LOCATION LIMINGA MIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, isotic, frigid Typic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Liminga fine sand on a 3 percent south-facing slope in a forested area. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
0a--0 to 2 centimeters; black (N 2.5/0) well decomposed leaf litter containing a small amount of fine sand; many roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 8 centimeters thick)
E--2 to 28 centimeters; light reddish brown (5YR 6/3) fine sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine to coarse roots; strongly acid; abrupt irregular boundary. (10 to 25 centimeters thick)
Bhs--28 to 48 centimeters; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) fine sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; few fragments of strongly cemented ortstein; very strongly acid; gradual irregular boundary. (5 to 41 centimeters thick)
Bs1--48 to 74 centimeters; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) fine sand; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine roots; few fragments of strongly cemented ortstein; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (8 to 41 centimeters thick)
Bs2--74 to 102 centimeters; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) fine sand; weak fine subangular structure; very friable; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (28 to 46 centimeters thick)
C--102 to 203 centimeters; reddish yellow (5YR 6/6) fine sand; single grain; loose; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Houghton County, Michigan about 2 miles northeast of the village of Redridge; 2,550 feet east and 1,100 feet north of the southwest corner, sec. 11, T. 55 N., R. 35 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum ranges from 66 to 140 centimeters. Gravel content ranges from 0 to 5 percent throughout the pedon. The solum ranges from slightly acid to extremely acid. The amount of cemented material (ortstein) occurring in the solum ranges from 0 to 45 percent of the exposed area of the spodic horizon. The profile is dominantly fine sand, but includes thin layers of very fine sand.
The 0a horizon has a hue of 10YR to 5YR, value of 2, and chroma of 1, or is neutral and has value of 2.
Some pedons have an A horizon with hue of 10YR to 5YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 to 3.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 3.
The Bhs horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 3, and chroma of 2 or 3.
The Bs horizons have hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. The Bhs and Bs horizons contain cemented materials (ortstein) that make up from 0 to 45 percent of the horizon.
Some pedons have BC horizons with colors and textures similar to the C horizon.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is dominantly fine sand but some pedons have a few thin strata of very fine sand. The reaction ranges from extremely acid to slightly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Adams, Cusino, Duxbury, Kalkaska, Pence and Stutts soils and the closely related Garlic soil. Adams soils are moist within 91 centimeters of the soil surface during the month of August. Cusino soils contain greater than 15 percent coarse fragments in the BC and C horizons. Garlic soils have 50 to 90 percent ortstein in the spodic horizon. Kalkaska soils have less than 50 percent fine sand in the sand fraction throughout the series control section. The Stutts, Duxbury and Pence soils have combined content of silt plus clay greater than 15 percent in the A, E, Bhs and Bs horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Liminga soils are on relict beach ridges, dunes, moraines, outwash plains, kames and lake plains. Slope gradients range from 0 to 70 percent. The climate is continental, but is affected by Lake Superior, causing extra winter precipitation. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 690 to 840 millimeters, and mean annual temperature ranges from 4 to 7 degrees C.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alcona, Au Gres, Halfaday, Kalkaska, Munising, and Deford soils. Au Gres, Halfaday, and Deford are wetter members of the drainage sequence with Liminga soils. Alcona and Munising soils are common associates in similar landscape positions on moraines. The Kalkaska soils are common associates on beach ridges and dunes.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Liminga soils are dry within 91 centimeters of the soil surface during the month of August. Surface runoff is negligible to low, dependent on slope. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or very high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in second growth timber. The present vegetation is dominantly sugar maple, red maple, hemlock, yellow birch, quaking aspen, white birch, pin cherry, bigtooth aspen, and ironwood. Ground cover consists of bracken fern, spinulose shield fern, starflower, wild lily of the valley, shining club moss, wild sarsaparilla, sedges, false Solomon`s seal, red elderberry, ground pine, and wintergreen. Small areas are idle cropland, pasture, hayland, or tree plantations.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Houghton County, Michigan, 1987.
REMARKS: The family classification was changed to isotic mineralogy to reflect lab data across the series range at the Alger County, Michigan final correlation.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 28 centimeters (Oa, E horizons);
albic horizon - the zone from 2 to 28 centimeters (E horizon); spodic horizon - the zone from 28 to 102 centimeters (Bhs, Bs1, and Bs2 horizons).