LOCATION MENDOTA WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiudolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Mendota silt loam - on a 6 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 980 feet above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--8 to 11 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 4/3) dry; weak thick platy structure parting to moderate fine subangular blocky; friable; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Ap and A horizons ranges from 10 to 16 inches.)
Bt1--11 to 18 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) silt loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; friable; common distinct brown (7.5YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--18 to 29 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; few faint brown (7.5YR 4/2) clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (6 to 11 inches thick)
2Bt2--29 to 33 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) clay loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate coarse subangular blocky; firm; few faint and distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) and dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; neutral; abrupt irregular boundary. (4 to 6 inches thick)
2C1--33 to 45 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly loam; massive; friable; about 20 percent angular dolomitic gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (71 percent calcium carbonate) gradual smooth boundary.
2C2--45 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly loam; massive; friable, but very compact in places; about 34 percent angular dolomitic gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Dodge County, Wisconsin; about 3 miles northeast of Fox Lake; 200 feet north and 460 feet east of the southwest corner of sec. 21, T. 13 N., R. 14 E. USGS Buckhorn Corner Wisconsin topographic quadrangle; lat. 43 degrees 34 minutes 32 seconds N., and long. 88 degrees 50 minutes 39 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of the argillic horizon and to carbonates ranges from 24 to 40 inches. Thickness of the loess mantle ranges from 20 to 36 inches. Thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 10 to 16 inches. The particle-size control section averages 25 to 35 percent clay. Volume of gravel and channers ranges from 2 to 12 percent in the 2Bt horizon and from 12 to 60 percent in the 2C horizon. Volume of cobbles and flagstones ranges from 0 to 2 percent in the 2Bt horizon and from 1 to 8 percent in the 2C horizon. Reaction naturally ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid in the loess mantle, but ranges to neutral in the upper part, where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline in the 2Bt horizon and is moderately alkaline in the 2C horizon. The calcium carbonate equivalent ranges from 60 to 90 percent in the 2C horizon.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is silt loam.
Some pedons have an AB or BA horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The 2Bt2 horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Tecture is typically clay loam, sandy clay loam, or loam or the gravelly analogs but ranges to sandy loam or gravelly sandy loam in the lower part in some pedons. Many pedons have a thin dark colored layer (Beta B) that results from the accumulation of organic matter contained in the illuviated materials, at the contact between the 2Bt and 2C horizons.
The 2C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is loam or sandy loam, or the gravelly or very gravelly analogues of these textures. Calcium carbonate equivalent ranges from 60 to 90 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Ashdale, Broadwell, Dinsdale, Douglas, Elkhart, Elmont, Healing, Lycurgus, Malcolm, Meadowbank, Mickle, Ogle, Osco, Parkway, Plano, Proctor, Richwood, Ripon, Sibley, Sidell, Tama, Tecumseh, Toddville, Waukenda, Waupecan, and WIOTA series. Ashdale soils have a horizon with 55 to 75 percent clay in the lower part of the series control section and have a lithic contact there. Broadwell, Douglas, Healing, Malcolm, Richwood, and Waukenda soils have silty mantles more than 40 inches thick and do not have carbonates within the series control section. Dinsdale soils are more than 40 inches deep to carbonates and have less than 12 percent rock fragments in the lower part of the series control section. Elkhart, Osco, and Tama soils have more than 50 percent silt and less than 10 percent sand throughout the series control section. Elmont soils have a paralithic contact with sandstone in the lower part of the series control section and have no carbonates there. Lycurgus soils have more than 15 percent sand in the upper part of the series control section and have no carbonates or rock fragments in the series control section. Meadowbank soils have lamellae in the lower part of the series control section and have no carbonates or rock fragments in the series control section. Mickle and Toddville have redox features and saturation in the lower part of the series control section and have no carbonates in the series control section. Ogle, Parkway, Plano, Sidell, Tecumseh, and Waupecan soils are more than 40 inches deep to carbonates and to the base of the argillic horizon. Proctor soils are more than 40 inches deep to the base of the argillic horizon and have no carbonates within the series control section. Ripon soils have a lithic contact at 20 to 40 inches. SIBLY AND WIOTA SOILS SHOULD BE RECLASSIFIED AS PACHIC ARGIUDOLLS.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Mendota soils are on ground moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 12 percent. These soils formed in loess and in the underlying highly calcareous loamy till. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 32 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 45 to 48 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Markesan and Plano soils. Markesan soils are on the shorter steeper slopes where the silt mantle is less than 20 inches thick. Plano soils also are on intermediate slopes where the silt mantle is more than 3 feet thick over sandy loam glacial till.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Surface runoff ranges from low to high. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, small grain, forage, and canning crops. Native vegetation is prairie grasses, forbs, and scattered bur oaks.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Wisconsin. This soil is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dodge County, Wisconsin, 1970.
REMARKS:
The location given for the typical pedon places it in a map unit of Mendota silt loam, 6 to 12 percent slopes. Therefore, the slope of the typical pedon is changed from 4 to 6 percent.
This soil formerly was called Parr series in Wisconsin.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - 0 to 11 inches (Ap, A); argillic horizon - 18 to 33 inches (Bt1, Bt2).