LOCATION POSKIN             WI+MN
Established Series
Rev. HFG-DEJ-DJH
04/2002

POSKIN SERIES


The Poskin series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils which are moderately deep to sandy outwash. These soils formed mostly in loess or silty alluvium underlain by stratified sandy outwash. Typically they are on outwash plains, valley trains, and stream terraces but some are on glacial lake basins and moraines. Permeability is moderate in the silty and loamy mantle and rapid or very rapid in the sandy outwash. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 30 inches. Mean annual air temperature is about 42 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Aquic Glossudalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Poskin silt loam - on a plane 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 1205 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 9 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)

E--9 to 12 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; moderate medium platy structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)

E/B--12 to 19 inches; about 70 percent brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam (E), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; moderate medium platy structure; friable; extends as tongues into or surrounds remnants of dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam (Bt); moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; few fine roots; common medium faint and dictinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions and few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. ( Glossic horizon - 2 to 30 inches thick.)

Bt1--19 to 27 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine foots; common distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions and common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--27 to 36 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common distinct brown (7.5YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and common medium prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; about 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 3 to 20 inches.)

2Bt3--36 to 39 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few distinct brown (7.5YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; few medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; about 8 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)

3C--39 to 60 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) stratified gravelly sand and sand; single grain; loose; few fine distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; about 20 percent gravel as an average and 5 percent cobbles; moderately acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Barron County, Wisconsin; about 5.5 miles east of Rice Lake; 450 feet north and 1300 feet east of the center of sec. 16, T. 35 N., R. 10 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of the argillic horizon, thickness of the silty mantle, and depth to sandy outwash all range from 20 to 40 inches. The weighted average clay content of the argillic horizon ranges from 18 to 27 percent and the weighted average content of fine sand or coarser is less than 15 percent. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 5 percent in the silty mantle and from 0 to 40 percent in the loamy lower subsoil (transition zone). Volume of gravel ranges from 3 to 45 percent as a weighted average in the sandy outwash, but ranges from 0 to 65 percent in individual strata. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 5 percent throughout. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid throughout the pedon except it ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed. Free carbonates are absent to depths of more than 5 feet. Redoximorphic concentrations typically are throughout the pedon below the Ap or A horizon. Redoximorphic depletions are in the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon or higher. Saturation occurs in the upper 10 inches of the argillic at same time in most years.

The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Where the value moist is 3, the value dry is greater than 5.5. Uncultivated pedons have A horizons, 1 to 5 inches thick, with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2.

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. The E horizon is silt loam or silt.

Poskin 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 hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6.

The Bt horizon has color and texture like the Bt part described above. Some pedons have a Btg horizon below the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon, with dominant chroma of 2.

The 2Bt transition horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 3 to 6. It is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs.

Some pedons have a 3Bt or 3Btg horizon (2Bt or 2Btg horizon in pedons without a loamy transition horizon between the silty mantle and outwash) with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 2 to 8. It is loamy sand or loamy coarse sand or the gravelly, very gravelly, or extremely gravelly analogs.

The 3C horizon (2C horizon in pedons without a loamy transition horizon between the silty mantle and outwash) has color like the 3Bt horizon described above. It is typically stratified layers of sand, coarse sand, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs, but some individual strata may be extremely gravelly.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. A similar soil is the Ossmer series. Ossmer soils average 15 percent or more fine sand or coarser and less than 18 percent clay in the argillic horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: Formed in 20 to 40 inches of loess or silty alluvium underlain by stratified sandy outwash.
Landform: Outwash plain, valley trains, and stream terraces, but some are on glacial lake basins and small outwash areas within moraines.
Slope: 0 to 3 percent.
Elevation: 800 to 1950 feet.
Mean annual air temperature: 39 to 45 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 28 to 33 inches.
Frost-free days: 120 to 135 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Anigon, Blackriver, Brander, Brill, Maplehurst, Oesterle, Rib, Ribriver, Rosholt, Scoba, and Scott Lake soils.

The well drained Anigon soils, the moderately well drained Brander and Brill soils, and the poorly drained Rib soils are in a drainage sequence with Poskin soils. Anigon, Brander, and Brill soils are on higher or more sloping landscape positions. Rib soils are in depressions and drainageways.

The moderately well drained Blackriver and Ribriver soils, and the somewhat poorly drained Maplehurst soils are on nearby landscapes with Poskin soils where the silty mantle is more than 40 inches thick. Blackriver and Ribriver soils are on higher landscape positions. Maplehurst soils are on similar landscape positions.

The well drained Rosholt soils, moderately well drained Scoba and Scott Lake soils, and the somewhat poorly drained Oesterle soils are on nearby landscapes with Poskin soils where the silty mantle is thin or absent. Rosholt, Scoba, and Scott Lake soils are on higher or more sloping landscape positions. Oesterle soils are on similar landscape positions.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Surface runoff is low or medium. Permeability is moderate in the silty and loamy mantle and rapid or very rapid in the sandy outwash. Poskin soils have an apparent seasonal high water table at a depth of 1 to 2.5 feet at some time during the period October to June in normal years.

USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas have been cleared and are used for cropland or pastureland. Common crops are corn, small grains, and hay. The native vegetation is mixed deciduous and coniferous forest. Common trees are white pine, white spruce, eastern hemlock, sugar maple, red maple, yellow birch, American elm, white ash, balsam fir, and quaking aspen.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Wisconsin. LRR K and MLRA 90B. This soil is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Langlade County, Wisconsin, 1947. The type location was changed to Barron County with the correlation of the updated soil survey in 1992.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle size control section - the zone from 19 to 40 inches.
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 19 inches (Ap, E, E/B).
Albic horizon - the sone from 9 to 19 inches (E, E part of the E/B).
Glossic horizon - the zone from 12 to 19 inches (E/B).
Argillic horizon - the zone from 19 to 39 inches (Bt1, Bt2, 2Bt3).
Transition zone - the zone between the silty mantle and sandy outwash from 36 to 39 inches (2Bt3).
Redoximorphic concentrations - oxidized color features in the zone from 9 to 60 inches.
Redoximorphic depletions - reduced color features in the zone from 12 to 36 inches and reduced color clay films in the zone from 27 to 39 inches.
Lithologic discontinuity - at the upper boundary of the 2Bt3 horizon at 36 inches and at the upper boundary of the 3C horizon at 39 inches.

Aquic conditions in the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Former Soil Interpretation Record - WI0182


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.