LOCATION NEOPIT WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Oxyaquic Glossudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Neopit loam, very bouldery, on a concave, northeast facing 3 percent slope in a hardwood forest on the lower side slope of a drumlin at an elevation of about 1,300 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oa--0 to 1 inch; black (10YR 2/1) muck (sapric material which is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter); about 10 percent fiber and a trace rubbed; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many roots; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
E--1 to 4 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam,pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; many roots; about 2 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
Bw--4 to 12 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many roots; about 1 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
E'--12 to 15 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) fine sandy loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; moderate medium platy structure; friable; common roots; about 2 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)
E/B--15 to 20 inches; 80 percent brown (10YR 5/3) fine sandy loam (E'), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; friable; surrounds remnants of brown (7.5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam (Bt); moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; common roots; common distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; about 2 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
(B/E)1--20 to 26 inches; 70 percent brown (7.5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam (Bt); moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; penetrated by tongues of brown (10YR 5/3) fine sandy loam (E'), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; friable; few roots; many distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; about 3 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
(B/E)2--26 to 36 inches; 80 percent brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam (Bt); moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; penetrated by tongues of brown (7.5YR 5/3) sandy loam (E'), pink (7.5YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; friable; few roots; many distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; few fine distinct and prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) concretions iron-manganese oxides; about 10 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
(B/E)3--36 to 67 inches; 85 percent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly sandy loam (Bt); weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; breaks to moderate medium plates along horizontal cleavage planes inherited from the parent material; penetrated by tongues of brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly sandy loam (E'), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; friable; few roots; few prominent reddish brown (5YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; few fine prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) and common medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; few fine prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) concretions iron-manganese oxides; about 16 percent gravel and 7 percent cobbles; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Glossic horizon - 10 to 70 inches thick)
C--67 to 80 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam; massive; friable; about 9 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Menominee County, Wisconsin; about 4 miles northwest of Zoar; 2,030 feet west and 2,200 feet north of the southeast corner of section 31, T. 30 N., R. 13 E.; USGS Zoar quadrangle; lat. 45 degrees 2' 7" N. and long. 88 degrees 58' 8" W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Unless otherwise stated, depth is measured from the top of the mineral soil.) Depth to the base of the argillic horizon ranges from 45 to more than 80 inches. Depth to free carbonates is more than 80 inches. The weighted average clay content ranges from 5 to 18 percent and the weighted average content of fine sand or coarser ranges from 45 to 80 percent in the particle-size control section. Rock fragments average about 75 percent igneous and metamorphic and about 25 percent sedimentary. The sedimentary rock fragments are mostly dolomite. Volume of gravel ranges from 2 to 15 percent in the E and Bw horizons and from 2 to 25 percent in the E', E/B, B/E, and C horizons. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 15 percent throughout the soil. In most pedons, stones and boulders are on the surface and throughout the soil. Reaction naturally ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the solum but ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed or where fire has created ash. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to neutral in the substratum. Bulk densities are less than 1.80 throughout the solum and substratum. Redox concentrations are within 40 inches. Saturation occurs within 40 inches at some time in most years.
The O horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter.
Some pedons have an A horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. The A or Ap is loam.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2.
The Bw horizon has value of 3 or 4. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The E' horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, 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. It is loamy sand, gravelly loamy sand, sandy loam, gravelly sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
Neopit soils have a glossic horizon (E/B or B/E horizons, or both). The E part has color and texture like the E' horizon above. The Bt part has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 3 or 4. Typically, it is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam or the gravelly analogs but in the lower part of some pedons it is loamy sand or gravelly loamy sand.
Some pedons have a Bt horizon with color and texture like the Bt part described above.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 3 or 4. It is sandy loam, loamy sand, or the gravelly analogs.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Aftad, Feldhauser, Freeon, Haugen, and Scott Lake series. Similar soils are the Amery and Kennan series. Aftad soils are stratified in the lower part of the series control section and typically do not have coarse fragments. Feldhauser soils have lamellae (E & Bt horizons) in the lower part of the argillic horizon. Freeon soils have more than 50 percent silt in the upper 12 to 36 inches of the series control section. Haugen soils do not have limestone coarse fragments and have bulk densities greater than 1.80 in the lower part of the argillic horizon and in the substratum.. Scott Lake soils have stratified sandy outwash within a depth of 40 inches. Amery soils do not have limestone rock fragments and have bulk densities greater than 1.80 in the lower subsoil and substratum. Kennan soils do not have redox features or a water table.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Neopit soils are on moraines and drumlins. Slope gradients range from 0 to 6 percent. These soils formed in loamy till. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 39 to 45 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 120 to 135 days. Elevation ranges from 900 to 1,700 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Capitola, Kennan, Moodig, and Rosholt soils. The poorly drained Capitola soils, the somewhat poorly drained Moodig soils, and the well drained Kennan soils form a drainage sequence with Neopit soils. Moodig soils have a spodic horizon which developed under the hemlock trees common on somewhat poorly drained areas. The well drained Rosholt soils are nearby on lower outwash plains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the solum and moderate or moderately rapid in the lower part of the solum and in the substratum. Neopit soils have a perched seasonal high water table at depths of 2.5 to 3.5 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period of September to June in 6 or more out of 10 years.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are mostly in woodland. Timber stands are mostly sugar maple, American basswood, and white ash, with yellow birch, eastern hophornbeam, eastern hemlock, black cherry, and American hornbeam as associates in most stands. Northern red oak is an associate in some stands. Some areas are cleared and used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay. Some areas are used for pastureland.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Wisconsin. The extent is moderate. (The area is currently included in MLRA K90 but will be included in MLRA L95A when the MLRA map is updated. It is the Mapleview Member of the Horicon Formation of the Green Bay Lobe of Middle Woodfordian age [14,000 - 15,000 BP)]of late Wisconsinan glaciation.)
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Menominee County, Wisconsin, 1999. Source of the name is a village in Menominee County.
REMARKS: Neopit soils formerly were included with the well drained Kennan soils.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are; albic horizons - 1 to 4 inches (E) and 12 to 15 inches (E'); glossic horizon - 15 to 67 inches (E/B, B/E1, B/E2, B/E3); argillic horizon - 20 to 67 inches (B/E1, B/E2, B/E3); oxyaquic feature - redox accumulations and saturation within 40 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WIO585 (VERY BOULDERY).