LOCATION LODE MIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, frigid Entic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Lode silt loam - on a 1 percent southwest-facing slope in a red pine and jack pine plantation, overlain by recent undecomposed red pine needles and twigs. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated).
Ap--0 to 7 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) silt loam; pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine and few coarse roots; few very fine vesicular pores; about 1 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick).
Bs1--7 to 18 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; few fine tubular pores; about 1 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
Bs2--18 to 24 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) discolorations; very few fine roots; common fine tubular pores; about 1 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick).
Bs3--24 to 31 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) sandy loam; moderate thick platy structure; firm; few fine roots; common fine vesicular pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds, common coarse faint reddish brown (5YR 4/4) discolorations; about 5 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
2BC--31 to 37 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) coarse sand; single grain; loose, common fine roots; about 8 percent gravel; strongly acid, clear wavy boundary. (0 to 16 inches thick)
2C1--37 to 59 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sand; single grain; loose, about 5 percent gravel; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 24 inches thick)
2C2--59 to 80 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sand; single grain; loose; about 5 percent gravel; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: 1650 feet west on Forest Road (FR) 436 from intersection of 436 and 945 and 660 feet north of FR436, NE1/4, NW1/4, sec. 29, T. 44 N., R. 36 W.; Iron County, Michigan. (ECS Study I.D. No. 14a-3198-SL-1-12; Forest Site Number 183).
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Unless otherwise stated depth ranges in this paragraph are measured from the mineral surface. The loamy mantle ranges from 16 to 36 inches thick. Depth to the underlying sandy material is 20 to 40 inches. The thickness of the solum ranges from 24 to 48 inches. Gravel content ranges from 1 to 20 percent in the loamy mantle and from 4 to 40 percent in the sandy material. Cobble content ranges from 0 to 10 percent throughout. In some places a thin cobble and gravel lag line occurs at the loamy and gravel interface. The loamy mantle ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid. The sand and gravel substratum ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid.
The O horizons consist mostly of hardwood, conifer and herbaceous litter, contain many fine to very fine roots, have medium to high amounts of charcoal, some white or yellow mycelia and are extremely acid or very strongly acid. Some pedons have Oa horizons, 1 inch thick with hue of 10YR or 5YR, value of 2 and chroma of 1 or 2 and have weak or moderately fine or medium granular structures.
The Ap horizon (plantation furrows) has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 3 or 4; and chroma of 2 or 3. Undisturbed pedons have A horizons with hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR; value is 2 or 3; and chroma is 1 or 2. Where present, the E horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. The A and E horizons are silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam.
The Bs1 and Bs2 horizons have hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 4 to 6. They are fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam or the gravelly analogs.
The Bs3 horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or the gravelly analogs.
The 2BC horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 5YR and value and chroma of 4 to 6. It is sand, coarse sand, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs of these textures.
The 2C horizon has a hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma 3 to 6. It is sand, coarse sand, or the gravelly, very gravelly analogs. Stratification is common.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Colrain and Longrie series. Colrain soils do not have sand or gravelly sand within 40 inches. Longrie soils have a lithic contact within 20 to 40 inches of the surface.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lode soils occur on glacial drainageways, stream terraces and deltas, and outwash plains. They formed in 16 to 36 inches of modified loamy eolian deposits and in the underlying sand and gravel. The slope gradient commonly is 1 to 3 percent, but the range is 1 to 35 percent. The mean annual temperature ranges from 40 to 43 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 33 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Monico and Pence soils. The somewhat poorly drained Monico soils are on slightly lower positions on the landscape. The well drained Pence soils, which contain more sand in the subsoil are on similar positions on the landscape.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate in the loamy mantle and rapid and very rapid in the sandy deposit.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of this soil is forested and supports second and third growth stands. Present timber species consists of aspen, balsam fir, white spruce, red maple, jack pine, red pine, and eastern white pine. Small acreages also support sugar maple, yellow birch, American basswood, and hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Iron County, Michigan, 1992.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - zone from surface to a depth approximately 7 inches (Ap horizon); spodic horizon - the zone from 7 to 31 inches, (Bs1, Bs2, and Bs3 horizons). The loamy eolian upper material has been modified through windthrow action and postglacial erosion.
Laboratory data is not available for this series. Refer to the following NSSL characterization data of pedons in Iron County, Michigan that similar chemical and physical characteristics: Wabeno (S82MI071-001) and Champion (S82MI071-002)