LOCATION HESCH              WI+IA IL MN
Established Series
Rev. AJK-TAM-PMW
02/2009

HESCH SERIES


The Hesch series consists of well drained soils moderately deep to sandstone. They formed in a mixture of a loamy deposit and residuum weathered from sandstone. These soils are mainly in the uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 45 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 813 millimeters, and mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Argiudolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Hesch fine sandy loam - on a 14 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 226 meters. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 20 centimeters; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; common fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.

A--20 to 30 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Ap and A horizons ranges from 25 to 41 centimeters.)

BA--30 to 48 centimeters; brown (10YR 4/3) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, common fine roots; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 18 centimeters thick)

Bt1--48 to 74 centimeters; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; faint patchy clay films; about 5 percent sandstone fragments by volume; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (15 to 30 centimeters thick)

Bt2--74 to 81 centimeters; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; clay bridging between sand grains; few brown (10YR 4/3) organic stains on some vertical faces of peds; about 10 percent sandstone fragments; by volume; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 13 centimeters thick)

2C--81 to 97 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sand; single grain; loose, about 12 percent sandstone fragments by volume; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 25 centimeters thick)

2Cr--97 to 152 centimeters; brown (10YR 5/3) yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and light gray (10YR 7/2) poorly cemented sandstone; moderately acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 105-Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills, Iowa County, Wisconsin; located about 2 miles north of Clyde; 125 feet west and 1,165 feet south of the northeast corner, sec. 26, T. 8 N., R. 2 E.; USGS Lone Rock topographic quadrangle; latitude 43 degrees, 8 minutes, 43 seconds N.; longitude 90 degrees, 12 minutes, 46 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to paralithic contact--51 to 102 centimeters
Rock fragment content--0 to 12 percent sandstone channers less than 8 centimeters in size occur in the solum and in the substratum
Reaction--strongly acid to slightly acid in the solum and very strongly acid to medium acid in the substratum
Content of clay in the particle-size control section (weighted average) 10 to 18 percent; clay films are faint and patchy on faces of peds or are expressed as bridging between sand grains

A horizon:
Hue--10YR or 7.5YR
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam

BA horizon:
Hue--10YR or 7.5YR
Value3 to 5
Chroma--3 to 5
Texture--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam

Bt horizon:
Hue--10YR or 7.5YR
Value3 to 6
Chroma--3 to 6
Texture--typically, it is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam but some pedons have thin subhorizons of sandy clay loam

BC or C horizon (when present):
Texture--sand, loamy sand, fine sand, or loamy fine sand

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Coyne and Elston series.
Coyne and Elston--do not have sandstone bedrock within a depth of 51 to 102 centimeters

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent Material--a mixture dominantly of residuum weathered from sandstone and some loess
Landform--typically on undulating to strongly sloping uplands, in some places they are on stream terrace backslopes and on floodplain steps.
Slope--commonly between 12 and 20 percent and range from 0 to 45 percent
Mean annual air temperature--7 to 12 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--711 to 889 millimeters.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Boone, Eleva, Elkmound, and Sylvester soils.
Boone, Eleva, and Elkmound--nearby, generally on steeper slopes and they do not have mollic epipedons; depth to paralithic contact is at less than 50 centimeters in the Elkmound
Sylvester--same landscape but have silty sola

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage class--well drained--a saturated zone does not occur within a depth of 1.8 meters during April to June in normal years
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--4.23-42.34 micrometers per second (moderate or moderately rapid) in the solum

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mostly for cropland. Many of the more sloping areas are used for pasture. Native vegetation was mixed grasses with scattered oak and hickory trees.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland
Physiographic sections--Wisconsin driftless and Illinois till plain sections
MLRAsPrimarily the Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills (105); also in the Illinois and Iowa Deep Loess and Drift, Eastern Part (108A)
LRR M; southwestern Wisconsin, central Iowa, southeastern Minnesota and northern Illinois
Extentnot extensive

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota

SERIES ESTABLISHED: La Crosse County, Wisconsin, 1957.

REMARKS:

Particle-size control section--the zone from a depth of 48 to 81 centimeters (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons);
series control section--the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 122 centimeters (A, BA, Bt, 2C and the upper part of the 2Cr horizon)

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
Mollic epipedon--the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 30 centimeters(Ap, A horizons);
argillic horizon--the zone from 48 to 81 centimeters(Bt1, Bt2 horizons);
other features--udic moisture regime; mesic soil temperature regime.

The Hesch soils correlated in Guthrie county IA (1968) do not fit the current concept of this soil.

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


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.