LOCATION LOGGERHEAD         MI
Established Series
Rev. JSE-LMC-JJJ
04/2009

LOGGERHEAD SERIES


The Loggerhead series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that formed in loamy till on ground moraines. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the solum, moderately slow in the lower part and slow or very slow in the substratum. Slope ranges from 1 to 35 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 32 inches and mean annual air temperature is about 41 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Alfic Oxyaquic Haplorthods

TYPICAL PEDON: Loggerhead loamy sandy, on a south-facing slope of 2 percent, in a forested area, at an elevation of 1310 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 4 inches; very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many very fine to coarse roots; 3 percent cobbles and 10 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary.

E--4 to 5 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) gravelly fine sandy loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine to coarse roots; 3 percent cobbles and 12 percent gravel; extremely acid; abrupt broken boundary.

Bs--5 to 15 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) gravelly loam; moderate medium subangular blocky parting to moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine to coarse roots; 3 percent cobbles and 23 percent gravel; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary.

E/B--15 to 36 inches; 35 percent red (2.5YR 4/6) gravelly fine sandy loam and 65 percent reddish brown (5YR 5/4) gravelly loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky parting to moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine to medium roots; 2 percent patchy faint reddish brown (5YR 5/4), moist, clay films on surfaces along root channels; few fine faint yellowish red (5YR 5/6), moist, infused into matrix along faces of peds; 4 percent cobbles and 30 percent gravel; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

2B/E--36 to 56 inches; 40 percent reddish brown (5YR 5/4) and 60 percent reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; 10 percent patchy faint reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4), moist, clay films on surfaces along root channels; 4 percent cobbles and 23 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

2Bt--56 to 80 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure; firm; 20 percent patchy faint reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4), moist, clay films on vertical faces of peds; 5 percent gravel; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Ontonagon County, Michigan; about 6 miles west of Silver City; 217 feet south and 361 feet west of the north east corner of Section 21, T. 51 N., R. 43 W.; USGS Ontonagon South, MI, topographic quadrangle; lat. 46 degrees 48 minutes 24 seconds N. and long. 89 degrees 45 minutes 39 seconds W., NAD 27. UTM, Zone 16N, 289347 meters east, 5187396 meters north, NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the upper part of the solum and depth to the top of the argillic horizon ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to the base of the argillic horizon ranges from 30 to more than 80 inches. Depth to the densic contact is at 60 inches or greater. The solum is moderately acid to extremely acid. Depth to carbonates is greater than 40 inches. Gravel content ranges from 1 to 30 percent and cobble and stone content ranges from 0 to 5 percent in the solum. Gravel content ranges from 1 to 35 percent and cobble and stone content ranges from 0 to 25 in the substratum. Stone cover ranges from less than .01 to .1 percent of the surface.

A horizon
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy sand or silt loam

AE horizon
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy sand or silt loam

Some pedons have an E horizon
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: ine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy sand or silt loam

Some pedons have a Bhs horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy sand or silt loam

Bs horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 2 to 4
Chroma: 4 to 8
Texture: sand, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy sand or silt loam

B part of the B/E and E/B horizons
Hue: 2.5YR, 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: loam, fine sandy loam or silt loam

E part of the B/E and E/B horizons
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: loam, fine sandy loam or silt loam

Bt horizons
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loam, clay loam, fine sand loam or silt loam

BC horizon
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 4 to 6
Texture: loam, fine sandy loam or silt loam

Cd horizon
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 4 to 6
Texture: loam, fine sandy loam, silt loam or the very gravelly or very cobbly analogs

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Annalake, Goodwit, Mashek, Newood, Padwood, Peavy, Reade, Sarwet, Shoepac, and Tipler series. Annalake soils are stratified. Goodwit soils have a 12 to 40 inch silty mantle and do not have carbonates. Mashek, Newood, and Peavy soil have more sand in the lower part of the profile. Padwood and Tipler soils have stratified sandy outwash and do not have carbonates. Reade soils are underlain by bedrock. Sarwet soils have more coarse fragments and do not have carbonates. Shoepac soils have 18 to 30 percent clay in the argillic horizon and have layers exhibiting fragic properties.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Loggerhead soils are on knolls, rises and sideslopes on ground moraines. Slope ranges from 1 to 30 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 31 to 34 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 40 to 44 degrees F.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Annalake, Belding, Big Iron, Flintsteel, and Watton soils. Annalake soils are on adjacent areas of stratified sediments. Belding soils are in the same drainage sequence with Loggerhead. Big Iron, Flintsteel, and Watton soils are fine-loamy. Moderately well drained Annalake and Flintsteel soils are on similar landscape positions. Somewhat poorly drained Belding and Big Iron soils are on slightly lower landscape positions. Well drained Watton soils are on steeper sideslopes and ridges.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is low to high depending on the slope. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the solum, moderately slow in the lower part and slow or very slow in the substratum. These soils have a perched seasonal water table from 1 to 3.5 feet below the surface from November to May.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested. The major species are sugar maple, red maple, green ash, quaking aspen, bigtooth aspen, eastern hemlock, basswood, yellow birch, and balsam fir. Some areas are used for pasture and hay production or are idle.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, MLRA 92. This series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota; MLRA SSO 10-4 (Duluth, Minnesota).

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ontonagon County, Michigan, 2007. The source of the name is a stream in Ontonagon County.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon include: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 10 inches (A and AE horizons); spodic horizon - the zone from 10 to 18 inches (Bs horizons); argillic horizon - the zone from 24 to 45 inches (the B part of the B/E and the Bt horizons); oxyaquic feature - redox concentrations and soil saturation above 40 inches.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to lab sample number S00MI-131-019 for Primary Characterization Data from NSSL, Lincoln, NE.

Only series status, responsibility, and scrivener's errors changed - 4/09.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.