LOCATION DOLPH              WI
Established Series
Rev. PHC-GWH
07/1999

DOLPH SERIES


The Dolph series consists of deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in loess and the underlying clayey residuum weathered from micaceous schist. These upland soils have slow permeability. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 30 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 44 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, frigid Aeric Glossaqualfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Dolph silt loam - on a 2 percent slope in a hay meadow at an elevation of about 1100 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine fibrous roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)

E--8 to 10 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam; many fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; weak thin platy structure; friable; many fine fibrous roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)

E/B--10 to 15 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silt loam (E); common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky; friable; isolated remnants of reddish brown (5YR 4/4) and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) silt loam (Bt) occupy about 20 percent of the horizon; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)

2B/E--15 to 19 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) and weak red (2.5YR 4/2) clay loam (Bt); many fine distinct and prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to weak fine angular blocky; firm; many thin dark brown (10YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds and in tubular pores of the Bt part of the horizon; tongues of reddish gray (5YR 5/2), brown (7.5YR 5/2), and light brownish (10YR 6/2) silt loam (E) penetrate this horizon; occupies approximately 20 percent of the horizon; few fine fibrous roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)

2Bt1--19 to 26 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay loam; few medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) mottles; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and very fine angular blocky; very firm; continuous faint clay films on faces of peds and in tubular pores; 3 percent by volume fine weathered rock fragments throughout horizon; extremely acid; gradual wavy boundary.

2Bt2--26 to 36 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak medium and fine angular blocky; very firm; common faint clay films on faces of peds and continuous pores; 3 percent by volume fine weathered rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of 2Bt horizons range from 10 to 18 inches.)

2C--36 to 57 inches; mottled olive gray (5Y 4/2) and reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; massive with some weak coarse platy structure; friable; few moderately thick (2 to 4 inches) tongues of clay loam extend 10 to 12 inches into this horizon from the 2Bt horizon above; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (15 to 30 inches thick)

Cr--57 to 71 inches; dark olive gray (5Y 3/2), olive yellow (5Y 6/6), and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) weathered mica schist; moderately soft (can be chopped out with spade); thin clay coatings of light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) on some schist fragments near upper boundary.

TYPE LOCATION: Wood County, Wisconsin; about 5 miles southeast of Vesper; 725 feet east and 525 feet north of the center of sec. 23, T. 23 N., R. 5 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 24 to 45 inches. Silty mantle is less than 30 inches thick. The A horizon ranges from very strongly acid to neutral. The B horizon is extremely acid to strongly acid. The C horizon is strongly acid to slightly acid. The upper silty mantle does not have coarse fragments. Volume of pebbles in the residuum (lower part of solum and in the substratum range from 0 to 5 percent.

The Ap or A horizon has 10YR hue, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. Where present, the A horizon is 3 to 5 inches thick.

The E horizon has 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR hue; value of 4 through 6; and chroma of 2 or 3. Mottles are few to many and distinct to prominent.

Dolph soils have E/B or B/E horizons, or both. They have tongues of E material surrounding thin, columnlike upward extensions of the Bt horizon or wholly surrounding small, isolated remnants of the Bt horizon. The tongues have characteristics like the E horizon. The Bt part has 5YR, 2.5YR, or 10R hue; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 2 through 6. It is silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, silty clay, or clay.

The 2Bt horizon has 5YR, 2.5YR, or 10R hue; value of 3 through 5; and chroma of 3 through 6. It is clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Clay films are faint and common to continuous on faces of peds as well as in tubular pores. The control section averages between 35 and 55 percent clay and from 10 to 35 percent fine sand or coarser.

Where present, the 2BC horizon has textures, colors, reaction ranges, and structure intermediate between the 2Bt horizon and the 2C horizon.

The 2C horizon has 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y hue; value of 3 through 6; chroma of 2 through 8, but hue ranges to 10R immediately below the 2BC horizon where present. Mottles are few to many and distinct to prominent. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand, but the range includes silty clay loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam in the upper part.

COMPETING SERIES: Dolph is the only series in this family. Competing series in other families are the Almena, Altdorf, and Rietbrock. Almena soils are fine-silty and have lower chroma. Altdorf soils are fine, have thicker sola, and are gleyed in at least a part of the control section. Rietbrock soils are fine-loamy.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Dolph soils are on nearly level or depressional areas on uplands underlain by bedrock. Slopes are simple and have gradients of 0 to 3 percent. The Dolph soils formed in a loess mantle less than 30 inches thick and in the underlying clayey residuum weathered from micaceous schist. A paralithic contact is at a depth of 40 to more than 60 inches. Mean annual temperature is estimated to range from 43 to 45 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 32 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Altdorf soils. They are in a drainage sequence with the Dolph soils and are in lowerlying positions.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is slow.

USE AND VEGETATION: Much of this land is in pasture or woodland. Other areas have been drained and are being farmed. The vegetation was deciduous forests consisting mostly of American elm, red maple, and black ash, with some white pine.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Wisconsin, mainly in Portage and Wood Counties. These soils are of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wood County, Wisconsin, 1971.

REMARKS: These soils may have some glacial till overlying the residuum. Further study is needed.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: orchic epipedon - the zone from surface of the soil to depth of 8 inches (Ap horizon); albic horizon - 8 to 10 inches (E horizon); argillic horizon - 19 to 36 inches (2Bt1, 2Bt2 horizon).


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.