These are the competing Grundy , Seymour , and Shelby soils and the Clarinda , Marshall , Otley , Sharpsburg , and Tama soils. The Grundy, Marshall, Otley, Seymour, Sharpsburg, and Tama soils all formed in loess and are upslope from the Adair soils. Shelby soils formed in till and are downslope. Clarinda soils are at slightly higher elevations. Somewhat poorly drained.
Surface runoff is medium or rapid, and permeability is slow.
Depth to an intermittent perched water table is 1 to 3 feet at some time from November through July in most years. More than half of the soil is used for corn, oats, and meadow and the rest for pasture. Native vegetation was tall prairie grasses, but the underlying paleosol is believed to have formed under forest. The Adair series is extensive. Lucas County, Iowa, 1957.