LOCATION SUPERIOR WI+MIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over clayey, mixed, active, frigid Alfic Oxyaquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Superior fine sandy loam - on a 2 percent slope in a wooded area at an elevation of about 820 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 3 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; many white (N 8/0) clean sand grains; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
E--3 to 6 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/2) sandy loam, pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; common fine roots; few fine distinct brown (7.5YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulations; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bs1--6 to 9 inches thick; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few medium faint brown (7.5YR 5/2) and brown (7.5YR 5/3) iron depletions and few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulations; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bs2--9 to 14 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few medium faint brown (7.5YR 5/2) and brown (7.5YR 5/3) iron depletions and few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulations; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bs horizons is 3 to 16 inches)
2B/E--14 to 19 inches; about 75 percent reddish brown (5YR 4/3) clay (2Bt); moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few faint dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; penetrated by interfingers of brown (7.5YR 5/2) sandy loam (E'), pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; moderately acid; gradual irregular boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
2Bt1--19 to 26 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine angular blocky; firm; few distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on vertical faces of peds; few very fine roots; slightly acid; gradual irregular boundary.
2Bt2--26 to 40 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; few very fine roots; few very fine white (5YR 8/1) lime concretions; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual irregular boundary. (Combined thickness of the 2Bt horizon is 5 to 28 inches thick)
2Btk--40 to 58 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; weak coarse prismatic structure; firm; few distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; few very fine roots; few coarse, irregular, faint, light reddish brown (2.5YR 6/3) soft masses of calcium carbonate; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual irregular boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
2C--58 to 80 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; massive; firm; common coarse, irregular, faint, light reddish brown (2.5YR 6/3) soft masses of calcium carbonate; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Bayfield County, Wisconsin; about 1 1/2 miles southwest of Moquah; 700 feet north and 100 feet east of the center of sec. 15, T. 47 N., R. 6 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 24 to more than 80 inches. Depth to free carbonates ranges fron 24 to 40 inches. Thickness of the loamy mantle over the clayey deposits ranges from 14 to 24 inches. The loamy upper part of the control section averages between 10 and 18 percent clay and between 35 and 65 percent fine sand or coarser. The clayey lower part of the control section averages between 40 and 80 percent clay and less than 15 percent fine sand or coarser. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 15 percent in the loamy mantle and from 0 to 5 percent in the clayey deposits.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR or is neutral in hue. Value is 2 or 3 and chroma is 1 to 3. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture of the A or Ap is fine sandy loam or sandy loam. Some pedons do not have an A horizon. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral.
The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value or 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 and 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam but in some pedons it is loamy sand or loamy fine sand. Redoxomorphic features are present. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral.
Some pedons have a Bhs horizon with hue of 5YR or 7.5YR and value and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam. Redoxomorphic features are present. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid.
The Bs horizon has hue of 5YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 6 or hue of 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4. Redoxomorphic features are present.
It has textures and reaction like the Bhs horizon described above.
Some pedons have an E' horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 or 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam. Reaction is strongly acid or moderately acid.
Superior soils have a glossic horizon (2E/B or 2B/E horizons, or both). The E part has color, texture, and reaction like the E' horizon described above. The Bt part has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR and value and chroma of 4 or 5. Texture is clay loam, silty clay, or clay and is strongly acid or moderately acid.
The 2Bt horizon has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 5. It is clay or silty clay. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly alkaline.
The 2Btk horizon has colors and textures similar to the 2Bt horizon. It is violently effervescent and slightly or moderately alkaline.
The 2C horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR and value and chroma of 4 or 5. It typically is silty clay or clay. It may contain thin strata of silt or sandy clay. Reaction is moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Superior soils are on glacial lake plains. Slopes range from 2 to 50 percent. These soils formed in loamy water-laid deposits and in the underlying clayey glacial till and/or clayey lacustrine deposits modified by wave action. Mean annual temperature ranges from 39 to 45 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. The frost free period ranges from about 90 to 135 days. Elevation ranges from 600 to 1100 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Sedgwick, Manistee, Kellogg, Odanah, Sanborg and Badriver soils. Sedgwick soils are on slightly lower landscape positions than the Superior soils, and are somewhat poorly drained. Manistee and Kellogg soils are in landscape positions similar to those of Superior soils where there is a 20 to 40 inch thick sandy mantle over the clayey deposits.Odanah, Sandborg and Badriver soils are nearby in similar landscape positions where the loamy mantle over the clayey deposits is absent.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff ranges from low to very rapid. Permeability is moderate in the loamy deposit and very slow in the clayey deposit. Superior soils have a perched seasonal water table above the clay till at a depth of 0.5 to 2.0 feet for 20 or more consecutive days or 30 or more cumulative days per year, at some time during the period of September to June in 6 or more out of 10 normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of this soil is in woodland or idle cropland. Forest vegetation is mainly northern hardwoods. A small amount of this soil is cleared and cropped to small grain and hay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan. These soils are moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Series established in Munising area, Alger County, Michigan, 1904.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 6 inches (A,E); albic horizon - 3 to 6 inches (E); spodic horizon - 6 to 14 inches (Bs1, Bs2); argillic horizon - 14 to 26 inches (2B/E, 2Bt).
On June 6, 2003 this site was revisited. Redoxomorphic features were observed in the upper layers and the vegetation species present indicated moderately well drained conditions. Redoxomorphic features were added to the E, Bs1, and Bs2 horizons, and the series was reclassified to Oxyaquic. On July 8, 2005 this site was revisited again. The site was dug and described to 80 inches (it was previously only described to 60 inches) and the lower horizons were revised.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0019; WI0519 (LOAMY SUBSTRATUM).