LOCATION PISTAKEE                WI

Established Series
Revised Staff
03/2025

PISTAKEE SERIES

The Pistakee series consists of somewhat poorly drained soils that occupy narrow areas in drainageways and at the base of slopes. These soils formed in moderately light colored, silty alluvium that was deposited over an older buried soil. Slope ranges from 1 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 47 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is about 30 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, nonacid, mesic Aquic Udifluvents

TYPICAL PEDON: Pistakee silt loam, 1 to 3 percent slopes. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A11--0 to 7 inches; dark grayish-brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; moderate, medium, granular structure; friable; neutral; abrupt, wavy boundary.

A12--7 to 24 inches; dark grayish-brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; moderate, medium, platy structure; friable; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) stains of organic matter; neutral; gradual, wavy boundary.

A13--24 to 30 inches; dark grayish-brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; common, fine, distinct, dark-brown (7.5YR 4/4) and light brownish-gray (2.5Y 6/2) mottles; moderate, thin, platy structure; friable; neutral; gradual, wavy boundary.

A14--30 to 36 inches; grayish-brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam; common, fine, prominent, brownish-yellow (10YR 6/6) mottles; weak, thin, platy structure; neutral; abrupt, wavy boundary.

A1b--36 to 48 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam; massive; slightly sticky; mildly alkaline.

IIB2--48 to 60 inches; dark-brown (10YR 4/3) heavy loam; massive; friable; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Waukesha County, Wisconsin; NW1/4 NE1/4 sec. 1, T. 6 N., R. 18 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the silty alluvium and thickness of the A horizon ranges from 20 to 40 inches.

The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4, and chroma of 2. Some pedons have a thin A horizon with value of 3. Texture is silt loam. Reaction is moderately acid or neutral.

The A1b horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3, and chroma of 1. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam. Reaction is moderately acid to slightly alkaline.

The IIB2 horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4, and chroma of 3. Texture is loam or is stratified with textures ranging from sand to silt loam. Reaction is moderately acid to slightly alkaline.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Orion series. The Orion soils have an A horizon that is less than 20 inches in thickness.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pistakee soils are in narrow areas in drainageways and at the base of slopes. Slope ranges from 1 to 3 percent. The soils formed in moderately light colored, silty alluvium that was deposited over an older buried soil.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Juneau and Lawson soils. The well drained or moderately well drained Juneau soils on slightly higher positions. The somewhat poorly drained Lawson soils have a darker colored surface layer and have thicker deposits of silty alluvium.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Permeability is moderate. A seasonal high water table at a depth of 1 to 3 feet below the surface. These soils receive runoff from the surrounding slopes and are subject to occasional flooding. Ponding generally occurs in the spring and during periods of heavy rainfall.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Pistakee soils are used to grow crops, mainly corn and oats. A few areas are in trees or pasture. Native vegetation is deciduous forest, mainly oak, elm, and hickory.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-eastern Wisconsin in MLRAs 95 and 110. The soils of this series are not extensive.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Salina, Kansas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: McHenry County, Illinois, 1965.

REMARKS: There is limited historical documentation available for Pistakee Series other than what is published in the Soil Survey of Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties, Wisconsin (1971) and in the McHenry County [Illinois] Soils, Soil Report 81 (1965). The taxonomic classification of Pistakee Series in the Milwaukee and Waukesha report is coarse-silty, mixed, nonacid, mesic Aquic Udifluvents. The Pistakee silt loam in Soils Report 81 is assigned to the Alluvial soils Great Soil Group.

The Wisconsin NRCS State Office requested that null or missing OSD information be populated in the OSD Database so it can be accessed for reference. These references are critical for NRI sampling verification, program eligibility for onsite, and compliance review and checks. The status of the Pistakee Series was inactive in the Official Soil Series database and no OSD was available.

The Pistakee Series is presently correlated only in Wisconsin but is believed to have been established in McHenry County, Illinois in 1965. The description of Pistakee silt loam in Soil Report 81 contains minimal information and does not contain a location of the representative profile. To satisfy the request from Wisconsin NRCS State Office, the typical profile from Waukesha County was used to develop this 03/2025 OSD. With this revision, the Pistakee Series is now reactivated until field investigations are conducted to evaluate the range in properties and extent.

The OSD ranges are based on data available in the Soil Survey of Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties, Wisconsin (1971) and in NASIS (DMU Rec ID 270992). No changes were made to the original typical profile from the 1971 soil survey report. The low chroma colors in the upper part of the profile are the result of the kind of material in which these soils formed; they are not the result of poor drainage.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.