LOCATION SYLVESTER WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiudolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Sylvester silt loam - on a 4 percent convex slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 980 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; black (10YR 2/1) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine fibrous roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--9 to 11 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine fibrous roots; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Ap and A horizons ranges from 8 to 14 inches.)
AB--11 to 14 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) silt loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine fibrous roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bt1--14 to 22 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine fibrous roots; clay films are faint and patchy on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--22 to 25 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; clay films are faint and patchy to nearly continuous on faces of most peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons ranges from 10 to 14 inches.)
2BC--25 to 32 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loamy sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure grading to single grain in lower portion; very friable grading to loose in the lower portion; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 7 inches thick)
2Cr--32 to 60 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) and yellow (10YR 7/6) soft sandstone but well cemented below a depth of 40 inches.
TYPE LOCATION: Green County, Wisconsin; about 4 miles southwest of Monticello; 1,000 feet west of the center of sec. 22, T. 3 N., R. 7 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 24 to 40 inches. The loess ranges in thickness from 20 to 33 inches, and the depth to sandstone is 24 to 40 inches. The sandstone is considered to have a paralithic contact at less than 40 inches and 2Cr horizons can be designated. The sandstone becomes more strongly cemented with depth, but can still be dug with difficulty with a spade. The solum generally occupies the entire profile above bedrock; however, a thin 2C horizon is in some pedons. At least 6 inches of the lower part of the soil profile above sandstone, in the position of 2BC or 2C, is loamy sand or sand. The solum, and the 2C horizon where present, are slightly acid to strongly acid. Where limed, some pedons have neutral surface horizons.
The A horizon has 10YR or 7.5YR hue and value and chroma of 1 through 3.
The AB horizon has 10YR or 7.5YR hue, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is silt loam or silty clay loam. The Bt horizon has 10YR or 7.5YR hue, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is silt loam or silty clay loam. The Bt horizon has an average clay content ranging between 24 and 30 percent and less than 15 percent fine sand and coarser. Clay films range from few faint and patchy to faint; and continuous on faces of peds.
The 2BC horizon has 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR hue; value and chroma is 4 through 6. It is sandy loam or loamy sand. Generally a loamy sand 2BC horizon, 6 or more inches thick, rests directly on sandstone without an intervening 2C horizon. Soils having 2BC horizons of loamy very fine sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam are within the range of the series provided that they are underlain by sandy 2C horizons 6 inches or more thick.
The 2C horizon, where present has colors intermediate between the 2BC and 2Cr horizons. It is loamy sand or sand, infrequently with a few pebbles. It ranges in thickness from 0 to about 10 inches. The upper 12 to 18 inches of the sandstone may be dug with difficulty with a spade. Color is variable and typically hues are 10YR or 7.5YR with value of 5 through 8, and chroma of 2 through 6.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Pillot and Whitehall series in the same family and the Arland, Gale, Hesch, and Richwood series. The Pillot and Whitehall soils do not have bedrock within a depth of 40 inches. Arland soils have an ochric epipedon and are fine-loamy. Gale soils are similar but have an ochric epipedon. Hesch soils have a mollic epipedon, but are coarse-loamy. Richwood soils have a mollic epipedon, but are fine-silty.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sylvester soils are mainly on ridgetops of uplands underlain by sandstone bedrock. Slopes range from 2 to 12 percent. They formed in loess 20 to 33 inches thick and in the underlying residuum weathered from sandstone. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 52 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 25 to 35 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Gale, Northfield, Richwood, and Tama soils. Gale soils are on similar landscapes. Lighter colored, thinner sola soils such as Northfield, are on steeper positions in the same landscape. Richwood and Tama soils are on benches below the Sylvester soils and are distinguished by their thicker loess mantles and greater depth to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Principally used for general farm crops, including corn, small grain, and forage. The steeper areas are used for livestock pasture. Native vegetation was mixed prairie grasses and scattered hardwoods, principally oaks.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Green County, Wisconsin, and possible adjoining areas of Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. Sylvester soils are of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Green County, Wisconsin, 1969.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: Mollic epipedon - zone from surface of soil to a depth of 14 inches (Ap, A, AB horizon); Argillic horizon - zone from 14 to 25 inches (Bt1, Bt2 horizon); Udic moisture regime.