LOCATION LENAWEE MI+IN OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, nonacid, mesic Mollic Epiaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Lenawee silty clay loam - on a 1 percent concave slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silty clay loam; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) crushed and smooth, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; many roots; medium acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Bg1--9 to 15 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay loam; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and common fine faint dark gray (10YR 4/1) mottles; weak medium angular blocky structure parting to fine angular blocky; firm; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
Bg2--15 to 22 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay loam; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and common fine faint gray (10YR 6/1) mottles; weak medium prismatic structure parting to medium angular blocky; very firm; faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) coatings on vertical faces of prisms and faint dark gray (10YR 4/1) stains along root channels; neutral; gradual wavy boundary.
Bg3--22 to 33 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/2) silty clay; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and common fine prominent greenish gray (5GY 6/1) mottles; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to medium angular blocky; very firm; prominent gray (5Y 6/1) coatings on vertical faces of prism; mildly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizon is 10 to 46 inches.)
Cg1--33 to 50 inches; light gray (5Y 6/1) and light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) silt loam; common medium and coarse prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) mottles; weak coarse subangular blocky fragments; friable; slight effervescence; mildly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 25 inches thick)
Cg2--50 to 60 inches; olive (5YR 5/4) and greenish gray (5GY 5/1) silt loam; many coarse prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) and distinct gray (5Y 6/1) mottles; moderate thick platy fragments parting to fine platy fragments; friable; prominent light gray (10YR 7/1) calcium carbonate concretions imbedded between strata; strong effervescence; mildly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Monroe County, Michigan; about 4 miles south of the town of Erie; 2 miles south and 3 miles east of Temperance; 1,825 feet north and 390 feet east of the southwest corner, sec. 29, T. 8 S., R. 8 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum typically is 30 to 42 inches, but ranges from 25 to 55 inches. The control section is commonly 35 to 45 percent clay.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silty clay loam, mucky silty clay, mucky silty clay loam, silty clay, silt loam, or loam. It is medium acid to mildly alkaline.
The Bg horizons have hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silty clay loam, clay loam, or silty clay containing layers or strata of silt loam, clay, or very fine sand. It is slightly acid to mildly alkaline. Some pedons have BC horizons.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y or 5GY, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 6. The dominant texture is silt loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam. Strata of clay, silty clay, very fine sand, or sand are common. The C horizon is mildly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bellingham and Ziegenfuss series. Similar soils are the Bono, Brookston, Colwood, Hoytville, Pewamo, Rensselaer, and Toledo series. The Bellingham soils have warmer winter temperature and higher amounts of rainfall. Ziegenfuss soils do not have stratified B and C horizons. The Bono, Hoytville, and Toledo soils have illitic mineralogy. In addition, Hoytville soils have argillic horizons; Bono soils have mollic epipedons; and Bono and Toledo soils have finer-textured C horizons. The Brookston, Pewamo, and Rensselaer soils have mollic epipedons, argillic horizons and do not have stratification in the B and C horizons. In addition, the Brookston and Rensselaer soils are fine-loamy. The Colwood soils have mollic epipedons, are fine-loamy, and have C horizons of stratified silt loam and very fine sand.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lenawee soils are on lake plains and depressional areas on moraines, outwash plains and glacial drainageways. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 29 to 37 inches, and the mean annual temperature ranges from 47 to 53 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Brookston, Celina, Colwood, Del Rey, Fox, Hoytville, Miami, Morley, Shinrock, and Toledo soils. The moderately well drained Shinrock and the somewhat poorly drained Del Rey soils are in a drainage sequence with Lenawee soils. The competing Brookston, Colwood, Hoytville, and Toledo soils are other associates. The Brookston soils are on lake plains where the lacustrine sediments are thin. Celina, Fox, Miami, and Morley soils are on nearby moraines.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained and very poorly drained. Runoff is very slow or ponded. Permeability is moderately slow or slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: The greater part is cultivated to corn, small grain, soybeans, and hay. A small part, especially areas where artificial drainage is not adequate for cultivation, is in permanent pasture or woodland. The native vegetation was hardwoods; chiefly American elm, white ash, red maple, and swamp white oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Michigan, northern Indiana, and northwestern Ohio and southern Wisconsin. The soils of this series are of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lenawee County, Michigan, 1957.
REMARKS: Classification adjusted to agree with ST Issue #17 on 6 Sept 94 by CLG. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 9 inches (Ap horizon); cambic horizon - the zone from 9 to 33 inches (Bg1, Bg2 and Bg3 horizons); aquic soil moisture regime.