LOCATION COMSTOCK WI+MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, frigid Aquic Glossudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Comstock silt loam - on a 2 percent convex slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 1,246 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak and moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
E1--8 to 11 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; moderate medium platy structure; friable; common fine roots; few medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron accumulations in the matrix; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
E2--11 to 15 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam, light gray (10YR 7/2) dry; moderate medium platy structure; friable, common fine roots; many medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron accumulations in the matrix; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of E horizons is 0 to 12 inches.)
B/E--15 to 21 inches; 60 percent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam (Bt); moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; many medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron accumulations in the matrix; penetrated by tongues of grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam (E), light gray (10YR 7/2) dry; moderate medium platy structure; friable; many medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron accumulations in the matrix; common fine roots; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Glossic horizon - 2 to 30 inches thick)
Bt1--21 to 28 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; few fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and in channels; few distinct coatings of light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry, silt, mostly along vertical faces of prisms; many medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron accumulations and common medium distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) iron depletions in the matrix; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--28 to 34 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak coarse and medium subangular blocky; firm; few fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and in channels; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron accumulations in the matrix; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bt horizon is 6 to 36 inches.)
BC--34 to 44 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam with strata of fine sand and very fine sand; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak coarse subangular blocky; friable; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 26 inches thick)
C--44 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) stratified silt, silt loam, and very fine sand; massive; tends to break horizontally along textural strata; friable; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Polk County, Wisconsin; about 7 miles northwest of Turtle Lake; 3,840 feet west and 300 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 22, T. 35 N., R. 15 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 28 to 60 inches. Depth to stratification range from 24 to 40 inches. Rock fragments typically are absent throughout the soil, but some pedons have up to 3 percent gravel and cobbles. Reaction typically ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the solum, but it ranges to neutral in the Ap horizon where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral in the substratum. Iron accumulations are throughout the pedon below the A horizon. Iron depletions are in the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon. Saturation occurs in the upper 10 inches of the argillic at some time in most years.
The Ap has value and chroma of 2 or 3. Uncultivated pedons have an A horizon, 2 to 5 inches thick, with hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2.
The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3.
Comstock soils have a glossic horizon (E/B or B/E horizons, or both). The E part has color and texture like the E horizon described above. The Bt part has color and texture like the Bt horizon described below.
The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 3 or 4. It is silt loam or silty clay loam and has thin strata of coarser or finer texture in the lower part in some pedons.
The BC and C horizons have hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 2 to 6. They are dominantly silt loam, but typically have thin strata of silty clay loam, silt, fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sand, very fine sand, loamy fine sand, loamy very fine sand, or loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Almena, Depeyster, and Maplehurst series. Similar soils are the Crystal Lake and Poskin series. Almena soils do not have stratification in the series control section. Depeyster soils do not have a glossic horizon. Maplehurst soils have sandy outwash in the lower part of the series control section at 40 to 60 inches. Crystal Lake soils do not have mottles with chroma of 2 or less or aquic conditions in the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon. Poskin soils are fine-silty over sandy or sandy-skeletal.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Comstock soils are on glacial lake plains and stream terraces. Slope gradients are 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in lacustrine deposits dominated by silt and very fine sand. Mean annual temperature ranges from 39 to 45 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. The frost free period ranges from about 120 to 135 days. Elevation ranges from 800 to 1950 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Barronett, Campia, and Crystal Lake soils. The well drained Campia, the moderately well drained Crystal Lake, and poorly drained Barronett soils form a drainage sequence with the Comstock soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Surface runoff is slow or very slow. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderately slow in the substratum. These soils have a perched seasonal high water table at a depth of 1 to 2.5 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period September to June in 6 or more out of 10 years. The water table is perched over stratified lacustrine sediments but in most years will eventually saturate the lacustrine sediments and exhibit an apparent water table.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay. The native vegetation is mostly hardwood forest with some conifers. Common trees are red maple, balsam fir, quaking aspen, sugar maple, white ash, yellow birch, paper birch, American hornbeam, American basswood, and American elm.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central and northwestern Wisconsin and east-central Minnesota. This soil is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Barron County, Wisconsin, 1950.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 15 inches (Ap, E1, E2); albic horizon - 8 to 15 inches (E1, E2); glossic horizon - 15 to 21 inches (B/E); argillic horizon - 15 to 34 inches (B/E, Bt1, Bt2); aquic feature - redox depletions with chroma of 2 or less and saturation in upper 10 inches of argillic.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0224