LOCATION PEARL WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Arenic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Pearl loamy sand - on a 2 percent convex slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 1084 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loamy sand, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Bw1--8 to 16 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loamy sand; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; about 10 percent gravel: few fine roots; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bw2--16 to 22 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) loamy sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; about 10 percent gravel; few fine roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons ranges from 14 to 34 inches )
Bt1--22 to 27 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; faint clay films on horizontal and vertical surfaces of peds; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; about 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Bt2--27 to 32 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loamy sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; faint clay films on vertical and horizontal surfaces of peds; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) and few fine faint brown (7.5YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; about 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt3--32 to 45 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4), yellowish red (5YR 5/8) and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) loamy sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; weak clay bridging of sand grains; about 5 percent gravel; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt2 and Bt3 horizons ranges from 10 to 20 inches )
C1--45 to 55 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) sand; single grain; loose; about 5 percent gravel; very strongly acid. (5 to 20 inches thick)
C2--55 to 60 inches; pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) sand; single grain; loose; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Portage County, Wisconsin. About 2 miles south of Plover. 60 feet west and 600 feet south of the northeast corner of sec. 3, T. 22 N., R. 8 E. USGS Whiting Wis. Quad. Latitude 44 degrees 25 minutes 23 seconds N., Longitude 89 degrees 31 minutes 44 seconds W. NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the sandy mantle and depth to the top of the argillic horizon ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to the base of soil development ranges from 30 to 52 inches. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 15 percent in the sandy mantle and from 0 to 30 percent in the Bt and C horizons. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 8 percent throughout. Reaction ranges from neutral to very strongly acid throughout. The control section averages between 6 and 12 percent clay and between 76 and 85 percent fine sand or coarser. Carbonates are absent to a depth of 60 inches or more. Redox accumulations and saturation occur within 40 inches. Redox depletions with chroma of 2 or less occur below a depth of 30 inches in some pedons.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is loamy sand.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6 , and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is loamy sand or sand.
The Bt1 horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR hue, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
The Bt2 horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR; value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 or 6. Texture is loamy sand or gravelly loamy sand.
The Bt3 horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 2 to 8. Texture is loamy sand or gravelly loamy sand.
The C horizon has the colors like the Bt3 horizon. Texture is sand or gravelly sand.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the
Puchyan series. Puchyan soils have more than 50 percent silt in the middle part or middle and lower parts of the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pearl soils are on outwash plains and stream terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 6 percent. The soils formed in sandy and loamy outwash. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 25 to 35 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 46 to 48 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Friendship and Leola and Richford soils. Friendship soils do not have argillic horizons. Leola soils are saturated throughout at some period of the year and are on lower landscape positions in drainageways and depressions. Richford soils are on slightly higher landscape positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from negligible to low. Permeability is rapid in the sandy layers and moderately rapid in the loamy layer. These soils have an apparent seasonal high water table at a depth of 2.5 to 3.5 feet for 1 month or more per year in 6 or more out of 10 years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grains, and hay. Native vegetation is a mixture of grasses and deciduous and coniferous trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central sand area of Wisconsin. These soils are of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Portage County, Wisconsin, 1972.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and feature recognized in this pedon are:
ochric epipedon - 0 to 8 inches (Ap);
argillic horizon - 22 to 45 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3);
arenic feature - sandy texture throughout a layer extending from the mineral soil surface to the top of the argillic horizon at a depth of 50 cm or more below the mineral soil surface;
oxyaquic feature - redox accumulations and saturation within 40 inches.