LOCATION SECHLER WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, siliceous, superactive, mesic Aquic Humic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Sechler silt loam on a plane, north-facing 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 870 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; black (5YR 2.5/1) loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) dry; moderate medium and fine granular structure, friable; common very fine and fine roots; about 5 percent gravel which consist entirely of extremely firm, irregular, very dusky red (2.5YR 2.5/2) iron nodules; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (7 to 10 inches thick)
A--9 to 12 inches; black (5YR 2.5/1) loam, dark reddish gray (5YR 3/2) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate medium granular; friable; common very fine and fine roots; 12 percent gravel which consists entirely of extremely firm, irregular, very dusky red (2.5YR 2.5/2) iron nodules; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 12 inches thick)
Bwc1--12 to 16 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 2.5/4) very gravelly loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; common fine distinct reddish brown (5YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; 48 percent gravel which consists entirely of extremely firm irregular very dusky red (2.5YR 2.5/2) iron nodules; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bwc2--16 to 22 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) very gravelly fine sandy loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; common fine faint reddish brown (5YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; common fine faint dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) masses of iron depletion; 42 percent gravel and 3 percent cobbles which consist entirely of extremely firm, irregular, very dusky red (2.5YR 2.5/2) iron nodules; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bwc horizons is 8 to 30 inches)
2Bg--22 to 27 inches; pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) loamy fine sand; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; few very fine roots; many medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; common thin (< 1/8 inch) strata of silt loam; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.(0 to 8 inches thick)
2C--27 to 60 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) fine sand; single grain; loose; many coarse prominent red (2.5YR 4/8) and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; few thin strata of reddish gray (5YR 5/2) loamy fine sand and fine sandy loam with many medium prominent dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Jackson County, Wisconsin, about 1/4 mile north of Taylor; about 100 feet west and 2000 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 5, T. 21 N., R. 6 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the loamy alluvium and depth to siliceous sandy alluvium range from 20 to 40 inches. Thickness of the umbric epipedon ranges from 10 to 20 inches. Base saturation by NH4OAc is less than 50 percent throughout the series control section and by sum of cations is less than 35 percent. Volume of coarse fragments averages less than 35 percent in the particle-size control section but averages more than 35 percent in the cambic horizon. Coarse fragments consist entirely of irregularly shaped iron nodules in the loamy alluvium and are iron nodules or sandstone gravel or channers in the sandy alluvium. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 25 percent in the A horizons and from 20 to 65 percent in individual subhorizons in the cambic horizon. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 5 percent in the loamy allvium. Coarse fragments typically are absent in the sandy alluvium but volume of gravel or sandstone channers ranges from 0 to 15 percent. Reaction typically ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid in the solum but ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the substratum. Redox accumulations are throughout the pedon below the umbric epipedon. Redox depletions with chroma of 2 or less are within a depth of 20 inches and also aquic conditions for some time in most years.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR; value of 2 to 3; and chroma of 1 or 2. Color value is 5 or less dry.
The Bw horizon typically has hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, or 7.5YR; value of 2.5 to 4; and chroma of 3 or 4. It is typically the very gravelly analogs of loam or silt loam in the upper part grading to the very gravelly analogs of fine sandy loam or sandy loam in the lower part. In some pedons, thin individual subhorizons are the gravelly analogs of these textures.
The 2Bg or 2Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 2 to 3. It is loamy fine sand or loamy sand.
The 2C or 2Cg horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 2 to 8. It is fine sand or sand that typically has a few thin strata of finer texture.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. Similar soils in other families are the Northbend and Sturgeon series. Northbend soils do not have an umbric epipedon; have an irregular decrease in organic matter with depth; and have less than 5 percent coarse fragments throughout. Sturgeon soils are frigid and are coarse-silty over sandy or sandy-skeletal.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sechler soils are on plane or slightly convex slopes on flood plains. Slope gradients ranges from 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in siliceous loamy alluvium which has a high content of iron nodules and in the underlying siliceous sandy alluvium. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 46 to 50 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 135 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 700 to 1000 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Absco, Kalmarville, Northbend, Trempealeau, and Whitehall soils. The moderately well drained Absco soils are in slightly higher positions on the floodplain than Sechler soils where the soil is sandy throughout. The poorly drained Kalmarville soils are in lower more frequently flooded positions on the floodplain. The somewhat poorly drained Northbend soils are in landscape positions similar to those of Sechler soils where there are few or no iron concretions in the soil. The well drained Trempealeau soils and the well drained and moderately well drained Whitehall soils are in higher landscape positions on stream terraces which are rarely or never flooded and where the loamy mantle has more silt and clay.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Surface runoff is slow or very slow. Permeability is moderate in the loamy alluvium and rapid in the sandy alluvium. Sechler soils are subject to occasional brief flooding. The main period of flooding is March to June, but flooding can occur following any period of high runoff. These soils have an apparent seasonal high water table at a depth of 1 to 2 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period October to June in 6 or more out 10 years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are drained and used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay. Some areas are used for pastureland. Native vegetation is prairie grasses and a few widely spaced oak trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West central Wisconsin. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jackson County, Wisconsin, 1994.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon: umbric epipedon - 0 to 12 inches (Ap, A); cambic horizon - 12 to 22 inches (Bwc1, Bwc2); siliceous feature - less than 10 percent weatherable minerals (0.02 - 20 mm fraction) in the patricle-size control section; aquic feature - redox depletions with chroma of 2 or less and aquic conditions within 20 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0162. Refer to soil survey sample number S90WI-053-1 for NSSL data on the typical pedon.