LOCATION MANITOWISH WI+MIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, frigid Oxyaquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Manitowish sandy loam - on a plane 1 percent slope in mixed deciduous - conifer woodland at an elevation of about 1630 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 3 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common roots; about 1 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
E--3 to 4 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/2) sandy loam, pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common roots; about 1 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
Bs1--4 to 6 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common roots; about 2 percent gravel; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Bs2--6 to 16 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common roots; about 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizons is 8 to 19 inches.)
2Bs--16 to 19 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) loamy coarse sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few roots; about 4 percent gravel; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
2C1--19 to 35 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) coarse sand; single grain; loose; about 12 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
2C2--35 to 60 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) stratified coarse sand and gravelly sand; single grain; loose; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; about 20 percent gravel; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Vilas County, Wisconsin; about 2.5 miles north of Manitowish Waters; 1180 feet west and 1600 feet south of the northeast corner of sec. 33, T. 43 N., R. 5 E. USGS Papoose Lake, Wis. Quad. Latitude - 46 degrees 9 minutes 58 seconds N. Longitude - 89 degrees 52 minutes 17 seconds W. NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of soil development ranges from 18 to 36 inches. Thickness of the loamy mantle ranges from 10 to 20 inches. Volume of rock fragments averages less than 35 percent in the particle-size control section. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 35 percent in the loamy mantle. Volume of gravel ranges from 10 to 35 percent (as a weighted average) in the sandy outwash but ranges from 0 to 65 percent in individual strata. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 10 percent throughout. Reaction naturally ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the loamy mantle but ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the sandy outwash. Redox accumulations and saturation occur below the spodic horizon but within 40 inches.
The A horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 2 or 3; and chroma is 1 or 2. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 3 or 4; and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
The E horizon has 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is typically sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam but in some pedons it is the gravelly analogs.
The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 6 or hue of 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4. Texture is typically sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam but in some pedons it is the gravelly analogs.
The 2Bs horizon has color like the Bs horizon described above. Texture is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, sand or the gravelly analogs.
The 2BC horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 4 to 8. Horizons with value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 4 do not meet the requirements for spodic materials. Texture is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, sand, coarse sand, or the gravelly analogs.
The 2C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. Typically Texture is stratified with sand or coarse sand or the gravelly, very gravelly, or extremely gravelly analogs. Some pedons have strata of gravel.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Croswell, Croswood, Cublake, Gilchrist, Halfaday, Heintz, and Mattix series. None of these soils except Heintz and Mattix have a loamy mantle in the upper part of the series control section. Heintz and Mattix soils have carbonates within the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Manitowish soils are on outwash plains and outwash terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 18 percent. These soils formed in a thin mantle of loamy alluvium or eolian deposits overlying sand or stratified sandy outwash. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from about 39 to 45 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 70 to 120 days. Elevation ranges from 600 to 2000 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Croswell, Padus, Padwet, Pence, Sayner, Tipler, Vilas, Worcester, and Wormet soils. The moderately well drained Croswell soils are in landscape positions similar to those of Manitowish soils where the loamy mantle is absent. The well drained Padus soils, the moderately well drained Tipler soils, and the somewhat poorly drained Worcester soils form a drainage sequence in nearby areas where the loamy mantle is 20 to 40 inches thick. The somewhat excessively drained Pence soils and the somewhat poorly drained Wormet soils form a drainage sequence with Manitowish soils. The excessively drained Sayner and Vilas soils are in higher landscape positions where the loamy mantle is absent. The moderately well drained Padwet soils are in landscape positions similar to those of Manitowish soils where the loamy mantle is 20 to 40 inches thick over the outwash.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from negligible to low. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid in the loamy mantle and rapid or very rapid in the sandy outwash. Manitowish soils have an apparent seasonal high water table at a depth of 2 to 3.5 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period September to June in 6 or more out of 10 years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for woodland. Native vegetation is mixed coniferous and deciduous forest with red pine, eastern white pine, paper birch, red maple, and quaking aspen as common trees. Some small areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grains, and hay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Vilas County, Wisconsin, 1985.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 3 inches (A); albic horizon - 3 to 4 inches (E); spodic horizon - 4 to 16 inches (Bs1, Bs2); oxyaquic feature - redox accumulations and saturation within 40 inches.