LOCATION WAUCOMA                 MN+IA

Established Series
Rev. JDH-DMA-TWN
11/2014

WAUCOMA SERIES

The Waucoma series consists of deep or very deep, well drained soils that formed in 100 to more than 150 centimeters of glacial drift with or without a thin layer of residuum or a reddish paleosol overlying limestone bedrock. These soils are on summits and back slopes on uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 8 degrees C. Mean annual precipitation is about 850 millimeters.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Mollic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Waucoma loam, on a northwest-facing, linear slope of about 4 percent, in a deciduous forest, at an elevation of about 335 meters above sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 15 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine to medium continuous tubular pores; black (10YR 2/1) organic coats on faces of granules; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (13 to 23 centimeters thick)

E--15 to 30 centimeters; brown (10YR 4/3) loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; few black (10YR 2/1) worm casts; weak fine platy structure; very friable; many very fine and medium continuous tubular pores; neutral; clear irregular boundary. (0 to 15 centimeters thick)

BE--30 to 43 centimeters; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; common very dark brown (10YR 2/2) and brown (10YR 4/3) worm casts; moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine to medium continuous tubular pores; moderately acid; clear irregular boundary. (8 to 20 centimeters thick)

Bt1--43 to 76 centimeters; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine and fine tubular pores; few faint brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; about 4 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--76 to 114 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine and fine tubular pores; few distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; about 5 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 36 to 76 centimeters.)

2Bt3--114 to 140 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; many fine and medium tubular pores; common distinct brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 25 centimeters thick)

3R--140 centimeters; fragmented limestone over hard level bedded limestone that is shattered in the upper part. Some of the limestone fragments can be separated and have small amounts of reddish clayey material between them.

TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 104-Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies, Olmstead County, Minnesota subset; about 3 miles south and 3 miles west of Hammond; located about 945 feet west and 1,700 feet south of the northeast corner of section 1, T. 108 N., R. 14 W.; USGS Zumbro Lake topographic quadrangle; lat. 44 degrees 11 minutes 24 seconds N. and long. 92 degrees 26 minutes 32 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to limestone bedrock (lithic contact)--100 to more than 150 centimeters
Depth to carbonates--100 to 150 centimeters, not in materials above limestone bedrock
Content of clay in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--20 to 30 percent
Content of sand in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--20 to 55 percent

A or Ap horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--loam or silt loam
Clay content--15 to 24 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral
Rock fragment content--1 to 10 percent

E horizon (when present):
Hue--10YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--2 or 3
Texture--silt loam or loam
Clay content--15 to 24 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral
Rock fragment content--1 to 10 percent

BE horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--3 or 4
Texture--silt loam or loam
Clay content--20 to 27 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral
Rock fragment content--1 to 10 percent

Bt horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--3 or 4
Texture--loam, clay loam or sandy clay loam
Clay content--20 to 30 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral
Rock fragment content--1 to 10 percent

2Bt horizon (when present):
Hue--5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR
Value--4 to 6
Chroma--3 to 8
Texture--clay, silty clay, or clay loam
Clay content--35 to 55 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral
Rock fragment content--0 to 15 limestone channers and chert fragments, 0 to 10 percent limestone flagstones

Many pedons have a stone line in or above the 2Bt horizon

Some pedons have layers 0.3 to 1.5 meters thick of channery, very channery, and extremely channery analogs of loam or sandy loam with rock fragment content of 3 to 35 percent channers and 0 to 15 percent flagstones above hard, level-bedded, limestone bedrock.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Angus, Argyle, Bassett, Blooming, Caleb, Cortland, Gara, Koronis, Lester, Newcomer, Orwood, Racine, Sebbo, Taopi, and Winneshiek series.
Angus--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters and have carbonates within a depth of 137 centimeters
Argyle--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters and have matrix hues of 5YR or redder in the lower half of the series control section
Bassett--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters and have a moist bulk density range of 1.75 g/cc to 190 g/cc in the lower third of the series control section
Blooming--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters and have carbonates within a depth of 165 centimeters
Caleb--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters
Cortland--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters
Gara--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters and have a clay content that averages 30 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section
Koronis--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters and have carbonates within a depth of 91 centimeters
Lester--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters and have carbonates within a depth of 137 centimeters
Newcomer--have a paralithic contact with sandstone within a depth of 100 centimeters
Orwood--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters
Racine--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters and have carbonates within a depth of 178 centimeters
Sebbo--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters and have redoximorphic features in the lower third of the series control section
Taopi--do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 152 centimeters and have a rock fragment content of 10 to 40 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Winneshiek--have a lithic contact with limestone within a depth of 100 centimeters

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--100 to more than 150 centimeters of glacial drift with or without a thin layer of residuum or a reddish paleosol overlying limestone bedrock
Landform--summits and backslopes on uplands
Slope--0 to 35 percent
Elevation--200 to 400 meters above sea level
Mean annual air temperature--6 to 10 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--735 to 965 millimeters
Frost-free period--145 to 205 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Atkinson, Rockton, Whalan, and Winneshiek soils.
Atkinson--are on similar landscape positions as the Waucoma soils and have mollic epipedons 25 to 46 centimeters thick
Rockton--are at lower landscape positions on side slopes, have a lithic contact of limestone within a depth of 100 centimeters, and have mollic epipedons 25 to 46 centimeters thick
Whalan--are at lower landscape positions on side slopes, have a lithic contact of limestone within a depth of 100 centimeters and have lighter colored surface layers
Winneshiek--are on similar landscape positions as the Waucoma soils and have a lithic contact of dolomitic limestone within a depth of 100 centimeters

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--well drained--a frequently saturated zone does not occur within a depth of 1.8 meters during the wettest periods of normal years
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--1.00 to 10.00 micrometers per second in the glacial drift, 0.10 to 1.00 micrometers per second in the residuum or paleosol (when present) and 0.00 to 10.00 micrometers per second in the limestone bedrock depending on the amount of weathered rock
Surface runoff potential--negligible to high

USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas are cultivated. The principal crops are corn, soybeans, small grains, and hay. More steeply sloping areas are pastured or forested. The native vegetation is big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, other grasses of the tall grass prairie, and deciduous trees (oak and hickory).

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic sections--Dissected till plains, Wisconsin driftless section
MLRAs--Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (104) and Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills (105)
LRR M; northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota, and northwest Illinois
Extent--small

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Winneshiek County, Iowa, 1970.

REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 43 to 94 centimeters (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons);
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 140 centimeters (A, E, BE, Bt1, Bt2, and 2Bt3 horizons).

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
ochric epipedon--the zone from the surface to a depth of 30 centimeters (A and E horizons);
argillic horizon--the zone from a depth of 43 to 140 centimeters (Bt1, Bt2, and 2Bt3 horizons);
lithic contact--the contact with limestone bedrock at 140 centimeters;
udic moisture regime.

The upper 0.3 to 1.5 meters of limestone may be significantly fractured and may not be a root restrictive layer.

Cation-exchange activity class is inferred from lab data from similar soils in the surrounding area.

Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, tenth edition, 2006.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.