LOCATION HUMBIRD WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over clayey, mixed, semiactive, frigid Oxyaquic Ultic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Humbird fine sandy loam - on a convex, east-facing 3 percent slope in a woodland at an elevation of about 1,040 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--0 to 1 inch; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) mucky peat (hemic material which is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter); about 35 percent fiber and 20 percent rubbed; weak thin platy structure; non-sticky; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
A--1 to 2 inches; black (10YR 2/1) fine sandy loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
E--2 to 9 inches; pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) fine sandy loam, pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; common very fine and fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bs--9 to 14 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common very fine and fine roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick.)
Bw--14 to 21 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few very fine and fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
2Bt--21 to 27 inches; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine and fine roots; few faint gray (5Y 6/1) clay) films on faces of some peds; few fine prominent brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) masses of iron accumulation; about 8 percent sandstone channers; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 20 inches thick)
2Cr--27 to 60 inches; interbedded very pale brown (10YR 7/3) sandstone and light gray (5Y 7/2) shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Clark County, Wisconsin; about 2 miles south and 2.25 miles west of Sherwood; 100 feet north and 2,500 feet west of the southeast corner of sec. 29, T. 23 N., R. 1 E.; USGS City Point NW, WI quad.; lat. 44 degrees, 26', 15" N., long. 90 degrees, 24', 19" W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Unless otherwise stated, thickness and depth are measured from the top of the mineral soil.) Depth to the base of the argillic horizon and depth to the paralithic contact with interbedded sandstone and shale ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Thickness of the loamy mantle and depth to the clayey residuum ranges from 12 to 30 inches. The upper part of the particle-size control section averages from 8 to 17 percent clay and from 45 to 70 percent fine sand or coarser. The lower part of the particle-size control section averages from 35 to 60 percent clay. Base saturation (by sum of cations) is less than 35 percent in the argillic horizon. Coarse fragments are mostly sandstone channers but in many places, these soils occur near higher lying glacial soils and igneous pebbles are in the upper part of some pedons. Volume of gravel or sandstone channers ranges from 0 to 15 percent in the loamy mantle. Volume of sandstone channers ranges from 3 to 15 percent in the residuum. Reaction typically ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the loamy mantle but ranges to neutral in the Ap horizon, where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid in the residuum. Redox accumulations are below the spodic horizon and within 40 inches. Saturation occurs within 40 inches for 1 month or more per year in most years.
The O horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR or is neutral in hue. Value is 2 or 3 and chroma is 0 to 3. The O horizon is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter.
The A horizon has value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. The A or Ap horizon is fine sandy loam or sandy loam.
The E horizon has value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 or 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. The E horizon is fine sandy loam or sandy loam.
The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 6 or hue of 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4. It is sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
The Bw horizon has value and chroma of 4 to 6. It is sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
The 2Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y; value of 4 to 8; and chroma of 2 to 6. It is dominantly clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay but thin subhorizons of coarser texture are in some pedons.
The 2Cr horizon has color like the 2Bt horizon described above. It is interbedded sandstone and shale.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. Related soils are the Fairchild, Hiles, Kert, Ludington, and Merrillan series. Fairchild and Ludington soils have a 15 to 39 inch thick sandy mantle and have sandy over loamy particle-size. Hiles and Kert soils are fine-loamy Glossoboralfs. Merrillan soils have redox features and saturation in the spodic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on pediments underlain by interbedded sandstone and shale (Eau Claire and Mt. Simon formations of the Elk Mound group). Slope gradients range from 1 to 20 percent. Humbird soils formed in 12 to 30 inches of loamy alluvium and in clayey residuum from the underlying interbedded sandstone and shale. Mean annual temperature ranges from 39 to 45 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. The frost free period ranges from about 120 to 135 days. Elevation ranges from 700 to 1,400 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Elm Lake, Merrillan, Fairchild, Hiles, Kert, Ludington, and Veedum soils. The poorly drained Elm Lake soils, the somewhat poorly drained Fairchild soils, and the moderately well drained Ludington soils form a drainage sequence in nearby areas where there is a 15 to 39 inch thick sandy mantle over loamy residuum from the underlying interbedded sandstone and shale. The moderately well drained Hiles soils, the somewhat poorly drained Kert soils, and the poorly drained Veedum soils form a drainage sequence in nearby areas where there is a 12 to 30 inch thick silty mantle over loamy residuum from the underlying interbedded sandstone and shale. The somewhat poorly drained Merrillan soils form a drainage sequence with Humbird soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is medium or rapid. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid in the loamy mantle; slow in the residuum; and very slow to moderately slow in the interbedded sandstone and shale. Humbird soils have a perched seasonal high water table at a depth of 1.5 to 3 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period October to May in 6 or more out of 10 years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for woodland and are in second growth hardwood forest, principally oak and aspen. Native vegetation is mixed deciduous and coniferous forest with northern red oak, red maple, jack pine, northern pin oak, and quaking aspen predominating. Some areas are cleared and used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay. Some areas are used for pastureland.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West central Wisconsin. These soils are moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wood County, Wisconsin, 1971.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 8 inches (A, E); spodic horizon - 8 to 13 inches (Bs); argillic horizon - 20 to 26 inches (2Bt); oxyaquic feature - redox accumulations and saturation below the spodic horizon and within 40 inches for 1 month or more per year in most years; paralithic contact at 26 inches (2Cr).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0236.