LOCATION PICKFORD MI+WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, nonacid, frigid Aeric Epiaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Pickford silty clay loam - on a 1 percent slope in forested area (formerly cultivated). (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam, gray (10YR 6/1) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
Eg--8 to 10 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) silty clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) iron accumulations throughout; many fine and medium roots; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
Bg--10 to 16 inches; weak red (2.5YR 4/2) silty clay; moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; many coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) iron accumulations and distinct dark gray (10YR 4/1) iron depletions throughout; few fine roots; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 14 inches thick)
BCg--16 to 24 inches; weak red (2.5YR 4/2) clay; weak very fine angular blocky structure; very firm; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) iron accumulations and distinct dark gray (10YR 4/1) iron depletions throughout; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
C--24 to 60 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; massive; very firm; common fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) iron accumulations throughout; greenish gray (5GY 6/1) coatings of calcium carbonates on faces of peds; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Chippewa County, Michigan; 130 feet east and 570 feet south of the northwest corner, sec. 30, T. 46 N., R. 1 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to carbonates ranges from 14 to 30 inches. The weighted average clay content at 10 to 40 inches ranges from 35 to 60 percent. Total rock fragment is less than 1 percent throughout the soil.
An O horizon ranging to 6 inches in thickness is present in some pedons. The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR to 5YR, or is neutral, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 0 or 2. It is clay, silty clay, silty clay loam, silt loam, mucky silt loam, loam, or mucky silty clay loam. Undisturbed areas have A horizons with the same colors and textures as the Ap horizon. Reaction of the A or Ap horizons ranges from strongly acid to slightly alkaline.
The Eg horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. They are silty clay loam, clay, or silty clay. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly alkaline.
The B or Bg horizons have hues of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. They are clay, silty clay, or silty clay loam. The lower part of the B horizon commonly has ped coatings with 5BG, 5GY, 5Y, 2.5Y, 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR hue; value of 4 to 7; and chroma of 1 or 2. Reaction of the B horizons ranges from strongly acid to slightly alkaline.
The BC or BCghorizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 and chroma of 2 to 4. It is clay or silty clay. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly alkaline.
The C horizon has hue or 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is clay or silty clay. Thin, 1/16 to 1/4 inch, gray (5Y 6/1 - 5/1) or light gray (5YR 7/1) varves or thin lenses of silts containing a high concentration of calcium carbonate are common. It is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Similar soils is Bergland. Bergland soils have a weighted average clay content at 10 to 40 inches of more than 60 percent.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Pickford soils occupy nearly level to depressional areas on lake plains and moraines. Slopes are less than 2 percent. The climate is continental, with a mean annual precipitation of 26 to 33 inches. The mean annual temperature is about 41 to 45 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The well drained or moderately well drained Kent soils and the somewhat poorly drained Selkirk soils form a drainage sequence with Pickford soils in morainic areas. The moderately well drained Ontonagon soils, the somewhat poorly drained Rudyard soils, and the poorly drained Bergland soils are common associates on lake plains. Pinconning and Munuscong soils have coarser textured upper sola and are nearby in some areas. Willette soils are shallow Histosols underlain by clayey materials, which are nearby in some very poorly drained depressional areas.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. These soils have a perched seasonal high water table that ranges from 1 foot above the surface to 1 foot below the surface at some time from November to June. Runoff is very slow or ponded. Permeability is very slow. Flooded phases in which flooding is occasional for brief durations are also recognized.
USE AND VEGETATION: Pickford soils are used for pasture, hay, small grain, and woodland. Common tree species include quaking aspen, balsam fir, northern whitecedar, eastern hemlock, paper birch, white spruce, and black ash.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Mackinac County, Michigan, 1950.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
ochric epipedon - 0 to 8 inches (Ap horizon);
cambic horizon - 10 to 24 inches (Bg, and BCg horizons);
Aeric feature - in one or more horizons between the Ap and a depth of 75 cm hue of 7.5YR or redder in 50 percent or of the matrix, and chroma of 2 or more on 50 percent or more of ped exteriors;
aquic soil moisture regime - 8 to 24 inches (Eg, Bg and BCg horizons).
Laboratory data of soils formed in similar parent materials are being evaluated to determine if this series should classify in Vertic Epiaquepts. The sandy substratum phase of this series is no longer within the concept of the series.
In 1976 the Pickford official series was revised. This series revision stated that the Pickford series formed in clayey glacial till on depressional areas of moraines.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Records: MI0157; MI0274 (FLOODED).