LOCATION LIBERAL MO+OKEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, thermic Aquollic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Liberal silt loam - on a 3 percent slope in native grasses. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise
stated.)
A--0 to 7 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate very fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 3 percent sandstone gravel; many fine and medium strongly cemented iron-manganese concretions; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
BA--7 to 11 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; moderate very fine granular and subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; 5 percent sandstone gravel; many fine and medium strongly cemented iron-manganese concretions in the lower part; many worm channels and many very dark grayish brown casts; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
Bt1--11 to 16 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in ped interiors; common fine and medium strongly cemented iron-manganese concretions; 5 percent sandstone gravel; many worm channels and casts; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--16 to 22 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay; moderate medium and fine angular blocky structure; very firm; few fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; common coarse distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and common fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; few faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions on faces of peds; many fine and medium strongly cemented iron-manganese concretions; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt3--22 to 31 inches; mottled olive gray (5Y 5/2), light olive gray (5Y 6/2), and gray (5Y 6/1) clay; weak coarse angular blocky structure; very firm; few fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; many coarse prominent red (2.5YR 5/6) and dark red (2.5YR 3/6) and few fine prominent (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in ped interiors; few fine and medium strongly cemented iron-manganese concretions ; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 12 to 30 inches thick.)
BC--31 to 43 inches; gray (5Y 6/1) clay; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very firm; few fine roots; common coarse prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) iron accumulations in ped interiors: few fine and medium weakly cememted iron-manganese concretions; common slickensides; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
Cr--43 to 72 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) shale, thinly interbedded with sandstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Barton County, Missouri; 1 mile north and 2 miles west of Liberal; 155 feet south and 1,960 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 34, T. 33 N., R. 33 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to the base of the argillic horizon is 20 to 40 inches. Depth to a paralithic contact ranges from 40 to 60 inches.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is silt loam, loam, or silty clay loam. It is very strongly acid to neutral.
The BA horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4 and may contain redoximorphic features. It is moderately acid to extremely acid. Some pedons do not have this horizon. The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 6 and is mottled. It is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay and very strongly acid to slightly acid.
The BC and Cr horizons are variable in color and individual layers or lenses range from very strongly acid to slightly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Barden and Moyers series. Barden soils are more than 60 inches to a paralithic contact. The Cr horizon in the Moyers soils do not have interbedded shale and sandstone and the Cr in the Liberal soils is not tilted.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Liberal soils are on upland ridgetops and formed in residuum from shale with lenses of sandstone or siltstone. Slope ranges from 2 to 20 percent. The mean annual temperature ranges from 59 to 62 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 45 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Barden soils and the Barco, Bates, Collinsville, and Parsons soils. Barden soils are very deep and are on less sloping positions. Barco and Bates soils are fine-loamy and are moderately deep over sandstone and are on similar positions. Collinsville soils are less than 20 inches to bedrock and are on similar positions. Parsons soils have an abrupt textural change, are very deep and are on higher more level positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is slow. In undisturbed areas, a perched water table has an upper limit of 2.0 to 3.0 feet during November to March in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mostly for hay and pasture. A few areas are cultivated. Native vegetation is tall prairie grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West-central Missouri and adjacent parts of Oklahoma.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Salina, Kansas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Barton County, Missouri, 1969.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this series are: Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 7 inches (A horizon). Argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 7 inches to 43 inches (BA, Bt1, Bt2, Bt3 and BC horizons). Paralithic contact - at a depth of 43 inches.