LOCATION TAWAS MI+IN MN NY WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, euic, frigid Terric Haplosaprists
TYPICAL PEDON: Tawas mucky peat - on a slope of 1 percent in a forested area. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--0 to 10 centimeters; black (10YR 2/1) broken face and rubbed mucky peat, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) pressed; about 50 percent fiber, 25 percent rubbed; weak medium granular structure; fibers are primarily herbaceous; neutral (pH 6.8 in calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa1--10 to 20 centimeters; black (10YR 2/1) broken face, rubbed, and pressed muck; about 25 percent fiber, less than 10 percent rubbed; weak medium granular structure; fibers are primarily woody; few woody fragments; neutral (pH 6.8 in calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa2--20 to 28 centimeters; black (10YR 2/1) broken face, rubbed and pressed muck; about 15 percent fiber, less than 5 percent rubbed; massive breaking to coarse granular particles; brittle; fiber is woody; neutral (pH 6.8 in calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa3--28 to 53 centimeters; black (5YR 2/1) broken face and rubbed muck, dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) pressed; about 20 percent fiber, less than 10 percent rubbed; massive breaking to coarse subangular fragments; slightly sticky; fibers are primarily woody; neutral (pH 6.8 in calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa4--53 to 69 centimeters; black (5YR 2/1) broken face, rubbed, and pressed muck; about 20 percent fiber, less than 5 percent rubbed; massive; fibers are primarily woody; neutral (pH 6.8 in calcium chloride); clear smooth boundary.
Oa5--69 to 79 centimeters; black (10YR 2/1) on broken face, rubbed, and pressed muck; about 25 percent fiber, less than 5 percent rubbed; massive; fiber is primarily woody; about 40 percent mineral material; neutral (pH 6.8 in calcium chloride); abrupt smooth boundary.
C--79 to 152 centimeters; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) fine sand; single grain; neutral (pH 6.8 in calcium chloride).
TYPE LOCATION: Delta County, Michigan; about 9 miles east of Ensign; 800 feet south and 475 feet west of the northeast corner, sec. 6, T. 40 N., R. 19 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to the sandy mineral layers typically is 51 to 107 centimeters and ranges from 41 to 127 centimeters. The organic layers are dominantly pH 5.5 to 7.8 in 0.01M calcium chloride, but the reaction ranges to 4.5 in some pedons.
In some pedons, the upper 5 to 10 centimeters is a mat primarily of live fiber. The surface tier has hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, 5YR or is neutral; value of 2 or 3; and chroma of 0 to 3. The organic material is sapric or hemic or both and is primarily from woody material. The hemic materials generally have rubbed fiber content near the low end of the range.
The organic material in the subsurface and bottom tiers has hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, 5YR, or is neutral; value of 2 or 3; and chroma of 0 to 3. Broken faces, rubbed and pressed colors are quite similar, but they may vary one unit in value or chroma or both. These layers are dominated by muck, but thin layers of hemic material totaling less than 25 centimeters in thickness are in some pedons. These layers are massive or have coarse blocky fragments. The part just below depths of 30 centimeters has secondary structure of coarse granular or coarse subangular fragments. The organic material contains little recognizable fiber, but undisturbed pieces retain the original wood tissue structure. The lower part of the organic layer commonly is massive. The layer just above the mineral contact commonly contains more mineral material than the other organic layers. Mineral material in this layer amounts to as much as 50 percent of the volume. A thin Ab horizon is present in some pedons. Some pedons have up to 5 centimeters of limnic material above the C horizon.
The C horizon has hue of 5Y, 2.5Y, 10YR, or 7.5YR; value of 3 to 6; and chroma of 0 to 4. It is sand, loamy sand, coarse sand, fine sand, loamy coarse sand, loamy fine sand or gravelly sand. It ranges from moderately acid to moderately alkaline. Carbonates are in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Pondicherry and Markey series. The Markey and Pondicherry soils formed in herbaceous plant materials. Closely related soils include the Carbondale, Cathro, Dawson, Greenwood, Lupton and Rifle series. The Carbondale, Greenwood, Lupton and Rifle soils do not have mineral materials within 130 centimeters. Cathro soils formed in organic material overlying loamy materials. Dawson soils have reaction less than 4.5 in 0.01M calcium chloride in the organic material.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Tawas soils formed in sapric material 41 to 130 centimeters thick overlying sandy drift. Tawas soils are in depressions within outwash plains, lake plains, till floored lake plains and moraines. The depressions range from about 5 acres to 300 acres in size. Slopes typically are 0 to 2 percent, but may range to 15 percent. Minor deposits above 2 percent are on footslopes as the upland soils break sharply into depressional or flood plain areas. These minor deposits are typically associated with groundwater discharge or seep area. Soils in the nearby uplands are predominantly sands. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 560 to 890 millimeters, the mean annual temperature from 3 to 8 degrees C, and the mean summer temperature is about 18 degrees C.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Carbondale, Deford, Kinross, Lupton, Rifle and Roscommon soils. The very poorly drained Carbondale, Lupton and Rifle soils are in similar landscape positions. The poorly or very poorly drained Deford, Roscommon and Kinross soils are commonly adjacent to Tawas soils.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. The representative depth to wet soil moisture status is at the surface to 30 centimeters below the surface at some time throughout the year. The representative depth of ponding is from 0 to 30 centimeters at some time throughout the year. Surface runoff is negligible to high, dependent on slope. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high in the organic part and high or very high in the mineral part.
USE AND VEGETATION: Much of this soil is woodland. Vegetation is balsam fir, black ash, northern white cedar, quaking aspen, and red maple. The remainder is cleared and used for pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, northern Minnesota, and northern Wisconsin. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sanilac County, Michigan, 1955.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: sapric feature - well decomposed organic material from 10 to 79 centimeters (Oa1, Oa2, Oa3, Oa4 and Oa5 horizons); terric feature - mineral material at depths between 61 and 130 centimeters; aquic soil moisture regime.