LOCATION FABIUS                  MI+WI

Established Series
Rev. RWJ-EPW-WEF
11/2021

FABIUS SERIES

The Fabius series consist of very deep somewhat poorly drained soils formed in loamy and sandy drift on lake plains, outwash plains, valley trains, and beach ridges. Slope ranges from 0 to 6 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 813 mm (32 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 8.9 degrees C (48 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, semiactive, mesic Aquic Argiudolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Fabius sandy loam, in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

Ap--0 to 18 cm (7 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many medium and fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [18 to 30 cm (7 to 12 inches) thick]

E--18 to 25 cm (7 to 10 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam; weak coarse granular structure; very friable; many roots; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 10 cm (4 inches) thick]

Bt1--25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam; weak coarse granular structure; firm; common fine roots; few distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; common medium faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; about 2 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 10 cm (4 inches) thick]

Bt2--30 to 46 cm (12 to 18 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few roots; common distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; common medium prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; common medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron; about 5 percent gravel; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. [10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 inches) thick]

2C--46 to 152 cm (18 to 60 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) stratified gravel and coarse sand; single grain; loose; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Lapeer County, Michigan; about 2 miles east and 2 miles north of Dryden; 550 feet south and 420 feet east of the northwest corner of the NE1/4 of sec. 6, T. 6 N., R. 12 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the solum: 30 to 76 cm (12 to 30 inches)
Depth to sand and gravel: 46 to 76 cm (18 to 30 inches)
Reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline in the solum

Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: sandy loam or loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent gravel

E horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 1 to 6
Texture: sandy loam or loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 10 percent gravel

Bt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: dominantly sandy clay loam, loam, clay loam, or the gravelly analogs of these textures; sandy loam or gravelly sandy loam subhorizons are allowed
Clay content: 18 to 30 percent
Sand content: 45 to 70 percent fine sand or coarser
Rock fragment content: 0 to 30 percent

2C horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 1 to 6
Texture: stratified sand and gravel, dominantly coarse sand, or coarse gravel
Rock fragment content 0 to 30 percent

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Fabius soils are on outwash plains, valley trains, beach ridges, and lake plains of Wisconsinan Age. Slopes are dominantly between 0 to 2 percent, but they range up to 6 percent. The Fabius soils formed in sandy and loamy drift. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 737 to 940 mm (29 to 37 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 8.3 to 12.2 degrees C (47 to 54 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Casco, Matherton, Mussey, and Sebewa soils. Fabius soils are in a drainage sequence with the somewhat excessively drained Casco and the poorly drained or very poorly drained Mussey soils. Matherton soils and the poorly drained or very poorly drained Sebewa soils are associated in many places.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Depth to the top of a seasonal high water table ranges from 30 to 61 cm (1 to 2 feet) from November to May in normal years. Potential for surface runoff is negligible to medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the upper part and high or very high in the lower part. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid in the upper part and rapid or very rapid in the lower part.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Small grain, beans, corn, and legume-grass hay are the principal crops, especially where artificial drainage is adequate. A part is in permanent pasture or forest. Native vegetation is lowland hardwoods, chiefly American elm, white ash, and swamp white oak.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 95A, 95B, 98, and 99 in central Michigan and eastern Wisconsin. This series is of moderate extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lapeer County, Michigan, 1967.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 18 cm (7 inches) (Ap horizon).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 25 to 46 cm (10 to 18 inches) (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
Aquic conditions: redoximorphic features present from a depth of 25 to 46 cm (10 to 18 inches) (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.