LOCATION BOREA WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, mixed, active, frigid Aeric Glossaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Borea clay, on a convex, northeast facing 1 percent slope under mixed conifer and hardwoods at an elevation of 800 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 2 inches; very dark gray (5YR 3/1) clay; dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine, common medium and coarse roots; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
E/B--2 to 13 inches; 60% reddish gray (5YR 5/2) and reddish brown (5YR 5/3) silty clay (E); pinkish gray (5YR 7/2) dry; weak medium platy structure; firm; many medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; extends as tongues into or surrounds remnants of reddish brown (5YR 4/3) clay (Bt); strong medium angular blocky structure; firm; common fine and few medium roots; common faint reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; common pinkish gray (5YR 7/2) dry, coatings of E material on faces of peds; few faint dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) organic coatings on faces of peds; about 2 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Glossic horizon - 2 to 20 inches thick)
Bt--13 to 22 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; common fine and few medium roots; common faint reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; common pinkish gray (5YR 7/2) dry, coating of E material on faces of peds; few fine faint reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; about 1 percent gravel; slightly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (7 to 18 inches thick)
Btk1--22 to 37 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; strong coarse angular blocky structure; firm; few fine and medium roots between peds; common faint reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; common medium and coarse irregular pink (5YR 7/4) soft masses of calcium carbonate; violently effervescent (about 8 percent calcium carbonate); about 1 percent gravel; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary.
Btk2--37 to 57 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; moderate medium prismatic structure; firm; few fine and medium roots between peds; common faint reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; common prominent greenish gray (5G 5/1) coatings of calcium carbonate on vertical faces of peds; common coarse prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; few coarse irregular pink (5YR 7/4) soft masses of calcium carbonate; thin (< 1") prominent pinkish gray (5YR 6/2) silty clay loam strata in the lower part; strongly effervescent (about 4 percent calcium carbonate); about 1 percent gravel; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btk horizon ranges from 16 to 35 inches.)
2Bk--57 to 63 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) stratified very fine sandy loam and loamy fine sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure breaking to weak thick plates along depositional strata; very friable; few fine and medium roots between peds; common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; common medium irregular faint pink (5YR 7/4) soft masses of calcium carbonate; strongly effervescent; (about 8 percent calcium carbonate); about 1 percent gravel; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
2C--63 to 80 inches; stratified reddish brown (5YR 5/4) and reddish brown (5YR 4/4) stratified very fine sandy loam, fine sand, and loam; massive breaking to weak thick plates along depositional strata; friable; common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Douglas County, Wisconsin; about 1 mile east of Dewey; about 1630 feet south and 25 feet east of the northwest corner of section 11, T.47 N., R.15 W.; USGS Borea, WI quad.; lat. 46 degrees 34 minutes 17 seconds N. and long. 92 degrees 13 minutes 25 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of the argillic horizon, thickness of the clayey till, and depth to the stratified loamy and sandy deposits all ranges from 40 to 60 inches. The weighted average clay content of the particle-size control section ranges from 60 to 85 percent. These soils have linear extensibility of 6 cm or more in the upper 40 inches. Depth to free carbonates ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 3 percent throughout. Redox features occur in all layers between either the lower boundary of an Ap horizon or a depth of 10 inches below the mineral soil surface (whichever is deeper) and a depth of 16 inches. Aquic conditions occur within 20 inches for some time in most years. These soils react positively to alpha, alpha-dipyridyl at some time during saturation.
The A horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 or 3; and chroma of 1 to 3. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Textures are silty clay loam, silty clay or clay. Reaction naturally ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid but ranges to neutral where the soil is limed.
Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 and 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. The E horizon is loam, silt loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay or clay. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid.
Borea soils have a glossic horizon (E/B or B/E horizon, or both). The E part has color and texture like the E horizon described above. The Bt part has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR; value of 3 to 5; and chroma of 3 or 4. It is typically clay but in some pedons, it is silty clay loam or silty clay. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral.
The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR and value and chroma of 3 or 4. It is typically clay but some pedons have subhorizons of silty clay. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to slightly alkaline.
The Btk horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR and value and chroma of 3 or 4. It is typically clay but some pedons have subhorizons of silty clay or thin strata of silty clay loam. Reaction ranges from slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline.
The 2Bk horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is stratified. Individual strata are mostly silt loam, very fine sandy loam, loam, fine sandy loam, loamy very fine sand, loamy fine sand, very fine sand, or fine sand but a few thin strata of finer texture are in many pedons. Reaction is slightly or moderately alkaline.
The 2C horizon has color and texture like the 2Bk horizon described above. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to slightly alkaline. Some pedons have a 2Ck horizon with colors and textures similar to those of the 2Bk horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Cuttre series. Related soils are the Amnicon, Anton, Badriver, and Lerch series. Cuttre soils do not have stratified loamy and sandy deposits in the lower part of the series control section. Amnicon and Anton soils are Vertic Eutroboralfs. Badriver soils have fine particle-size class. Lerch soils are Vertic Epiaquepts.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Borea soils are on flats, gently sloping knolls and sideslopes, and in drainageways, and shallow depressions on till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in clayey glacial till and/or clayey lacustrine deposits underlain by stratified loamy and/or sandy stratified 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 1100 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Anton, and Cuttre, and Lerch soils. The moderately well drained Anton soils and the poorly and very poorly drained Lerch soils form a drainage sequence with Borea soils. Cuttre soils are on landscape positions similar to those of Borea soils where there is more than 60 inches of clayey till.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is slow or medium. Permeability is extremely slow or very slow in the clayey till deposits and moderate to rapid in the stratified substratum loamy and sandy deposit. Borea soils have a perched seasonal high water table above at 0.5 to 2.0 feet in the clayey till at a depth of 0.5 to 1.5 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time from September to June in 6 or more out of 10 normal years. Borea soils also have an apparent water table below 40 inches in the stratified substratum during most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for woodland. Some areas are used for cropland or pastureland. Oats, timothy, bromegrass, reed canary grass, alfalfa, and trefoil are the principal crops. Many areas which were formerly cropland are now idle and are reverting to natural vegetation. Native vegetation is mixed deciduous and coniferous forest. Common trees are red maple, balsam fir, balsam poplar, quaking aspen, paper birch bur oak, and willow. Common understory species are speckled alder, redosier dogwood, black snakeroot, wild sarsaparilla, and bracken fern.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Wisconsin (MLRA K92). This series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota; MLRA SSO 10-4 (Duluth, Minnesota).
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Douglas County, Wisconsin, 2005. Source of the name is an unincorporated railroad stop in northwestern Douglas County.
REMARKS: An Aeric Vertic subgroup should be proposed to recognize the vertic property. Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon include: ochric epipedon - 0 to 2 inches (A horizon); glossic horizon - 2 to 13 inches (E/B horizon); argillic horizon - 13 to 57 inches (Bt, Btk1, and Btk2 horizons); vertic feature - linear extensibility of 6 cm or more in the upper 40 inches; aquic feature - redox features in all layers between the a depth of 10 inches below the mineral soil surface and a depth of 16 inches and aquic conditions within 20 inches for some time in most years; particle size control section 13 to 33 inches.
The intense reddish colors inherent in the parent material often mask the redoxomorphic features (color - chroma) and make taxonomic classification difficult. Water table studies in this soil (and it's associated soils) were used to classify this series.
Only series status, responsibility, and scriveners errors changed - 3/09.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0568. Refer to soil survey sample number S92WI-031-006 for NSSL data on the typical pedon.