LOCATION MONITOR            MI+IN

MONITOR SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Udollic Endoaqualfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Monitor loam - on a nearly level 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) loam; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common fine roots; about 3 percent gravel; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)

Btg--9 to 16 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam; common medium faint dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) and distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)

Bt1--16 to 28 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) sandy clay loam; common medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and prominent dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common distinct clay bridges between sand grains; about 5 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--28 to 45 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay loam; common medium prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common prominent (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; about 5 percent gravel; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bt horizons is 20 to 32 inches)

BC--45 to 55 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; common medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; about 5 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)

2Cg--55 to 60 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly loamy sand; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) mottles; single grain; loose; about 15 percent gravel; slightly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Berrien County, Michigan; about 3 miles west of the town of Bertrand, 2640 feet south and 2040 feet west of the NE corner of sec. 19, T. 8 S., R. 18 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum typically is 40 to 60 inches thick. Reaction is moderately acid or slightly acid in the solum and ranges from slightly acid to moderately alkaline in the substratum. Rock fragments range from 2 to 10 percent in the solum and from 2 to 20 percent in the substratum.

The Ap horizon has value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 to 3. It is loam, silt loam, or sandy loam. Some pedons have an E horizon or BA horizon or both.

The Btg horizon has value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 1 or 2. The Bt horizons have hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Textures of the Btg and Bt horizons are clay loam, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, or silt loam.

The BC horizon has colors similar to the Bt horizon.

The 2C horizon has value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 4. It is loamy sand, sand, coarse sand, or gravelly analogues of these textures.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Beardstown, Cantril, Conover, Dundas, Manheim, Metamora, Riceville, Romulus, Schley, and Skyberg series. Beardstown soils do not have rock fragments in the lower part of the solum and are more acid. Cantril and Dundas have more clay in the lower part of the solum. Conover, Manheim, and Metamora soils have thinner sola. Riceville soils are more acid in the upper part of their sola. Romulus soils have redder hue and thinner sola. Schley soils are more acid. Skyberg
soils have higher chroma in the lower part of the sola and are more acid.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Monitor soils are on outwash plains, terraces, and valley trains. They have slopes of 0 to 3 percent. They formed in loamy outwash which is underlain by gravel and sand. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 36 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from 48 to 50 degrees F.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These soils are the Brady, Coupee, Ockley, and Sebewa soils. Brady soils are coarser textured in the argillic horizons. Coupee and Ockley soils are well drained and are on higher ridges and knolls. Sebewa soils are poorly drained and are in shallow depressions and drainageways.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is moderately slow.

USE AND VEGETATION: Chiefly used for cropland. Corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay are the major crops. Native vegetation was mixed forest and prairie grass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern part of the lower peninsula of Michigan. The series is inextensive.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Carroll County, Indiana, 1955.

REMARKS: The Monitor series was correlated out of Indiana with the update of Tippecanoe County, Indiana Soil Survey. The series was carried as a taxajunct in the Berrien County, Michigan Soil Survey. The type location is changed to Berrien County, Michigan. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 9 inches (Ap horizon); argillic horizon - the zone from 9 to 45 inches (Btg, Bt1, and Bt2 horizons); aquic moisture regime - dominant chroma immediately below Ap horizon and dominant chroma of 2 in clay films in the argillic horizon and mottles within peds; mollic feature - Ap horizon qualifies as mollic epipedon except for thickness.