LOCATION SOPERTON WI+MIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, frigid Alfic Fragiorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Soperton silt loam, very stony, on an east facing convex slope of 24 percent in a mixed hardwood stand at an elevation of about 1750 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oa--0 to 1 inches; black (10YR 2/1) muck (sapric material which is a mat of partially decomposed leaf litter); about 20 percent fiber and 5 percent rubbed; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine and common medium roots; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick).
A--1 to 6 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) silt loam, brown (7.5YR 5/2) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine subangular blocky; friable; many very fine and fine and common medium roots; about 1 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
E--6 to 8 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/2) silt loam, pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky; friable; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; about 1 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
Bs--8 to 15 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine subangular blocky; friable; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; about 1 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
E/B--15 to 21 inches; 80 percent brown (7.5YR 5/3) silt loam (E), pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) dry; moderate medium platy structure; friable; extends as tongues into and surrounds remnants of brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam (Bt); moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; about 3 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
2B/E--21 to 29 inches; 60 percent brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly sandy loam (Bt); weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common faint brown (7.5YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; penetrated by tongues of brown (7.5YR 5/3) gravelly sandy loam (E), pink (7.5YR 7/3) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; about 15 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Glossic horizon - 5 to 30 inches thick.)
2Btx--29 to 37 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; tends to part along horizontal cleavage planes inherited from the parent material; common faint brown (7.5YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; about 15 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles; brittle; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
2BC--37 to 46 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) gravelly sandy loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; about 20 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
2C--46 to 61 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) gravelly loamy sand; massive; friable; about 20 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Forest County, Wisconsin; about 3 miles west of Crandon; 1200 feet west and 1700 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 22, T. 36 N., R. 12 E. USGS Crandon, Wis. Quad. Latitude 45 degrees 35 minutes 8 seconds N. Latitude 88 degrees 57 minutes 58 seconds W. NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Unless otherwise stated, thickness and depth are measured from the top of the mineral soil.) Depth to the base of the argillic horizon ranges from 40 to more than 60 inches. Thickness of the silty mantle ranges from 12 to 36 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 10 percent in the silty mantle and from 5 to 25 percent in the till or the mud-flow sediment. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 10 percent in the silty mantle and from 0 to 20 percent in the till or the mud-flow sediment. Stones are on the surface and throughout the soil in most pedons. Reaction typically ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the upper part of the solum but ranges to neutral in the Ap horizon, where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid below the spodic horizon.
The O horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR or the hue is neutral. Value is 2 or 3 and chroma is 0 to 2. The O horizon is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter.
The A horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 2 or 3; and chroma of 1 or 2. 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. Texture of the A or Ap horizon is silt loam.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR; value of 4 to 7; and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 or 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. Texture is silt loam or silt.
The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 6 or hue of 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4. Texture is silt loam.
Where the silty mantle is thin, some pedons have a 2Bs horizon with colors like the Bs horizon. Texture is sandy loam or loam or the gravelly or cobbly analogs.
Some pedons have an E' horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 or 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. Texture is silt loam or silt.
Some pedons have a 2E' horizon with colors like the E' horizon described above. Texture is typically sandy loam, fine sandy loam or the gravelly or cobbly analogs but in some pedons it is loamy sand or the gravelly or cobbly analogs. In some pedons, immediately below the silty mantle, it is loam or the gravelly or cobbly analogs.
Soperton soils have a glossic horizon. Horizonation below the spodic horizon has a wide range depending on the thickness of the silty mantle; the extent to which eluviation has occurred; and the depth to the fragipan. Therefore, there are E/B, B/E, 2E/B, 2E/Bx, 2B/E or 2B/Ex horizons, either singly or in combination, with or without Bt, 2Bt, 2Btx, 2BC, or 2BCx horizons.
The E' part of the E/B and B/E horizons has color and texture like that of the E' horizon described above.
The Bt part of the E/B and B/E horizons and, where present, the Bt horizon have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR; value of 3 or 4; and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is silt loam.
The 2E part of the 2E/B, 2E/Bx, 2B/E and 2B/Ex horizons have color and texture like the 2E' horizon described above.
The 2Bt part of the 2E/B, 2E/Bx, 2B/E or 2B/Ex horizons has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR; value of 3 to 6; and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is typically sandy loam or the gravelly or cobbly analogs but in some pedons it has thin strata of loamy sand or the gravelly or cobbly analogs. In some pedons, immediately below the silty mantle, it is loam or the gravelly or cobbly analogs.
The 2Btx horizon and, where present, the 2Bt horizon have color and texture like the 2Bt part described above.
The 2BC horizon and, where present, the 2BCx horizon have color and texture like the 2Btx horizon above. Stratification is a common feature (glacial mud-flow sediment) in some pedons. Texture of individual strata is mostly sandy loam or loamy sand or the gravelly or cobbly analogs but some thin lenses are sand or the gravelly or cobbly analogs.
The 2C horizon has color, texture, and stratification like the 2BC horizon above.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Frohling and Steuben series. Related soils are the Argonne, Champion, Goodman, and Wabeno series. Frohling and Steuben soils do not have a mantle with more than 50 percent silt in the upper part of the series control section. Argonne and Wabeno soils are mottled and have a perched seasonal water table. In addition, Argonne soils do not have a 12 to 36 inch mantle with more than 50 percent silt. Champion soils do not have an argillic horizon. Goodman soils do not have a fragipan.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Soperton soils are on drumlins and moraines. Slopes range from 15 to 35 percent. Soperton soils formed in loess or silty alluvium and in the underlying loamy and sandy glacial till or glacial mud-flow sediment from the Langlade lobe of the Wisconsinan Age glaciation. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 38 to 45 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 80 to 120 days. Elevation ranges from 1000 to 1900 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Capitola, Champion, Gay, Goodman, Goodwit, Mudlake(T), Stambaugh, and Wabeno soils. The poorly drained and very poorly drained Capitola and Gay soils and the somewhat poorly drained Mudlake soils are in lower landscape positions in drainageways and depressions. The well drained and moderately well drained Champion soils are on landscape positions similar to those of Soperton soils where the argillic horizon is absent. The well drained Goodman soils and the moderately well drained Goodwit soils are in landscape positions similar to those of Soperton soils where the fragipan is absent. The well drained and moderately well drained Stambaugh soils are nearby on associated outwash deposits. The moderately well drained Wabeno soils are nearby on less sloping areas.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is medium or high. Permeability is moderate above the fragipan, slow in the fragipan, and moderate or moderately rapid below the fragipan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Soperton soils are used for woodland. Northern hardwoods are the major forest type with sugar maple, American basswood, yellow birch, and quaking aspen the principal species. A few areas are cleared and used for cropland. Common crops are corn, oats, and hay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Soperton series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Iron County, Michigan, 1992.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 7 inches (A, E); albic horizon - 5 to 7 inches (E); spodic horizon - 7 to 14 inches (Bs); glossic horizon - 14 to 28 inches (E/B, 2B/E); argillic horizon - 20 to 36 inches (2B/E, 2Btx); fragipan - 28 to 36 inches (2Btx).