LOCATION MATHERTON MI+IL WI INEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Udollic Endoaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Matherton sandy loam, on a concave, 2 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 727 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry, weak medium granular structure; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
Eg--8 to 11 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) sandy loam; weak coarse granular structure; friable; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron oxide accumulation; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
Bt--11 to 19 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) sandy clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common thin grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; common medium faint olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) masses of iron oxide accumulation; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Btg--19 to 35 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common thin clay films on faces of peds; about 20 percent gravel; neutral; abrupt irregular boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 8 to 28 inches.)
2Cg--35 to 60 inches; light gray (10YR 7/1) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; about 50 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Shiawassee County, Michigan; about 2 miles northwest of Carland; 1,630 feet west and 400 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 21, T. 8 N., R. 1 E.; U.S.G.S. Ovid East, MI topographic quadrangle; lat. 43 degrees 4 minutes 18.3 seconds N. and long. 84 degrees 20 minutes 59.7 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 715761 easting and 4772193 northing, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum ranges from 24 to 40 inches. Reaction in the solum ranges from moderately acid to neutral, but the E horizon and Bt1 horizon are strongly acid in some pedons. Rock fragment content, mostly gravel, ranges from 0 to 15 percent in the A and E horizons, 2 to 30 percent in the Bt or 2Bt horizon, and 1 to 59 percent in the 2C horizon.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. Some pedons have A horizons, 1 to 4 inches thick. The E horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2. The A and E horizons are sandy loam, loam, or silt loam, or the gravelly analogues of these textures.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is sandy clay loam, clay loam, or loam, or the gravelly analogues of these textures. Some pedons have thin subhorizons of fine sandy loam or sandy loam. Some pedons have 2Bt horizons of loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or sandy loam with hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4.
The 2C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is commonly gravelly sand, gravelly coarse sand, very gravelly sand, or stratified sand and gravelly sand, but the range includes fine sand or sand. Silty clay loam, clay loam, silty clay, or clay lacustrine material is below 40 inches in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Similar soils are the Brady, Homer, Ionia, and Wasepi series. Brady and Wasepi soils have a coarse-loamy particle-size class. Homer soils have moist color value of more than 3 in the A horizon. Ionia soils do not have low chroma redox depletions within the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Matherton soils formed in loamy glaciofluvial material and gravelly or sandy outwash on outwash plains, valley trains, and stream terraces on terrace landscapes. Slope gradients range from 0 to 6 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 36 inches, mean annual temperature ranges from 47 to 50 degrees F., frost-free period ranges from 120 to 180 days, and elevation ranges from 580 to 1,300 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Brady, Fox, Gilford, Homer, Ionia, Sebewa and Wasepi soils. The well drained Fox soils, the moderately well drained Ionia soils, and the very poorly drained or poorly drained Sebewa soils are in a drainage sequence with the Matherton soils. The very poorly drained or poorly drained Gilford soils have a mollic epipedon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to medium. Permeability is moderate in the loamy material and rapid or very rapid in the underlying material. The depth to the seasonal high water table ranges from 1 to 2 feet below the surface for some time in normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: The greater part is cropped to corn, beans, small grains, and hay. A small part is in permanent pasture or forest. The native vegetation is forest of red maple, American elm, white ash, swamp white oak, American basswood, and hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 95A, 95B, 97, 98, 110, and 111 is southern Michigan, northern Indiana, eastern Wisconsin, and northeastern Illinois. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: McHenry County, Illinois, 1960.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - from the surface to 8 inches (Ap horizon); albic horizon - from 8 to 11 inches (Eg horizon); argillic horizon - from 11 to 35 inches (Bt and Btg horizons); aquic conditions - redoximorphic features present in all horizons between 8 and 60 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Lab characterization data is available from the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE.