LOCATION MEQUON WI

Established Series
Rev. HFG-AAC
01/2011

MEQUON SERIES

The Mequon series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in thin loess and in the underlying silty clay loam till on ground moraines. Slope ranges from 1 to 3 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 762 mm (30 inches). Mean annual air temperature is about 9.4 degrees C (49 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, mesic Udollic Endoaqualfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Mequon silt loam - on a 2 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 232 meters (760 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; friable; many fine fibrous roots; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. [15 to 23 cm (6 to 9 inches) thick]

Bt--20 to 31 cm (8 to 12 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine fibrous roots; few faint clay films; few fine faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. [10 to 23 cm (4 to 9 inches) thick]

2Btg1--31 to 43 cm (12 to 17 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay; strong medium angular blocky structure; very firm; few fine fibrous roots; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) organic coatings on faces of peds; many fine and distinct clay films; few fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

2Btg2--43 to 61 cm (17 to 24 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay loam; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) coatings; strong medium angular blocky structure; very firm; few fine fibrous roots, common distinct clay films; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

2Bt-- 61 to 76 cm (24 to 30 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very firm; very few fine fibrous roots; few distinct clay films; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; common medium distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) iron depletions in the matrix; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of 2Bt horizons is 36 to 56 cm (14 to 22 inches).]

2C--76 to 152 cm (30 to 60 inches); brown (7.5YR 5/2) silty clay loam; massive; firm; few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Ozaukee County, Wisconsin; about 1 1/2 miles west of Mequon; 1,100 feet south and 2,463 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 28, T. 9 N., R. 21 E. USGS Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Topographic Quadrangle; lat. 43 degrees 13 minutes 7 seconds N., and long. 88 degrees 0 minutes 52 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the argilic horizon and depth to carbonates: 61 to 102 cm (24 to 40 inches)
Thickness of the loess mantle: 20 to 46 cm (8 to 18 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages 35 and 60 percent clay, 5 to 15 percent fine sand or coarser but clay content exceeds 45 percent in the upper part of the 2Bt horizon.
Volume of gravel in the solum and substratum: 0 to 10 percent
Volume of rock fragments larger than 3 inches in the solum and substratum: 0 to 2 percent
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline in the upper part of the solum; slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline in the lower part of the solum and in the substratum

A or Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: silt loam

E horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam

Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam or silty clay loam

2Btg or 2Bt horizons:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silty clay loam, silty clay or clay

2C horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silty clay loam, some pedons exhibit weak stratification in the C horizons
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 35 to 50 percent

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Mequon soils are in shallow drainageways and on foot slope positions on ground moraines. Slope ranges from 1 to 3 percent. Mequon soils formed in highly calcareous silty clay loam till with a thin loess mantle. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 660 to 889 mm (26 to 35 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from 7.2 to 11.1 degrees C (45 to 52 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Kewaunee, Lamartine, Manawa, Mayville, Ozaukee, and Theresa soils. The well drained Ozaukee soils have more sloping relief and form a drainage sequence with Mequon soils. Where the Mequon soils border on the reddish clay drift areas, the well drained Kewaunee soils and somewhat poorly drained Manawa soils are on nearby landscapes. The well drained Theresa soils, the moderately well drained Mayville soils, and somewhat poorly drained Lamartine soils are in areas where the silty clay loam till borders on till with a loam texture.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is high . Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high (1.41 to 4.23 micrometers per second). Permeability is moderately slow.

USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay. Some areas are used for pastureland and some for woodland. Native vegetation is mixed hardwood forest.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 95B, and 110 in eastern Wisconsin. This soil is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, l970.

REMARKS: Formerly included with Blount soils. These soils, as previously mapped in some areas of Wisconsin, appear to fit more nearly with the Aquollic Hapludalfs.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are;
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches) (Ap); Argillic horizon - 20 to 76 cm (8 to 30 inches) (Bt1, 2Bt2, 2Bt3, 2Bt4);
Udollic feature - has an Ap horizon that meets all the requirements of a mollic epipedon except thickness and has color value of 4 and chroma of 3 in a horizon below the Ap and within 76 cm (30 inches).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.