LOCATION SCONSIN WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Oxyaquic Glossudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Sconsin silt loam - on a plane 2 percent slope in woodland at an elevation of about 1,455 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 4 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; about 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1-5 inches thick)
E--4 to 5 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; many fine roots; few faint very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) worm casts; about 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
Bw--5 to 10 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine roots; about 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
E'--10 to 18 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; common fine roots; about 2 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)
E/B--18 to 27 inches; 60 percent brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam (E'), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; surrounds remnants of dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam (Bt); weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky; friable; few prominent reddish brown (5YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; few fine roots; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; about 3 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
2B/E--27 to 34 inches; 60 percent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam (2Bt); weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; firm; tends to part along horizontal cleavage planes inherited from the parent material; few prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; penetrated by tongues of brown (10YR 5/3) loam (2E), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine prominent dark red (2.5YR 3/6) and common medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; few fine prominent very dusky red (2.5YR 2/2) concretions (iron and manganese oxides); about 5 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Glossic horizon - 4 to 25 inches thick)
2BCd--34 to 38 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; massive tending to break along horizontal cleavage planes to weak thin plates inherited from the parent material; very firm; few fine roots in fractures; common prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) clay films in pores and along fracture walls, and common prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay bridges between mineral grains; few faint brown (10YR 5/3) coatings of silt and sand primarily within fractures; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) and dark red (2.5YR 3/6) masses of iron accumulation; about 8 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
3C--38 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) stratified very gravelly sand and sand; single grain; loose; an average of about 24 percent gravel; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Lincoln County, Wisconsin; about 1/4 mile north of Gleason; 400 feet east and 700 feet north of the southwest corner of sec. 28, T. 33 N., R. 8 E.; USGS Bloomville, WI quad.; lat. 45 degrees, 18 minutes, 37 seconds N., long. 89 degrees, 30 minutes, 19 seconds W.; NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the silty mantle ranges from 12 to 36 inches. Depth to a densic contact ranges from 20 to 38 inches. Depth to stratified gravelly and sandy outwash ranges from 22 to 40 inches. The particle-size control section averages 8 to 17 percent clay and 15 to 50 percent fine sand or coarser. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 5 percent in the loess or silty alluvium and from 0 to 40 percent in the loamy diamicton. Volume of gravel in the outwash ranges from 3 to 45 percent as a weighted average but ranges from 0 to 65 percent in individual strata. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 5 percent in the silty mantle, and from 0 to 10 percent in the loamy diamicton and underlying gravelly and sandy outwash. A few stones are on the surface or in the solum in some areas. Reaction typically 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 strongly acid to slightly acid in the substratum. Free carbonates are absent to depths of more than 5 feet. Redox accumulations are within and above the dense loamy diamicton within a depth of 40 inches and saturation occurs there at some time in most years. Saturation is due to restricted internal drainage associated with the dense loamy diamicton.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. Where the Ap horizon has value moist of 3, value dry is 6 or more. Texture of the A or Ap is silt loam.
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. Texture is silt loam or silt.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 6 and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is silt loam.
The E' horizon has color and texture like the E horizon described above.
Sconsin soils have a glossic horizon. Horizonation has a wide range depending on the thickness of the silty mantle and the extent to which eluviation has occurred. Therefore, there can be E/B, B/E, 2E/B, or 2B/E horizons singly or in combination, with or without Bt or 2Bt horizons.
The E part of the E/B and B/E horizons has color and texture like the E horizon described above.
The Bt part of the E/B and B/E horizons has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is silt loam.
Some pedons have a Bt horizon with color and texture like the Bt part described above.
The 2E part of the 2E/B and 2B/E horizons has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs. The 2Bt part of the 2E/B and 2B/E horizons has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs.
Some pedons have a 2Bt horizon with color and texture like the 2Bt part described above.
The 2BCd horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs. Bulk density ranges from 1.8 to 2.0 gm/cc.
Some pedons have a 3Bt or 3BC horizon with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR and value and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, sand or coarse sand or the gravelly, very gravelly, or extremely gravelly analogs.
The 3C horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 3 to 8. Texture is typically stratified sand, coarse sand, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs, but some individual strata may be extremely gravelly. Sand content averages more than 90 percent in the fine earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Aftad,
Blowers,
Freeon,
Frogcreek,
Haugen,
Milaca,
Neopit, and
Scott Lake series. None of these soils except Scott Lake average more than 90 percent sand in the lower part of the series control section. Scott Lake soils do not have a densic contact.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: Formed in 20 to 40 inches of loess or silty alluvium and in dense loamy diamicton, underlain by stratified gravelly and sandy outwash.
Landform: Outwash plains, stream terraces, outwash terraces, glacial lake plains, glacial drainageways, and outwash areas of moraines.
Slope: 0 to 6 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 Antigo, Langlade, and Maincreek soils. The well drained Antigo soils and the somewhat poorly drained Maincreek soils form a drainage sequence with Sconsin soils. Antigo soils are on similar, higher, or more sloping landscape positions. Maincreek soils are on lower landscape positions or depressions. The well drained Langlade soils are on more sloping landscapes as Sconsin soils where the loamy mantle is more than 40 inches thick.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from negligible to medium. Permeability is moderate in the silty and loamy mantle above the densic contact, slow or very slow in the dense loamy diamicton, and rapid or very rapid in the underlying outwash. Sconsin soils have a perched seasonal water table above the densic contact at a depth of 1.5 to 2.5 feet for 30 to 60 days duration at some time during the period of March to June in normal years. Internal drainage is restricted by the dense loamy diamicton.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for woodland. Timber stands are mostly American basswood, sugar maple, yellow birch, white ash, big tooth aspen, quaking aspen, and black cherry. Some areas are used for cropland and some for pastureland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Wisconsin. LRR K, MLRA 90A, and MLRA 90B. These soils are of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lincoln County, Wisconsin, 1993. The name is coined.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this soil are:
Particle size control section - 27 to 34 inches.
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 27 inches (A, E, Bw, E', E/B).
Albic horizon - 4 to 5 inches (E) and 10 to 27 inches (E', E part of the E/B).
Glossic horizon - 18 to 34 inches (E/B, 2B/E).
Argillic horizon - 27 to 34 inches (2B/E).
Densic contact - 34 inches (2BCd) the contact with dense loamy diamicton
Oxyaquic feature - Redox accumulations and saturation within 40 inches
Lithologic discontinuity - at the upper boundary of the 2B/E horizon at 27 inches and at the upper boundary of the 3C horizon at 38 inches.