LOCATION NOVAK MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Glossic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Novak loam - on a 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 950 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
B/E--8 to 15 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loam (Bt) with 2 to 10 mm interfingerings of grayish brown (10YR 5/2) loam (E); moderate thin platy structure in the upper part changing to moderate fine subangular blocky; friable; common fine roots; few distinct very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 14 inches thick)
Bt1--15 to 26 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; common distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 22 inches thick)
Bt2--26 to 30 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on interiors of peds and as clay bridging sand grains; about 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary; (0 to 6 inches thick)
2C--30 to 60 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; about 30 percent gravel; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Benton County, Minnesota, about 3 miles south and 6 miles east of Foley, 1100 feet west and 2500 feet south of the NE corner of Sec. 14, T. 36 N, R. 28 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the upper loamy mantle ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Rock fragments range from 0 to 5 percent (by volume) in the upper loamy mantle and 5 to 50 percent in the underlying material with some strata ranging to 65 percent. Reaction is strongly acid to slightly acid throughout the profile.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 through 3. Value is less than 5.5 when dry. It is silt loam or loam.
Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 2 or 3.
The B/E horizon has interfingers with width of less than 15 millimeters. The color of the B part has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR; value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. The E part has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam or loam.
The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR hue, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is silt loam or loam. The lower part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10YR, 7.5YR or 5YR; value of 4 through 6 and chroma of 3 through 6. It is loam, silt loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or their gravelly analogues. Thin lamellae are present in this horizon in some pedons.
Some pedons have a thin 2Bw horizon.
The 2C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 5YR; value of 4 through 6 and chroma of 3 through 6. It is sand, coarse sand, or their gravelly or very gravelly analogues.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Novak soils are on plain to convex positions on glacial outwash plains and stream terraces. Slope gradients are dominantly 0 to 6 percent, but range from 0 to 18 percent. Novak soils formed in a loamy mantle over Superior Lobe sandy and gravelly outwash sediments of Late Wisconsinan Age. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 36 to 47 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation from 24 to 33 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ogilvie and Warman soils. In places they are associated with the well drained St. Francis (T) soil. The somewhat poorly drained Ogilvie soil is on plane slopes, the Warman soils are in concave swales and depressions. The St. Francis soil is on similar landscape positions as Novak.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Surface runoff is medium or low. Permeability is moderate in the upper mantle and rapid or very rapid in the underlying material.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are used for cropland and hayland. Some areas are in pasture or woodland.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: East central Minnesota. This series is inextensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Benton County, Minnesota, 1989. Name is from a small town in Benton County, Minnesota where this series was first recognized.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features: ochric epipedon - 0 to 8 inches (Ap); argillic horizon - 8 to 30 inches (B/E, Bt1, 2Bt2); base saturation is >60 percent in the argillic horizons; udic moisture regime; glossic subgroup; contrasting particle size.
This soil was previously mapped as Antigo. Novak soils have a higher base status in the argillic horizon and have mollic colors in the epipedon.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to MAES lab CFC number 1988-50, sample numbers 9342 and 9343 for result of base saturation analysis and CFC number 4220 for pedon information.