LOCATION WORMET WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, frigid Typic Endoaquods
TYPICAL PEDON: Wormet sandy loam - on a plane 1 percent slope in mixed deciduous - conifer woodland at an elevation of about 1625 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--0 to 1 inches; black (N 2/0) mucky peat (hemic material which is a mat of partially decomposed forest litter); about 50 percent fiber and 25 percent rubbed; weak thin platy structure; very friable; many fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
A--1 to 2 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; about 1 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
E--2 to 6 inches; reddish gray (5YR 5/2) sandy loam, light gray (5YR 7/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; about 2 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
Bhs--6 to 8 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) sandy loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; about 2 percent gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
Bs1--8 to 15 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; about 2 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bs2--15 to 19 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; about 8 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizons ranges from 4 to 15 inches.)
2C--19 to 61 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) stratified sand, gravelly sand, and very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; few medium distinct pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) iron depletions and common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; about 25 percent gravel; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
TYPE LOCATION: Vilas County, Wisconsin; about 3 miles north and 1 mile west of Manitowish Waters; 260 feet south and 2,100 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 30, T. 43 N., R. 5 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 15 to 36 inches. Thickness of the loamy mantle ranges from 10 to 20 inches. Volume of rock fragments averages less than 35 percent in the family control section. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 35 percent in the loamy mantle, but is typically less than 15 percent. Volume of gravel ranges from 3 to 45 percent as a weighted average in the sandy outwash, but ranges from 0 to 65 percent in individual strata. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 10 percent throughout. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the solum and from strongly acid to slightly acid in the substratum. Redox features are in the albic or spodic horizon within a depth of 20 inches. Saturation occurs within 20 inches for some time in most years.
The A horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 2 or 3; and chroma is 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 A or Ap is sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 or 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. The E horizon is typically sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam but in some pedons it is the gravelly analogs.
The Bhs horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR and value and chroma of 2 or 3. It is typically sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam, but in some pedons it is the gravelly analogs.
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. It has texture like the Bhs horizon above.
Some pedons have a Bw horizon below the Bs horizon. It has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 4 to 8. It has texture like the Bhs horizon described above. 2Bw horizons with spodic colors have pH of 6.0 or more or have organic carbon content less than 0.6 percent, or both.
Some pedons have a 2Bs horizon with color like the Bs horizon above. It is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, sand or the gravelly, very gravelly, or extremely gravelly analogs.
Some pedons have a 2Bw horizon with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 4 to 8. It is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, sand, coarse sand, or the gravelly very gravelly, or extremely gravelly analogs. Horizons with spodic colors have pH of 6.0 or more or have organic carbon content less than 0.6 percent, or both.
The 2C horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is stratified sand, coarse sand, or the gravelly, very gravelly, or extremely gravelly analogs.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Au Gres, Battlefield, Kinross, and Wainola series. None of these soils have loamy textures in the upper 10 to 20 inches of the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wormet soils are on outwash plains and outwash terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in a thin mantle of loamy alluvium or loamy eolian deposits overlying stratified sandy outwash. Mean annual temperature ranges from 39 to 45 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. The frost free period ranges from about 70 to 120 days. Elevation ranges from 700 to 1900 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are mainly the Croswell, Manitowish, Padus, Pence, Sayner, Tipler, Vilas, and Worcester soils. The moderately well drained Croswell soils are in higher landscape positions than those of Wormet soils, where the loamy mantle is absent. The well drained Padus soils, the moderately well drained Tipler soils, and the somewhat poorly drained Worcester soils form a drainage sequence in nearby areas where the loamy mantle is 20 to 40 inches thick. The well drained Pence soils and the moderately well drained Manitowish soils form a drainage sequence with Wormet soils. The excessively drained Sayner and Vilas soils are in higher landscape positions where the loamy mantle is absent.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Surface runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid in the loamy mantle and rapid or very rapid in the sandy outwash. Wormet soils have an apparent seasonal high water table at a depth of 0.5 to 2 feet at some time during the period October to June in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in woodland. Native vegetation is mixed coniferous and deciduous forest. Common trees are red pine, eastern white pine, paper birch, red maple, and quaking aspen. Some small areas are used for cropland.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Wisconsin. This series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Forest County, Wisconsin, 1995.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 5 inches (A, E); albic horizon - 1 to 5 inches (E); spodic horizon - 5 to 18 inches (Bhs, Bs1, Bs2); aquic feature - redox features in the albic or spodic horizon within a depth of 20 inches and saturation within a depth of 20 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0401