LOCATION KESHENA            WI
Established Series
Rev. MJM-HFG-JJJ
11/2006

KESHENA SERIES


The Keshena series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils formed in calcareous, loamy till on moraines. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the solum, moderately slow or moderate in the lower part of the solum, and moderately slow in the substratum. Slopes range from 0 to 6 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 30 inches. Mean annual air temperature is about 42 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, frigid Oxyaquic Glossudalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Keshena fine sandy loam, on a convex, southwest-facing slope of 5 percent, in a mixed deciduous and coniferous forest, on the footslope of a morainic knoll, at an elevation of about 980 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 3 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) fine sandy loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; few uncoated sand grains; about 3 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)

Bw1--3 to 7 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) fine sandy loam; weak fine subangular structure; very friable; many fine roots; many medium and coarse distinct very dark gray (10YR 3/1) worm casts; about 5 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)

Bw2--7 to 12 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine roots; about 12 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)

E/B--12 to 19 inches; about 70 percent brown (7.5YR 5/3) fine sandy loam (E), pink (7.5YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; extends as tongues into reddish brown (5YR 4/4) loam (Bt); moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; many fine roots; about 9 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.

B/E1--19 to 30 inches; about 75 percent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) loam (Bt); moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; common distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; penetrated by tongues of brown (7.5YR 5/3) sandy loam (E), pink (7.5YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; common fine roots; few fine prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; common fine and medium, distinct and prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) iron-manganese concretions; about 4 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

B/E2--30 to 49 inches; about 85 percent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) loam (Bt); moderate medium angular blocky structure; firm; many distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; penetrated by tongues of brown (7.5YR 5/3) loam (E), pink (7.5YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; common fine roots; few fine prominent dark red (2.5YR 3/6) and common fine prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; common fine and medium, distinct and prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) iron-manganese concretions; about 2 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the E/B and B/E horizons is 11 to 40 inches.)

Bt1--49 to 61 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak coarse angular blocky; firm; few fine roots; common distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds; many distinct brown (7.5YR 5/3) coats of clean sand grains on vertical faces of prisms; few fine prominent dark red (2.5YR 3/6) masses of iron accumulation; common fine and medium, distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) iron-manganese concretions; about 1 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt2--61 to 75 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; friable; few fine roots; common distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds; common distinct brown (7.5YR 5/3) coats of clean sand grains on vertical faces of prisms; few fine prominent dark red (2.5YR 3/6) masses of iron accumulation; few fine distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) iron-manganese concretions; about 1 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 12 to 35 inches.)

C--75 to 80 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silt loam; massive; friable; breaks to moderate thin plates along horizontal cleavage planes; few fine roots; slightly effervescent; about 3 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Menominee County, Wisconsin; located about 1,910 feet west and 2,590 feet north of the southeast corner of section 5, T. 28 N., R. 16 E.; USGS Legend Lake topographic quadrangle; lat. 44 degrees 56 minutes 08 seconds N. and long. 88 degrees 34 minutes 38 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Unless otherwise stated, depth is measured from the top of the mineral soil. Depth to the base of the argillic horizon and depth to carbonates range from 40 to 80 inches. The weighted average clay content ranges from 18 to 30 percent and the weighted average content of fine sand or coarser ranges from 20 to 50 percent in the particle-size control section. Rock fragments are a mixture of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. The sedimentary rocks are mostly dolomite. Volume of gravel ranges from 2 to 10 percent throughout the soil and volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 5 percent. Reaction naturally ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the upper part of the solum but ranges to neutral, where the soil is limed or where fire has created ash. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral in the lower part of the solum and is slightly or moderately alkaline in the substratum. Redoximorphic concentrations occur within 40 inches. Saturation occurs at 30 to 40 inches for 1 month or more per year in normal years.

Some pedons have a thin O horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter.

The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Cultivated areas have an Ap horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is fine sandy loam.

The E horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 or 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. Typically, texture is fine sandy loam or loam, but in some pedons it is sandy loam.

The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Typically, texture is fine sandy loam or loam, but in some pedons it is sandy loam.

Some pedons have an E' horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, 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. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.

Keshena soils have a glossic horizon (E/B or B/E horizons, or both). The E part has color and texture like the E' horizon above. The Bt part has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam.

The Bt horizon has color and texture like the Bt part described above.

The C horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is silt loam or loam.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Durkeelake, Ellwood, Parmalee, Perecheney, and Woodman series. A similar soil is the Tilleda series. Durkeelake and Perecheney soils are sandy in the upper 20 to 50 inches of the series control section. Ellwood and Parmalee soils have carbonates within a depth of 40 inches. Woodman soil are sandy in the lower part of the series control section and have lamellae there. Tilleda soils do not have redoximorphic features or a water table.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Keshena soils are on moraines. Slope gradients range from 0 to 6 percent. Keshena soils formed in calcareous, loamy till. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 39 to 45 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 120 to 135 days. Elevation ranges from 800 to 1,100 feet.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Iosco, Menominee, Morganlake, Peshtigo(T), and Tilleda soils. The somewhat poorly drained Peshtigo soils and the well drained Tilleda soils form a drainage sequence with Keshena soils. The somewhat poorly drained Iosco soils, moderately well drained Morganlake soils, and well drained Menominee soils form a drainage sequence on nearby areas where there is a sandy mantle 20 to 40 inches thick over the till.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from negligible to medium. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the solum, moderately slow or moderate in the lower part of the solum, and moderately slow in the substratum. Keshena soils have a perched seasonal high water table at a depth of 2.5 to 3.5 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period September to June in normal years.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mostly for woodland. Timber stands are mostly red maple, northern red oak, and eastern white pine with sugar maple, American basswood, red pine, white ash, eastern hophornbeam, American hornbeam, and American beech as associates in most stands. White oak is an associate in some stands. 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: Northeastern Wisconsin. The extent is small. MLRA K94B. It is on the Kirby Lake Member of the Kewaunee Formation of the Green Bay Lobe of Late Woodfordian age (12,000 BP) of late Wisconsinan glaciation.)

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Menominee County, Wisconsin, 1999. Source of the name is a village in Menominee County.

REMARKS: Keshena soils formerly were included with the well drained Tilleda soils.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon include: ochric epipedon - 0 to 3 inches (A,); glossic horizon - 12 to 49 inches (E/B, B/E); argillic horizon - 21 to 75 inches (B/E, Bt); oxyaquic feature - redoximorphic accumulations and saturation within a depth of 40 inches.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to soil survey sample number 96WI078733 for NSSL data on the typical pedon.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.