LOCATION FOX WI+IL IN MI OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Fox silt loam - on a plane 1 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 850 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 10 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--10 to 15 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--15 to 21 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few faint dark brown (10YR 3/3) clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons in loess ranges from 0 to 19 inches; in loamy outwash it ranges from 10 to 35 inches.)
2Bt3--21 to 29 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common prominent very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
2Bt4--29 to 33 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common distinct dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds; about 5 percent gravel; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the 2Bt horizon [Bt horizon in pedons without a loess mantle] ranges from 10 to 35 inches.)
3C1--33 to 45 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) stratified gravelly sand and very cobbly sand; single grain; loose; about 30 percent gravel and 30 percent cobbles as an average; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
3C2--45 to 60 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) stratified very gravelly sand, extremely gravelly sand, and gravel; single grain; loose; about 65 percent gravel as an average; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Jefferson County, Wisconsin; about 3 miles south and 3 mile west of Lake Mills; 1,600 feet south and 1,930 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 32, T. 7 N., R. 13 E., USGS Lake Mills, Wisconsin; lat. 43 degrees 01 minutes 59 seconds N. and long. 88 degrees 59 minutes 10 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the base of the argillic horizon ranges from 20 to 40 inches and in most pedons corresponds with the depth to free calcium carbonate, and the depth to stratified sandy outwash. The thickness of the loess mantle ranges from 0 to 24 inches. The clay content averages from 18 to 35 percent and the content of fine sand or coarser averages from 15 and 45 percent in the particle-size control section. Volume of gravel ranges from 0 to 35 percent in the loamy mantle. Volume of gravel in the stratified outwash ranges from 0 to 95 percent in individual strata but ranges from 3 to 70 percent as an average. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 50 percent in individual strata in the outwash. Reaction naturally ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid in the upper part of the solum, but it ranges to neutral in the upper parts of some pedons where the soil is limed. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to slightly alkaline in the in the lower subsoil and is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline in the outwash. Free calcium carbonates are in the sand and gravel outwash and are in the lower part of the loamy mantle in some pedons.
The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Colors of 3/2 or 3/3 have value dry of 6 or more. Uncultivated pedons have an A horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Where there is a loess mantle, the Ap or A is silt loam or, in severely eroded phases, it is silty clay loam. Where the silty mantle is absent, the Ap or A is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, gravelly loam or gravelly sandy loam or, in severely eroded phases, it is clay loam or gravelly clay loam.
Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Where there is a loess mantle, the E horizon is silt loam. Where the loess mantle is absent, it is loam, sandy loam, or the gravelly analogs.
The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR and value of 3 to 5. Where there is a loess mantle, the Bt horizon is silt loam or silty clay loam. Where the loess mantle is absent, the Bt horizon is mostly loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam or the gravelly analogs but it grades to sandy loam or gravelly sandy loam in the lower part in some pedons.
The 2Bt horizon (Bt horizon in pedons without a silty mantle) has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 3 or 4. It is mostly loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, or the gravelly analogs but grades to sandy loam in the lower part in some pedons. In some pedons, the lower boundary is quite irregular and tongues of the 2Bt horizon extend into the calcareous sandy outwash for several feet. At the contact with the calcareous sandy outwash a darker colored and more clayey subhorizon is common ("beta B").
Some pedons have a 2Btk horizon (Btk horizon in pedons without a loess mantle) just above the sand and gravel outwash. It has color like the 2Bt horizon above and is loam, sandy loam, or sandy clay loam.
The 3C horizon (2C horizon in pedons without a loess mantle) has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is typically stratified layers of sand, coarse sand or the gravelly, very gravelly or extremely gravelly analogs or has strata of gravel. In some pedons it is sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bixby, and Hixton series. Bixby soils do not have carbonates within a depth of 45 inches. Hixton soils have a paralithic contact within a depth of 60 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Fox soils are on outwash plains, stream terraces, valley trains, and kames and in outwash areas on moraines. Slope gradients range from 0 to 35 percent. These soils formed in thin loess and loamy alluvium or just in loamy alluvium overlying stratified calcareous sandy outwash. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 27 to 44 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 46 to 57 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from about 135 to 190 days. Elevation ranges from 580 to 1300 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Near the type location, these are the Casco, Dresden, Matherton, Ockley, and Sebewa soils. The somewhat excessively drained Casco soils are on landscape positions similar to those of Fox soils where the loamy mantle is 10 to 20 inches thick over outwash. The well drained Dresden and Ockley soils are in landscape positions similar to those of Fox soils. Dresden soils are in areas where the surface layer is dark colored. Ockley soils are in areas where the loamy soil is more than 40 inches thick over outwash. The somewhat poorly drained Matherton soils and the poorly drained Sebewa soils form a drainage sequence with Fox soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is neglible to high. Permeability is moderate in the silty and loamy mantle and rapid or very rapid in the sand and gravel outwash.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the less sloping areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, soybeans, small grains, and hay. Some areas are used for pastureland or woodland. Native vegetation is hardwood forest. Common trees are northern red oak, white oak, sugar maple, black cherry, and white ash.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, southern Michigan, western Ohio, and eastern Iowa. The series is of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Columbia County, Wisconsin, 1911.
REMARKS: New series will be needed for the CLAYEY SUBSTRATUM (WI8064) and the LOAMY SUBSTRATUM (WI8065) phases.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
ochric epipedon - 0 to 10 inches (Ap).
argillic horizon - 10 to 33 inches (Bt1, Bt2, 2Bt3, 2Bt4).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record - WI0026; WI0438 (GRAVELLY); WI0459 (SANDY SUBSTRATUM).