LOCATION KALKASKA MIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, isotic, frigid Typic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Kalkaska sand on a 1 percent west-facing slope in a forested area. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
0i--0 to 2 centimeters; undecomposed forest litter; strongly acid.
A--2 to 5 centimeters; black (7.5YR 2.5/1) sand; black (10YR 2/1) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine, few medium and coarse roots; about 5 percent fine gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 centimeters thick)
E--5 to 13 centimeters; brown (7.5YR 5/2) sand, gray (10YR 6/1) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine, few medium and coarse roots; about 5 percent fine gravel; strongly acid; clear irregular boundary. (5 to 33 centimeters thick)
Bhs--13 to 18 centimeters; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine, few medium and coarse roots; about 5 percent fine gravel; moderately acid; clear irregular boundary. (2 to 58 centimeters thick)
Bs1--18 to 56 centimeters; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; few fine and medium roots; about 5 percent fine gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bs2--56 to 91 centimeters; strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; few fine roots between ortstein columns; columns of weakly cemented, dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) ortstein 8 to 13 centimeters wide extend through this horizon into the BC horizon; ortstein columns are 48 to 60 inches apart; ortstein occupies 7 percent of the horizon; about 5 percent fine gravel; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bs horizons 0 to 76 centimeters)
BC--91 to 130 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; few fine roots between ortstein columns; columns of weakly cemented, dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) ortstein 8 to 13 centimeters wide extend into this horizon from the Bs2 horizon; ortstein columns are 48 to greater than 100 centimeters apart; ortstein occupies 11 percent of the horizon; about 5 percent fine gravel; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 53 centimeters thick)
C--130 to 203 centimeters; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sand; single grain; loose; about 5 percent fine gravel; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Kalkaska County, Michigan; about 4 miles northwest of Darragh; 1900 feet north and 100 feet east of the southwest corner, sec. 13, T.28 N., R.7 W., USGS Westwood topographic quadrangle; lat.44 degrees 49 minutes 13 seconds N. and long. 85 degrees 6 minutes 35 seconds W.; Rapid River Township
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to the C horizon ranges from 61 to 140 centimeters. Gravel content ranges from 0 to 10 percent. Cobbles range from 0 to 3 percent throughout. Stones covering the surface range from 0 to 0.1 percent. The B horizons contain 0 to 45 percent of cemented material (ortstein).
The Oi horizon is undecomposed forest litter. Some pedons have Oe or Oa horizons of partially or well decomposed forest litter.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR to 5YR; value of 2 or 3; and chroma of 1 to 3. Some pedons have Ap horizons with hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. The A horizons are sand or loamy sand. Reaction of the A or Ap horizon ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR to 5YR, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is sand or loamy sand. Reaction of the E horizon ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid. In some pedons the A and E horizons are mixed together.
The Bhs horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is dominantly sand, but the range includes loamy sand. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid.
The Bs horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is sand. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid.
The BC horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR and value and chroma of 4 to 6. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 6. It ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Adams, Cusino, Duxbury, Liminga, Pence and Stuttssoils and the closely related Garlic soil. Adams soils are moist within 91 centimeters of the soil surface during the month of August. Cusino soils contain greater than 15 percent coarse fragments in one or more subhorizons in the BC and C horizons. Garlic soils have 50 to 90 percent ortstein in the spodic horizon. Liminga soils have more than 50 percent fine sand in the sand fraction throughout the series control section. The Stutts, Duxbury and Pence soils have combined content of silt plus clay greater than 15 percent in the A, E, Bhs and Bs horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Kalkaska soils are on outwash plains, valley trains, moraines, and stream terraces. Slope gradients range from 0 to 70 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 690 to 860 millimeters, and the mean annual temperature ranges from 5 to 8 degrees C.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Au Gres, Deford, East Lake, Halfaday, Roscommon, and Rubicon soils. Au Gres, Halfaday, and Deford soils are wetter members of a drainage sequence with Kalkaska soils. Rubicon soils are common associates on the moraines. Roscommon and East Lake soils are common associates on outwash plains.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat excessively drained. Kalkaska soils are dry within 91 centimeters of the soil surface during the month of August.
Surface runoff is negligible to low, dependent on slope. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or very high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the Kalkaska soils are in forest. Common tree speciesare sugar maple, American beech, red pine, quaking aspen, bigtooth aspen, and eastern white pine. Cut over areas are largely aspen. Some are in pasture, cropland, or are idle. The principal crops are small grain, hay, and potatoes;and a small amount is in corn and vegetables.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Lower Peninsula, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin. The series is of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kalkaska County, Michigan, 1927.
REMARKS: The 1999 update moved the pedon to an area that better represents the series. It also updated the competing series and removed old beach ridges from the landforms.
The 2006 update changed the mineralogy to isotic, after a review of lab data collected throughout the series geographic extent, changed all measurements to metric, and updated the competing series section again.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 13 centimeters (Oi, A and E horizons);
albic horizon - the zone from 5 to 13 centimeters (E horizon);
spodic horizon - the zone from 13 to 91 centimeters (Bhs and Bs horizons).
The well drained phase of the series is no longer in the series concept. Bands of loamy sand or sandy loam below depths of 150 centimeters in some pedons is no longer in the series concept.
Burned and severely burned phases are recognized.
This series was named the State Soil of Michigan in 1991.