LOCATION WORWOOD            WI 
Established Series
Rev. MJM-HFG-JJJ
11/2006

WORWOOD SERIES


The Worwood series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils in outwash-veneered areas of stream terraces and glacial lake plains. They formed dominantly in moderately deep, loamy alluvium underlain by sandy outwash which is underlain by stratified lacustrine deposits. Permeability is moderate in the loamy mantle, rapid or very rapid in the sandy outwash, and moderately slow in the stratified loamy and sandy substratum. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 30 inches. Mean annual air temperature is about 42 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Alfic Epiaquods

TYPICAL PEDON: Worwood loam - on a convex, northeast facing 2 percent slope in an aspen forest on a glacial lake basin at an elevation of about 1,380 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 3 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; about 12 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)

E--3 to 4 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly sandy loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; many fine roots; common faint very dark gray (10YR 3/1) worm casts; many fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; about 19 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 12 inches thick)

Bs1--4 to 7 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) gravelly sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine roots; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; about 19 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; clear broken boundary.

Bs2--7 to 11 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine roots; common fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; about 15 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; clear broken boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizons ranges from 4 to 16 inches.)

E'--11 to 16 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak thin platy structure; very friable; common fine roots; many fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; common medium faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; about 12 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)

E/B--16 to 24 inches; 60 percent brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam (E'), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak medium platy structure; very friable; surrounds remnants of brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam (Bt); weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay bridges between mineral grains; few fine roots; common fine prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) and common medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; many coarse prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; common fine prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) concretions (iron and manganese oxides); about 11 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Glossic horizon - 4 to 17 inches)

Bt--24 to 34 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly sandy loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; friable; few fine roots; few distinct dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) clay films on faces of peds; common coarse prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; common medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) and yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; common fine prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) concretions (iron and manganese oxides); common distinct brown (10YR 5/3) coatings of sand grains primarily on vertical faces of prisms; about 17 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 24 inches thick)

2C--34 to 42 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; common medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; about 17 percent gravel and 4 percent cobbles; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (6 to 30 inches thick)

3C--42 to 62 inches; primarily stratified layers of reddish brown (5YR 5/3) very fine sandy loam and gray (5Y 5/1) silt loam with a few thin strata of light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very fine, fine, and medium sand; massive; friable; few medium faint and prominent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) and common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; common medium prominent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; breaks to plates along depositional strata; neutral.

TYPE LOCATION: Lincoln County, Wisconsin; about 7 miles northwest of Merrill; 630 feet north and 100 feet east of the southwest corner of sec. 22, T. 32 N., R. 5 E. USGS Alexander Lake, Wis. Quad. Latitude 45 degrees 14 minutes 16 seconds N. Longitude 89 degrees 51 minutes 28 seconds W. NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the loamy mantle and depth to sandy outwash range from 24 to 40 inches. Depth to the stratified lacustrine deposits ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Volume of rock fragments averages less than 35 percent in the particle size control section. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 35 percent in the loamy mantle. Volume of gravel ranges from 3 to 45 percent in the sandy outwash as a weighted average but ranges from 0 to 60 percent in individual strata. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 2 percent in the lacustrine material. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 5 percent throughout. Coarse fragments typically are absent in the stratified lacustrine deposit. Reaction typically ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the upper part of the solum but ranges to neutral in the A and E horizons, where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the lower part of the subsoil and from strongly acid to neutral in the 2C and 3C horizons. Mottles are in the albic or spodic horizon within a depth of 20 inches and continue to 60 inches or more. Aquic conditions occur within 20 inches at some time in most years.

Some pedons have Oa or Oe horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR or the hue is neutral. Value is 2 or 3 and chroma is 0 to 3.

The A horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 2 or 3; and chroma of 1 or 2. Cultivated areas have an Ap horizon with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 3 or 4; and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is loam or sandy loam.

The E horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 4/3 or 5/3 have value dry of 7 or more. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam or the gravelly analogs.

Some pedons have a Bhs horizon with hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, or 7.5YR and value and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam or 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. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam or the gravelly analogs.

The E' horizon has color like the E horizon described above. Texture commonly is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or the gravelly analogs, but in some pedons it is loamy sand or gravelly loamy sand.

Worwood soils have a glossic horizon (E/B or B/E horizons, or both). The E' part has colors and textures like the E' horizon described above. The Bt part has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or the gravelly analogs.

The Bt horizon has color and texture like the Bt part described above.

Some pedons have a 2Bt or 2BC horizon with hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is loamy sand, sand, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs.

The 2C horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is sand, coarse sand, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogs. Stratification is common.

The 3C horizon has hue of 5YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 6. Texture in individual strata is dominantly silt, silt loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loamy very fine sand, or very fine sand, but most pedons have thin strata of coarser or finer texture.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Belding, Moodig, Mudlake, Parkfalls, and Pesabicseries. Similar soils are the Oesterle and Worcester series. None of these soils except Oesterle and Worcester, have stratified sandy textures within the series control section. Oesterle soils do not have a spodic horizon. Worcester soils have an apparent water table and have more than 85 percent sand in the lower part of the series control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are in outwash-veneered areas of stream terraces and glacial lake plains. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. Worwood soils formed dominantly in loamy alluvium underlain by sandy outwash which is underlain by stratified lacustrine deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 33 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 39 to 45 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 90 to 120 days. Elevation ranges from 700 to 1900 feet.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Minocqua, Padus, Padwood, Tipler, and Worcester soils. The moderately well drained Padwood soils are in a drainage sequence with Worwood soils. The well drained Padus soils, the moderately well drained Tipler soils, the somewhat poorly drained Worcester soils, and the poorly drained Minocqua soils form a drainage sequence in nearby areas where the substratum is sandy outwash to depths of more than 60 inches.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from negligible to low. Permeability is moderate in the loamy mantle, rapid or very rapid in the sandy substratum, and moderately slow in the stratified loamy and sandy substratum. Worwood soils have a perched seasonal high water table at a depth of 0.5 to 2 feet at some time during the period September to June in most years.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for woodland. Native vegetation is red maple, sugar maple, yellow birch, balsam fir, paper birch, eastern hemlock, and quaking aspen. A few areas have been cleared and are used for cropland or pastureland. Common crops are corn, small grain, and hay.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Wisconsin. These soils are of minor extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lincoln County, Wisconsin, 1993.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 4 inches (A, E); albic horizons - 3 to 4 inches (E) and 11 to 16 inches (E'); spodic horizon - 4 to 11 inches (Bs1, Bs2); glossic horizon - 16 to 24 inches (E/B); argillic horizon - 24 to 34 inches (Bt).

ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to soil survey sample number S91WI-069-218 for NSSL data on the typical pedon.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.