LOCATION MARKESAN WI

Established Series
Rev. HFG-AAC
01/2011

MARKESAN SERIES

The Markesan series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in a thin mantle of loess and in the underlying highly calcareous, loamy till on moraines. Slope ranges from 2 to 20 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 787 mm (31 inches). Mean annual air temperature is about 7.8 degrees C (46 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Argiudolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Markesan silt loam - on a 3 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 296 meters (972 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 18 cm (0 to 7 inches); very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. [15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches) thick]

BA--18 to 23 cm (7 to 9 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; weak and moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; neutral; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 8 cm (0 to 3 inches) thick]

Bt1--23 to 38 cm (9 to 15 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) silty clay loam; weak and moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; many distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) organo-clay films on faces of peds; few fine chert fragments; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. [10 to 18 cm (4 to 7 inches) thick]

2Bt2--38 to 46 cm (15 to 18 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds; common fine chert fragments; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. [5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) thick]

2C1--46 to 56 cm (18 to 22 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly loam; massive; friable; about 30 percent angular gravel; few channers and flagstones; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. [10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 inches) thick]

2C2--56 to 152 cm (22 to 60 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly loam; massive; compact; friable; about 30 percent angular gravel; few channers and flagstones; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Dodge County, Wisconsin; about 2 miles east of Fox Lake; 1000 feet south and 1000 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 31 T. 13 N., R. 14 E. USGS Buckhorn Corner Wisconsin topographic quadrangle; lat. 43 degrees 33 minutes 28 seconds N., and long. 88 degrees 52 minutes 10 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 31 to 61 cm (12 to 24 inches)
Thickness of the loess mantle: 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches)
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 15 to 38 cm (6 to 15 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages 25 to 35 percent clay
Volume of gravel and channers (mostly angular): 2 to 12 percent in the 2Bt horizon; 12 to 60 percent in the 2C horizon Volume of cobbles and flagstones: 0 to 1 percent in the 2Bt horizon; 1 to 8 percent in the 2C horizon
Reaction: naturally strongly acid to slightly acid in the loess, neutral in the upper part where the soil is limed; neutral to moderately alkaline in the 2Bt horizon and is moderately alkaline in the 2C horizon
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 60 to 90 percent in the 2C horizon

A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: silt loam

BA horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 3 to 5
Texture: silt loam

Bt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 3 to 5
Texture: silt loam or silty clay loam

2Bt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 3 or 4, value and chroma of 3 do not occur together
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam or clay loam
Other features:
Many pedons have a thin dark colored layer (Beta B) that results from the accumulation of organic matter contained in the illuviated materials, at the contact between the 2Bt and 2C horizons.

2C horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loam or sandy loam or the gravelly or very gravelly analogues of these textures
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 60 to 90 percent

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Hochheim, La Rose, Lickcreek, Linkville, Plattville, Rotamer, Wea, and Wyanet series. Hochheim soils have a calcium carbonate equivalent of 60 to 90 percent in the 2C horizon. La Rose soils a calcium carbonate equivalent of 15 to 40 percent and have less than 10 percent rock fragments in the 2C horizon. Lickcreek, Linkville, Platteville, Wea, and Wyanet soils all are more than 61 cm (24 inches) deep to the base of the argillic horizon and more than 51 cm (20 inches) deep to carbonates. Rotamer soils have calcium carbonate equivalent of 20 to 40 percent in the 2C horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Markeson soils are on moraines. Slope ranges from 2 to 20 percent. These soils formed in a thin mantle of loess and in the underlying highly calcareous, loamy till. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 711 to 889 mm (28 to 35 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from 7.2 to 8.9 degrees C (45 to 48 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are mainly the Mendota and Plano soils and, in some places, the Leroy soils. They are in areas next to the Markesan series where the loess or silt mantle is thicker over the till. Both Mendota and Plano have thicker sola and are fine-silty. In nearby areas where the surface layer is lighter colored, the LeRoy soils are associates.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is ranges from low to high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high (4.23 to 14.11 micrometers per second). Permeability is moderate.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grains, hay, and canning crops. Some areas are used for pastureland. Native vegetation is mainly prairie grasses, forbs, and scattered bur oaks.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 95B in southeastern Wisconsin, on the shallow ground moraine of the limestone drift region. This soil is of small extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dodge County, Wisconsin, 1969.

REMARKS:
9/04 The location given for the typical pedon in this OSD did not match the location given for the same pedon in the published soil survey for Dodge County. Since the location in this OSD did not fall in a map unit of Markesan, the location in the OSD is changed to match the location given in the published survey which does fall in a map unit of Markesan.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - 0 to 18 cm (0 to 7 inches) (Ap); argillic horizon - 23 to 46 cm (9 to 18 inches) (Bt1, 2Bt2).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.