A study by Hutton ( 1947, p. 426-31) of the gently sloping Prairie soils derived from Peorian, or Wisconsin, loess in southwestern Iowa showed that certain morphological, chemical, and physical properties are related to the thickness and distribution of the loess. Previous field studies had indicated that in a qualitative way, properties of the associated loess-derived Wiesenboden and Planosol soils also were related to thickness and distribution of the loess. The present study was undertaken to determine if quantitative information could be obtained on the functional relationship between certain soil properties, chiefly physical, and the loess distribution. The study consisted of collection of suitable profile samples, and the determination in the laboratory of certain properties by methods described elsewhere by Wilson et. al. (1946). Bulk samples were used for the determination of particle size distribution. Undisturbed core samples were used for measurement of permeability, volume weight, and porosity. Loess thickness borings were made manually with an extension auger as described by Hutton (1947, p. 424). Data are presented for a profile of each of the following soil series: Minden, Winterset, Haig, and Edina

Riecken, F. F.

Ulrich, Rudolph

English

Name not available

Some Physical Characteristics of Wiesenboden and Planosol Soils Developed from Peorian loess in Southwestern Iowa.

University of Northern Iowa

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science Volume 57 Annual Issue Article 37 1950 Some Physical Characteristics of Wiesenboden and Planosol Soils Developed from Peorian loess in Southwestern Iowa. Rudolph Ulrich Iowa State College F. F. Riecken Iowa State College Copyright ©1950 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias Recommended Citation Ulrich, Rudolph and Riecken, F. F. (1950) "Some Physical Characteristics of Wiesenboden and Planosol Soils Developed from Peorian loess in Southwestern Iowa.," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 57(1), 299-305. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol57/iss1/37 This Research is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa Academy of Science at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.edu. Smne Physical Characteristics of "\Viesenboden a.nd Planosol Soils Developed fron1 Peoria.n I.oess in Southwestern Iowa. 1 By RUDOLPH ULRICH AND F. F. RIECKEK ~ A study by Hutton ( 1947, p. 426-31) of the gently sloping Prairie ~oils derived from Peorian, or Wisconsin, loess in southwestern Imva showed that certain morphological, chemical, and physical properties are related to the thickness and distribution of the loess. PreYious field studies had indicated that in a qualitative way, prop-erties of the associated loess-derived Wiesenboden and Planosol soils also were related to thickness and distribution of the loess. The present study was undertaken to determine if quantitative in-formation could be obtained on the functional relationship between certain soil properties, chiefly physical, and the loess distribution. The study consisted of collection of suitable profile samples, and the determination in the laboratory of certain properties by methods described elsewhere by Wilson et. al. (1946). Bulk samples were used for the determination of particle size distribution. Undisturbed core samples were used for measurement of permeability, volume weight, and porosity. Loess thickness borings were made manually with an extension auger as described by Hutton ( 1947, p. 424). Data are presented for a profile of each of the following soil series: Minden, ·Winterset, Haig, and Edina. DESCRIPTION OF SOILS STUDIED The Minden soil series occurs on the level divides of the Marshall soil association area. As the level areas are rare in this area, the Minden series is not very extensive. Some of the larger areas are found in southwest Shelby county. It is a borderline Prairie-Wiesenboden series. The \Vinterset series was formerly included with the Grundy series. It has a black silty clay loam surface, and an olive gray mottled silty clay B horizon. It is a \Viesenboden series. The Haig series was formerly included with the Grundy series. The Haig series is a borderline Wiesenboden-Planosol series. It has a black surface layer, usually a silt loam. The B horizon is strongly mottled, compact, and more plastic than is the B layer of the Winterset Series. ~ntribution from Soils Subsection, Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Journal Paper No. J-1636. Project 635. 1949. 2 Teaching Assistant and Professor of Soils, Department of Agronomy, Iowa State Co11ege, Ames, Iowa. 299 1Ulrich and Riecken: Some Physical Characteristics of Wiesenboden and Planosol Soils DPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1950300 row A ACADEMY OF SCIENCE [\'ol. 57 The Edina series was formerly included with the Grundy series in certain counties, and separated as the Putnam and/or Edina series in other counties. It is a Planosol. The Edina soil has less organic matter in the surface layer than any of the series studied. It has a gray silt loam subsurface layer, often called the A 2 layer, which is usually about 6 to 10 inches thick. Below the A, layer is found the compact, slowly permeable clay B horizon. THICKNESS AND DISTRIBUTION oF LoEss Hutton (1947, p. 424-26) presented data to show that the loess thickness decreases as one proceeds in a southeasterly direction from the major loess source. This conclusion has been confirmed in the present study. In Figure 1, the loess thickness is plotted against distance from the source. In this study, essentially the same area was studied as was covered by Hutton ( 1947, p. 424) on his No. 1 traverse. Table 1 gives profile locations, loess thicknesses, and distance from initial point of deposition. CLAY CoNTENT AND Lm~ss THICKNESS The content and distribution of 2 micron clay in each of the pro-files studied is shown graphically in Figure 2. The content of clay in the surface layers to about 10 inches is about the same for the Table I Location, loess thickness, distance from loess source, maximum percent clay and minimum percent aeration porosity of profiles studied. Minimum Distance Maximum Aeration Loess from clay in porosity Profile Thickness Source profile in Profile Soil Location (inches) (Miles) (Percent) Percent ( c) Minden NW! NE! NW± 468(a) 37 30.2 11.4 P-217 Sec 19, T79N, R39W Shelby County Winterset South Center SW± 130(b) 109 40.1 5.4 P-218 Sec 31, T72N, R30W Union County Haig NE! NW! NW! 105 (b) 143 49.5 1.6 P-220 Sec 5, T70N, R25W Decatur County Edina NE! NE! SE! 90(b) 173 52.4 0.7 P-16 Sec 9, T68N, R21 W Wayne County (a) 5 mile west of profile location (b) At profile location ( c) On volume basis 2Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 57 [1950], No. 1, Art. 37https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol57/iss1/371950] V\'IESENBODEN AND PLAiNOSOL SOILS 301 4 profiles. However, lower layers are found to vary widely in clay content. The Minden profile, No. P-217, has the lowest clay con-tent, in the subsoil or B horizon, of the 4 profiles. The Minden profile was collected where the loess was about 400 inches thi<;k. It is closest to the source of loess. The Edina profile, No. P:-16, has the highest clay content in the subsoil of any of the 4 profiles. The Edina profile was collected where the loess is about 90 inches thick. It is farthest from the source of loess of any of the 4 profiles. In Figure 1, the maximum percent of clay of the subsoils is plotted in relation to the distance of the profile from the initial point of loess deposition. It is evident that the farther the profile is from the loess source, the higher is the content of clay in the maximum clay accumulation horizon of the profile. Or, stated in terms of loess thickness, the greater the loess thickness for the level soils along this traverse, the lower the content of clay will be. Smith (1942, p. 172-83) has discussed the significance of change in foess thickness and soil properties for traverses in Illinois, and Hutton ( 1947, p. 428-31) has discussed the significance of loess "' ... z ~·­! :s: 40 ~ l!I 4 90 PER CENT< 0.002 MM CLAY ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ y ~ u ~ " --MINDEN (P·217l - - - WINTERSET ( P'"211l · ·HAIG (P·ZZOI -•-EDINA (P·ll) e DATUM POINT \ ··.:~------... •··... . ........... \,, ..... "' ! ' ') ; :" / . / . / : \p··"·~ ' !t I . I . I .. i) j .~;:' . I ' I . I// I . I I : f Figure I. Showing Relationship of Loess and Maximum percent of less than 2 Micron Clay in Profile With Distance From Source of Loess. 3Ulrich and Riecken: Some Physical Characteristics of Wiesenboden and Planosol Soils DPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1950302 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIE~CE l Vol. 57 thickness to properties of gently sloping soils along the traverse also studied here. They conclude that the length of time that the material has weathered is probably the most important factor caus-ing differences in the soils along their traverses. For the soils studied here, almost all of each soil profile is formed in the upper 30 to 40 inches of the total loess deposit of each profile site. The loess from which the profile closest to the source developed, was deposited during the close of the loess deposition period or in a relatively short time. But the loess, from which the profile farthest from the source formed, was deposited during a greater portion of time of the loess deposition period or in a relatively long period of time. Therefore, soil profiles farthest from the source have been developing for a longer period of time than soil profiles formed from loess material close to the source. From data obtained by the authors, and given in Table 1, the relative time of weathering for the Minden and Edina profiles can be considered to be as follows : for the Minden profile, relative time of formation= Y + ( ~~ X), for the Edina profile, relative time of formation= Y + ( ~~ X), where X is the duration of loess deposition, Y is time elapsed since loess deposition, the profile thickness is 40 inches and loess thick-ness at the Minden and Edina profile sites is 468 inches and 90 inches, respectively. Interpreted in this manner, the Edina profile has had a longer time to form than the Minden profile. It is pos-sible, of course, as was also recognized by Smith and Hutton, that variations in particle size, kind of primary minerals, or content of carbonate with distance from source could have been important factors in causing the soil differences noted. However, a cautious interpretation of data available ·would point to the importance of length of t_ime since the loess of the soil profile has been deposited as the most important factor in causing the soil differences noted along the traverse studied here. As shown by Hutton ( 1948, p. 54-7) and also as part of this study, it is the very fine clay, usually less than 0.06 micron, which became mobile and moved from the A to the B layer. From Figure 2, it is evident that some clay has moved from the A horizon to the B horizon in the Edina profile. In the Minden profile, little move-ment has taken place though an accumulation zone is beginning at about 35 to 40 inches. It is interesting to note that as the clay content of the subsoil increases, the maximum content occurs closer to the surface. For instance, in the Minden profile the maximum 4Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 57 [1950], No. 1, Art. 37https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol57/iss1/371950] WIESENBODEN AND PLANOSOL SOILS 303 clay content, about 30 percent, occurs at an average depth of about 35 inches in the profile. In the Edina profile the maximum clay content of the subsoil occurs at an average depth of about 22 inches. Apparently, the initial accumulation occurs fairly deep in the soil profile. If this flocculated clay exerts a sieving effect on later move-ment of clay a gradual raising in the profile of the maximum clay accumulation zone occurs. In the Minden profile the initial deep accumulation may be caused by low water table due to relief and porosity of the unweathered loess. The relative raising of the B. horizon in the order of \Vinterset, Haig and Edina is probably more likely to be the effect of increasing degree of weathering. These three profiles have quite comparable sites, original porosity, and water table heights. POROSITY In Figure 3 data are presented graphically on the distribution of solid material and the porosity of profiles of Minden, Winterset, Haig, and Edina soils. The porosity has been subdivided into (a) aeration and (b) capillary. The Minden profile, No. P-217, has the largest percent of aeration porosity with little or no change throughout the SO inch section. z 50 PER CENT < 0.002 M M CLAY 5 lO IS 20 25 :SO !6 40 45·50 H --MINDEN IP•Zl71 - - - WINTERSET IP·Zlll ...... · HAIG IP· 2201 -•-EDINA IP·llJ e DATUM POINT \ ··<::--........_ ,, ·~·-:· ... .; ."""i. \ ... ! 1 ' : } );p ............ :"' I • II/ ,1 .. ,/ I/( I : I :_. Figure 2. Distribution of less than 2 Micron clay in profiles of Minden, Winterset, Haig, and Edina soils. 5Ulrich and Riecken: Some Physical Characteristics of Wiesenboden and Planosol Soils DPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1950304 "' W I r <.) ! ! r Ii: ... Q IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIE!\CE [Vol. 57 MINDEN (P-217) I • "' ... :t <.) ! ! r ... ... ... Q '°o 10 20 '° •o !><> 10 10 eo to 100 PER CENT Of TOTAL VOLUME •oo '° to 40 o 10 ZO :SO 40 50 to 10 80 tO IOO PER CENT OF TOTAL l.1)LUME PER CENT Of TOTAL VOLUME Figure 3. Showing Percent Aeration Porosity (A. P.). Capillary Porosity and Solids in Profiles of Minden, Winterset, Haig and Edina Soils. This agrees with clay distribution data in Figure 2, which shows little variation throughout the profile. The Winterset profile, No. P-222, shows somewhat lower percent aeration porosity than the Minden profile especially in the 30 to 40 inch layer. Winterset soil as is shown in Figure 2, had a higher content of clay in the B horizon than does the Minden soil. Both Haig and Edina profiles, No. P-220 and No. P-16, respec-tively, as is shown by Figure 3, have ~ marked decrease in percent aeration porosity in the B horizon. The Edina soil has a somewhat lower percent of aeration porosity in the A 2 layer, that is in the 10 to 20 inch layer, than does the layer of similar depth in the Haig profile. Again from Figure 2, it is to be noted that the Haig and Edina profiles studied here have higher clay content than either the Winterset and Minden. The porosity data given here shows that the percent of aeration 6Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 57 [1950], No. 1, Art. 37https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol57/iss1/371950] WIESENBODEN AND PLANOSOL SOILS 305 porosity decreases with increasing content of clay in the B horizon of the soil profile. As shown in Figure 2, the maximum percent of clay in the profiles of the 4 soils studied increases with decreasing thickness of the Wisconsin loess. In Figure 1, it is shown that with increasing distance in a southeasterly direction from the point of initial deposition the loess thickness decreases. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The Peorian, or Wisconsin, loess deposits in southwestern Iowa decrease in thickness in a southeasterly direction from the point of initial deposition, the river bluffs just east of the Missouri River bottomlands. The rate of decreasing loess thickness with increasing distance appears to be regular. The clay content of the maximum clay accumulation horizon of the profiles investigated is inversely related to loess thickness. The aeration porosity of the soil profiles along the traverse in-vestigated decreases with increasing clay content of the maximum clay accumulation horizon. These studies indicate the existence of definite functional rela-tionships between the loess thickness and distribution pattern and certain soil profile properties. This information points to the ad-vantages of the functional technique and the desirability of simul-taneous investigation of the nature and properties of the loess de-posit and the soil profiles derived from it. Literature Cited Hutton, Curtiss E., 1947. Studies of Loess-Derived Soils in Southwestern Iowa. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. Proc., 12 :424-431. Hutton, Curtiss E., 1948. The Morphology and Genesis of Prairie Soils Developed from Peorian Loess in Southwestern Iowa. Ph.D. Thesis. Iowa State College. Smith, G. D., 1942. Illinois Loess. University of Illinois Bulletin 490. Wilson, H. A., Riecken, F. F., and Browning, G. M., 1946. Soil Profile Characteristics in Relation to Drainage and Level Terraces. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. Proc., 11 :110-118. 7Ulrich and Riecken: Some Physical Characteristics of Wiesenboden and Planosol Soils DPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1950

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Some Physical Characteristics of Wiesenboden and Planosol Soils Developed from Peorian loess in Southwestern Iowa.

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