LOCATION WASEPI MI+WI

Established Series
Rev. RWJ-EPW-WEF
11/2021

WASEPI SERIES

The Wasepi series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in loamy and sandy glaciofluvial deposits underlain by sand and gravel at 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches). Wasepi soils are on outwash plains, deltas, valley trains, glacial drainageways, and lake plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 6 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 838 mm (33 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 9.4 degrees C (49 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Aquollic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Wasepi sandy loam, on a 1 percent slope in a cultivated area. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 20 cm (8 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; about 5 percent gravel; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. [15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches) thick]

E1--20 to 33 cm (8 to 13 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; about 5 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.

E2--33 to 43 cm (13 to 17 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loamy sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine roots; few medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; about 5 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the E horizon is 10 to 46 cm (4 to 18 inches).]

Bt1--43 to 61 cm (17 to 24 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few thin clay films; few fine roots; common medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; common medium distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) masses of oxidized iron; about 5 percent gravel; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt2--61 to 76 cm (24 to 30 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) sandy clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; thick clay films and bridging between sand grains; common medium faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron; about 10 percent gravel; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 20 to 51 cm (8 to 20 inches).]

2Cg--76 to 152 cm (30 to 60 inches); light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) stratified sand and fine gravel; single grain; loose; few coarse prominent brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) masses of oxidized iron; slightly alkaline; slightly effervescent.

TYPE LOCATION: Genesee County, Michigan; about 2 miles east and 2 miles south of Goodrich; 900 feet east and 960 feet north of SW corner of SE quarter of sec. 25, T. 6 N., R. 8 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the solum: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)

Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: sandy loam or loamy sand
Rock fragment content: 3 to 14 percent gravel
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

E horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: sandy loam or loamy sand
Rock fragment content: 3 to 14 percent gravel
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

Bt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: loamy sand, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, gravelly sandy loam, or gravelly fine sandy loam
Rock fragment content: 3 to 25 percent gravel
Reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline

2C horizon:
Hue: 5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 5 to 7
Chroma: 1 to 6
Texture: gravelly sand or stratified sand and gravel
Rock fragment content: 15 to 50 percent gravel
Reaction: slightly alkaline

Loamy substratums with loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam texture are below 102 cm (40 inches) in some pedons.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wasepi soils are on outwash plains, deltas, valley trains, glacial drainageways, and lake plains of Wisconsinan Age. Slope gradient is dominantly 0 and 2 percent, but ranges to 6 percent. This soil formed in loamy and sandy glaciofluvial deposits underlain by sand and gravel at 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches). Mean annual precipitation ranges from 737 to 940 mm (29 to 37 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 7.8 to 10.0 degrees C (46 to 50 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Boyer, Brady, Gilford, Oshtemo, Perrin, and Sebewa soils. The Wasepi soils are the somewhat poorly drained member of a drainage sequence that includes the well drained Boyer, moderately well drained Perrin, and poorly drained or very poorly drained Gilford soils. Brady, the well drained Oshtemo, and the poorly drained or very poorly drained Sebewa soils are closely associated on outwash plains.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Potential for surface runoff is negligible to low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high in the solum and high or very high in the underlying sand and gravel. Permeability is moderately rapid in the solum and rapid in underlying sand and gravel.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Corn, soybeans, small grain, and grass-legume hay are principal crops. Soils are used for permanent pasture or forest in a few areas. Native vegetation is hardwoods, principally American elm, white ash, hickory, and swamp white oak.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 95B, 97, 98, 99, and 110 in southern Michigan and southeastern Wisconsin. The type location is in MLRA 98. The series is of large extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lapeer County, Michigan, 1966.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 43 cm (17 inches) (Ap, E1, and E2 horizons).
Argillic horizon: from a depth of 43 to 76 cm (17 to 30 inches) (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
Aquic conditions: iron depletions or matrix with chroma of 2 or less in all horizons below a depth of 33 cm (13 inches).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.