LOCATION RIBRIVER WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, frigid Oxyaquic Glossudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Ribriver silt loam - on a convex 2 percent slope in a hardwood forest at an elevation of about 1,450 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 5 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many very fine and fine and common medium and coarse roots; about 2 percent gravel; moderately acid; brupt wavy boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
Bw--5 to 10 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; many very fine and fine and few medium and coarse roots; about 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
E/B--10 to 17 inches; 80 percent brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam (E), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak thin platy structure; friable; extends as tongues into and surrounds remnants of dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam (Bt); moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; about 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
B/E--17 to 24 inches; 60 percent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam (Bt); moderate medium angular blocky structure; friable; common faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; penetrated by tongues of brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam (E), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak thin platy structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; about 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Glossic horizon - 4 to 30 inches thick)
Bt1--24 to 32 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; moderate medium angular blocky structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; many faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; common faint brown (10YR 5/3) coatings of fine sandy loam on vertical faces of peds; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; about 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--32 to 45 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; many medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; about 2 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bt horizon ranges from 5 to 25 inches.)
2Bt3--45 to 48 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few faint dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; about 16 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
3C--48 to 60 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) stratified very gravelly coarse sand and coarse sand; single grain; loose; about 30 percent gravel as an average ; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Taylor County, Wisconsin; about 14 miles east and 4.5 miles north of Medford; 2500 feet east and 2100 feet north of the southwest corner of sec. 36, T.32N., R.3E.; USGS Goodrich, WI quad.; Lat. - 45 degrees, 12 minutes, 49 seconds N.; Long. - 90 degrees, 03 minutes, 21 seconds W.; NAD27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of the argillic horizon, thickness of the silty mantle, and depth to sandy outwash all range from 40 to 60 inches. Clay content in the particle size control section averages from 18 to 25 percent and the content of fine sand or coarser averages less than 15 percent. The ratio of coarse silt to fine silt ranges from 1.25 to 2.50 in the silty mantle. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 5 percent in the silty mantle and from 0 to 35 percent in the loamy lower subsoil. 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 in the silty mantle and 0 to 10 percent in the sandy outwash. Reaction naturally ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the solum, but it ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to neutral in the substratum. Free carbonates are absent to a depth of 80 inches. Redoximorphic concentrations are within a depth of 40 inches. Redoximorphic depletions are below the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon in some pedons. Saturation occurs within a depth of 40 inches at some time in most years.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with a hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3.
The Bw horizon has a value of 3 to 6 and chroma of 4 to 6.
Some pedons have an E horizon with 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.
Ribriver soils have a glossic horizon (E/B or B/E horizon, 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 4 or 6.
The Bt horizon has color and texture like the Bt part described above.
The 2Bt horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 4 or 6. It is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or the gravelly analogs.
Some pedons have a 3Bt horizon (2Bt horizon in pedons without a loamy 2Bt horizon) with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 3 to 6. 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 2Bt horizon) has color like the 3Bt horizon described above. It is typically stratified layers of sand or coarse sand or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs, but some individual strata may be extremely gravelly. It averages more than 85 percent sand in the fine earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Crystal Lake, Gichigami(T), and Spencer series. A similar soil is the Blackriver series. Crystal Lake soils do not have a lithologic discontinuity within the series control section. Gichigami soils have free carbonates within 40 inches. Spencer soils have a densic contact with till within the series control section. Blackriver soils are Haplic Glossudalfs that have a perched water table above the sandy outwash contact for less than 30 days duration.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: Formed in 40 to 60 inches of loess or silty alluvium underlain by stratified sandy outwash.
Landform: Outwash plains and outwash terraces.
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 Blackriver, Brander, Brill, Maplehurst, Poskin, and Rib soils.
The moderately well drained Blackriver soils and the somewhat poorly drained Maplehurst soils are in a drainage sequence with Ribriver soils. Blackriver soils are on higher landscape positions. Maplehurst soils are on lower landscape positions.
The moderately well drained Brander and Brill soils, the somewhat poorly drained Poskin soils, and the poorly drained Rib soils are on nearby landscapes with Ribriver soils where the silty mantle is less than 40 inches thick. Brander soils are on similar landscape positions. Brill soils are on higher landscape positions. Poskin soils are on lower landscape positions. Rib soils are in depressions and drainageways.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is low or medium. Permeability is moderate in the silty mantle and rapid or very rapid in the sandy outwash. Ribriver soils have an apparent seasonal high water table at a depth of 2.5 to 3.5 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period of October to May in normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used as woodland. Native vegetation is northern hardwood forests with scattered conifers. Second growth of sugar maple, American basswood, northern red oak, yellow birch, quaking aspen, big tooth aspen, white ash, and black cherry is common at present time. Some areas are used as cropland or pastureland. Common crops are corn, small grains, and hay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Wisconsin. LRR K and MLRA 90B. This soil is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Taylor County, Wisconsin, 2002. Source of name is the Rib River in eastern part of Taylor County.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle size control section - the zone from 17 to 37 inches.
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 17 inches (A, Bw, E/B).
Albic horizon - the zone from 10 to 17 inches (E part of the E/B).
Glossic horizon - the zone from 10 to 24 inches (E/B, B/E).
Argillic horizon - the zone from 17 to 48 inches (B/E, Bt1, Bt2, 2Bt3).
Transition zone - the zone between the silty mantle and sandy outwash from 45 to 48 inches (2Bt3).
Redoximorphic concentrations - oxidized color features in the zone from 17 to 45 inches.
Lithologic discontinuity - at the upper boundary of the 2Bt3 horizon at 45 inches and at the upper boundary of the 3C horizon at 48 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Former Soil Interpretation Record - WI0652