Rock fragment content: 0 to 12 percent gravel

E horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral
Rock fragment content: 0 to 12 percent gravel

Bt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 1 to 6
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral
Rock fragment content: 0 to 14 percent gravel

2Bt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 6
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: gravelly analogues of sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral
Rock fragment content: 15 to 25 percent gravel

2BC horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 6
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: gravelly analogues of coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, or sandy clay loam
Reaction: slightly acid to slight alkaline
Rock fragment content: 15 to 25 percent gravel

3C horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: sand, or the gravelly and very gravelly analogues of coarse sand and loamy coarse sand
Reaction: moderately alkaline; slightly or strongly effervescent
Rock fragment content: averages 15 to 60 percent gravel and 0 to 5 percent cobbles

COMPETING SERIES: Homer series is the only series in this family. Series in closely related families are the Angola, Appleton, Ayrshire, Burdett, Crosby, Darien, Digby, Haskins, Jimtown, Kibbie, Macomb, Matherton, Ruark, Sleeth, and Whitaker series. All the above soils except Matherton do not have contrasting textures of calcareous sand and gravel at depths of less than 40 inches. Matherton soils have surface horizons with moist color value of 3 or less and value of 5 or less when dry.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Homer soils formed in loamy and gravelly outwash over stratified, calcareous sandy and gravelly outwash and are on swells on outwash plains, terraces, and valley trains of Wisconsinan Age. Slope gradients range from 0 to 6 percent. Mean annual temperature ranges from 48 to 53 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 42 inches, frost-free period ranges from 130 to 180 days, and elevation ranges from 580 to 1,530 feet above sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Fox, Kosciusko, Ockley, Sebewa, and Westland soils. Homer soils are in a drainage sequence with the well drained Fox and Kosciusko soils on higher landform positions and the poorly drained or very poorly drained Sebewa soils in lower depressions and drainageways. The well drained Ockley soils have a thicker solum and are on higher landform positions. The poorly drained or very poorly drained Westland soils have a thicker solum and are in low depressions and drainageways.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is low or negligible. Permeability is moderate in the solum and very rapid in the underlying material. The depth to the top of a seasonal high water table ranges from .5 to 1.5 feet below the surface from November to May in normal years.

USE AND VEGETATION: Soils are cultivated. Corn, soybeans, wheat, and clover-grass mixtures are the principal crops. Native vegetation is forest.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 98, 110, 111, and 140 in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and New York. The soils are of moderate extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Marion County, Ohio, 1916.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to 16 inches (Ap, E horizons)
Argillic horizon: from 16 to 30 inches (Bt, 2Btg horizons)
Aquic conditions: redox depletions present between 8 and 30 inches

A limestone substratum phase is recognized.

NASIS Data Mapunit ID 154997 represents the sandy loam surface phase.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Lab characterization data is available for the typical pedon (FU8013) from the Purdue University Soil Characterization Laboratory, AES Bulletin No. 360, Vol. 7, Pg. 72. Transect data for the typical pedon (T99IN-049-001) is on file in the MLRA project office in Plymouth, Indiana. Transect shows 100 percent Homer soils.