LOCATION GROUSEHAVEN             MI

Established Series
Rev. EPJ-JKC-GDW
08/2012

GROUSEHAVEN SERIES

The Grousehaven series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils that formed in highly decomposed organic soil materials from herbaceous plants overlying marly materials on outwash plains and moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 762 mm (30 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 6.6 degrees C (44 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, carbonatic, frigid Histic Humaquepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Grousehaven muck , on a nearly level slope in a bog about 300 acres in size with marsh vegetation. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Oa--0 to 18 cm (7 inches); black (10YR 2/1) broken face and rubbed muck; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; about 40 percent silt loam; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. [15 to 38 cm (6 to 15 inches) thick]

Cg1--18 to 104 cm (7 to 41 inches); white (10YR 8/1) marly material; massive; friable; slightly sticky; many white snail shell fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 107 cm (42 inches) thick]

Cg2--104 to 203 cm (41 to 80 inches); light gray (10YR 7/1) marly material; massive; friable; slightly sticky; few medium prominent brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) and few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron; common white snail shell fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Ogemaw County, Michigan; about 7 miles southwest of West Branch; 1,850 feet east and 300 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 27, T. 21 N., R. 1 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the marly material: typically 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 inches), but ranges from 10 to 41 cm (4 to 16 inches)
Control section: greater than 40 percent by weight carbonates

In some pedons, the upper 5 cm (2 inches) is a mat of live fibers.

Oa horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 2 or 2.5
Chroma: 0 to 2
Texture: muck or mucky peat
Content of mineral material: 0 to 45 percent and is dominantly silt loam or very fine sand
Organic carbon content: 12 to 18 percent
Reaction: dominantly slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline but ranges to neutral

Cg horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y
Value: 5 to 8
Chroma: 1 or 2
Special features: commonly contain snail shells; some pedons have thin discontinuous layers of organic materials or very thin layers of silt and very fine sandy loam in the lower part
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Grousehaven soils are in depressions and drainageways on outwash plains and moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. They formed in highly decomposed organic soil materials from herbaceous plants overlying marly materials in slow moving or standing water. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 610 to 762 mm (24 to 30 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 4.4 to 6.6 degrees C (40 to 44 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The moderately well drained Nester soils and somewhat excessively drained Graycalm soils are on the upland surrounding the Grousehaven soils. Lupton and Cathro soils formed in thicker organic deposits and are in similar areas adjacent to the Grousehaven soils.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. The depth to the top of a seasonal high water table ranges from 30 cm (1 foot) above the surface to 30 cm (1 foot) below the surface at some time during normal years. Potential for surface runoff is negligible. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately slow to moderately rapid in the surface layer and slow or very slow in the marl.

USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is primarily in natural vegetation such as grasses and small shrubs. A few areas have been mined in the past for use as agricultural lime.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 94A and 94B in northern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This series is of small extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ogemaw County, Michigan, 1987.

REMARKS: This soil was included in the Warners series in earlier surveys in Arenac, Charlevoix, Emmet, and Osceola Counties in Michigan.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Histic epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 18 cm (7 inches) (Oa horizon).
Aquic conditions: organic material at the surface and redoximorphic features present in all underlying horizons.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.