LOCATION BORGSTROM MIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, frigid, shallow, ortstein Typic Durorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Borgstrom sand on a 2 percent slope in a forested area. (Colors refer to moist soil conditions unless otherwise stated.)
Oi--0 to 2 inches; slightly decomposed leaf litter.
Oa--2 to 4 inches; black (N 2/0) well decomposed leaf litter; weak medium granular structure; friable; many fine to coarse roots; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
E--4 to 11 inches; pinkish gray (5YR 6/2) sand, pinkish gray (5YR 7/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine to coarse roots; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
Bhsm--11 to 13 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) and dark reddish brown (3/3) sand; massive; very hard; ortstein occupies 100 percent of horizon and is strongly cemented; ortstein occurs as a continuous layer with tongues that extend to a depth of 20 inches; common fine to coarse roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bsm--13 to 23 inches; mixed brown (7.5YR 4/4) (80 percent) and dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) sand; massive; very hard: ortstein occupies 100 percent of the horizon as is strongly cemented; ortstein occurs as a nearly continuous layer; few fine roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
BC--23 to 31 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sand; very weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
2C1--31 to 61 inches; stratified pale brown (10YR 6/3), reddish brown (5YR 4/4), and pinkish gray (5YR 6/2) fine sand, silt loam, and very fine sand; massive parting to weak fine platy fragments; friable; common coarse distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) and common coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron accumulations; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (12 to 35 inches thick)
2C2--61 to 80 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam; massive parting to weak fine platy fragments; friable; common coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and reddish brown (5YR 5/4) mottles; slight effervescence; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Mackinac County, Michigan; about 5 miles east of the village of Naubinway, 2,640 feet north and 330 feet west of the southeast corner of sec. 19, T. 43 N., R. 8 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Unless otherwise stated depth ranges in the following paragraph are from the mineral surface to the specified depth.) Solum thickness and depth of the sandy lacustrine material ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Coarse fragments range from 0 to 5 percent throughout the pedon. The solum is sand or fine sand.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR to 5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Some pedons have an A horizon up to 3 inches thick. The A and E horizon are extremely acid or very strongly acid.
The Bhsm has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value and chroma of 2 or 3. The Bsm horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Reaction of the Bhsm and Bsm horizons is very strongly acid or strongly acid. Pedons may have either or both a Bhsm or Bsm, but one is always present.
The BC horizon has colors similar to those of the 2C horizon and is sand or fine sand. Reaction is strongly acid to slightly acid.
The 2C horizons have hue of 10YR to 5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. Textures include fine sand, very fine sand and silt loam, with few strata of loamy fine sand, loamy very fine sand, fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam and silt. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to slightly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are none. Closely related are the Ocqueoc soils which do not have ortstein in over 50 percent of the spodic horizon and which have lighter colored upper spodic horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Borgstrom soils formed in sandy outwash deposits and the underlying loamy lacustrine sediments on outwash plains and lake plains. Slopes range from 0 to 6 percent. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 36 inches. The mean annual temperatures range from 40 to 45 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the somewhat poorly drained Ingalls soils and the well drained Alcona and Wallace soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The seasonal high water table is perched at the contact with the loamy 2C material and ranges from 2 to 3.5 feet below the surface from November to April. Surface runoff is negligible to very low. Permeability is rapid in the solum except for the ortstein horizon that is moderate or moderately rapid, and is moderately slow in the loamy material.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are forested. Common tree species are sugar maple, red maple, yellow birch and eastern hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Mackinac County, Michigan, 1994.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
albic horizon - 4 to 11 inches (E horizon);
spodic horizon - 11 to 23 inches (Bhsm and Bsm horizons);
ortstein feature - spodic horizon is cemented in 90 percent or more of each pedon.
Oxyaquic feature - The soil is saturated with water within 40 inches of the mineral surface for 1 month or more per year in 6 or more out of 10 years.
Since there currently is no Oxyaquic subgroup of the Durorthods the soil has been classified to the Typic subgroup.