LOCATION MENASHA WI

Established Series
Rev. HFG-AAC
01/2011

MENASHA SERIES

The Menasha series consists of very deep, poorly drained soils formed in clayey lacustrine deposits on glacial lake basins and stream terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 711 mm (28 inches). Mean annual air temperature is about 7.8 degrees C (46 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, mixed, active, mesic Typic Epiaquolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Menasha clay - on a slope of less than 1 percent in a red clover hayfield at an elevation of about 232 meters (760 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 18 cm (0 to 7 inches); black (10YR 2/1) clay, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate fine and medium granular structure; firm; many roots; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. [15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches) thick]

BA --18 to 28 cm (7 to 11 inches); very dark gray (5Y 3/1) clay, olive gray (5Y 5/2) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; many roots; many fine prominent brown (7.5YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; slightly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. [0 to 15 cm (0 to 6 inches) thick]

Bg1--28 to 33 cm (11 to 13 inches); dark gray (5Y 4/1) clay; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; many roots; many fine prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; slightly alkaline; abrupt wavy bounday.

Bg2--33 to 43 cm (13 to 17 inches); gray (5Y 5/1) clay; moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; common roots; many fine distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) and common fine prominent brown (7.5YR 4/4) and reddish brown (5YR 5/3) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; slightly alkaline; clear irregular boundary.

Bg3--43 to 66 cm (17 to 26 inches); mixed gray (5Y 5/1) and reddish brown (5YR 4/3) clay; moderate coarse prismatic structure; firm; few roots mainly between vertical faces of peds; common fine distinct and prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; slightly alkaline; clear irregular boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bg horizon ranges from 15 to 76 cm (6 to 30 inches).]

C--66 to 152 cm (26 to 60 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/3) clay; massive with tendency to break to moderate medium plates along horizontal cleavage planes; firm; few vertical fractures with gleyed faces; few roots in vertical fractures; many medium prominent gray (5Y 5/1) iron depletions in the matrix; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Winnebago County, Wisconsin; about 3 miles southeast of Zittau; 1,370 feet north and 1,270 feet west of the southeast corner of sec. 20, T. 20 N., R. 15 E. USGS Oshkosh NW, Wisconsin topographic quadrangle;
lat. 44 degrees 11 minutes 17 seconds N., and long. 88 degrees 43 minutes 58 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 18 to 38 cm (7 to 15 inches)
Thickness of loess or other silty material: 0 to 38 cm (0 to 15 inches)
Depth to the base of the cambic horizon: 46 to 102 cm (18 to 40 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages 60 to 85 percent clay, less than 10 percent fine sand or coarser
Rock fragments: absent throughout the soil
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline in the upper part of the solum; slightly or moderately alkaline in the lower part and in the substratum
Depth to carbonates: in the C horizon, in the lower part of the B horizon in some pedons
Saturation: within a depth of 31 cm (12 inches) for some time in most years

Ap or A horizon:
Hue: 10YR or N
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 0 or 1
Texture: silty clay loam, silty clay or clay

BA horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y or N
Value: 2 to 3
Chroma: 0 to 3
Texture: silty clay or clay

Bg horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y or N
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 0 to 2
Texture: dominantly clay, sub-horizons of silty clay in some pedons
Other features:
In some pedons, up to 50 percent of the lower Bg horizon has hue as red as 2.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4.

BW or BC horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR, 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y or 5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: dominantly clay, sub-horizons of silty clay in some pedons
Other features:
Some pedons have a mix of color with less than 50 percent of the horizon having chroma of 1 or 2.

C horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: typically clay, subhorizons of silty clay in some pedons
Other features:
In some pedons, the C horizon contains thin strata of silt or very fine sand.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. Closely related are the Oshkosh, Neenah, and Winneconne series. Oshkosh soils are well drained Typic Hapludalfs. Neenah soils are somewhat poorly drained Aquollic Hapludalfs. Winneconne soils are moderately well drained Mollic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Menasha soils are on stream terraces and glacial lake basins. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. These soils formed in clayey, lacustrine deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 635 to 737 mm (25 to 29 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from 7.2 to 8.9 degrees C (45 to 48 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Neenah, Poy, and Winneconne soils. The somewhat poorly drained Neenah and the moderately well drained and well drained Winneconne soils form a drainage sequence with the Menasha soils. The Neenah and Winneconne soils occupy slightly higher areas than the Menasha. Nearby where the clayey lacustrine deposits are underlain by sand at depths of 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches) are the poorly drained Poy soils.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from negligible to high. In certain settings, Menasha soils are subject to common flooding for long periods. Otherwise flooding is rare or there is none. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is low to moderately high (0.01 to 1.41 micrometers per second). Permeability is slow or very slow. These soil have a perched seasonal high water table at a depth of 0 to 31 cm (0 to 1 foot) for long periods in most years.

USE AND VEGETATION: Drained areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, oats, and hay. Undrained areas are used for pastureland or woodland. Native vegetation is mixed deciduous swamp forest of white ash, green ash American elm, red maple, silver maple, and swamp white oak, with a ground cover of marsh grasses.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 90A, 95A, and 105 in east-central Wisconsin. These soils are of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Winnebago County, Wisconsin, 1977.
12/04 1425 acres correlated as Menasha in Jackson may be in the fine family. NSSL data on a pedon sampled as Menasha in neighboring Juneau County showed it to be in the fine family rather than very fine.

12/04 Lab data (Cole) is needed to determine if these soils are in a Vertic subgroup.

REMARKS: Diagnositic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: Mollic epipedon - 0 to 28 cm (0 to 11 inches) (Ap, BA); Cambic horizon - 28 to 66 cm (11 to 26 inches) (Bg1, Bg2, Bg3): aquic suborder - chroma of 1 in the lower part of the mollic epipedon with prominent redox accumulations and saturation.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.