LOCATION PELISSIER MI+WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, frigid Entic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Pelissier gravelly sandy loam - on a 12 percent slope in a forested area (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oa--0 to 2 inches; black (10YR 2/1) well decomposed leaf litter; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine to coarse roots; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
E--2 to 6 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/2) gravelly sandy loam, pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine to coarse roots; about 20 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
Bs1--6 to 10 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) gravelly sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine to coarse roots; about 20 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; gradual irregular boundary. (3 to 4 inches thick)
Bs2--10 to 21 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) very gravelly loamy coarse sand; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common very fine to medium roots; about 35 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 18 inches thick)
C1--21 to 36 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) very gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; common very fine to medium roots; about 50 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
C2--36 to 80 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) very gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; few very fine and fine roots;' about 50 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Marquette County, Michigan; about 5 1/2 miles north of the city of Ishpeming, 600 feet south and 1800 feet west of the northeast corner of Sec. 4, T. 48 N., R. 27 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Unless otherwise stated the depths in the following paragraph are measured from the mineral soil surface.) Solum thickness ranges from 18 to 40 inches. Thickness of the loamy mantle ranges from 0 to 9 inches. The particle size control section averages from 35 to 65 percent rock fragments derived from acidic igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. Gravel content ranges from 1 to 35 percent in the E horizon, from 15 to 35 percent in the Bs1 horizon and from 15 to 60 percent in the rest of the profile. Cobbles range from 0 to 55 percent in the E and Bs1 horizons and from 0 to 70 percent throughout the remainder of the pedon. Stones within the pedon range from 0 to 2 percent, and surface stones cover from less than .01 percent to 0.1 percent of the surface.
Some pedons have an A horizon with hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. The E horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 1 to 3. The A and E horizons are sandy loam,gravelly sandy loam, gravelly coarse sandy loam, gravelly loamy sand, gravelly sand, gravelly coarse sandy loam and very cobbly cobbly sandy loam. The A and E horizons are extremely to strongly acid.
The Bs1 horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 4. It is the gravelly, very gravelly, cobbly, or very cobbly analogs of sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, sand or coarse sand. The Bs2 horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 and chroma of 4 to 6. It is the gravelly, very gravelly, cobbly, or very cobbly analogs of loamy sand, sand, loamy coarse sand, sand or coarse sand. The Bs horizons are very strongly acid to strongly acid.
Some pedons have a BC horizon with colors like the Bs2 horizon. It is the gravelly, very gravelly, extremely gravelly, cobbly, very cobbly, or extremely cobbly analogs of loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, sand, or coarse sand. The BC horizon is strongly acid.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. The C horizon is very gravelly, extremely gravelly, very cobbly, or extremely cobbly analogs of coarse sand or sand. The C horizon is strongly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Trout River Series. Trout River soils have reactions in the C horizon that range from moderately acid to moderately alkaline and are formed in water-sorted deposits derived largely from limestone.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pelissier soils occupy outwash plains, stream terraces, eskers, kames and end moraines.. Slopes range from 1 to 50 percent. These soils formed mostly in gravelly and sandy outwash deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches and mean annual temperature ranges from 39 to 45 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Pelissier soils are associated with the well drained and excessively drained Sayner, Grayling, and Pence soils on similar landscape positions, and the poorly and very poorly drained Carbondale and Tawas soils on lower landscape positions. Sayner, Grayling and Pence soils contain less rock fragments.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Runoff is slow to rapid. Permeability is moderately rapid or rapid in the loamy or sandy mantle and very rapid in the sandy and gravelly outwash..
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Pelissier soils are in woodland. The forest cover is mixed coniferous and deciduous forest. Quaking aspen, white birch, red maple, and northern pin oak are the common deciduous trees. Jack Pine, red pine, balsam fir, white pine, and white spruce are the common coniferous trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan and in northern Wisconsin.. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Proposed in Marquette County, Michigan, 1991 and established in Florence County, WI, 1995. Source of name is a lake in east-central Marquette County.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from 2 to 6 inches (E horizon) albic horizon - zone from 2 to 6 inches (E horizon); spodic horizon - zone from 6 to 21 inches (Bs1 and Bs2 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record No.: MI0632; MI0625 (STONY); MI0684 (VERY COBBLY)