LOCATION WATTON MI+WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, frigid Haplic Glossudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Watton silt loam - on a 4 percent north-facing slope under northern hardwoods. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oi--1 to 0 inches; undecomposed plant material: extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
A--0 to 1 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) silt loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many roots; about 3 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
E1--1 to 3 inches; weak red (2.5YR 5/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many roots; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) earthworm casts; about 3 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; abrupt irregular boundary.
E2--3 to 6 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common roots; dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) earthworm casts; about 3 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the E horizons is 0 to 10 inches.)
B/E--6 to 16 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silt loam (Bt); occupies about 85 percent of the horizon surrounded by reddish brown (5YR 5/3) silt loam (E); moderate coarse angular blocky structure; firm; common roots; about 3 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 11 inches thick)
Bt1--16 to 27 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) loam; moderate coarse angular blocky structure; firm; few roots; many distinct reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) clay films; some faces have sand coatings; about 3 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--27 to 43 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silt loam; moderate coarse angular blocky structure; firm; few roots; many distinct reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) clay films; about 4 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 10 to 38 inches.)
C--43 to 60 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silt loam; weak medium angular blocky structure; firm; few distinct reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay films on vertical faces, about 4 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Baraga County, Michigan; about 1 1/2 miles northeast of Watton; 1,980 feet west and 100 feet north of the center of sec. 17, T. 48 N. R. 34 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 24 to 60 inches. The upper part of the solum ranges from extremely acid to neutral, with the lower part of the Bt horizons ranging from moderately acid to mildly alkaline. The C horizon ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 5 percent and volume of gravel ranges from 1 to 5 percent throughout the pedon.
The A horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 2 to 3; and chroma is 1 or 2. It is silt loam or loam.
The E horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam or loam.
The B/E horizon has colors and textures the same as the E and Bt horizons. The E part in some pedons is 5YR 4/3. The Bt horizons have hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. They are clay loam, silty clay loam, loam, or silt loam. A BC horizon occurs in some pedons.
The C horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is clay loam, silty clay loam, silt loam or loam. Carbonate accumulations are not in the C horizon of some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Watton soils are on ground moraines and end moraines. Slopes range from 0 to 70 percent, but are dominantly between 2 and 12 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 26 to 33 inches and the mean annual temperature ranges from 41 to 46 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Champion, Gogebic, Kallio, Menominee, and Ontonagon soils. The well drained and moderately well drained Champion and Gogebic soils are Spodosols with a fragipan and formed in gravelly loamy sand and sandy loam till, respectively. The moderately well drained Kallio soils are Spodosols formed in the same till as Watton soils. The well drained and moderately well drained Ontonagon soils are very-fine lacustrine soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Surface runoff is slow to rapid, depending on slope. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow in the solum and very slow in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Less than 10 percent is cleared and is used mainly for hay and pasture. The greater portion is in woodland, with sugar maple, red maple, yellow birch, American basswood, eastern hemlock, white spruce, quaking aspen, and balsam fir being the principal species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan and north- central Wisconsin. The series is a moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Upper Peninsula Reconnaissance, Michigan, 1950.
REMARKS: Refer to S78MI-013-008 for laboratory data on this typical pedon.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 1 inch (A horizon); albic horizon - the
zone from 1 to 6 inches (E1 and E2 horizons); argillic horizon - the zone from 6 to 43 inches (B part of B/E, Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).