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Xenia

soil profile

XENIA SERIES

LOCATION                   IN+IL OH

Established Series
Rev. JDL-MLW-TJE
11/2021


The Xenia series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that are deep or very deep to dense till. Xenia soils formed in loess or other silty material and in the underlying loamy till on till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 12 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1067 mm (42 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 11.1 degrees C (52 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Xenia silt loam, on a 3 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 250 meters (820 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 25 cm (10 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; many fine pores; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches) thick]

Bt1--25 to 46 cm (10 to 18 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; many fine pores; common distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--46 to 76 cm (18 to 30 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; common medium prominent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 38 to 74 cm (15 to 29 inches).]

2Bt3--76 to 127 cm (30 to 50 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; common medium prominent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 3 percent rock fragments; neutral; clear wavy boundary. [20 to 56 cm (8 to 22 inches) thick]

2BCt--127 to 147 cm (50 to 58 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; few medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; few medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 3 percent rock fragments; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 30 cm (12 inches) thick]

2Cd1--147 to 183 cm (58 to 72 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; massive; very firm; few medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; few medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 3 percent rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

2Cd2--183 to 200 cm (72 to 79 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; massive; very firm; few medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 3 percent rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Putnam County, Indiana; about 2 miles east of Greencastle; 800 feet south and 2,400 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 13, T. 14 N., R. 4 W.; USGS Green Castle, Indiana topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees 39 minutes 29.4 seconds N. and long. 86 degrees 48 minutes 16.9 seconds W., NAD 27; UTM Zone 16, 516753 easting and 4389844 northing, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches)
Thickness of the loess or other silty material: 56 to 102 cm (22 to 40 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches)
Depth to densic contact: 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages 27 to 35 percent clay and less than 15 percent fine sand or coarser

Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4
Chroma: 2 or 3; eroded pedons range to chroma of 4
Texture: silt loam
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral depending on liming history

E horizon, where present:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: silt loam
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral depending on liming history

Some pedons have a BE horizon.

Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: silty clay loam or silt loam
Clay content: 23 to 35 percent
Sand content: 5 to 20 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral in the upper part, and very strongly acid to slightly acid in the lower part

2Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: loam or clay loam
Clay content: 24 to 35 percent
Sand content: 20 to 40 percent
Rock fragment content: 2 to 10 percent gravel
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

2BCt or 2BC horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loam or clay loam
Clay content: 20 to 30 percent
Sand content: 25 to 50 percent
Rock fragment content: 2 to 10 percent gravel
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 20 percent
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

2Cd horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loam or fine sandy loam
Clay content: 12 to 20 percent
Sand content: 20 to 60 percent
Rock fragment content: 2 to 10 percent gravel
Moist bulk density: 1.75 to 2.00 g/cc
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 40 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: 

AppleriverBlairBunkumFishhookFreeburgGeffGlenfordKeeneMurenReesvilleSugarvalley, and Torox series. Appleriver soils have a paralithic contact within a depth of 152 cm (60 inches). Blair, Bunkum, Freeburg, Geff, Keene, and Muren soils do not have carbonates within a depth of 152 cm (60 inches). Fishhook soils have more than 20 percent clay in the lower part of the series control section. Glenford soils are stratified within the series control section with loamy or sandy textures. Reesville soils are deeper than 102 cm (40 inches) to horizons containing more than 2 percent rock fragments. Sugarvalley soils have less than 12 percent clay in the lower part of the series control section. Torox soils have a moist bulk density of less than 1.75 g/cm3 in the lower part of the series control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Xenia soils are on till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 12 percent. The soils formed in 56 to 102 cm (22 to 40 inches) of loess or other silty material and in the underlying loamy till. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 889 to 1118 mm (35 to 44 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 10.0 to 11.7 degrees C (50 to 53 degrees F). Frost-free period is 160 to 180 days. Elevation is 207 to 311 meters (680 to 1,020 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: 

FincastleMiamiRagsdaleRussell, and Treaty soils. The somewhat poorly drained Fincastle soils are on lower lying landform positions. The Miami soils and the well drained Russell soils are on higher lying landform positions or are on lower lying, more sloping positions. The Miami soils are also in areas of thinner loess. The poorly drained Ragsdale and Treaty soils are in depressions and have mollic epipedons.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. Depth to the top of a perched seasonal high water table ranges from 46 to 76 cm (1.5 to 2.5 feet) during the winter and spring in normal years. Potential for surface runoff ranges from low to high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum and low to moderately high in the underlying dense till. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow in the solum and slow or very slow in the underlying dense till.

USE AND VEGETATION: Xenia soils are commonly cultivated. Corn, soybeans, small grain, and hay are the principal crops. Native vegetation is forest, with oak, hickory, and maple as dominant species.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mainly in MLRAs 111A and 111D, and to lesser extent in MLRAs 108A, 114A, and 114B in central Indiana, southwestern Ohio, and eastern and central Illinois. The type location is in MLRA 111D. The series is of large extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fayette and Union Counties, Indiana, 1958.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 25 cm (Ap horizon).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 25 to 127 cm (Bt, 2Bt horizons).
Densic contact: at 147 cm (top of the 2Cd1 horizon).
Aquic conditions: iron depletions in all horizons below a depth of 46 cm.

A bedrock substratum phase is currently recognized and may become a new series as subset soil surveys with this phase are updated.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available from the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory (KSSL), Lincoln, Nebraska. Data for pedons sampled by the Agricultural Experiment Station at Purdue University and at The Ohio State University are also available from KSSL.
 


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.