LOCATION SPINKS MI+IN MN OH WI

Established Series
Rev. NWS-WEF-RAR
11/2021

SPINKS SERIES

The Spinks series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in sandy eolian or outwash material. They are on dunes, moraines, till plains, outwash plains, beach ridges, and lake plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 70 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 838 mm (33 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 9.4 degrees C (49 degree F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Lamellic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Spinks loamy sand, on a 2 percent slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 25 cm (10 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loamy sand, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [13 to 33 cm (5 to 13 inches) thick]

Bw--25 to 56 cm (10 to 22 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. [10 to 76 cm (4 to 30 inches) thick]

E and Bt--56 to 216 cm (22 to 85 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) fine sand (E); single grain and loose in the E part; lamellae and bands of brown (7.5YR 4/4) loamy fine sand (Bt); weak fine subangular blocky structure and friable in the Bt part; common fine roots in upper part, becoming few in lower part; neutral; clear wavy boundary. [51 to 165 cm (20 to 65 inches) thick]

C--216 to 267 cm (85 to 105 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sand; single grain; loose; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Washtenaw County, Michigan; about 3 miles west of Ann Arbor; 520 feet north and 100 feet east of southwest corner of sec. 22, T. 2 S., R. 5 E.; USGS Ann Arbor West topographic quadrangle; lat. 42 degrees 17 minutes 7.152 seconds N. and long. 83 degrees 50 minutes 17.687 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the solum: 91 to more than 152 cm (36 to more than 60 inches)
Depth to the first lamella: 38 to 102 cm (15 to 40 inches)
Clay content of the argillic horizon: averages less than 15 percent
Rock fragments: glacial erratics (dominantly gravel) of sedimentary and crystalline lithology
Mean annual soil temperature: 9.4 to 11.1 degrees C (49 to 52 degrees F)

Ap horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 to 5, 6 or more dry
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sand, or fine sand
Rock fragment content: 0 to 14 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral

Some pedons have an E horizon.

Bw horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 7
Chroma: 2 to 8
Texture: fine sand, sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand
Rock fragment content: 0 to 14 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral in the upper part, and includes slightly alkaline in the lower part

E part of the E and Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 7
Chroma: 2 to 8
Texture: fine sand, sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand
Rock fragment content: 0 to 14 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral in the upper part, and includes slightly alkaline in the lower part

Bt part of the E and Bt horizon:
Thickness of the lamellae: 3 mm to 13 cm (1/8 to 5 inches); cumulative thickness of more than 15 cm (6 inches)
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 2 to 6
Texture: sand, loamy sand, fine sand, loamy fine sand, or sandy loam; when the texture is sand or fine sand, it contains at least 3 percent more clay than the overlying eluvial horizon; when the texture is sandy loam, the average clay content of the argillic horizon is less than 15 percent
Rock fragment content: 0 to 14 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral in the upper part, and includes slightly alkaline in the lower part

C horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 to 7
Chroma: 2 to 6
Texture: sand or fine sand
Rock fragment content: 0 to 14 percent
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bloomfield and Drammen series. Bloomfield soils have a mean annual soil temperature of more than 11.1 degrees C (52 degrees F). Drammen soils do not have lamellae (Bt) within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches).

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Spinks soils are on dunes, moraines, till plains, outwash plains, beach ridges, and lake plains of Wisconsinan Age. The slope gradient is typically 2 to 18 percent, but ranges from 0 to 70 percent. Spinks soils formed in sandy eolian or outwash material. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 737 to 940 mm (29 to 37 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 8.3 to 10.0 degrees C (47 to 50 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The Spinks soils are the well drained member of a drainage sequence that includes the somewhat poorly drained Thetford soils. They are associated with the Boyer and Oshtemo soils on lake plains or outwash plains, and the Oakville or Chelsea soils on either lake plains or moraines. Dryden, Lapeer, Metea, Ottokee, and Owosso soils are on adjoining till plains or moraines. The Spinks soils are associated with the Granby, Ottokee, and Tedrow soils on lake plains in MLRA 99. The very poorly drained Granby soils are in depressions and the somewhat poorly drained Tedrow soils are on flats or slight rises. These soils do not have lamellae within the series control section. The moderately well drained Ottokee soils are on lower or less sloping landform positions and have less than 15 cm (6 inches) of lamellae within the series control section.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Potential for surface runoff is negligible to medium depending on slope gradient. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high. Permeability is moderately rapid.

USE AND VEGETATION: Spinks soils are used mostly for hay production or pasture. Some areas are cropped to corn, wheat, oats, and soybeans. A small part is in orchards. Steeper areas are in forest or permanent pasture. Native vegetation is hardwoods, dominantly of oak and hickory.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 95B, 96, 97, 98, 99, 105, and 111B in southern Michigan, northwestern Ohio, northern Indiana, southern Wisconsin, and southern Minnesota. The type location is in MLRA 111B. The series is of large extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: McHenry County, Illinois, 1960.

REMARKS: A loamy substratum phase is recognized. Pedons that have been correlated as a bedrock substratum phase, with a 2Cr horizon of sandstone or a 2R of limestone below 102 cm (40 inches), will become a new series during modernization projects. The stony surface phase over bedrock will also be correlated as a new series during modernization projects.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 56 cm (22 inches) (Ap and E horizons).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 56 to 216 cm (22 to 85 inches) (Bt part of E and Bt horizon).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.