LOCATION BILSON WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, siliceous, superactive, mesic Mollic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Bilson sandy loam on a west facing, convex 2 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation about 1060 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak very fine granular structure; friable; many very fine and fine and few medium roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Bt1--8 to 12 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; few distinct, brown (7.5YR 4/4) and prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--12 to 18 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; common faint dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) and few distinct reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt3--18 to 32 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; common faint dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) and few distinct reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons range from 16 to 30 inches.)
2C1--32 to 38 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sand; single grain; loose; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
2C2--38 to 60 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sand; single grain; loose; few thin (< 1/8 inch) brown (7.5YR 4/4) strata of loamy sand; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Jackson County, Wisconsin; about 3.5 miles south and 1 mile east of Alma Center; 1200 feet north and 120 feet west of the southeast corner of sec. 17, T. 22 N., R. 4 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the loamy mantle and depth to siliceous sandy alluvium range from 20 to 40 inches. Typically these soils have no coarse fragments, but the volume of sandstone gravel or channers ranges from 0 to 15 percent throughout. Reaction typically ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid in the loamy mantle but ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed. Reaction is very strongly acid to slightly acid in the sandy alluvium.
The Ap or A horizon has a hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3.
Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR and value of 3 to 5. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
Some pedons have a 2Bt or 2BC horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR and value and chroma of 4 to 6. It is loamy sand or sand.
The 2C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 to 8, and chroma of 3 to 8. Typically, a few thin strata of sandy loam or loamy sand are in the 2C horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: These are Bilmod and Silverhill series. Similar soils are the Billett and Hoop series. Bilmod soils have redox features and an apparent seasonal high water table. Silverhill soils have a paralithic contact with sandstone at a depth of 40 to 60 inches. Billett soils have 10 percent or more weatherable minerals. Hoop soils have a mollic epipedon and have redox features and an apparent seasonal high water table.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bilmod soils are on pediments or stream terraces, or both. Slope gradients range from 0 to 20 percent. These soils formed in siliceous loamy alluvium underlain by siliceous sandy alluvium. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 46 to 51 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 135 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 680 to 1100 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bilmod, Gardenvale, Hoop, Merimod, Merit, Silverhill, and Sooner soils. The moderately well drained Bilmod soils and the somewhat poorly drained Hoop soils form a drainage sequence with Bilson soils. Gardenvale and Silverhill soils are nearby on sandstone bedrock controlled uplands or terraces where there is sandstone bedrock at 40 to 60 inches. The well drained Merit soils, the moderately well drained Merimod soils, and the somewhat poorly drained Sooner soils form a drainage sequence in nearby areas where there is more clay and less sand in the soil.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is slow to rapid. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid in the loamy mantle, rapid in the sandy alluvium, and moderate to moderately rapid in the stratified sandy alluvium.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods and prairie grass openings or hardwood and conifer barrens with grass understory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West central Wisconsin. These soils are of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Clark County, Wisconsin, 1994.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the pedon are: ochric epipedon (darker than typic) - 0 to 8 inches (Ap); argillic horizon - 18 to 32 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3); siliceous feature - less than 10 percent weatherable minerals in the particle-size control section (0.02 - 2 mm fraction).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0533.