LOCATION MINER OH+PAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, illitic, mesic Mollic Epiaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Miner silty clay loam on a 0 to 2 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 854 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate medium and fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; few rock fragments; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (7 to 9 inches thick)
Btg1--8 to 13 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) silty clay; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common faint dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay films and very dark gray (10YR 3/1) organic coatings on faces of peds; few rock fragments; few prominent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) stains; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and few medium prominent dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Btg2--13 to 22 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) silty clay; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; few fine roots; common faint dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay films and many faint gray (10YR 5/1) coatings on faces of peds;few rock fragments; few prominent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) stains; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and common medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) krotovinas; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Btg3--22 to 36 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) silty clay; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common faint gray (10YR 5/1) clay films and coatings on faces of peds; few rock fragments; few distinct black (10YR 2/1) stains of iron and manganese oxide; many medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) krotovinas; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btg horizons is 14 to 40 inches.)
BCg--36 to 58 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) silty clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common faint gray (10YR 5/1) coatings on faces of peds; few rock fragments; many medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 25 inches thick)
C--58 to 60 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; massive; firm; common coarse distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and common medium distinct gray (10YR 5/1) coatings on faces of vertical partings; few rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Huron County, Ohio; Wakeman Township; about 2 miles north of Wakeman; 1,240 feet west and 750 feet south of the intersection of State Route 60 and Township Road 192; USGS Berlin Heights, Ohio topographic quadrangle; latitude 41 degrees, 16 minutes, 28.3 seconds N. and longitude 82 degrees, 23 minutes, and 32.7 seconds W. NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 30 to 60 inches. The depth to carbonates ranges from 36 to 60 inches. Rock fragments are mainly shale with some sandstone, limestone, and crystalline rocks. Clay content averages 35 to 45 percent in the particle-size control section.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3 (5 or less dry), and chroma of 1 or 2. Some pedons have an A horizon 6 to 8 inches thick that has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3 (4 or 5 dry), and chroma of 1 or 2. They are silt loam or silty clay loam. Rock fragment content ranges from 0 to 2 percent. They are slightly acid or neutral.
The Btg and Bg horizons have hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, or are neutral; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 0 to 2. They are silty clay, clay, clay loam, or silty clay loam. Rock fragment content ranges from 0 to 10 percent in the upper part and from 2 to 10 percent in the lower part. They are moderately acid or slightly acid in upper part and moderately acid to neutral in the lower part.
The BCg or BC horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, or is neutral, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 4. It is silty clay, silty clay loam, or clay loam. Rock fragment content ranges from 2 to 10 percent. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to slightly alkaline.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, or is neutral; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 0 to 4. It is silty clay, silty clay loam, or clay loam. Rock fragment content ranges from 2 to 10 percent. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to moderately alkaline. Calcium carbonate content in horizons that contain free carbonates ranges from 5 to 15 percent. Some subhorizons below 60 inches have 10 to 15 percent rock fragments.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Hoytville, Lorain, and Monee series. Hoytville soils have a calcium carbonate content of 15 to 30 percent in the C horizon. Lorain soils have less than 2 percent rock fragments in the lower part of the series control section. Monee soils average more than 45 percent clay in the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Miner soils are on lake plains which have been modified by lake action, and in shallow depressions and narrow drainageways on till plains. They formed in till principally derived from acid shale. The slope gradient ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Elevation ranges from 700 to 910 feet. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 42 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from 47 to 56 degrees F. The frost-free period is 135 to 165 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Miner soils are in a toposequence with the moderately well drained Ellsworth, somewhat poorly drained Mahoning, and poorly drained Trumbull soils. The Ellsworth and Mahoning soils are in higher positions on the landscape than Miner soils. The lighter-colored Trumbull soils are in similar landscape positions as Miner soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained. The depth to an intermittent perched water table is 1 foot above the surface to 1 foot below the surface between November and June in most years. Permeability is slow. The potential for surface runoff is negligible or low.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used for small grain, soybeans, hay, and pasture with smaller amounts of corn. A large acreage remains in woodland in which elm, soft maple, and ash are the major species. Many areas adjacent to urban areas are in nonagricultural uses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central and northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania. MLRA's 100, 111, 139, 140. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Huron County, Ohio, 1948.
REMARKS: This revision moves the typical pedon from Erie County to Huron County, Ohio.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a). ochric epipedon - 0 to 8 inches (Ap horizon).
b). argillic horizon - 8 to 36 inches (Btg1, Btg2, Btg3 horizons).
c). aquic conditions - 0 to 58 inches.
The shale substratum phase correlated in earlier surveys will be recorrelated to new series when its area of use is updated.