LOCATION MERRILLAN WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over clayey, mixed, semiactive, frigid Ultic Epiaquods
TYPICAL PEDON: Merrillan fine sandy loam - on a plane, north-facing 1 percent slope in a woodland at an elevation of about 1,005 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
0e--0 to 1 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) mucky peat (hemic material which is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter); about 50 percent fiber and 25 percent rubbed; weak very thin platy structure; nonsticky; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
A--1 to 3 inches; black (10YR 2/1) fine sandy loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine, fine, and medium roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
E--3 to 6 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) fine sandy loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)
Bs1--6 to 11 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few very fine and fine roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bs2--11 to 13 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few very fine and fine roots; few fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizon ranges from 4 to 12 inches)
Bw--13 to 21 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few very fine and fine roots; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
2Bt--21 to 30 inches; pinkish gray (5YR 6/2) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few faint gray (5YR 6/1) clay films on faces of some peds; few fine prominent brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) and common coarse prominent reddish brown (2.5YR 4/3) masses of iron accumulation; about 10 percent sandstone channers; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 20 inches thick)
2Cr--30 to 60 inches; interbedded very pale brown (10YR 7/3) sandstone and light gray (5Y 7/2) shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Clark County, Wisconsin; about 4 miles south and 0.5 miles east of Shortville; about 100 feet north and 800 feet east of the southwest corner of sec. 26, T. 23 N., R. 1 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 a paralithic contact with interbedded sandstone and shale range from 20 to 40 inches. Thickness of the loamy mantle and depth to clayey residuum range from 12 to 30 inches. The coarse-loamy part of the particle-size control section averages between 10 and 18 percent clay and between 40 and 70 percent fine sand or coarser. The clayey part of the particle-size control section averages between 35 and 60 percent clay and between 10 and 50 percent sand. Base saturation (by sum of cations) is less than 35 percent in 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 loamy mantle. Volume of sandstone channers ranges from 3 to 15 percent in the residuum. Reaction typically ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the loamy mantle but ranges to neutral where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid in the residuum. Redox concentrations are in the albic or spodic horizon within a depth of 20 inches. Aquic conditions occur within 20 inches at some time in most years.
The O horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10 YR or is neutral in hue. Value is 2 or 3 and chroma is 0 to 3. The O horizon is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter.
The A horizon has value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. The A or Ap horizon is fine sandy loam or sandy loam.
The E horizon has value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 or 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. The E horizon is fine sandy loam or sandy loam.
Some pedons have a Bhs horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10 YR and value and chroma of 2 or 3. It is fine sandy loam or sandy loam.
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. It is sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR and value and chroma of 4 to 6. It is sandy loam or fine sandy loam. Bw horizons with spodic color have less than 0.6 percent organic carbon.
The 2Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y; value of 4 to 8; and chroma of 2 to 6. It is dominantly clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay but thin subhorizons of coarser 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. Related soils are the Fairchild, Hiles, Humbird, Kert, and Ludington series. Fairchild and Ludington soils have a 15 to 39 inch thick sandy mantle soils are sandy over loamy. Hiles and Kert soils are fine-loamy and have a glossic horizon. Humbird soils do not have redox features or 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 Elkmound group). Slope gradients range from 0 to 6 percent. Merrillan soils formed in loamy alluvium and in clayey 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 degree F. The frost free period ranges from about 120 to 135 days. Elevation ranges from 700 to 1,400 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Elm Lake, Fairchild, Hiles, Humbird, Kert, Ludington and Veedum soils. The poorly drained Elm Lake soils, the somewhat poorly drained Fairchild soils, and the moderately well drained Ludington soils form a drainage sequence in nearby areas where there is a 15 to 39 inch thick sandy mantle over loamy residuum from the underlying interbedded sandstone and shale. The moderately well drained Hiles soils, the somewhat poorly drained Kert soils, and the poorly drained Veedum soils form a drainage sequence in nearby area where there is a 12 to 30 inch thick silty mantle over loamy residuum from the underlying interbedded sandstone and shale. The moderately well drained Humbird soils form a drainage sequence with Merrillan soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Surface runoff is slow or medium. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid in the loamy mantle; slow in the clayey residuum; and very slow to moderately slow in the sandstone and shale. Merrillan soils have a perched seasonal high water table at a depth of 1 to 2 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period September to June in 6 out of 10 years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas are in woodland. Native vegetation is mixed deciduous and coniferous forests with eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, red maple, white birch, northern red oak, and northern pin oak predominating. Some areas have been cleared and are used for cropland. Corn, small grain, and hay are the common crops. Some areas are used for pastureland.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West-central Wisconsin. These soils are moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wood County, Wisconsin, 1971.
REMARKS: The water table is perched on bedrock (2Cr). This water table technically fits neither the definfition of epi-saturation or of endo-saturation. We have suggested to the classification staff at NSSC that the definition of epi-saturation be expanded to include water tables perched on bedrock. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: albic horizon - 1 to 6 inches (A,E); spodic horizon - 6 to 13 inches (Bsl, Bs2); argillic horizon - 21 to 30 inches (2Bt); paralithic contact - 30 inches (2Cr); aquic feature - redox features in the spodic horizon and saturation within a depth of 20 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0231