LOCATION ELDERON WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, frigid Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Elderon gravelly sandy loam - on a 16 percent slope in a hayfield at an elevation of about 1,290 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) gravelly sandy loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; common fine roots; about 10 percent garvel and 5 percent cobbles; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Bs--7 to 15 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) very cobbly coarse sandy loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; about 22 percent gravel and 30 percent cobbles; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (7 to 14 inches thick)
Bt1--15 to 33 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) extremely cobbly loamy coarse sand; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; thin discontinuous clay films on faces of some peds and on pebbles and cobbles; clay bridging between sand grains; about 35 percent gravel and 30 percent cobbles; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (12 to 22 inches thick)
Bt2--33 to 44 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) extremely cobbly loamy coarse sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds, but clay bridging dominates; about 43 percent gravel and 30 percent cobbles; some of the coarse fragments are dolostone; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
C--44 to 60 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) extremely cobbly coarse sand; single grain; loose; about 40 percent gravel and 30 percent cobbles; some coarse fragments are dolostone; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Shawano County, Wisconsin; about 3 miles northeast of Birnamwood; 1,275 feet east and 460 feet north of the southwest corner of sec. 35, T. 29 N., R. 11 E. USGS Birnamwood Wis. Quad. Latitude 44 degrees 56 minutes 40 seconds N. Longitude 89 degrees 8 minutes 17 seconds W. NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of soil development ranges from 20 to 50 inches. Volume of gravel ranges from 5 to 55 percent in the A horizon and from 20 to 60 percent in the B horizon and C horizon. Volume of cobbles and stones ranges from 2 to 50 percent in the A horizon and from 15 to 50 percent in the B horizon and C horizon. Stony phases are recognized in some places. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral in the solum and is neutral or mildly alkaline in the substratum. Depth to carbonates is greater than 60 inches, but many pedons contain dolostone fragments that are partially weathered on the surface.
The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Horizons with value moist of 3 have value dry of 6 or more. Uncultivated pedons have an A horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 3. Texture of the Ap or A horizon is sandy loam, gravelly sandy loam, or loamy coarse sand.
Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Textures is sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or the gravelly, very gravelly, cobbly, or very cobbly analogs.
The Bs horizon has hue of hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 3 to 6; and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is coarse sandy loam, or sandy loam, or gravelly, very gravelly, cobbly or very cobbly analogs of these textures.
The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; and value and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is loamy coarse sandy, loamy sand, coarse sand, sand, or gravelly, very gravelly, cobbly, very cobbly, or extremely cobbly analogues of these textures.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is sand, or coarse sand, or the gravelly, very gravelly, cobbly, very cobbly, or extremely cobbly analogs of these textures.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the
Moberg series. Moberg soils have less than 2 percent cobbles in the loamy mantle and less than 8 percent cobbles in the sandy outwash.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are mainly on eskers, kames, margins of glacial moraines, or as rises within nearly level outwash areas. Slopes range from 2 to 45 percent. These soils formed in less than 2 feet of loamy deposits over gravelly or cobbly coarse sand glacial drift. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 25 to 37 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 43 to 46 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are
Chetek,
Kennan, and
Rosholt soils. Chetek and Rosholt soils are in a similar landscape and next to the Elderon soils, but contain less cobbles and stones. Kennan soils are nearby in the landscape and have less cobbles, stones, and pebbles and more silt throughout the profile.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from negligible to high. Permeability is moderately rapid in the loamy mantle and very rapid in the sandy, gravelly and cobbly drift.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for pastureland or woodland. A few areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, hay, or small grain. Native vegetation is mixed coniferous and deciduous forests with American basswood, yellow birch, sugar maple, red maple, and northern red oak predominating.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Wisconsin. This soil is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Shawano County, Wisconsin, 1981.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 7 inches (Ap); cambic horizon - 7 to 15 inches (Bs); Dydtrudepts no carbonates in the soil and base saturation less than 60 percent (by ammonium acetate) in all subhorizons between depths of 25 and 75 cm below the soil surface.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to soil survey sample number S78WI-115-005 (NSSL numbers 78P2971-78P2975) for data on the typical pedon.