LOCATION CRESS WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, frigid Humic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Cress sandy loam on a west-facing convex slope of 20 percent in a woodland at an elevation of 1200 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 3 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; about 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
Bw1--3 to 15 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; about 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 23 inches thick)
2Bw2--15 to 31 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loamy sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; about 10 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
2Bw3--31 to 36 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly loamy sand; single grain; loose; few fine roots; about 20 percent gravel;moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. Combined thickness of the 2B horizon ranges from (2 to 30 inches).
2C--36 to 60 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) stratified gravelly sand and sand; single grain; loose; about 20 percent gravel as an average; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Barron County, Wisconsin; about 1.5 miles southwest of Mikana; 400 feet south and 1100 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 29, T. 36 N., R. 10 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 26 to 50 inches. Thickness of the loamy mantle, depth to the base of the cambic horizon, and depth to stratified sandy outwash ranges from 10 to 24 inches. The coarse-loamy mantle contains more than 50 percent fine or coarser sand. Volume of rock fragments is less than 35 percent as a weighted average in the particle-size control section. Rock fragments are of mixed lithology, but mostly of igneous origin. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 20 percent in the loamy mantle. Volume of gravel ranges from 15 to 45 percent in the sandy outwash as a weighted average, but ranges from 0 to 60 percent in individual strata. Some of the gravel in the sandy outwash is more than 0.5 cm in diameter and 15 percent (25 percent by weight) or more is retained on the #4 sieve as a weighted average. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 3 percent throughout. Reaction typically ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the solum but ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid in the substratum.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3.
Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or the gravelly analogs.
The Bw horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 3 to 6; and chroma of 4 to 6. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or the gravelly analogs. Bw horizons with spodic colors have less than 0.6 percent organic carbon or do not meet the acid oxalate extract criteria.
The 2Bw horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 3 to 6. It is sand, coarse sand, loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs.
The 2C horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 3 or 6. It is stratified sandy outwash. Strata are dominantly gravelly or very gravelly analogs of sand or coarse sand, but strata of sand, or coarse sand are in most pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Cromwell series. Similar soils are the Chetek and Pence series. Cromwell soils have less than 15 percent (25 percent by weight) gravel retained on the #4 sieve. Chetek soils have an argillic horizon. Pence soils have a spodic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on outwash plains (smooth or pitted), stream terraces, and disintegration moraines. Slope gradients range from 0 to 35 percent. These soils formed in 10 to 24 inches of loamy alluvium and the underlying sandy outwash of Late Wisconsinan Age. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 39 to 45 degrees F. The frost-free period ranges from about 120 to 135 days. Elevation ranges from 800 to 1,950 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Amery and Mahtomedi soils. The well drained Amery soils are on adjacent areas where the soil is formed in loamy glacial till. The excessively drained Mahtomedi soils are on landscape positions similar to those of Cress soils where the loamy mantle is absent.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained. Surface runoff is slow to very rapid. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid in the loamy mantle and rapid or very rapid in the sandy outwash.
USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas of this soil are in woodland. Native vegetation is mixed deciduous-coniferous forest. Common trees are paper birch, quaking aspen, red pine, northern red oak, and bigtooth aspen. Some areas are used for cropland or pastureland. Common crops are corn, small grains, and hay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Wisconsin. This soil is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Barron County, Wisconsin, 1993.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 3 inches (A); cambic horizon - 3 to 15 inches (Bw1).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0496.