LOCATION FINLAND MNTentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, frigid Humic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Finland loam on a northwest facing 6 percent slightly convex side slope of a moraine with an elevation of about 1,445 feet. The overstory vegetation contains balsam fir, paper birch and trembling aspen. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--1 to 0 inches; partly decomposed plant remains.
A--0 to 4 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; many coarse and common fine and very fine roots; about 10 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
Bhs--4 to 10 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) fine sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/3) dry; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine, fine and medium roots; about 12 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bs--10 to 20 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) gravelly loam, brown (7.5YR 5/3) dry; weak and moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and very fine roots; about 18 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 16 inches thick)
2Bw--20 to 39 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak medium platy structure; firm; few very fine and fine roots; about 25 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; medium acid; gradual smooth boundary. (6 to 25 inches thick)
2Cd--39 to 60 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) dense till crushing to gravelly fine sandy loam; weak very thick platy soil fragments; firm; about 25 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: St. Louis County, Minnesota; about 18 miles northeast of Duluth; about 550 feet south and 40 feet east of the southwest corner, sec. 21, T. 53 N., R. 12 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERTISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 24 to 40 inches. Depth to firm till ranges from 14 to 27 inches. Depth to free carbonates is 60 inches or more. The total coarse fragment content in the upper mantle ranges from 2 to 20 percent by volume with 0 to 3 percent cobbles and stones. The total coarse fragment content in the till ranges from 15 to 35 percent by volume with 0 to 5 percent cobbles and stones. They are dominantly subangular and angular sandstone, rhyolite and basalt. Earthworm activity and tree tipping destroy or modify upper horizons in some pedons.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 5YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2. Some pedons have thin E horizons. The A and E horizons are fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, silt loam, or loam and are very strongly acid to medium acid.
The Bhs and Bs horizons have hue of 5YR or 2.5YR. The Bhs has value and chroma of 3 and the Bs has value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 4. They are fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, loam, gravelly fine sandy loam, gravelly loam or silt loam. They are strongly acid or medium acid.
The 2Bw horizon has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR and value and chroma of 3 or 4. It is gravelly sandy loam or gravelly fine sandy loam. It is strongly acid to slightly acid. Some pedons have 2BC horizons.
The 2Cd horizon has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR and value and chroma of 3 or 4. It is gravelly sandy loam or gravelly fine sandy loam. It is medium acid to neutral.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Burton series in this family and the closely related Ahmeek, Mesaba, and Newfound series. Ahmeek soils have an ochric epipedon and less coarse fragments throughout. Burton and Mesaba soils have bedrock within 40 inches of the surface. Newfound soils have hue yellower than 7.5YR in the lower B and C horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on mid and upper convex side slopes of the bedrock-cored Highland Moraine and nearby terminal, recessional and ground moraines. Slope gradients typically are 1 to 18 percent, but range to 35 percent. The dense till is Superior Lobe of Late Wisconsinan Age. The mantle has more silt and very fine sand and is probably of more recent age. Mean annual temperature ranges from about 35 to 40 degrees F, and mean annual precipition ranges from about 28 to 30 inches. These soils are within the lake influenced climate of Lake Superior.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The Hermantown soils form a drainage sequence with the Finland soils. They are somewhat poorly drained and are on lower lying plane to slightly concave slopes. The Ahmeek soils form a climesequence with the Finland soils and are geographically west and southwest. Ahmeek soils are also beyond the local modified climate of Lake Superior.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Surface runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderate in the mantle and moderately slow to slow in the dense till.
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is forested. Overstory vegetation typically includes red maple, sugar maple, white spruce, balsam fir, trembling aspen and paper birch. The shrub community typically includes mountain maple and hazel.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Minnesota. Extensive
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES PROPOSED: St. Louis County, Minnesota, 1982. Source of the name is a village in southeast Lake County.
REMARKS: Taxonomy dictates that an Umbric epipedon be at least 1 color value darker than the 2Bw horizon, but this is waived because of dark parent material and the organic matter content meets requirements.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized are: umbric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 10 inches (A and Bhs horizons); cambic horizon - the zone from 10 to 39 inches (Bs and 2Bw horizons).
This soil with slope of 1 to 8 percent is prime farmland.
Additional Data: Refer to MAES Central File Code No. 3391 for some analysis of the typical pedon.