LOCATION SWITZERLAND IN+OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty over clayey, mixed, superactive, mesic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Switzerland silt loam - near the top of a ridge on a 9 percent convex slope in a pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 11 inches thick)
BE--7 to 11 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; medium acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--11 to 28 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; thin discontinuous dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films and brown (10YR 5/3) silt coatings on faces of peds; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 22 inches thick)
2Bt2--28 to 44 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay; few medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) mottles; strong very coarse prismatic structure; very firm; few fine roots; thin discontinuous dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) clay films on faces of peds and linings of voids; very strongly acid; diffuse wavy boundary. (12 to 26 inches thick)
2BC--44 to 60 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) clay; many fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) mottles; weak angular blocky structure; extremely firm; many fine and medium black (N 2/0) concretions of iron and manganese oxides in the lower part; medium acid; diffuse wavy boundary. (0 to 22 inches thick)
2Cr--60 to 80 inches; interbedded soft clay shale and limestone flagstones; violent effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Ohio County, Indiana; about one mile east of Milton; 800 feet south and 2,000 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 33, T. 4 N., R. 2 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 50 to 80 inches. Loess thickness ranges from 20 to 36 inches and depth to interbedded limestone and calcareous shale ranges from 60 to more than 80 inches.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is strongly acid to neutral.
The BE horizon and the Bt horizon have hue of 10YR, and 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 8. They are silt loam or silty clay loam and range from medium acid to very strongly acid.
The 2Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. It is silty clay or clay. It is medium acid to very strongly acid in the upper part and medium acid to moderately alkaline in the lower part.
The 2BC horizon is medium acid to moderately alkaline.
The C horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is silty clay, clay, or flaggy clay. It is neutral to moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: The Newglarus series is the only soil in the same family. The Newglarus soils have a thinner solum and are underlain by limestone bedrock at depths of 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Slopes range from about 2 to 20 percent. The upper 22 to 36 inches of the solum formed in loess and the lower part formed in residuum from interbedded, soft, calcareous Ordovician shale and limestone of the Dillsboro formation and possibly others. Mean annual temperature ranges from 52 to 58 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 46 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Carmel, Eden, Edenton, Nicholson, Pate, and Weisburg soils. The well drained Carmel, Eden, and Edenton soils are also on steeper slopes, have a thinner solum, and are in the fine family. The moderately well drained Nicholson soils and the well drained Weisburg soils are on ridgetops and have fragipans. The well drained and moderately well drained Pate soils are on lower lying slopes, have less than 20 inches of loess, and are in a fine family.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderate in the upper part and very slow in the lower part.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are now cleared and under cultivation. The main crops are corn, soybeans, wheat, hay, and burley tobacco. A small part is in pasture, in forest, or is idle. The native vegetation was deciduous forest of oak, maple, hickory, poplar, beech, and basswood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Indiana and southwestern Ohio. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Switzerland County, Indiana, 1930.
REMARKS: Chroma of 2 in profile are relic colors. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of approximately 11 inches (Ap, BE horizons); argillic horizon the zone from approximately 11 to 44 inches (Bt1, 2Bt2 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available at Purdue Lab No. DB 7401, DB 7504, OH 7504, and SW 8110, and Lincoln Lab No. 760042 - 760047.