LOCATION HESCH WI+IA ILEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Argiudolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Hesch fine sandy loam - on a 14 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of about 740 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; common fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--8 to 12 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; medium acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Ap and A horizons ranges from 10 to 16 inches.)
BA--12 to 19 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, common fine roots; medium acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--19 to 29 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; faint patchy clay films; about 5 percent sandstone fragments by volume; medium acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
Bt2--29 to 32 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; clay bridging between sand grains; few dark brown (10YR 4/3) organic stains on some vertical faces of peds; about 10 percent sandstone fragments; by volume; medium acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
2C--32 to 38 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sand; single grain; loose, about 12 percent sandstone fragments by volume; medium acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
2Cr--38 to 60 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and light gray (10YR 7/2) poorly cemented sandstone; medium acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Iowa County, Wisconsin; about 2 miles north of Clyde; 125 feet west and 1,165 feet south of the northeast corner, sec. 26, T. 8 N., R. 2 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 40 inches and in some pedons is the same as the depth to sandstone. Volume of coarse fragments (sandstone) less than 3 inches in size ranges from 0 to 12 percent in the solum and in the substratum. The solum is strongly acid to slightly acid. The 2C horizon is very strongly acid to medium acid.
The A horizon has 10YR or 7.5YR hue, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The BA horizon has 10YR or 7.5YR hue, and value and chroma of 3 to 5. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The Bt horizon has 10YR or 7.5YR hue, value and chroma of 3 to 6. Typically, it is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam but some pedons have thin subhorizons of sandy clay loam. The particle-size control section averages between 10 and 18 percent clay. Clay films are faint and patchy on faces of peds or are expressed as bridging between sand grains. Some pedons have a BC horizon or a C horizon which are sand, loamy sand, fine sand, or loamy fine sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Coyne, Elston, Norborne, Nottawa, Onarga, and Rasset series in the same family, and the Dakota, Eleva, Etter, Hixton, Lorenzo, Nineveh, Stockland, and Trempealeau series in other families. Coyne, Dakota, Elston, Norborne, Nottawa, Onarga, Rassett, and Trempealeau soils do not have sandstone bedrock within a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Eleva and Hixton soils do not have a mollic epipedon and Hixton soils contain more clay in the argillic horizon. Etter soils are similar, but do not have an argillic horizon. Lorenzo, Nineveh, and Stockland soils are underlain by sand and gravel at depths of less than 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hesch soils are typically on undulating to strongly sloping uplands, but in some places they are on stream terraces. Slope gradients are commonly between 12 and 20 percent and range from 0 to 45 percent. Hesch soils formed in a mixture, dominantly, of residuum weathered from sandstone and some loess. Sandstone is at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 53 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation from 28 to 35 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Boone, Eleva, Elkmound, Hixton, Northfield, and Sylvester soils. Boone, Elkmound, and Northfield soils are nearby, generally on steeper slopes and bedrock is at shallower depths, and they do not have mollic epipedons. Eleva and Hixton soils are on similar landscape positions. Sylvester soils are in the same landscape but have silty sola.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is slow to rapid. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mostly for cropland. Much of the more sloping areas are used for pasture. Native vegetation was mixed grasses with scattered oak and hickory trees.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern Wisconsin, central Iowa, and northern Illinois. Hesch soils are of moderate extent.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: La Crosse County, Wisconsin, 1957.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: Mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 12 inches (Ap, A horizons); argillic horizon - zone from 19 to 32 inches (Bt1, Bt2 horizons); other features - udic moisture regime.