LOCATION DELTON WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, active, mesic Arenic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Delton loamy fine sand - on a 4 percent convex slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 860 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 10 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loamy fine sand, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 10 inches thick)
E--10 to 16 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loamy fine sand; weak medium platy structure; very friable; few fine roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bw--16 to 30 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loamy fine sand; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (8 to 20 inches thick)
2Bt1--30 to 37 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
3Bt2--37 to 40 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silty clay; moderate medium angular blocky structure; very firm; few fine roots; faint nearly continuous clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 12 inches thick)
3C--40 to 60 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silty clay; stratified with thin layers of silt and clay; very firm; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Marquette County, Wisconsin; about 1 mile south of Westfield; 1285 feet east and 1320 feet north of the southwest corner of sec. 13, T. 16 N., R. 8 E. USGS Packwaukee Wis. Quad., Latitude 43 degrees 51 minutes 53 seconds N., Longitude 89 degrees 29 minutes 51 seconds W. NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the sandy mantle ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to the base of the argillic horizon ranges from about 30 to 50 inches. Coarse fragments are absent throughout the pedon. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid in the solum and is moderately acid or slightly acid in the substratum.
The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Uncultivated pedons have an A horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. The Ap or A horizon is typically loamy fine sand, loamy sand, sand or fine sand but is fine sandy loam in some pedons.
The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, , value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is fine sand, loamy fine sand, loamy sand, or sand.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is loamy fine sand, fine sand, loamy sand, or sand.
The 2Bt horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loamy very fine sand.
The 3Bt horizon typically has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR. Less typically it has hue of 2.5YR. Value is 4 to 6 and chroma is 3 to 6. Texture is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Clay content ranges from 35 to about 60 percent.
The 3C horizon has texture and color like the 2Bt2 horizon. Thin lenses of coarser texture are in the C horizon in many pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Metea, Okee, Ormas, and Prissel series. None of these soils have clayey textures in the lower part of the series control section. .
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Delton soils are on nearly level to sloping areas of glacial lake basins, stream terraces, lake terraces, and outwash plains bordering lake basins. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent. Delton soils formed in sandy outwash or eolian deposits, in a loamy transition layer, and in the underlying clayey lacustrine deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 29 to 32 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from about 44 to 50 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Plainfield, Wautoma, and Wyeville soils. In some places, the somewhat poorly drained Wyeville and poorly drained and very poorly drained Wautoma series form a drainage sequence with the Delton soils, and occupy gentle gradients or level sites and depressions, respectively, in the landscape. In other places, the excessively drained Plainfield soils are nearby where the sandy deposits thicken to more than 60 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from negligible to low. Permeability is rapid in the sandy mantle; moderately rapid in the loamy transition layer; and slow or very slow in the clayey lacustrine deposits.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grains, and hay. Native vegetation is mixed forests with oak, hickory, maple, and pine predominating.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Wisconsin bordering on Glacial Lake Wisconsin and along streams entering into this area. These soils are of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Marquette County, Wisconsin, 1969.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and feature recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 16 (Ap, E) argillic horizon - 30 to 40 inches (Bt1, 2Bt2); Arenic feature sandy particle-size class in all subhorizons from the mineral soil surface to the top of the argillic horizon at a depth of 50 cm or more.
About 1650 acres were correlated in Juneau County as moderately well drained. A new series is needed.
About 505 acres were correlated in Adams County as a sandy substratum phase. A new series may be needed.