LOCATION LUDINGTON WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy over loamy, siliceous, semiactive, frigid Oxyaquic Ultic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Ludington sand (from an area of Ludington-Fairchild sands) - on a plane, north facing 2 percent slope in a wooded area at an elevation of about 930 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--0 to 1 inch; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moderately decomposed plant material; about 50 percent fiber and 25 percent rubbed; weak thin platy structure; non-sticky; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
A--1 to 4 inches; black (10YR 2/1) sand, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
E--4 to 11 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) sand, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 10 inches thick)
Bs--11 to 16 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) sand; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few very fine and fine roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--16 to 26 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few very fine and fine roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--26 to 33 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) sand; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; many coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon ranges from 8 to 32.)
2Bt--33 to 39 inches; light gray (5Y 7/2) sandy clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few faint light olive gray (5Y 6/2) clay films on faces of peds; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; about 5 percent sandstone channers; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 24 inches thick)
2Cr--39 to 60 inches; interbedded light gray (2.5YR 7/2) weakly cemented sandstone and light olive gray (5Y 6/2) shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Clark County, Wisconsin; about 1.5 miles north and 1 mile west of Hatfield; 1300 feet north and 1400 feet west of the southeast corner of sec. 28, T. 23 N., R. 3 W.; USGS Hatfield, WI quad.; lat. 44 degrees, 26', 26" N., long. 90 degrees, 44', 48" W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Unless otherwise stated, thickness and depth are measured from the top of the mineral soil.) Thickness of the solum and depth to the paralithic contact with interbedded sandstone and shale range from 20 to 40 inches. Thickness of the sandy mantle and depth to loamy residuum from interbedded sandstone and shale ranges from 15 to 39 inches. The sandy mantle has less than 10 percent weatherable minerals (0.02 to 2 mm fraction). Base saturation (by sum of cations) is less than 35 percent throughout the argillic horizon. Coarse fragments are mostly sandstone channers but, in some places, these soils occur near higher lying glacial soils and igneous fragments are in the upper part of some pedons. Volume of gravel or sandstone channers ranges from 0 to 15 percent in the sandy mantle. Volume of sandstone channers ranges from 3 to 15 percent in the residuum. Reaction typically ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the sandy mantle but ranges to neutral in the upper part
The O horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR or is neytral in hue. Value is 2 or 3 and chroma is 0 to 2.
The A horizon has value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. The A or Ap is sand or loamy sand.
The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sand, coarse sand, loamy sand, or loamy coarse sand.
The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR, value of 3 or 6, and chroma of 4 to 6 or hue of 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4. It is sand, coarse sand, loamy sand, or loamy coarse sand.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 to 7 and chroma of 4 to 6. It is sand, coarse sand, loamy sand, or loamy coarse sand.
The 2Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y; value of 4 to 7; and chroma of 2 to 6. It is very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam. Thin strata of coarser or finer texture are in some pedons.
The 2Cr horizon has color like the 2Bt horizon described above. It is interbedded sandstone and shale.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. A similar soil is the Fairchild series. Fairchild soils have redox features and saturation in the spodic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on pediments underlain by interbedded sandstone and shale (Eau Claire and Mt. Simon formations of the Elk Mound group). Slope gradients range from 1 to 20 percent. Ludington soils formed in siliceous sandy alluvium and in loamy residuum from the underlying interbedded sandstone and shale. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 39 to 45 degrees F. The frost-free period ranges from about 120 to 135 days. Elevation ranges from 700 to 1400 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Elm Lake, Fairchild, Humbird, Merrillan, and Rockdam soils. The poorly drained Elm Lake soils and the somewhat poorly drained Fairchild soils are in lower landscape positions and form a drainage sequence with the Ludington soils. The somewhat poorly drained Merrillan soils and the moderately well drained Humbird soils form a drainage sequence in nearby areas where the sandy mantle is absent. The moderately well drained Rockdam soils are nearby on landscape positions similar to those of Ludington soils where the sandy mantle is more than 5 feet thick.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is medium or rapid. Permeability is rapid or very rapid in the sandy mantle, moderately slow or moderate in the loamy residuum, and very slow to moderately slow in the interbedded sandstone and shale. Ludington soils have a perched seasonal high water table at a depth of 1.5 to 3.5 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period of October to May in 6 or more out of 10 years. Although the perched water table occurs fairly high in the soil, the duration of saturation is relatively short and the soil is moderately well drained.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are used for woodland. Second growth forest is common with northern pin oak, jack pine, and some red maple and paper birch the common trees. Some areas are used for cropland. Corn, small grains and hay are common crops. Some areas have been planted to pine trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West-central Wisconsin. These soils are of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, 1974.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 1 to 11 inches (A, E); albic horizon - 4 to 11 inches (E); spodic horizon - 11 to 16 inches (Bs); argillic horizon - 33 to 39 inches (2Bt); siliceous feature - less than 10 percent weatherable minerals in the upper part of the series control section (0.02 to 2 mm fraction); oxyaquic feature - redox accumulations and saturation below the spodic horizon and within 40 inches for 1 month or more per year in most years; ultic features- base saturation less than 35 percent throughout the argillic horizon.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0204. Refer to soil survey sample number S92WI-019-2 for NSSL data on the typical pedon.