Several types of soil exist in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin has an official soil called the Antigo Silt Loam, that was deemed so in 1983. This soil is only found in Wisconsin, in the north-central part. The purpose of declaring an official state soil was to remind people of the importance of soil to the state. Overall, Wisconsin has over 500 different soils and subsoils, all with various characteristics and distribution, but these soils can further be classified into several main groupings. Does this Spark an idea?
Alfisols
A bit over 40 percent of Wisconsin soils are classified as alfisols. This type of soil is rich in clay content, has very little acid and is generally found in forested areas that contain a lot of oak and hickory trees.
Mollisols
Mollisol is a type of soil that is found in about 10 percent of the land in Wisconsin that used to be grassy, but was later altered into crop and farm land. This soil is characterized by being soft and very productive due to the organic content.
Spodosols
Almost 20 percent of Wisconsin soil is of the spodosol classification. Spodosol is derived from the Greek language meaning wood ash, because this soil is found in forests with both deciduous and coniferous trees and has a high content of acid and iron. It is mostly found in the northern part of the state.
Entisols
Entisol soils are not productive and are fairly young, coming mostly from sediment in rivers or sand dunes, considered the "parent" soils. About 11 percent of Wisconsin has entisol soil.
Histosols
Wisconsin has about 8 percent histosol soil, which is a very organic and nutrient-rich soil found in boggy, mucky areas. Four major subdivisions of histosol soil exist: fibrists (wet with decomposed matter); folists (well-drained composed of organic material like leaves and branches); hemists (wet with organic matter mostly decomposed, good soil for growing plants); and saprists (wet, fully decomposed organic matter). Saprist makes up the most common histosol in Wisconsin. It's a good growing soil and is found in wooded areas or open ranges.
Inceptisols
Inceptisol soil is a young, not very well developed soil, similar to entisol soil, but a little more developed. Wisconsin has a land area of about 4 percent that contains inceptisol soil.
Ultisols
Ultisol is a soil that forms from "loess" or silt that has blown in as sandstone erodes. The Wisconsin ultisol is called Siouxcreek series and is found in a relatively small area, about 600 acres, in Barron County.
Tags: about percent, percent Wisconsin, soil found, area about, entisol soil, histosol soil
