LOCATION MOSTON INEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coprogenous, euic, mesic Limnic Haplosaprists
TYPICAL PEDON: Moston muck, on a slope of less than 1 percent in a cultivated field at an elevation of 714 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oap--0 to 8 inches; black (N 2.5/0) broken faced and rubbed muck (sapric material); a trace of fiber unrubbed and rubbed; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Oa1--8 to 15 inches; black (N 2.5/0) broken faced and rubbed muck (sapric material); a trace of fiber unrubbed and rubbed; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Oa2--15 to 24 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) broken faced and rubbed muck (sapric material); about 50 percent fiber, about 5 percent rubbed; moderate thick platy structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Oa horizon is 16 to 45 inches.)
Lco1--24 to 30 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) coprogenous silt loam; about 5 percent fiber, a trace rubbed; massive; friable; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
Lco2--30 to 48 inches; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) coprogenous silt loam; about 15 percent fiber, a trace rubbed; massive; friable; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Lco horizon is 5 to 34 inches.)
Cg--48 to 80 inches; gray (2.5Y 5/1) sand; single grain; loose; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Pulaski County, Indiana; about 2 miles west of Monterey; 1,590 feet east and 1,750 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 9, T. 31 N., R. 1 W.; U.S.G.S. Bass Lake, IN topographic quadrangle; lat. 41 degrees 9 minutes 7.9 seconds N. and long. 86 degrees 32 minutes 18.9 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 538716 easting and 4555757 northing, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the herbaceous organic layers: 16 to 45 inches
Depth to coprogenous material (sedimentary peat): 16 to 45 inches
Organic fibers: derived primarily from herbaceous plants, although some pedons contain less than 15 percent by volume twigs and small wood fragments
Depth to the underlying sand: 21 to 51 inches
Oap horizon:
Hue: 10YR or N
Value: 2, 2.5, or 3
Chroma: 0 to 2
Texture: muck (sapric material)
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral
Oa horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR, or N
Value: 2, 2.5, or 3
Chroma: 0 to 3
Texture: muck (sapric material), but some pedons have layers of mucky peat (hemic material) up to 10 inches thick
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral
Lco horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y
Value: 2 to 5
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: coprogenous silt loam or coprogenous silty clay loam
Reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline; carbonates are present in some pedons
Consistence: slightly plastic and shrinks upon drying to form hard clods that are difficult to re-wet
Cg horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 6
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: loamy sand, fine sand, sand, or coarse sand, or their gravelly analogues
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
Rock fragment content: 0 to 25 percent
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Muskego and Toto series. Muskego soils do not have sand within 51 inches of the surface. Toto soils have a layer of marly material below the coprogenous material.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Moston soils formed in herbaceous organic material over coprogenous material (sedimentary peat) and sand deposits. They are in shallow closed depressions primarily on outwash plains, lake plains, lake terraces, and flood plains, but can occur within moraines and till plains. Slope gradients range from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual temperature ranges from 48 to 53 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 42 inches, frost-free period ranges from 130 to 180 days, and elevation ranges from 580 to 1,530 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Adrian, Antung, Edselton, Edwards, Houghton, Madaus, and Martisco soils and the competing Muskego and Toto soils. These very poorly drained soils are on similar landform positions as Moston soils. Adrian and Antung soils formed in herbaceous organic deposits over sandy material. Edselton soils have marly material underlying the herbaceous organic deposits. Edwards, Madaus, and Martisco soils formed in herbaceous organic deposits over marly material. Houghton soils formed in herbaceous organic deposits more than 51 inches thick. Muskego soils do not have sand within 51 inches of the soil surface. Toto soils formed in herbaceous organic deposits over coprogenous material, marly material, and sand.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible. Permeability is moderately slow to moderately rapid in the herbaceous organic material, slow in the coprogenous material (sedimentary peat), and rapid in the underlying sand. The depth to the top of an apparent seasonal high water table ranges from 1 foot above the surface to 1 foot below the surface for some time in normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas of this soil have been drained and are used for cropland. The principal crop is corn with small areas in soybeans and mint. Undrained areas are in natural vegetation consisting of grasses, reeds and sedges with scattered hardwood trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 98 and 111 in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. The soils are of small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pulaski County, Indiana, 2001.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Sapric materials: from the surface to 24 inches (Oap, Oa1, Oa2)
Histic epipedon: muck from the surface to 16 inches (Oap, Oa1, Oa2)
Limnic subgroup: coprogenous material from 24 to 48 inches (Lco1 and Lco2)
Sandy material: below 48 inches
Aquic conditions: from the surface to 80 inches
The Moston series replaces the Muskego soils with sandy materials in the lower part of the series control section mapped in the Pulaski County, Indiana soil survey update.
NASIS Data Mapunit ID 154144 represents the typical pedon.
NASIS Data Mapunit ID 154145 represents the undrained phase.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Lab characterization data is available for the pedon (S99IN-131-001) from the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE and supports the series. The typical pedon site is about 225 feet east of this pedon. Transect data (T98IN-131-219) for the typical pedon is on file in the MLRA project office in Plymouth, Indiana. Transect shows 80 percent Moston soils and 20 percent Houghton soils.