LOCATION WABENO             WI+MI 
Established Series
Rev. JMB-DCR-HFG
06/98

WABENO SERIES


The Wabeno series consists of moderately well drained soils which are moderately deep to a fragipan. They formed in loess and in the underlying loamy and sandy till or glacial mud-flow sediment on drumlins and moraines. Permeability is moderate in the loess, slow in the fragipan, and moderate or moderately rapid below the fragipan. Slopes range from 1 to 18 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 30 inches. Mean annual temperature is about 40 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Alfic Oxyaquic Fragiorthods

TYPICAL PEDON: Wabeno silt loam, very stony, on a southeast facing slope of 5 percent in a hardwood forest at an elevation of about 1595 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Oa--0 to 3 inches; black (10YR 2/1) muck (sapric material which is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter); about 20 percent fiber and 5 percent rubbed; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and few medium roots; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)

E--3 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, pink (7.5YR 7/3) dry; weak thin platy structure; friable; many fine and few medium roots; about 1 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear broken boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)

Bs--5 to 11 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and few medium roots; about 1 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 20 inches thick)

E'--11 to 15 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; moderate thin platy structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; about 1 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)

B/E--15 to 24 inches; about 65 percent dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) silt loam (Bt); moderate fine subangular and angular blocky structure; friable; few distinct reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; penetrated by tongues of brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam (E), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; few fine and medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; about 1 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Glossic horizon - 6 to 30 inches thick)

2Btx1--24 to 29 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) gravelly sandy loam; strong coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular and angular blocky; firm; few fine roots; few prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay films on faces of some peds and in some pores; common very fine vesicular pores; brittle; about 15 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid; gradual irregular boundary.

2Btx2--29 to 55 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) gravelly sandy loam with 0.5 to 1.5 inch strata of brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly loamy sand and sand; moderate coarse prismatic structure; firm; braeks to strong medium plates along depositional strata; common very fine vesicular pores; few prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay films on faces of peds; about 16 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; brittle; strongly acid; gradual irregular boundary. (Combined thickness of the 2Btx horizon ranges from 0 to 35 inches.)

2C--55 to 63 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) gravelly sandy loam with 0.5 to 1.5 inch strata of brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly loamy sand and sand; massive; friable; common very fine vesicular pores in the sandy loam; about 15 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; moderately acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Florence County, Wisconsin; about 3 miles east and 0.5 miles south of Tipler; 600 feet west and 1100 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 26, T. 40 N., R. 15 E.; USGS Long Lake NE, WI-MI quad.; lat. 45 degrees, 54', 50" N., long. 88 degrees, 34', 25" W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Unless otherwise stated, depth and thickness are measured from the top of the mineral soil.) Depth to the base of the argillic horizon ranges from 35 to more than 60 inches. Thickness of the silty mantle ranges from 12 to 36 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Coarse fragments are dominantly of igneous origin and are of mixed lithology. Volume of rock fragments averages from 1 to 15 percent in the silty mantle and from 5 to 35 percent in the till or mud-flow sediment. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 10 percent in the loess and from 5 to 25 percent in the till or mud-flow sediment. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 10 percent in the loess and from 0 to 20 percent in the till or mud-flow sediment. Stones are on the surface and stony and very stony phases are recognized. Reaction typically ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the upper part of the solum but ranges to neutral in an Ap horizon, where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid below the spodic horizon. Redox accumulations and saturation occur below the spodic horizon and within 40 inches for 1 month or more per year in most years.

Some pedons have an A horizon with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 2 or 3; and chroma of 1 or 2. Cultivated pedons have an Ap horizon with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3.

The E horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR; value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 or 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. The E horizon is silt loam or silt.

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.

Where the silty mantle is thin, some pedons have a 2Bs horizon with color like the Bs horizon. It is sandy loam, loam or the gravelly or cobbly analogs.

Some pedons have an E' horizon with color and texture like the E horizon described above.

Some pedons have a 2E' horizon with color like the E horizon described above. It is typically sandy loam or fine sandy loam or the gravelly or cobbly analogs but in some pedons, it is very fine sandy loam or loamy sand or the gravelly or cobbly analogs. In some pedons, it is loam or the gravelly or cobbly analogs in the layer immediately below the silty mantle.

Wabeno soils have a glossic horizon. Horizonation has a wide range depending on the thickness of the silty mantle; the extent to which eluviation has occurred; and the depth to the fragipan. Therefore, there can be E/B, B/E, 2E/B, 2E/Bx, 2B/E, or 2B/Ex horizons in combination or singly with or without Bt, 2Bt, 2Btx, 2BC, or 2BCx horizons.

The E' part of the E/B or B/E horizon has color and texture like the E' horizon described above.

The Bt part of the E/B or B/E horizon or the Bt horizon where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 4 or 6.

The 2E' part of the 2E/B, 2E/Bx, 2B/E, and 2B/Ex horizons has color and texture like the 2E' part described above.

The 2Bt part of the 2E/B, 2E/Bx, 2B/E, and 2B/Ex horizons has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is typically sandy loam or fine sandy loam in the fine earth fraction but in some pedons it is very fine sandy loam or it has thin strata of loamy sand. In some pedons, it is loam in the layer immediately below the silty mantle. Gravelly or cobbly analogs of these textures also occur.

The 2Btx horizon or the 2Bt horizon, where present, has color and texture like the 2Bt part described above. Stratification is a common feature (glacial mud-flow sediment) but some pedons do not have it. Individuals strata are mostly sandy loam or loamy sand but some thin lenses are sand. Gravelly or cobbly analogs of these textures also occur. Some pedons with 2B/E or 2B/Ex horizons do not have 2Bt or 2Btx horizons

The 2C horizon has color, texture, and stratification like the 2Btx horizon above.

COMPETING SERIES: The Argonne and Wakefield series are being reclassified as coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid Alfic Oxyaquic Fragiorthods. Gogebic, Graveraet, Kallio, Munising, and Stuben(T) series need to be reclassified as coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid Alfic Oxyaquic Fragiorthods.6 Related soils are the Goodman, Laona, and Soperton series. Argonne soils do not have a 12 to 36 inch thick mantle with more than 50 percent silt. Gogebic soils have hue redder than 7.5YR throughout the control section. Graveraet soils are less acid than slightly acid in the substratum. Kallio soils are shallow to the fragipan. Munising soils have hues redder than 7.5YR throughout the subsoil and substratum and their coarse fragments are mostly red Jacobsville sandstone channers. Stuben soils average more than 85 percent sand in the series control section within a depth of 40 inches. Wakefield soils have hues redder than 7.5YR throughout the soil and have more than 17 percent clay in the argillic horizon. Goodman soils do not have a fragipan. Laona and Soperton soils are not mottled and do not have a water table. In addition, Laona soils do not have a 12 to 36 inch thick mantle with more than 50 percent silt.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wabeno soils are on moraines and drumlins. Slope gradients range from 1 to 18 percent. Wabeno soils formed in loess and in the underlying glacial mud-flow sediment or till from the Langlade lobe of the Wisconsinan Age glaciation. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 36 to 43 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 90 to 120 days. Elevation ranges from 1000 to 1900 feet.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Champion, Capitola, Gay, Goodman, Goodwit, Mudlake, Padus, Padwet, Soperton and Stambaugh soils. The well drained and moderately well drained Champion soils are on landscape positions similar to those of Wabeno soils where the argillic horizon is absent. The poorly drained and very poorly drained Capitola and Gay soils and the somewhat poorly drained Mudlake soils are associated in drainageways and depressions. The well drained Goodman soils and the moderately well drained Goodwit soils are in landscape positions similar to those of Wabeno soils where the fragipan is absent. The well drained Padus soils and the moderately well drained Padwet soils are nearby on associated outwash deposits. The well drained Soperton soils are nearby on steeper side slopes. The well drained Stambaugh soils are nearby on associated outwash deposits.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is slow to rapid. Permeability is moderate in the loess, slow in the fragipan, and moderate or moderately rapid below the fragipan. Wabeno soils have a perched seasonal high water table at a depth of 1.5 to 3.5 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period October to June in 6 or more out of 10 years years.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Wabeno soils are used for woodland. Native vegetation is mostly deciduous forest with some conifers. Common trees are sugar maple, American basswood, yellow birch, white ash, black cherry, and eastern hophornbeam with some red pine and eastern white pine. Some small areas are cleared and used for cropland. Common crops are corn, oats, and hay.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Wabeno series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Iron County, Michigan, 1992.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this soil are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 2 inches (E); albic horizon - 0 to 2 inches (E) and 8 to 12 inches (E'); spodic horizon - 2 to 8 inches (Bs); glossic horizon - 12 to 21 inches (B/E); argillic horizon - 12 to 55 inches (B/E, 2Btx1, 2Btx2); fragipan - 21 to 52 inches (2Btx1, 2Btx2); oxyaquic feature - redox accumulations and saturation below the spodic horizon and within 40 inches for 1 month or more per year in most years.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record: WI0340 (STONY); WI0394 (VERY STONY); WI0551 (BOULDERY). Refer to soil survey sample number S88WI-037-1 for NSSL data on the typical pedon.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.