LOCATION TARR WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mesic, uncoated Typic Quartzipsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Tarr sand - on a southwest-facing slope of 3 percent in woodland at an elevation of about 940 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--0 to 2 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moderately decomposed plant material; weak thin platy structure; non-sticky; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
A--2 to 6 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) sand, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 9 inches thick)
Bw1--6 to 13 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) sand; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--13 to 34 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) sand; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon ranges from 6 to 32 inches.)
C--34 to 62 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sand; single grain; loose; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Monroe County, Wisconsin; about 2 1/2 miles southwest of Cataract; 100 feet north and 2000 feet east of the southwest corner, sec. 32, T. 19 N., R. 4 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Unless otherwise stated, thickness and depth in the following paragraph are measured from the top of the mineral soil.) Thickness of the solum ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The weighted average content of silt plus clay is 5 percent or less in the particle-size control section but is more than 5 percent in the upper 10 to 20 inches of the series control section. The sand fraction is more than 90 percent quartz or other non-weatherable minerals. Volume of sandstone channers and chert fragments ranges from 0 to 15 percent throughout the pedon. Reaction typically ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the solum but ranges to neutral in the upper part where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the substratum.
The O horizon has hue of 10YR or is neutral in hue. Value is 2 or 3 and chroma is 1 or 2. The O horizon is a mat of moderately decomposed plant material.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 to 3. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 to 4..
Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sand or fine sand.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR; value of 3 to 6; and chroma of 3 to 8. Value and chroma of 3 do not occur together. It is sand or fine sand.
Some pedons have a BC horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 to 8, and chroma of 4 to 8. It is sand or fine sand.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR; value of 5 to 8; and chroma of 2 to 8. It is sand or fine sand. In some pedons formed in residuum, there are strata of redder hue inherited from the parent material.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Boone, Carver, Hookson, and Tint series. Boone soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 and 40 inches. Carver soils have 25 percent or more of coarse and very coarse sand and less than 50 percent of either medium, fine or very fine sand. Hookson soils (MAP=44) inches are more moist in the soil moisture control section during the 120 days following the summer solstice and they have 5 percent or less of silt plus clay throughout. Tint soils have redox features and a seasonal high water table.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Tarr soils are on stream terraces, hills, and pediments. Slope gradients range from 0 to 60 percent. Tarr soils formed in siliceous sandy pedisediment over siliceous sandy residuum from sandstone. 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 1400 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Boone, Impact, Majik, Tint, and Tintson soils. The excessively drained Boone soils are nearby on uplands where sandstone bedrock is at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. The excessively drained and moderately well drained Impact soils are in landscape positions similar to those of Tarr soils where there is a thick dark colored surface layer. The moderately well drained Tint soils and the somewhat poorly drained Majik soils form a drainage sequence with Tarr soils. The moderately well drained Tintson soils are in landscape positions similar to those of Tarr soils where there is a loamy substratum at 40 to 60 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Surface runoff is slow to very rapid. Permeability is rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are in woodland or idle land. Some areas are used for cropland. Corn, small grain, and hay are common crops. Some areas are irrigated and used to grow specialty crops such as potatoes, sweet corn, and snap beans.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West-central Wisconsin. The Tarr series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Monroe County, Wisconsin, 1981.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - from 2 to 6 inches (A); coated feature - 5 percent or less silt plus clay as a weighted average in the particle-size control section; siliceous feature - have less than 10 percent weatherable minerals (0.02 to 2 mm fraction) in the particle-size control section.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0038.