LOCATION SOONER WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquollic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Sooner silt loam - on a plane, north-facing 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 985 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; few fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Bt1--9 to 15 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; few fine faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 15 inches thick)
2Bt2--15 to 23 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common faint brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; many medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of iron depletion and common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
2Bt3--23 to 27 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; many medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of iron depletion and many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
2Bt4--27 to 31 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds; many medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of iron depletion and many medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the 2Bt horizons ranges from 9 to 18 inches)
3C--31 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sand; single grain; loose; common coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Jackson County, Wisconsin; about 1 mile east of Alma Center; 1,150 feet south and 700 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 33, T. 23 N., R. 4 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the silty alluvium ranges from 10 to 24 inches. Depth to siliceous sandy alluvium ranges from 25 to 40 inches. The particle-size control section averages 18 to 27 percent clay and 15 to 45 percent fine or coarser sand. The sandy alluvium has less than 10 percent weatherable minerals in the 0.02 - 20 mm fraction. Coarse fragments typically, are absent, but volume of sandstone gravel or channers ranges from 0 to 15 percent throughout. Reaction typically ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the loamy mantle but ranges to neutral in the upper part where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid in the sandy alluvium. Free carbonates are absent to depths of 80 inches or more. Redox accumulations occur below the Ap horizon. Redox depletions with chroma of 2 or less and aquic conditions occur within the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon and below.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silt loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Value and chroma of 3 do not occur together. It is silt loam.
The 2Bt horizon has color like the Bt horizon described above. It is loam, sandy loam, or sandy clay loam. Loam or sandy loam layers have more than 17 percent clay or are transition layers less than 5 inches thick.
Some pedons have a 3BC or a thin 3Bt horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. In some pedons, color is that of the uncoated sand grains. Texture is loamy sand, or sand.
The 3C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 8, and chroma of 2 to 6. In many pedons, the color is that of the uncoated sand grains. It is sand or loamy sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Binghampton, Hayfield, and Shiffer series. Related soils are the Hoop, Merimod, and Merit series. Binghampton, Hayfield, and Shiffer soils do not have siliceous sandy alluvium within a depth of 60 inches. In addition, Binghampton soils have a paleosol formed in loamy glacial till at a depth of 40 to 60 inches. Hoop soils have a mollic epipedon, are coarse-loamy, and have siliceous mineralogy. Merimod soils do not have redox depletions with chroma of 2 or less within the upper 10 inches of the argilllic horizon. Merit soils do not have redox features or a water table.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sooner soils are on stream terraces and pediments. Slope gradients range from 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in silty alluvium over loamy alluvium which is underlain by siliceous sandy alluvium. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 46 to 51 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 135 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 700 to 1100 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bilmod, Bilson, Hoop, Merimod and Merit series. The well drained Bilson soils, the moderately well drained Bilmod soils, and the somewhat poorly drained Hoop soils form a drainage sequence in nearby areas where there is more sand and less silt and clay in the soil. The well drained Merit soils and the moderately well drained Merimod soils form a drainage sequence with Sooner soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate in the silty and loamy alluvium and rapid in the underlying siliceous sandy alluvium. Sooner 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 November to May in 6 or more out of 10 years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay. Some areas are used for pastureland or woodland. Native vegetation is mixed hardwood forest with grass openings or hardwood and conifer barrens with grass understory..
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West central Wisconsin. The extent is small.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jackson County, Wisconsin, 1994.
REMARKS: This soil may have base saturation of less than 60 percent (by sum of cations) at a depth of 125 cm below the top of the argillic horizon. It would then classify as Aquultic Hapludalfs. No lab data is available.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon (darker than typic) - 0 to 9 inches (Ap); argillic horizon - 9 to 31 inches (Bt1, 2Bt2, 2Bt3, 2Bt4), aquic feature - redox depletions with chroma of 2 or less and aquic conditions within the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0554.