LOCATION LA FARGE WI+MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: La Farge silt loam - on a convex 12 percent slope in a hay field at an elevation of about 1,105 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate medium granular and weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; some particles of yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) subsoil; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Bt1--8 to 13 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky; firm; common very fine roots; common very fine pores; common faint brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; a few light gray (10YR 7/2) silt coatings on vertical faces of peds; a few black (N 2/0) segregations (iron monganese oxides) on faces of peds; a few very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) worm casts; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--13 to 19 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; common very fine roots; few very fine and fine pores; common faint brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; few light gray (10YR 7/2) silt coatings on vertical faces of peds; few black (N 2/0) segregations (iron-monganese oxides) on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt3--19 to 25 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky; firm; common very fine roots; common faint brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; common faint black (N 2/0) segregations (iron-monganese oxides) mainly on vertical faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons ranges from 14 to 23 inches.)
2Bt4--25 to 31 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak coarse subangular blocky; firm; few very fine roots; common distinct brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds and a few in pores; many black (5Y 2/2) grains of glauconite throughout horizon; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
2Cr1--31 to 40 inches; banded olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6), black (5Y 2/2), light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) sandstone; few very fine roots in upper part; (2.5Y 6/6) bands are 1-2mm thick and common throughout; 2.5Y 5/4 bands are 3-5mm thick, are few, and are in the upper part; 5Y 2/2 glauconite bands are 5-10mm thick and common in the upper part; abrupt wavy boundary.
2Cr2--40 to 52 inches; banded light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4), yellowish brown (10YR 5/8), and black (5Y 2/2) sandstone; the 10YR 5/8 bands are 2-4mm thick; 2.5Y 6/4 bands are 5-10mm thick; 5Y 2/2 glauconite bands are 2-5mm thick and dominate the horizon; abrupt wavy boundary.
2Cr3--52 to 60 inches; banded yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) and light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) sandstone; black (5Y 2/2) glauconite grains are throughout horizon;
TYPE LOCATION: Monroe County, Wisconsin; about 4 1/2 miles northwest of Sparta; 1,300 feet south and 160 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 32, T. 18 N., R. 4 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of the argillic horizon, depth to the paralithic contact with sandstone, and thickness of the loess mantle all range from 20 to 40 inches. The particle-size control section averages from 18 to 27 percent clay and less than 15% fine sand or coarser. Coarse fragments are absent in the loess mantle. Volume of sandstone channers ranges from 0 to 15 percent in the residuum. Reaction typically ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the solum but ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed.
The Ap horizon has value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors with moist value of 3 have dry value of 6 or more. Uncultivated pedons have an A horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2.
Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 10YR hue, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 or 3.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Value and chroma of 3 do not occur together. The Bt horizon is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The 2Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 2 to 6. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, loam, or clay loam.
The 2Cr horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y or 5G; value of 4 to 7; and chroma of 2 to 8. Bands of 5Y 2/2 glauconite are common.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Baraboo, Bertrand, Blackhammer, Cadiz, Camden, Dodge, Dubuque, Fayette, Flagg, Hackers, Inton, Jackson, Jermerson, Knowles, Lomira, Marseilles, Martinsburg, Mayville, Menfro, Mentor, Minnith, Palsgrove, Pepin(T), Piscasaw(T), Pottersville(T), Ridgeway, Ruma(T), Rush, Russell, Sandview, Seaton, Stubenville(T), Uniontown, Weingarten, Westbend, Westmore, Yellowriver and Zurich series. Related soils are the Gale and Norden series. Marseilles, Mayville, Minnith, and Uniontown soils will be reclassified as Oxyaquic Hapludalfs. None of the other soils, except Westbend, Gale, and Norden, have a paralithic contact with sandstone at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Westbend soils have a paralithic contact with interbedded siltstone and shale at 40 to 60 inches. Gale soils are fine-silty over sandy or sandy-skeletal. Norden soils are fine-loamy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: La Farge soils are on hills on highly dissected bedrock controlled uplands. Slopes range from 2 to 35 percent. These soils formed mostly in loess and in residuum from the underlying glauconitic sandstone. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 46 to 51 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 135 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 800 to 1400 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Norden and Urne soils. Norden and Urne soils are nearby on landscape positions similar to those of La Farge soils when the loess mantle is thin or absent.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderate in the loess and in the residuum and ranges from slow to moderate in the sandstone.
USE AND VEGETATION: Many of the less sloping areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay. Many areas are in woodland and some areas are used for pastureland. Native vegetation is mixed hardwood forest. Common trees are northern red oak, black oak, whiteoak, American basswood, and shagbark hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern and west central Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota. These soils are of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, 1969.
REMARKS:Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 8 inches (Ap); argillic horizon - 8 to 31 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, 2Bt4); paralithic contact - 31 inches (2Cr).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0099. NSSL data exists for the typical pedon, but it is not in the NSSL database. Soil survey sample number is S77WI-081-8. Old NSSL sample numbers are 77P2195 to 77P2202.