LOCATION FRONTENAC               MN

Established Series
Rev. GAP-RAL-TWN
01/2015

FRONTENAC SERIES

The Frontenac series consists of deep, well drained soils that formed in 50 to 100 centimeters of loamy sediments over loamy-skeletal residuum and/or colluvium primarily from limestone. These soils are on slightly convex to slightly concave northwest-facing to southeast-facing slopes on the upper part of foot slopes and the middle and upper parts of valley slopes in dissected terrain. Slope ranges from 15 to 90 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 850 millimeters. Mean annual air temperature is about 8 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Frontenac silt loam, on a southeast-facing, linear slope of 50 percent, on a valley side in a deciduous forest. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 18 centimeters; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam; moderate very fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (14 to 31 centimeters thick)

AB--18 to 30 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam; common fine inclusions of brown (10YR 4/3); moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 19 centimeters thick)

Bw1--30 to 51 centimeters; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam, brown (10YR 4/3) coats on faces of peds; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine and fine tubular pores; about 5 percent rock fragments, mostly flagstones and fragments; many roots; neutral; clear wavy boundary.

Bw2--51 to 76 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam, some brown (10YR 4/3) coats on faces of peds; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine and fine tubular pores; about 10 percent rock fragments, mostly flagstones and fragments; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 14 to 60 centimeters thick.)

2BC--76 to 102 centimeters; very pale brown (10YR 8/3) very channery loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; about 45 percent rock fragments; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 40 centimeters thick)

2C--102 to 304 centimeters; very pale brown (10YR 8/3) very cobbly loam; massive; friable; about 60 percent rock fragments, mostly cobblestones with about 25 percent stones; strongly effervescence; slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 105-Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills, Goodhue County, Minnesota subset; about 10 miles west and 2 miles north of Red Wing; located about 1,155 feet south and 1600 feet west of the northeast corner of section 21, T. 113 N., R. 15 W.; USGS Red Wing topographic quadrangle; lat. 44 degrees 35 minutes 00 seconds N. and long. 92 degrees 37 minutes 03 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of mollic epipedon--14 to 49 centimeters
Depth to loamy-skeletal residuum and/or colluvium--50 to 100 centimeters
Depth to carbonates in the fine-earth fraction--45 to 150 centimeters
Clay content in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--18 to 25 percent
Sand content in the particle-size control section (weighted average)--15 to 50 percent

A horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--loam or silt loam
Clay content--18 to 27 percent
Sand content--15 to 45 percent
Rock fragment content--0 to 10 percent, mostly flagstones and cobbles, primarily limestone, but some are sandstone
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral

AB horizon (when present):
Hue--10YR
Value--2 to 4
Chroma--2 or 3
Texture--loam or silt loam
Clay content--18 to 27 percent
Sand content--15 to 50 percent
Rock fragment content--0 to 10 percent, mostly flagstones, fragments and cobbles, primarily limestone, but some are sandstone
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral

Bw horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--4 or 5
Chroma--3 or 4
Texture--loam or silt loam
Clay content--18 to 27 percent
Sand content--15 to 50 percent
Rock fragment content--0 to 15 percent, mostly flagstones, fragments and cobbles, primarily limestone, but some are sandstone
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral

Some pedons have few thin clay films are on faces of peds or in pores

2BC (when present) and 2C horizon:
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--5 to 8
Chroma--3 to 5
Texture--sandy loam, loam, silt loam, or the very channery, very cobbly, extremely channery, or extremely cobbly analogues of these textures
Clay content--5 to 10 percent
Sand content--15 to 70 percent
Rock fragment content--35 to 70 percent, mostly flagstones, fragments and cobbles, primarily limestone, but some are sandstone
Reaction--neutral or slightly alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Arbor, Aredale, Bode, Clarion, Cresken, Everly, Farrar, Garmore, Germantown, Kenyon, Limecreek, Liscomb, Moland, Neeper, Ocheyedan, Omsrud, Ostrander, and Rossfield series.
Arbor--have a rock fragment content of 2 to 10 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Aredale--have a rock fragment content of 2 to 15 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Bode--have an average clay content of 28 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section
Clarion--have a rock fragment content of 1 to 10 percent throughout the series control section
Cresken--have an average clay content of 28 to 33 percent in the particle-size control section
Everly--do not have rock fragments in the series control section
Farrar--have a rock fragment content of less than 35 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Garmore--have a rock fragment content of 2 to 10 percent throughout the series control section
Germantown--have a lithic contact with quartzite bedrock within a depth of 100 centimeters
Kenyon--have a rock fragment content of 2 to 12 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Limecreek--have a clay content that averages 20 to 35 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Liscomb--have a rock fragment content of less than 35 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Moland--have a rock fragment content of 2 to 15 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Neeper--are in areas that have a mean annual air temperature range of 11 to 14 degrees C and have a rock fragment content of less than 2 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Ocheyedan--do not have rock fragments in the series control section
Omsrud--have a rock fragment content of 2 to 10 percent throughout the series control section
Ostrander--have a rock fragment content of 2 to 8 percent in the lower third of the series control section
Roosfield--have a clay content that averages 10 to 15 percent in the lower third of the series control section

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--50 to 100 centimeters of loamy sediments over loamy-skeletal residuum and/or colluvium primarily from limestone
Landform--slightly convex to slightly concave northwest-facing to southeast-facing slopes on the upper part of foot slopes and the middle and upper parts of valley slopes in dissected terrain
Slope--15 to 90 percent
Elevation--200 to 400 meters above sea level
Mean annual air temperature--6 to 10 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--735 to 965 millimeters
Frost-free period--145 to 205 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bellechester, Copaston, Elizabeth, Lacrescent, and Lindstrom soils.
Bellechester--are on lower landscape positions and have a clay content that averages 1 to 10 percent in the particle-size control section
Copaston--are on higher landscape positions on shoulders, have a lithic contact of limestone within a depth of 50 centimeters, and have a rock fragment content of less than 15 percent in the particle-size control section
Elizabeth--are on higher landscape positions on shoulders, have a lithic contact of limestone within a depth of 50 centimeters and have a rock fragment content of 35 to 90 percent in the particle-size control section
Lacrescent--are on higher landscape positions on back slopes and a rock fragment content of 35 to 70 percent in the particle-size control section
Lindstrom--are at lower landscape positions and have a mollic epipedon that is more than 60 centimeters thick

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--well drained--a frequently saturated zone does not occur within a depth of 1.8 meters during the wettest periods of normal years
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--1.00 to 10.00 micrometers per second in the loamy sediments and 10.00 to 100.00 micrometers per second in the loamy-skeletal residuum and/or colluvium
Surface runoff potential--medium or high

USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas are forested, but some have been cleared and are pastured. The native vegetation is deciduous forest with common species of red oak, sugar maple, and basswood and some prairie species in the understory.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic sections--Dissected till plains and Wisconsin driftless section
MLRAs--Eastern Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies (104) and Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills (105)
LRR M; southeastern Minnesota
Extent--moderate

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Goodhue County, Minnesota, 1972.

REMARKS:
Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 25 to 100 centimeters;
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 150 centimeters (.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
mollic epipedon--the zone from the surface to a depth of 30 centimeters (A and AB horizons);
cambic horizon--the zone from a depth of 30 to 102 centimeters (Bw1, Bw2, and 2BC horizons);
udic moisture regime.

Cation-exchange activity class is inferred from lab data from similar soils in the surrounding area.

Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, tenth edition, 2006.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station Central File Code No. 1538 for results of some laboratory analyses of the typical pedon.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.