LOCATION MARATHON WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Haplic Glossudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Marathon silt loam - on a 5 percent convex slope in an idle field at an elevation of about 1,220 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine fibrous roots; about 2 percent pebbles; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 8 inches thick)
E--7 to 10 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak thin platy structure; friable; common fine fibrous roots; about 2 percent pebbles; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
E/B--10 to 18 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry (E); weak thin platy structure; very friable; occupies about 80 percent of the horizon and completely surrounds or tongues into remnants of the Bt horizon; brown (7.5YR 5/4) and dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam (Bt); weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine fibrous roots; few thin clay films on faces of peds in Bt remnants and some pores; about 2 percent pebbles; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
B/E--18 to 29 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam (Bt); moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; occupies about 60 percent of the horizon and consists of upward extensions of the Bt horizons; common thin clay films on faces of peds and in tubular pores; tongues of brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry (E); weak thin platy structure; very friable; few fine fibrous roots; about 2 percent pebbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
2Bt1--29 to 38 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) and brown (7.5YR 5/4) very gravelly coarse sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; many distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on surfaces of pebbles and as bridging of sand grains; about 55 percent angular and subangular pebbles; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 17 inches thick)
2Bt2--38 to 57 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4), strong brown (7.5YR 5/6 and 5/8) and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) extremely gravelly loamy coarse sand; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on surfaces of pebbles and as bridging of sand grains; about 75 percent angular and subangular pebbles; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 21 inches thick)
2C--57 to 60 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6 and 5/8) extremely gravelly loamy coarse sand; single grain; about 90 percent pebbles; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Marathon County, Wisconsin; about 5 1/2 miles northwest of Mosinee; 2,440 feet north and 150 feet west of the southeast corner of sec. 34, T. 28 N., R. 6 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to more than 60 inches. Typically the underlying granite is weathered (disintegrated) to a depth greater than 60 inches, but in some pedons, the bedrock is unweathered within depths of 40 to 60 inches. The unweathered bedrock is recognized as a bedrock phase. Typically, these soils have a loess mantle 15 to 35 inches thick overlying the till or residuum weathered from granitic rock (grus). The bedrock phase lacks the loess mantle. The solum, at depths below the influence of agricultural lime, is slightly acid to very strongly acid. The 2C horizon is slightly acid to strongly acid. Volume of angular pebbles in that part of the solum formed in the upper silty or loamy deposits ranges from 0 to 15 percent. In that part of the solum formed in till or residuum angular pebbles range from 30 to 75 percent by volume. In the 2C horizon, the volume of angular pebbles ranges from 15 to 90 percent. See the REMARKS section for a discussion on the character of the coarse fragments. Volume of cobbles or stones ranges from 0 to 2 percent in the loess and from 0 to 8 percent in the residuum, but in some places stony phases are recognized.
The Ap or A horizon has 10YR hue of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. The lower value colors are typical of the A horizon that ranges from 2 to 5 inches thick. It is silt loam or loam. In some pedons, below the Ap or A horizon, there is a horizon with high chroma colors similar to those of a spodic horizon, but it is too thin or does not meet the chemical requirements of a spodic horizon.
The E horizon has 10YR hue, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Marathon soils have E/B or B/E horizons, or both. These horizons have tongues of E material surrounding thin, column-like upward extensions of the Bt horizon or wholly surrounding small, isolated remnants of the Bt horizon. The tongues of E material have colors like the E horizon and are silt loam marginal to silt but in some pedons, grade with depth to very fine sandy loam or loam. The Bt part of the horizon has 7.5YR or 10YR hue, and value and chroma of 3 to 5. Typically, it is silt loam, but in some pedons it is very fine sandy loam.
The 2Bt1 horizon has 7.5YR or 10YR hue, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is loam, sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, loamy sand, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogues. Clay films are thin and few to many on faces of peds in the Bt horizons. The control section averages between 10 and 18 percent clay and from 30 to 50 percent fine sand or coarser. Some pedons contain mottles in the argillic horizon. The 2Bt2 horizon differs from the overlying 2Bt1 horizon mainly in having coarser texture, fewer clay films, and higher gravel content.
The 2C horizon has 10YR, 7.5YR, and 5YR hue; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 4 to 8. It consists of grus, an accumulation of waste consisting of angular, coarse-grained fragments resulting from the granular disintegration of crystalline rocks (esp. granite). The pebble and cobble size fragments crush to sand size material without much difficulty.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Alban, Amery, Freeon, Kennan, Langlade, Rosholt, and Scott Lake series in the same family. Alban soils do not have coarse fragments. Amery, Freeon, Kennan, and Langlade soils have fewer pebbles in that part of the argillic horizon above a depth of 40 inches. Eaupleine soils have a lithic contact at a depth of 40 to 60 inches and have fewer pebbles in that part of the argillic horizon (2Bt horizons) above a depth of 40 inches. Rosholt and Scott Lake soils have thinner sola.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on uplands underlain by bedrock. Slopes are simple or complex and have dominant gradients of 2 to 15 percent. Typically, Marathon soils formed in 15 to 35 inches of loess and in the underlying glacial till or residuum (grus), or both. The till is thought to be derived mainly from the local residuum although the glacial stratigraphy in the area is not fully worked out. Mean annual temperature ranges from 43 to 46 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 25 to 34 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Mylrea, Moberg, and Mosinee soils. The somewhat poorly drained Mylrea soils occupy lower lying positions in the landscape and form a drainage sequence with the well drained Marathon series. Moberg and Mosinee soils are nearby in landscape positions similar to those of Marathon soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained and moderately well drained. Runoff is medium. Permeability is moderate and moderately rapid in the solum and rapid or very rapid in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: General farm crops comprise silage corn, small grain, hay, and pasture. In some places, ginseng, a high value specialty crop, is also grown. Some areas remain in forest. Native vegetation was coniferous and deciduous forest with eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, sugar maple, American basswood, white ash, red maple, northern red oak, bigtooth aspen, quaking aspen, paper birch, American elm, yellow birch, and black cherry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Wisconsin, mostly in Wood, Marathon, and Clark Counties. These soils are moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wood County, Wisconsin, 1971.
REMARKS: The highly weathered granite (grus) has undergone extensive chemical and mechanical weathering and the granite pebble size and cobble size fragments crush to sand and silt size fragments. The pebble size fragments, in place, behave as gravel in-so-far as the bulk density, permeability, and available water are concerned. As a construction material the pebble size fragments crush to sand and silt size material. The logical UNIFIED classification is SM or SP. The pebble size fragments are not suitable for aggregate so it is not a probable source of sand or gravel.
Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - from the surface of the soil to a depth of 15 inches (Ap, E, E/B); argillic horizon - from 18 to 38 inches (B/E and 2Bt1).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to soil number S70WI-37-3, National Soil Survey Laboratory numbers 70L883-70L893 for some data on typifying pedon.