LOCATION MERIT WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Mollic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Merit silt loam from an area of Merit-Gardenvale silt loams, on a south facing, convex 3 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 1,000 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Bt1--9 to 12 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; common faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clean silt grains coating faces of some peds; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 22 inches thick)
2Bt2--12 to 20 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; common distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
2Bt3--20 to 30 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; common distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon ranges from 2 to 20 inches.)
3C--30 to 60 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sand; single grain; loose; few 1 inch thick dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loamy sand and sandy loam strata; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Jackson County, Wisconsin; about 2 miles west of Hixton; 2100 feet south and 400 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 15, T. 22 N., R. 5 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the silty mantle ranges from 10 to 30 inches. Depth to siliceous sandy alluvium range from 24 to 40 inches. The sandy alluvium or residuum has less than 10 percent weatherable minerals. The upper part of the particle-size control section averages 18 to 27 percent clay and from 15 to 45 percent fine sand or coarser. Typically these soils have no coarse fragments but sandstone gravel or channers are in some pedons. Volume of sandstone gravel or channers ranges from 0 to 15 percent throughout. Reaction typically ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid throughout the pedon but ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3.
Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 3. It is silt loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR and value of 3 or 4.
The 2Bt horizon has colors like the Bt horizon described above. It is typically loam at least in the upper part but grades to sandy clay loam or sandy loam in some pedons. Transition horizons with less than 18 percent clay are less than 5 inches thick.
Some pedons have a thin 3Bt or 3BC horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR and value and chroma of 4 to 6. It is loamy sand or sand.
The 3C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is sand or fine sand. A few thin strata of sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand are in the 3C horizon in most pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Dresden, Meridian, Merimod, and Sattre series. All of these soils except Merimod have mixed mineralogy throughout the series control section. Merimod soils are on concave and plane landscape positions and have redox features and a water table at a depth of 40 to 72 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Merit soils are on stream terraces and pediments. Slope gradients range from 0 to 6 percent and ranges to 45 percent on risers. These soils formed in silty alluvium over loamy alluvium underlain by siliceous sandy alluvium or in some places by siliceous sandy residuum. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 46 to 51 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 135 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 700 to 1,100 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bilson, Bilmod, Hoop, Merimod, and Sooner soils. The well drained Bilson soils, the moderately well drained Bilmod soils, and the somewhat poorly drained Hoop soils form a drainage sequence in areas where there is more sand and less silt and clay in the soil. The moderately well drained Merimod soils and the somewhat poorly drained Sooner soils form a drainage sequence with Merit soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is slow or medium. Permeability is moderate in the silty and loamy mantle and moderate to moderately rapid in the stratified sandy substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are used for cropland and some are used for pastureland. Corn, small grains, and hay are common crops. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods and prairie grass openings or hardwood and conifer barrens with grass understory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern and west-central Wisconsin. These soils are of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jackson County, Wisconsin, 1994.
REMARKS: Lab data is needed to verify base saturation at a depth of 125 cm below the top of the argillic horizon (Mollic vs Ultic Hapludalfs). Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon (darker than typic) - 0 to 9 inches (Ap); argillic horizon - 9 to 30 inches (Bt1, 2Bt2, 2Bt3).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0545 . Refer to soil survey sample number S87WI-053-2 for NSSL data on the typical pedon.