LOCATION HUEY ILEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Natraqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Huey silt loam - nearly level in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; common fine roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
E--8 to 10 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silt loam; weak thin platy structure parting to weak fine granular; friable; common fine roots; medium acid; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick)
Btg1--10 to 15 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silty clay loam; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; common distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry silt coats on faces of peds in upper 3 inches; few fine black (N 2/0) accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Btg2--15 to 18 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; few fine black (N 2/0) accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Btg3--18 to 23 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay; few fine and medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm, few fine roots; common distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; few fine black (N 2/0) accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); few white (N 8/0) accumulations (calcium carbonate); moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary.
Btg4--23 to 34 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam; few medium and coarse distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; few fine black (N 2/0) accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary.
Btg5--34 to 49 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam; common coarse distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) mottles; moderate coarse angular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; few fine and coarse black (N 2/0) accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btg horizon is 10 to 46 inches.)
2BCg--49 to 57 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silt loam; common coarse distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) mottles; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds and lining crayfish holes and pores; about 20 percent sand; few fine black (N 2/0) accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 22 inches thick)
2Cg--57 to 65 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) loam; common coarse distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) mottles; massive; friable; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Effingham County, Illinois; about 8 miles west and 2.75 miles north of Effingham; 1,040 feet east and 1,290 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 12, T. 8 N., R. 4 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum ranges from 32 to more than 60 inches in thickness. The control section averages between 20 and 35 percent clay, although one or more subhorizon commonly is finer and contains as much as 43 percent clay. Some pedons have the entire solum and the upper part of the C horizon formed in loess and lack 2B and 2C horizons within a depth of 60 inches. Huey soils have more than 15 percent saturation with sodium or have more exchangeable sodium and magnesium than calcium and hydrogen within 16 inches of the soil surface and within 6 inches of the top of the argillic horizon.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 (5 or 6 dry), and chroma of 1 or 2. It commonly is strongly acid to neutral, but is mildly alkaline in some pedons. Some pedons have an A horizon less than 6 inches in thickness that has color value of 3.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 through 7, and chroma of 2. Some pedons are mottled. Mottles have hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 through 6. The E horizon is silt loam or silt. Some pedons contain concretions of iron and manganese oxides. The E horizon commonly is medium acid to neutral, but ranges from strongly acid to mildly alkaline.
Some pedons have a BE horizon as much as 6 inches in thickness.
The Btg or Bt horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y; value of 4 through 6; and chroma typically of 1 or 2, but ranging to 3 in some subhorizons. Mottles have hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 1 through 8. Coatings on the surfaces of peds, exclusive of silt coats, have chroma of 1 or 2. The Btg or Bt horizon typically is silty clay loam, but some subhorizons range to silty clay or silt loam. It has medium or coarse subangular blocky, prismatic, columnar, or angular blocky structure. Some pedons contain concretions of iron and manganese oxides or calcium carbonates. The Btg or Bt horizon is medium acid to moderately alkaline in the upper part and is mildly alkaline to strongly alkaline in the lower part. Exchangeable sodium ranges from 15 percent to more than 35 percent in one or more subhorizons.
The BCg or 2BCg horizon, where present, has colors of the matrix and mottles in the same range as stated for the Btg or Bt horizon. It is silt loam or silty clay loam. Some pedons do not have clay films in the BCg or 2BCg horizon. Some pedons contain free carbonates. The BCg or 2BCg horizon ranges from mildly alkaline to strongly alkaline.
The Cg or 2Cg horizon has hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, 2.5Y or 5Y; value of 4 through 6; and chroma typically of 1 or 2. Mottles have chroma of 1 through 8, and some pedons have about even distribution of high and low chroma colors in the Cg or 2Cg horizon. The Cg horizon is silt loam, or less commonly silty clay loam. The 2Cg horizon is loam or silt loam, or less commonly silty clay loam. The Cg or 2Cg horizon is neutral to moderately alkaline. Some pedons contain free carbonates.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Other series in closely related families include the Cisne, Darmstadt, Grantfork, Piasa, and Tamalco series. Cisne soils lack a natric horizon and are fine. Darmstadt soils have 15 percent or more exchangeable sodium at depths greater than 16 inches below the soil surface, having the greatest concentration between 6 and 16 inches below the upper boundary of the argillic horizon. Grantfork soils have 10 to 15 percent exchangeable sodium and are fine-loamy. Piasa and Tamalco soils are fine and, in addition, Piasa soils have color value of 2 or 3 in Ap or A horizons that are 7 to 10 inches in thickness, and Tamalco soils have dominant chroma of 3 through 8 in the Bt horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Huey soils are on broad, nearly level loess covered Illinoian till plains. Slope gradients are 0 to 2 percent. Huey soils formed in loess or in loess and the underlying erosional sediments which overlie a strongly weathered paleosol in Illinoian till at depths of 40 to 70 inches. Mean annual temperature varies from 53 to 57 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation varies from 35 to 44 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Cisne, Darmstadt, Grantfork, Piasa, and Tamalco soils, and the Cowden, Hoyleton, Oconee, Rushville, and Wynoose soils. The Cisne soils are on nearby similar landscapes and in some places are mixed in an intricate pattern with Huey soils. The somewhat poorly drained Darmstadt soils are on similar or slightly more sloping areas on either higher or lower landscapes. The somewhat poorly drained Grantfork soils are on erosional side slopes of dissected Illinoian till plains. The poorly drained Piasa and Cowden soils are on similar broad, nearly level plains nearby, or on adjacent areas farther from the drainageways. Cowden soils are fine textured and lack a natric horizon. The moderately well drained Tamalco soils are on crests or side slopes of ridges above Huey soils or on the sideslopes of drainageways below Huey soils. The somewhat poorly drained Hoyleton and Oconee soils are fine textured and lack a natric horizon. They are on slightly higher or more convex parts of nearby landscapes. The poorly drained Rushville and Wynoose soils are fine textured and lack a natric horizon. They are on nearly level or slightly depressional parts of broad upland plains. Rushville soils are in areas of thicker loess than the Wynoose soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Surface runoff is slow or very slow. Permeability is very slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Corn, soybeans, small grain, and meadow are the principal crops. Native vegetation was prairie grasses and sedges.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Illinois. Extent is moderate.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lawrence County, Illinois, 1952.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 8 inches (Ap horizon); albic horizon - the zone from approximately 8 to 19 inches (E horizon); natric horizon - the zone from approximately 10 to 49 inches (Btg1, Btg2, Btg3, Btg4, and Btg5 horizons; aquic soil moisture regime.