LOCATION ALPENA MI+WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, frigid Entic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Alpena gravelly sandy loam - on a northwest-facing slope of 6 percent in a forested area. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--0 to 2 inches; black (10YR 2/1) partially decomposed leaf litter. (0 to 3 inches thick)
A1--2 to 6 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) gravelly sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many roots; about 25 percent gravel; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)
A2--6 to 9 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) gravelly sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; very friable; common roots; about 20 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A1 and A2 horizons is 4 to 16 inches.)
C--9 to 60 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) stratified very gravelly sand and sand, single grain; loose; few roots; about 50 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; moderately alkaline, slightly effervescent.
TYPE LOCATION: Delta County, Michigan; about 2 1/4 miles north of Garden; 1,240 feet north and 660 feet west of the center of sec. 5, T. 39 N., R. 18 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Unless otherwise stated the depths in the following paragraph are measured from the mineral soil surface.) The solum ranges from about 4 to 10 inches in thickness. Depth to free carbonates ranges from 4 to 30 inches. Rock fragments are of limestone origin. The gravel content ranges from 10 to 75 percent in the solum and from 35 to 80 percent in the C horizon. Cobble content ranges from 0 to 10 percent. Total rock fragment content ranges from 15 to 75 percent in the solum and from 35 to 85 percent in the C horizon.
The A1 horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. The A2 horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 6. The A horizons are sandy loam, loam,loamy sand, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogues of these textures. Reaction of the A1 and A2 horizons is neutral or slightly alkaline. Upon mixing, the upper 7 inches has a chroma that is less than 3.5 moist.
Some pedons have Bw horizons that range up to 5 inches thick. They have hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 3 or 4. They are sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam or the gravelly, very gravelly, extremely gravelly, cobbly or very cobbly analogues of these textures. Reaction of the Bw horizon is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is the gravelly, very gravelly or extremely gravelly analogs of sand or coarse sand or the stratified very gravelly sand and sand or coarse sand. Reactkion is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Coe and Sioux series. Coe soils have more than 20 percent shale in the 0.1 to 76 mm fraction in the C horizon. Sioux soils are in an areas receiving less than 28 inches of mean annual precipitation and do not have rock fragments composed of limestone.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Alpena soils are on glacial lake beaches, kames, outwash plains, eskers, and deltas. Slope gradients typically average between 0 and 18 percent and range from 0 to about 50 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges form 28 to 31 inches, and the mean annual temperature ranges from 42 to 44 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the East Lake, Kiva, and Mancelona soils and the Kalkaska, Longrie, Rubicon, and Sundell soils. East Lake, Kiva, and Mancelona are somewhat excessively drained and well drained soils on nearby kames, outwash plains and eskers. Kalkaska and Rubicon soils have spodic horizons and are on the uplands near areas of Alpena soils. The well drained Longrie and somewhat poorly drained Sundell soils, which are underlain by limestone bedrock at a depth of 20 to 40 inches, and are associated with Alpena soils in some areas.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is very rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the Alpena soils are forested. Small areas are in pasture. Primary use is for forestry and secondary uses are for wildlife and recreation. Major species include northern white cedar, balsam fir, red maple, quaking aspen, paper birch, and white spruce.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Lower Peninsula and the eastern part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northeastern Wisconsin particularly near the Great Lakes. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Alpena County, Michigan, 1924.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface to 7 inches (A1 and A2 horizons).
The bedrock substratum phase of this soil is no longer within the series concept.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record No.: MI0124