LOCATION PESABIC            WI
Established Series
Rev. MJM-HFG-DJH
04/2006

PESABIC SERIES


The Pesabic series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils that are deep to a densic contact. They formed in loamy till on end moraines, disintegration moraines, ice-walled glacial lake plains, and drumlins. Slope ranges from 0 to 4 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 30 inches. Mean annual air temperature is about 42 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Alfic Epiaquods

TYPICAL PEDON: Pesabic fine sandy loam, on an east-facing, convex slope of 3 percent, in a hardwood forest, at an elevation of about 1,325 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 4 inches; black (10YR 2/1) fine sandy loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable, many fine roots; about 4 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)

E--4 to 5 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/2) fine sandy loam, pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; many fine roots; about 6 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; few prominent black (10YR 2/1) worm casts; strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)

Bs1--5 to 8 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) fine sandy loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine roots; about 8 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulations; very strongly acid; clear broken boundary.

Bs2--8 to 13 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine roots; about 9 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles; common fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the BS horizons is 6 to 12 inches.)

E/B--13 to 23 inches; 80 percent brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam (E'), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; few fine prominent red (2.5YR 4/6), moderate medium platy structure; very friable; few fine prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) and common medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation, and common medium faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of iron depletion; surrounds remnants of brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam (Bt); moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common faint dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; many fine roots; about 10 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles; few fine prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) and common medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of iron depletion; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)

B/E--23 to 33 inches; 70 percent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) sandy loam (Bt); moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few faint dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; common fine prominent dark red (2.5YR 3/6) and common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; penetrated by tongues of brown (7.5YR 5/3) sandy loam (E'), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; friable; common fine roots; about 11 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles; common uncoated sand grains mainly on vertical faces of peds; common fine prominent dark red (2.5YR 3/6) and common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)

Bt1--33 to 44 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and very fine angular blocky; firm; tends to part along horizontal cleavage planes inherited from the parent material; few fine roots; many faint dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; about 9 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; common fine prominent very dusky red (2.5YR 2/2) concretions (Fe and Mn oxides); few distinct brown (7.5YR 5/3) coats of silt and sand mainly on vertical faces of peds; few fine distinct reddish gray (5YR 5/2) masses of iron depletion, and few fine prominent dark red (2.5YR 3/6) and many medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--44 to 53 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak fine angular blocky; firm; tends to part along horizontal cleavage planes inherited from the parent material; few fine roots; few faint dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds and many in pores; about 9 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; few distinct brown (7.5YR 5/3) coats of silt and sand mainly on vertical faces of peds; few fine prominent gray (5Y 6/1) masses of iron depletion and common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 4 to 25 inches.)

Cd--53 to 60 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) fine sandy loam; massive tending to part along horizontal cleavage planes; very firm; about 11 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and prominent dark red (2.5YR 3/6) masses of iron accumulation, and few fine prominent gray (5Y 5/1) masses of iron depletion; slightly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Lincoln County, Wisconsin; about 2 miles north and 5 miles west of Merrill; located about 920 feet east and 1,580 feet north of the southwest corner of section 31, T. 32 N., R. 6 E.; USGS Alexander Lake topographic quadrangle; lat. 45 degrees 12 minutes 40 seconds N. and long. 89 degrees 47 minutes 37 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of the argillic horizon and to densic contact ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Coarse fragments are dominantly of igneous origin and are of mixed lithology. Volume of gravel ranges from 2 to 20 percent in the surface and spodic horizons and from 5 to 35 percent in the glossic horizons through the substratum. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 5 percent and volume of stones ranges from 0 to 3 percent throughout. Surface stones have coverage ranging from 0 to 3 percent. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to slightly acid in the solum, but ranges to neutral in the Ap horizon where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral in the substratum. Redoximorphic features are in the spodic horizon above a depth of 20 inches and typically continue to 60 inches. Aquic conditions occur within 20 inches for some time in most years.

Some pedons have O horizons with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR or is neutral, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter.

The A horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. In cultivated pedons, the Ap horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. The A or Ap horizon is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or their gravelly analogs.

The E horizon has hue of 5YR, 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 sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or their gravelly analogs.

Some pedons have Bhs horizons less than 3 inches thick with hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, or 7.5YR and value and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or their gravelly analogs.

The Bs horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 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, fine sandy loam, loam, or their gravelly analogs.

Some pedons have an E' horizon with hue of 5YR, 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 sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, loamy sand, or their gravelly analogs.

Pesabic soils have a glossic horizon (E/B or B/E horizons or both). The E' part has color and texture like the E' horizon described above. The Bt part has color and texture like the Bt horizon described below.

The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Value and chroma of 3 do not occur together. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or their gravelly analogs. The argillic material averages from 6 to17 percent clay. Bulk density ranges from 1.7 to 1.9 g/cm3.

Some pedons have a BCd horizon with hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Value and chroma of 3 do not occur together. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or their gravelly analogs. Clay content averages more than 7 percent. Bulk density ranges from 1.8 to 2.0 g/cc.

The Cd horizon has hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Value and chroma of 3 do not occur together. It has texture like the Bt horizon above. Clay content averages more than 7 percent. Bulk density ranges from 1.80 to 2.05 g/cc.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Moodig, Mudlake, Parkfalls, and Worwood series. Moodig, Mudlake, and Worwood soils do not have a densic contact within the series control section. Parkfalls soils average less than 7 percent clay in the dense till.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--acid, dense, loamy till of Late Wisconsinan Age that has a bulk density range of 1.8 to 2.05 g/cm3
Landform--Flats, footslopes, and toe slopes of end moraines, disintegration moraines, ice-walled glacial lake planes, and drumlins
Slope--0 to 4 percent
Elevation--800 to 1,950 feet
Mean annual air temperature--39 to 45 degrees F
Mean annual precipitation--28 to 33 inches
Frost-free period--120 to 135 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Capitola, Freeon, Magnor, Newood, and Newot soils.
The well drained Newot soils, the moderately well drained Newood(T) soils, and the poorly and very poorly drained Capitola soils form a drainage sequence with the Pesabic soils. Newot and Newood soils are on higher or more sloping landscape positions. Capitola soils are in depressions or drainageways.
Moderately well drained Freeon soils and somewhat poorly drained Magnor soils are on nearby silt-mantled areas.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is low. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the solum, slow in the lower part of the solum, and very slow in the substratum. These soils have a perched seasonal high water table at depths of 0.5 to 2 feet at some time during the period of September to June in normal years.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are mostly in woodland. Stands are mostly red maple and sugar maple, but northern red oak, yellow birch, paper birch, and eastern hemlock are also common. On foot slopes, where the perched seasonal high water table persists the longest, red maple, balsam fir, and quaking aspen dominate stands. Some areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Wisconsin; currently recognized on the Wisconsin Valley Lobe and the Chippewa Lobe of the Woodfordian Terminal Moraine of late Wisconsinan age. LRR K and MLRA 90A. The soil is of small extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lincoln County, Wisconsin, 1989. Source of name is a lake in the central part of Lincoln County.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
Particle size control section - the zone from 10 to 40 inches
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 5 inches (A, E)
Albic horizon - the zone from 4 to 5 inches (E)
Spodic horizon - the zone from 5 to 13 inches (Bs1, Bs2)
Glossic horizon - the zone from 13 to 33 inches (E/B, B/E)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 23 to 53 inches (B/E, Bt1, Bt2)
Densic contact - the contact with dense till (Cd) at 53 inches
Redoximorphic concentrations - oxidized color features in the zone from 5 to 60 inches.
Redoximorphic depletions - depleted color features in the zone from 13 to 60 inches.
Aquic conditions in the spodic horizon within a depth of 20 inches.

The bulk density and platyness of the argillic horizon is considered to be relict of the till, but studies are needed to determine whether or not these horizons meet criteria for fragipans or fragic soil properties.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Former Soil Interpretation Record - WI0122. Refer to soil survey sample number S87WI-69-004 for data on this pedon (sampled as Tula). Refer to sample number S91WI-069-281 for data on another Pesabic pedon.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.