LOCATION SANBORG WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, frigid Oxyaquic Glossudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Sanborg silt loam, on a convex, northeast facing, 2 percent slope in an area of mixed conifer and northern hardwoods at an elevation of about 810 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
E--0 to 5 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) silt loam, pink (5YR 7/3) dry; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and medium and few coarse roots; about 1 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
E/B--5 to 9 inches; 60 percent reddish brown (5YR 5/3) silt loam (E), pink (5YR 7/3) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; extends as tongues into and surrounds remnants of reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silty clay loam (Bt); moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and medium and few coarse roots; about 1 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
B/E--9 to 17 inches; 70 percent reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) silty clay loam (Bt); moderate medium angular blocky structure; firm; few faint dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; penetrated by tongues of reddish brown (5YR 5/3) silt loam (E), pink (5YR 7/3) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; many fine and common medium roots between peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Glossic horizon - 2 to 25 inches thick.)
Bt--17 to 37 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; strong medium prismatic structure; firm; common fine and few medium roots between peds; common distinct dark red (2.5YR 3/6) clay films on faces of peds and in root channels; few very fine irregular prominent black (N 2/0) soft masses of iron-manganese oxides; about 1 percent gravel; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 21 inches thick)
Btk--37 to 49 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) silty clay; moderate medium prismatic structure; firm; few fine roots between peds; few distinct dark red (2.5YR 3/6) clay films on faces of peds and in root channels; common medium and coarse prominent irregular reddish gray (5YR 5/2) and pink (5YR 7/4) soft masses of calcium carbonate; common very fine and fine prominent irregular black (N 2/0) soft masses of iron-manganese oxides; few thin (<1 inch) discontinuous disoriented remnant varves of reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) silty clay loam; violently effervescent (13 percent calcium carbonate); about 1 percent gravel; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 40 inches thick)
BC--49 to 80 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) silty clay; weak coarse prismatic structure; firm; few fine roots between peds; common fine and medium prominent irregular reddish gray (5YR 5/2) and pink (5YR 7/4) soft masses of calcium carbonate; few very fine and fine prominent irregular black (N 2/0) soft masses of iron-manganese oxides; few thin (<1 inch) discontinuous disoriented remnant varves of reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) silty clay loam; violently effervescent (12 percent calcium carbonate); about 2 percent gravel; moderately alkaline. (0 to 31 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Bayfield County, Wisconsin; about 1 mile north and 2 miles west of Washburn; 1250 feet north and 1290 feet east of the southwest corner of section 25, T. 49 N., R 5 W.; USGS Washburn, WI quad.; lat. 46 degrees 41' 31" N. and long. 90 degrees 56' 30" W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of the argillic horizon ranges from 40 to more than 60 inches. Depth to free carbonates ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Mean annual soil temperature at 20 inches ranges from 38 to 45 degrees F. The weighted average clay content of the particle-size control section ranges from 35 to 60 percent and the weighted average content of fine sand or coarser is less than 15 percent. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 10 percent throughout. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 2 percent throughout. Discontinuous disoriented remnant varves, inherited from the original lacustrine parent material, occur in individual subhorizons in some pedons. Redox accumulations occur in the glossic horizon and, in some pedons, in the upper part of the argillic horizon. Saturation occurs in these horizons for 1 month or more per year in most years.
Some pedons have an A horizon with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 2 or 3; and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silt loam. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 3 or 4; and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam. Reaction naturally ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid but ranges to neutral, where the soil is limed.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 2 or 3. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid.
Sanborg soils have a glossic horizon (E/B or B/E horizon or both). The E part has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 or 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. The E part is loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam. The Bt part has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral.
The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR and value and chroma of 3 or 4. It is clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to slightly alkaline.
The Btk horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR and value of 3 to 5. It is clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Reaction is moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
The BC horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR and value of 3 or 4. It is clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Reaction is moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Some pedons have a C horizon with color, texture, and reaction similar to the BC horizon described above.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Kent, Negwegon, and Nester series. (These series will be classified to Glossic Oxyaquic) A similar soil is the Amnicon(T) series. Kent and Nester soils have 15 percent or more of fine sand or coarser in the particle-size control section. Negwegon soils are stratified in the lower part of the series control section and have mean annual soil temperature of 45 to 47 degrees F. Amnicon soils are in the very fine family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Sanborg soils are on knolls and flats on till plains. Slope gradients range from 0 to 6 percent. These soils formed in clayey till derived from clayey lacustrine deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 36 to 43 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 90 to 120 days. Elevation ranges from 600 to 1000 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Badriver, Kellogg, and Odanah soils. The somewhat poorly drained Badriver soils and the well drained Odanah soils form a drainage sequence with Sanborg soils. The moderately well drained Kellogg soils are nearby in landscape positions similar to those of Sanborg soils where there is a sandy outwash mantle 20 to 40 inches thick over the clayey till.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is low or medium. Permeability is slow. Sanborg soils have a perched seasonal high water table at a depth of 1.0 to 2.5 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period of September to June in 6 or more out of 10 years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for woodland. Native vegetation is mixed deciduous and coniferous forest. Common trees are red maple, balsam fir, white spruce, white pine, quaking aspen, and paper birch. Common understory species are American hazel, redosier dogwood, black snakeroot, big leaf aster, wild sarsaparilla, and bracken fern. Some areas are used for cropland and pastureland. Oats, bromegrass, timothy, alfalfa, trefoil, and red clover are the principle crops. Many areas which were formerly cropland are now idle and are reverting to natural vegetation.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Wisconsin along Lake Superior (MLRA K92). This series is extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bayfield County, Wisconsin, 1995. The name is coined.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon: ochric epipedon - 0 to 5 inches (E); albic horizon - 0 to 5 inches (E); glossic horizon - 5 to 17 inches (E/B, B/E); argillic horizon - 9 to 49 inches (B/E, Bt, Btk); oxyaquic feature - redox accumulations within 40 inches and saturation within 40 inches for 1 month or more per year in most years.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record: WI0570. Refer to soil survey sample number S90WI-007-004 for NSSL data on the typical pedon.