LOCATION GUENTHER WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy over loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Alfic Oxyaquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Guenther loamy sand - on a 3 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 1,174 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loamy sand, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine and very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
E--6 to 9 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) loamy sand; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine roots; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bs1--9 to 18 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loamy sand; weak fine and very fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine roots; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bs2--18 to 25 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) loamy sand; weak fine and very fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizons ranges from 10 to 23 inches.)
2E/B--25 to 30 inches; 75 percent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) sandy loam (E), light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak thin platy structure; very friable; extends as tongues into and surrounds remnants of yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam (Bt); moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; few medium distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; about 3 percent fine and medium angular gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
2Bt--30 to 37 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam; common medium moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common faint clay films on faces of peds; faint brown (7.5YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix: common distinct clean silt and fine sand grains on faces of peds; about 5 percent fine and medium angular gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 8 inches thick)
2C--37 to 60 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam with many fine specks of light gray (10YR 7/2) weathered felspathic minerals; massive; firm; about 5 percent fine and medium angular gravel; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Wood County, Wisconsin; about 2 miles north-northeast of Blenker; 2,240 feet east and 100 feet north of the southwest corner of sec. 15, T. 25 N., R. 5 E. USGS Honey Island Wis. Quad. Latitude 44 degrees 38 minutes 32 seconds N. Longitude 89 degrees 53 minutes 51 seconds W. NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of the argillic horizon ranges from 24 to 45 inches. Thickness of the sandy mantle ranges from 20 to 40 Volume of angular gravel ranges from 0 to 5 percent in the sandy mantle, from 0 to 10 percent in the loamy subsoil, and from 0 to 30 percent in the loamy substratum. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 10 percent in loamy material. Reaction naturally ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid throughout the soil but ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed. Redox accumulations and saturation occur below the spodic horizon and within a depth of 40 inches.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Uncultivated pedons have an A horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture of the Ap or A horizon is loamy sand.
The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is loamy sand or sand.
The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, and value and chroma of 3 or 4, but has value of 5 in the lower part of most pedons. Texture is loamy sand or sand.
Some Guenther soils have a glossic horizon (2E/B or 2B/E horizons, or both). The E part has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is sandy loam or loam. The Bt part has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is sandy loam, loam, or clay loam.
The 2Bt horizon has color and texture like the 2B part described above. The 2Bt horizon averages between 18 and 30 percent clay and from 25 to 60 percent fine sand or coarser.
The 2C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is sandy loam, loam, clay loam, or the gravelly analogs.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Guenther soils are on uplands underlain by bedrock. Slopes range from 2 to 6 percent. Guenther soils formed in sandy alluvium and in the underlying loamy glacial till or loamy residuum weathered from igneous and metamorphic bedrock, or both. The till is thought to be derived mainly from the local residuum, but the glacial stratigraphy in the area where these soils occur is not fully worked out. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 32 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 43 to 46 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Dancy, Mosinee, Point, Rockers, and Rozellville soils. The somewhat poorly drained Point and Rockers and poorly drained Dancy soils are in a drainage sequence with the Guenther soils. Mosinee soils are on marginal areas of somewhat higher lying uplands.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff is very low or low. Permeability is rapid in the sandy mantle and moderate in the loamy till or residuum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas of this soil are cleared and are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grains, and hay. Some areas are used for pastureland or woodland. Native vegetation is mixed stands of conifers and hardwoods with red and white pine and oak predominating.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Wisconsin, in Marathon and Wood Counties. These soils are of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wood County, Wisconsin, 1971.
REMARKS: Field experience indicates that these soils have some evidence of till overlying the residuum or a mixture of till and residuum in the upper few feet of the lower part of the profile.
12/2006- This soil is correlated in 2 surveys. The TUDs in both surveys have redox features within 40 inches. Therefore this revision changes the concept of the soil to moderately well drained only and reclassifies it as Alfic Oxyaquic Haplorthods.
There are 4480 acres correlated in Marathon County. The TUD for Marathon County describes the glossic horizon in the sandy mantle. The sandy mantle in the Marathon TUD is entirely loamy sand and both the B part and the E part of the B/E are loamy sand. It is very doubtful that this is a glossic horizon. Guenther soils in Marathon County need to field checked to see if they have a glossic horizon in the loamy till. In the mean time I have excluded the glossic from the sandy mantle in the OSD and have allowed the glossic to be absent in the loamy till.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 9 inches (Ap, E);
spodic horizon - 9 to 25 inches (Bs1, Bs2);
argillic horizon - 30 to 37 inches (2Bt); glossic horizon - 25 to 30 inches (2E/B);
oxyaquic feature - redox accumulations and saturation within a depth of 40 inches.