LOCATION WHITEHALL WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiudolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Whitehall silt loam - on a plane, south facing 2 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 730 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) silt loam, brown (7.5YR 5/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many very fine and fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--9 to 12 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) silt loam, brown (7.5YR 5/2) dry, moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Thickness off the mollic epipedon ranges from 7 to 20 inches.)
Bt1--12 to 16 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam, weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; few faint dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds; common prominent dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) silt loam coatings on faces of some peds; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--16 to 28 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; many faint dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons ranges from 12 to 30 inches.)
2Bt3--28 to 32 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; common faint dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
3C--32 to 60 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/6) sand; single grain; loose; common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Jackson County, Wisconsin; 1.5 miles north and 3 miles east of Melrose; about 600 feet north and 300 feet west of the southeast corner of sec. 36, T. 20 N., R. 5 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the silty mantle, depth to the base of the argillic, and depth to siliceous sandy alluvium all range from 20 to 40 inches. Thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 7 to 20 inches. The sandy alluvium has less than 10 percent weatherable minerals in the 0.02 - 20 mm fraction. Coarse fragments typically are absent but volume of sandstone gravel or channers ranges from 0 to 15 percent in the sandy alluvium. Reaction typically ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout but ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed. Redox concentrations are within 72 inches and are commonly within 40 inches. Saturation occurs below 40 inches for 1 month or more per year in 6 or more out of 10 years.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR; value of 2 or 3; and chroma of 1 to 3. Value dry is 5 or less.
At least part of the Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR but hue of 7.5YR occurs in subhorizons. Value is 3 to 5 and chroma is 4 to 8. The Bt is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The 2Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 8, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is loam, sandy loam, or sandy clay loam.
Some pedons have a 3BC or 3Bt horizon with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 3 to 7 and chroma of 4 to 8. It is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, sand, or coarse sand.
The 3C horizon has color like the 3BC horizon. It is sand or coarse sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Pillot and Sylvester series. Similar soils are the Dakota, Trempealeau, and Warsaw series. Pillot soils do not have hue as red as 5YR in the argillic horizon and have mixed mineralogy throughout the series control section. Sylvester soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Dakota, Trempealeau, and Warsaw soils are fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on low stream terraces. Slope gradients range from 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed mostly in silty alluvium underlain by siliceous sandy alluvium. Mean annual precipitation ranges from about 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from about 46 to 51 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 135 to 160 days. Elevation ranges from 670 to 1100 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Richwood, Rowley, Toddville, and Trempealeau soils. The well drained Richwood, soils, the moderately well drained Toddville soils, and the somewhat poorly drained Rowley soils form a drainage sequence in areas where the silty mantle is 40 to 60 inches thick over sand. The well drained Trempealeau soils are nearby where there is 20 to 40 inches of loamy alluvium over sand.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate in the silty mantle and rapid in the sandy substratum. These soils are subject to rare flooding of brief duration. These soils have an apparent seasonal high water table at a depth of 3.5 to 6 feet for 1 month or more per year at some time during the period November to May in 6 or more out of 10 years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay. Native vegetation is prairie grasses with a few scattered oak trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West central Wisconsin. It is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, 1969.
REMARKS: This soil may not be a Mollisol because it may have base saturation of less than 50 percent (by NH4OAc) in some horizon between the top of the argillic horizon and 125 cm below the top of the argillic. It would then classify as Ultic Hapludalfs. No lab data are available.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - 0 to 12 inches (Ap, A); argillic horizon - 12 to 32 inches (Bt1, Bt2, 2Bt3).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0101.