LOCATION RUBICON                 MI+WI

Established Series
Rev. WEF-MLK-GDW
08/2012

RUBICON SERIES

The Rubicon series consists of very deep, excessively drained soils formed in sandy deposits on disintegration moraines, ground moraines, end moraines, kame moraines, lake plains, outwash plains, stream terraces, beach ridges, and sand dunes. Slope ranges from 0 to 70 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 787 mm (31 inches), and mean annual air temperature is about 6.1 degrees C (43 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, frigid Entic Haplorthods

TYPICAL PEDON: Rubicon sand, on a south-facing, convex, 3 percent slope in a red pine plantation at an elevation of about 262 meters (859 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated).

A--0 to 2 cm (1 inch); black (10YR 2/1) sand, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; mixed with light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) uncoated sand grains; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [0 to 8 cm (3 inches) thick]

E--2 to 15 cm (1 to 6 inches); light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) sand, light gray (10YR 7/2) dry; very weak medium granular structure; very friable; common roots; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. [2 to 18 cm (1 to 7 inches) thick]

Bs1--15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) sand; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many roots; common (about 15 percent) distinct cracked coats on sand grains; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bs2--25 to 46 cm (10 to 18 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sand; weak coarse granular structure; very friable; common roots; common (about 15 percent) faint cracked coats on sand grains; moderately acid; clear irregular boundary. [Combined thickness of Bs horizon is 10 to 81 cm (4 to 32 inches).]

BC--46 to 91 cm (18 to 36 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sand; very weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very friable; moderately acid; chunks of ortstein occur at depths of 46 to 61 cm (18 to 24 inches) and represent about 15 percent of the surface area of the horizon exposed; chunks are 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches) in diameter; about 60 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and 40 percent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) and pale brown (10YR 6/3); massive; weakly to strongly cemented; few roots; moderately acid; clear irregular boundary. [0 to 102 cm (40 inches) thick]

C--91 to 203 cm (36 to 80 inches); light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sand with some coarse sand in upper portion; single grain; loose; slightly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Cheboygan County, Michigan; about 5 miles northeast of Afton; about 300 feet north and 2,440 feet east of the southwest corner of sec. 5, T. 35 N., R. 1 W., Koehler East Township; USGS Legrand topographic quadrangle; lat. 45 degrees 26 minutes 48 seconds N. and long. 84 degrees 27 minutes 41 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the solum: 51 to 127 cm (20 to 50 inches)
Rock fragment content: 0 to 15 percent throughout

Calcareous substratum phases are recognized.

A or Ap horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR, or is neutral
Value: 2 to 4
Chroma: 0 to 3
Texture: sand or loamy sand
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid

E horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 4 to 7
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: sand or loamy sand
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid

Bs1 horizon:
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 3 or 4; value and chroma of 3 do not occur together
Texture: sand
Ortstein content: 0 to 30 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid

Bs2 horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 to 8
Texture: sand
Ortstein content: 0 to 30 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid

BC horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 to 8
Texture: sand
Ortstein content: 0 to 30 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid

C horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 4 to 7
Chroma: 3 to 8
Texture: medium or coarse sand with thin color bands in some pedons
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Duel, East Lake, Hartwick, Ishpeming, Karlin, Kiva, Rousseau, Sayner, and Sultz series. Duel and Ishpeming soils have a lithic contact within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches). East Lake and Sayner soils have more than 15 percent rock fragments in the lower part of the series control section. Hartwick soils have carbonates within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches). Karlin soils have loamy fine sand, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam textures in the upper part of the series control section. Kiva soils have 10 percent cobbles in the lower part of the series control section. Rousseau soils average more than 50 percent fine sand throughout the series control section. Sultz soils are stratified with loamy, or loamy and sandy material in the lower part of the series control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Rubicon soils are on disintegration moraines, ground moraines, end moraines, kame moraines, lake plains, outwash plains, stream terraces, beach ridges, and sand dunes along the Great Lakes. Slope ranges from 0 to 70 percent. The Rubicon soils formed in sandy deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 686 to 911 mm (27 to 36 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from 4.4 to 8.3 degrees C (40 to 47 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The moderately well drained Croswell, somewhat poorly drained Au Gres, and poorly drained or very poorly drained Kinross soils form a common drainage sequence with Rubicon. Kalkaska, Grayling, and Montcalm soils are common well drained to excessively drained associates on similar landscape positions.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Excessively drained. Potential for surface runoff is negligible to low depending on the slope. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or very high.

USE AND VEGETATION: The majority of this soil is forested, including pine plantations. Some areas are idle cropland or in pasture. Only a very small proportion is used for small grains and hay crops. The native vegetation and present natural vegetation is dominantly red pine and quaking aspen with some eastern white pine and jack pine. Ground cover consists of blueberries, wintergreen, sweet fern, and bracken fern.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 90A, 92, 93B, 94A, 94B, 94C, 96, and 98 in the northern half of lower Michigan, Upper Michigan, and northern Wisconsin. This series is of large extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ontonagon County, Michigan, 1922.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 15 cm (6 inches) (A and E horizons).
Albic horizon: from a depth of 2 to 15 cm (1 to 6 inches) (E horizon).
Spodic horizon: from a depth of 15 to 46 cm (6 to 18 inches) (Bs1 and Bs2 horizons).

The dark subsoil and banded subsoil phases that have bands of loamy sand at depths of 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches) are no longer within the series concept.

Burned and severely burned phases are recognized.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.