LOCATION WAHBEGON MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid, frigid Typic Humaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Wahbegon loam on a slightly concave 1 percent slope, on a ground moraine in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 363 meters. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A1--0 to 30 cm; black (10YR 2/1) mucky silt loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1); moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and very fine roots throughout; 3 percent gravel; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
A2--30 to 38 cm; black (10YR 2/1) loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; common very fine roots throughout; 3 percent cobbles and 10 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizons is 18 to 41 cm)
Bw1--38 to 56 cm; brown (7.5YR 4/3) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) Fe concentrations; 5 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--56 to 86 cm; brown (7.5YR 4/3) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) Fe concentrations; 10 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw3--86 to 122 cm; 30 percent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) and 70 percent brown (7.5YR 4/3) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; 5 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 61 to 135 cm)
BC--122 to 152 cm; brown (7.5YR 4/3) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) Fe concretions; 10 percent gravel; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 51 cm thick.)
2BCd--152 to 203 cm; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) gravelly sandy loam; moderate very coarse and extremely coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium platy, few 2 to 3 millimeter oblique fractures 15 cm to 1 meter apart; very firm; 20 percent gravel; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: St. Louis County, Minnesota; 7 miles north of highway 61 and 1.5 miles west of the St. Louis and Lake County border; 2200 east and 2400 south of the northwest corner of section 35, T. 53 N., R. 12 W.; USGS McCarthy Creek SW, Minnesota Quadrangle; latitude 47 degrees 02 minutes 00 seconds N. and longitude 91 degrees 49 minutes 39 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the mantle and depth to friable till ranges from 0 to 41 cm. The depth to dense till ranges from 152 to 203 cm. Depth to free carbonates is greater than 203 cm. Volume of rock fragments throughout the upper mantle and fine loamy till ranges from 1 to 12 percent with 1 to 10 percent gravel, 0 to 1 percent cobbles, and 0 to 1 percent stones and boulders. Rock fragment content in the dense till ranges from 8 to 25 percent with 8 to 25 percent gravel, 0 to 10 percent cobbles and 0 to 5 percent stones and boulders. The mantle averages less than 18 percent clay. The friable till ranges from 16 to 22 percent clay and contains less than 45 percent sand. The dense till ranges from 3 to 10 percent clay and contains less than 72 percent sand.
Some pedons have an O horizon (duff layer).
The A horizon have a hue of 5YR to 10YR or is neutral, value of 2 to 3, and a chroma of 0 to 2. It is silt loam, loam, or their mucky analogues. They are very strongly acid to moderately acid.
The Bw or Bg horizons have a hue of 5YR to 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and a chroma of 2 to 4. These horizons have many or common, distinct or prominent redoximorphic features. They are loam or silt loam. They are very strongly acid to slightly acid.
The 2BC horizon, when present, has a hue of 5YR to 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. This horizon has distinct or prominent redoximorphic features. It is loam or silt loam. Reaction is moderately acid to neutral.
The 2BCd horizon has a hue of 2.5YR or 5YR and value and chroma of 3 or 4. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam or their gravelly analogues. It is moderately acid to neutral.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils have plane or concave slopes of 0 to 1 percent. They are in depressions on moraines. This soil formed in a discontinuous mantle of eolian or water laid sediments and the underlying friable till and the underlying dense till. The till is from the Superior Lobe of the Late Wisconsinan glaciation. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 4 to 7 degrees C. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 625 to 750 mm. The frost free season ranges from 120 to 140 days. The elevation ranges from 300 to 500 meters above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Augustana, Eldes, Forbay, and Hegberg soil. The moderately well drained Augustana soils occur on backslopes and summits. The poorly drained Eldes soil occurs on plane, concave or toeslope positions. The well drained Forbay soil occurs on shoulders and backslopes. The somewhat poorly drained Hegberg soil occurs on footslopes and summits.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained. Surface runoff is negligible. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is 4.23 to 42.34 micrometers per second (0.60 to 6 inches per hour) in the upper mantle, 1.41 to 14.11 micrometers per second (0.20 to 2.0 inches per hour) in the middle part and .01 to .042 micrometers per second (0.0015 to 0.006 inches per hour) in the lower part. The Wahbegon soils have seasonal high saturation at the surface during spring and fall in normal years. In addition, ponding can occur during periods of snow melt and heavy rainfall.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas have a native vegetation of lowland hardwoods and aspen or have a cover of sedges and willows. Some areas are in pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA-90A. Northeastern Minnesota. Minor extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: St. Louis County, Minnesota, (Duluth subset), 2007.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: Umbric epipedon - the zone from the mineral soil surface to 38 cm (A horizons); cambic horizon - the zone from 38 to 122 cm. (Bw horizons); densic contact - 152 cm (2BCd horizon).
The designation of the 3BCd horizon is based on fractures and platy structure in the densic material. Clay and silt translocation can be seen between the horizontal plates when broken apart.
This reddish parent material does not show low chroma colors typical of reducing conditions.