LOCATION BEARDSTOWN ILEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Udollic Endoaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Beardstown loam - on a northeast-facing slope of about 2 percent in a cultivated field at an elevation of 435 feet above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak medium granular; friable; few very fine and fine roots; common faint very dark gray (10YR 3/1) organic coats on faces of peds; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
E--9 to 14 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak medium platy; friable; few very fine roots; few faint very dark gray (10YR 3/1) organic coats and common distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry silt coats on faces of peds; common fine and medium dark stains (iron and manganese oxides); moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
BE--14 to 21 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loam; few fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottles; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; few faint dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films and common distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry silt coats on faces of peds; few fine dark stains (iron and manganese oxides); very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bt1--21 to 32 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) loam; common fine and medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; many faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films and distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry silt coats on faces of peds; few fine dark concretions and accumulations (iron and manganese oxides); very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--32 to 38 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay loam; common medium and coarse distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; many faint brown (7.5YR 5/2) clay films and common distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry silt coats on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt3--38 to 41 inches; mottled brown (10YR 5/3) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) stratified loam and sandy loam; common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; common faint brown (7.5YR 4/2) clay films and distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry silt coats on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 14 to 36 inches.)
BC--41 to 48 inches; mottled brown (10YR 5/3) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) stratified loamy sand and sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common faint brown (7.5YR 4/2) clay films on vertical faces of peds and distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) dry silt coats on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 22 inches thick)
C--48 to 60 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) stratified loamy sand and sandy loam; massive; very friable; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Cass County, Illinois; about 3 miles southwest of Beardstown; 1482 feet south and 1425 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 32, T. 18 N., R. 12 W.; USGS Arenzville West, IL topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees, 58 minutes, 27 seconds N., long. 90 degrees, 28 minutes, 15 seconds W.; NAD 83
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum is 40 to 60 inches in thickness. The upper 20 inches of the argillic horizon averages between 18 and 30 percent clay and between 15 and 50 percent fine sand and coarser sand.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is loam, silt loam, or sandy loam. It typically is medium acid, but pedons that have been limed may be slightly acid or neutral.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is mottled in some pedons, and mottles have hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 8. The E horizon is loam, silt loam, or sandy loam. It is medium acid or strongly acid.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3, and is mottled. Mottles have hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 1 to 8. Clay films on the faces of peds have hue of 2.5Y, 10YR, or 7.5YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 1 or 2. The Bt horizon is loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, sandy loam, or silty clay loam. The textures grade from fine to coarser with increasing depth. The Bt horizon is very strongly acid to neutral.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 6 and is mottled in some pedons. It is sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, sand, fine sand, or silt loam and typically is stratified. Reaction is strongly acid to moderately alkaline. In some pedons, carbonates are below a depth of 60 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Cantril, Conover, Dundas, Manheim, Metamora, Monitor, Riceville, Romulus, Schley, and Skyberg series in the same family, and the Darroch, La Hogue, and Whitaker series. Cantril and Riceville soils have more clay in the lower part of the solum and are formed in till. Conover, Metamora, and Romulus soils have sola less than 40 inches in thickness, and contain free carbonates at about the same depth as solum thickness. Dundas soils average more than 30 percent clay in the control section. Manheim soils contain a high content of black shale fragments in the upper part of the sola. Monitor soils contain from 5 to 30 percent gravel within a depth of 40 inches. Schley and Skyberg soils have a 2B horizon formed in glacial till and are not stratified in any part above a depth of 60 inches. Darroch and La Hogue soils have a mollic epipedon. Whitaker soils have moist color value of 4 through 6 in the Ap horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Beardstown soils are on outwash plains and stream terraces. Slope gradients range from 0 to 4 percent. Beardstown soils formed in stratified loamy and sandy outwash material. Mean annual temperature varies from 46 to 54 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation varies from 32 to 36 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alvin, Ambraw, Dickinson, Gilford, Millbrook, and Orio soils. The well drained Alvin and well drained to somewhat excessively drained Dickinson soils contain less clay in the control section and are on higher or more sloping ridges of wind-worked materials nearby. Ambraw soils are Fluvaquentic Haplaquolls. They are on flood plains or low terraces below the Beardstown soils. The very poorly drained Gilford soils are on nearby level or depressional parts of outwash plains and lake plains below Beardstown soils. Millbrook soils have a fine-silty argillic horizon and are on similar parts of the landscape nearby. The poorly drained and very poorly drained Orio soils are on nearly level or depressional parts of outwash plains and stream terraces.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Surface runoff is slow or medium. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow in the solum and moderately rapid in the underlying material.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for cropland. The principal crops are corn, soybeans, and small grain. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods and prairie grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Illinois. The extent is moderate.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cass County, Illinois, 1939.
REMARKS: Classification adjusted to agree with ST Issue#17 on 23 Aug 94 by CLG. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 9 inches (Ap horizon); albic horizon - the zone from a depth of 9 to 14 inches (E horizon); argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 21 to 41 inches (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons); an aquic moisture regime - as evidenced by chroma of 2 in the E horizon and chroma of 2 in clay films on faces of peds throughout the subsoil.