LOCATION FREDA MIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, active, frigid Lithic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Freda silt loam on a 5 percent slope - forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--1 to 0 inch; black (5YR 2/1) partially decomposed forest litter; many fine to coarse roots; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 2 inches thick)
A--0 to 1 inch; black (5YR 2/1) silt loam; gray (5YR 4/1) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine to coarse roots; about 5 percent shale channers; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
E--1 to 4 inches; dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine and medium roots; about 5 percent shale channers; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. ( 1 to 3 inches thick)
Bhs--4 to 8 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine and medium roots; about 5 percent shale channers; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick)
Bs--8 to 12 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) channery silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; about 15 percent shale channers; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
2Cr--12 to 16 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) highly weathered shale; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
2R--16 inches; shale bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Houghton County, Michigan; about 14 miles west of the city of Houghton; 2600 feet west and 1200 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 4, T. 54 N., R. 36 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum thickness and depth to bedrock ranges from 10 to 20 inches. The volume of shale channers ranges from 0 to 15 percent in the A, E, and Bh horizons and from 10 to 35 percent in the Bs horizon. The profile ranges from extremely acid to medium acid.
The A horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3.
The Bhs horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5YR, and value and chroma of 2 or 3. The A, E, and Bhs horizons are silt loam, very fine sandy loam or loam.
The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR and value and chroma of 3 or 4. It is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, loam, fine sandy loam or the channery analogues of these textures.
The 2Cr horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, with value and chroma of 3 or 4. It is derived from shale or siltstone.
Some pedons have a C horizon. Where present, it has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. Textures are sandy loam, fine sandy loam or the channery analogues of these textures.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Creasey (T), Hogback, Lyman, Monson (T), and Peshekee series in the same family and the related Summerville soils. The Creasey, Hogback, Lyman and Monson soils are in areas of higher rainfall and longer growing seasons. Michigamme soils have granitic bedrock at 20 to 40 inches. Summerville soils are underlain by limestone bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Freda soils are on ground moraines or lakeshore benches underlain by siltstone or shale bedrock at a depth of 10 to 20 inches. Slope gradients range from 1 to 8 percent. These soils formed in loamy glacial till of Wisconsin age. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 36 inches, and the mean annual temperature ranges from 40 to 45 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the moderately well drained Abbaye, Graveraet, and Munising soils and the somewhat poorly drained Misery, Skanee and Zeba soils. The Abbaye, Graveraet and Munising soils are on landscape positions similar to those of the Freda soils. The Misery, Skanee and Zeba soils are in depressions and drainageways.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate. Runoff is slow or moderate depending on slope.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested with norhtern hardwoods being dominant. Sugar maple, yellow birch, and red maple are the major species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Houghton County, Michigan, 1988.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 1 inch (A horizon); albic horizon - the zone from 1 to 4 inches (E horizon); spodic horizon - the zone from 4 to 12 inches (Bhs and Bs horizons); lithic feature - bedrock at less than 20 inches.