LOCATION FRECHETTE WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, frigid Typic Glossudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Frechette fine sandy loam, on a convex, east facing 8 percent slope in a hardwood forest on the upper side slope of a morainic knoll at an elevation of about 1,065 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 4 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) fine sandy loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; few uncoated sand grains; about 4 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bw1--4 to 7 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) fine sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine roots; many medium and coarse distinct very dark gray (10YR 3/1) worm casts; about 13 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bw2--7 to 12 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine roots; about 9 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 0 to 12 inches)
E/B--12 to 18 inches; 85 percent brown (10YR 5/3) fine sandy loam (E), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; moderate medium platy structure; very friable; surrounds remnants of reddish brown (5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam (Bt); moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; common fine roots; about 10 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
B/E1--18 to 30 inches; 70 percent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam (Bt); moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; many distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; penetrated by tongues of brown (7.5YR 5/3) sandy loam (E), pink (7.5YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; common fine roots; about 4 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.
B/E2--30 to 45 inches; 85 percent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) sandy loam (Bt); moderate coarse angular blocky structure, with weak thick plates inherited from the parent material; friable; common distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; penetrated by tongues of brown (7.5YR 5/3) sandy loam (E), pink (7.5YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; few fine roots; about 6 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Glossic horizon - 20 to 40 inches thick)
Bt--45 to 63 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak coarse angular blocky, with weak medium plates inherited from the parent material; friable; few fine roots; few distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; common faint brown (7.5YR 5/3) coatings of clean sand grains on vertical faces of prisms; about 4 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 40 inches thick)
C--63 to 80 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/3) sandy loam; massive, with weak medium plates inherited from the parent material; friable; few fine roots; slightly effervescent; about 9 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Menominee County, Wisconsin; about 14 miles north to northeast of Keshena; 1,700 feet north and 1,350 feet east of the southwest corner of section 8, T. 30 N., R. 16 E.; USGS Fredenberg Lake quadrangle; lat. 45 degrees 5' 33" N. and long. 88 degrees 34' 53" W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Unless otherwise stated, depth is measured from the top of the mineral soil.) Depth to the base of the argillic horizon and depth to free carbonates range from 45 to 75 inches. The weighted average clay content ranges from 8 to 18 percent and the weighted average content of fine sand or coarser ranges from 35 to 65 percent in the particle-size control section. Rock fragments are a mixture of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. The sedimentary rocks are mostly dolomite. Volume of gravel ranges from 2 to 15 percent throughout the soil and volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 5 percent. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the upper part of the solum and strongly acid to neutral in the lower part. Reaction is mildly or moderately alkaline in the substratum.
Some pedons have a thin O horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
Some pedons have a thin E horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
Some pedons have an E' horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 or 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. It is loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
Frechette soils have a glossic horizon (E/B or B/E horizons, or both). The E part has color and texture like the E' horizon above. The Bt part has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Typically, it is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam, but thin subhorizons of sandy clay loam are in some pedons.
The Bt horizon has color and texture like the Bt part described above.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Typically, it is sandy loam or fine sandy loam, but in some pedons it is loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are no competing in this family. Similar soils are the Automba, Goodland, Itasca, Millersburg, Pemene, and Perote(T) series. These soil all have glossic horizons less than 20 inches in thickness.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Frechette soils are on moraines. Slope gradients range from 2 to 35 percent. Frechette soils formed in calcareous, loamy till. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 39 to 45 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 120 to 135 days. Elevation ranges from 870 to 1,150 feet'
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Labelle(T), Perote(T), and Rabe(T) soils. The somewhat poorly drained Labelle soils form a drainage sequence with Frechette soils. The well drained Perote soils are on nearby areas where sandy outwash is at 40 to 60 inches. The well drained Rabe soils are on nearby areas where there is a sandy mantle 20 to 40 inches thick over the till.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Surface runoff is slow to rapid. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are mostly in woodland. Timber stands are mostly sugar maple, red maple, northern red oak, American basswood, American beech, and white ash with eastern hophornbeam, paper birch and eastern white pine as associates in most stands. Red pine is an associate in some stands. Some areas are cleared and used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay. Some areas are used for pastureland.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Wisconsin. The extent is small. The area is currently included in MLRA K93. It will be included in MLRA L95A when MLRA boundaries are updated. It is on the Silver Cliff Member of the Kewaunee Formation of the Green Bay Lobe of Late Woodfordian age (12,000 BP) of Late Wisconsinian glaciation.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Menominee County, Wisconsin, 1999. Source of the name is a lake in Menominee County.
REMARKS: Frechette soils formerly were included with the fine-loamy Tilleda soils.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon: ochric epipedon - 0 to 4 inches (A); glossic horizon - 12 to 45 inches (E/B, B/E1, B/E2); argillic horizon - 18 to 63 inches (B/E1, B/E2, Bt).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretations Record - (not assigned). Refer to soil survey number S96WI-078-737 for NSSL data on the typical pedon.