LOCATION ERMATINGER MIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, nonacid, frigid Aeric Fluvaquents
TYPICAL PEDON: Ermatinger silt loam - in an idle field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; black (10YR 2/1) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common medium roots; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
Cg1--8 to 12 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silt loam; few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; common worm channels and some mixing with the Ap; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary.
Cg2--12 to 21 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) very fine sandy loam and loamy very fine sand; few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) and few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottles in matrix and root channels; massive; friable; common fine and medium roots; few fine vesicular pores; common black (N 2/0) organic stains and charcoal; mildly
alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Cg3--21 to 60 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/2) very fine sandy loam and loamy very fine sand; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and common fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottles; massive; friable; few fine roots in upper 15 inches; few fine vesicular pores; common dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) organic stains; mildly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Chippewa County, Michigan; about 4 miles southeast of Sault Ste. Marie; 1,700 feet east and 400 feet north of the southwest corner, sec. 26, T. 47 N., R. 1 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Reaction ranges from medium acid to mildly alkaline in the solum and Cg1 and is mildly alkaline or moderately alkaline in the Cg2 and Cg3.
The Ap horizon has value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2. Where present, the A horizon has the same colors as the Ap horizon. The textures of the A horizons are silt loam, very fine sandy loam, loamy very fine sand or mucky analogues.
The C horizons have hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y or 5Y; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 1 to 4. Textures are silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or loamy very fine sand. Some pedons contain thin strata of very fine sand, fine sand, or loamy fine sand. Colors are commonly stratified within horizons. Organic layers and buried logs are found in some C horizons.
COMPETING SERIES: The Charles series in the same family. The Charles soils are more acid throughout, lack free carbonates, and are in areas of higher precipitation.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on former glacial river flood plains. Slope gradients typically are 0 to 2 percent. These soils formed in coarse-silty alluvial deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 20 to 33 inches, and the mean annual temperature ranges from 41 to 45 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Burleigh, Pickford, and Wega soils. The poorly drained, coarser textured Burleigh soils and the clayey Pickford soils are associated on adjacent lake plains. The somewhat poorly drained Wega soils are in the same drainage sequence.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained and very poorly drained. Surface runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are in permanent pasture or idle. A small part is in small grain and grass-legume hay. Some areas are forest. Major tree species are red maple, quaking aspen, white spruce, black ash, balsam fir, and balsam poplar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Chippewa County, Michigan, 1989.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 8 inches; aquic moisture regime.
ADDITIONAL DATA: For data on representative pedon, refer to Michigan Technological University pedon S84MI-33-3.