Soils of the Laurentian Great Lakes, USA and Canada

230 Pages·2021·24.96 MB·English

by  James G. Bockheim

James G. Bockheim
Soils of
the Laurentian
Great Lakes,
and Canada
USA
Soils of the Laurentian Great Lakes, USA
and Canada
James G. Bockheim
Soils of the Laurentian Great
Lakes, USA and Canada
123
James G.Bockheim
Department ofSoil Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison,WI, USA
ISBN978-3-030-52424-1 ISBN978-3-030-52425-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52425-8
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2021
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialis
concerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic
adaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublicationdoesnot
imply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsand
regulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbookarebelieved
tobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,
expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeen
made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional
affiliations.
@NOAA-GLERL
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
This book is dedicated to the professional soil mappers and data managers
of the US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation
Service. This organization began in 1899 as the Division of Soils, became of
Bureau of Soils in 1901, the Soil Conservation Service in 1935, and the
Natural Resources Conservation Service in 1994. The report that follows
draws heavily on information gathered from 82 counties surrounding the
Great Lakes that were mapped by NRCS personnel, as well as other data.
Preface
Despite the availability of considerable data, there has not been a comprehensive treatment
of the soils of the Great Lakes. This book is intended to introduce individuals with some
understanding of science to the soils of the Great Lakes, including their history, soil-forming
factors, soil taxonomic structure, soil geography, pedodiversity, and importance of soils for
protectionof theGreat LakesCoastal Zone.Aglossary isprovided. Hopefully, thebookwill
create an interest in soils that rivals that of birders, lighthouse seekers, waterfall enthusiasts,
kayakers, and geo-cachers in the Great Lakes region.
Madison, WI, USA James G. Bockheim
vii
Acknowledgments
The following individuals graciously contributed digital images: Larissa Hindman, Soil Sci-
entist, NRCS, Duluth, MN; Dwight Jerome, Resource Soil Scientist, NRCS, Marquette, MI;
Gerald Smith, Soil Scientist, NRCS, Paul Smiths, NY; Matt Bromley, Soil Scientist, NRCS,
Grand Rapids, MI; Mike Walczynski, Resource Soil Scientist, NRCS, Duluth, MN.
ix
’
Author s Note
TheLaurentianGreatLakesareanimportantpartoftheUSandCanada.Hometo33million
people, including 90% of all Canadians, the Great Lakes account for 20% of the world and
90%oftheUSsurfacefreshwater.KeyindustriesintheGreatLakesregionincludeshipping,
steel and automobile production, energy generation, fishing, pulp and paper making, agri-
culture,andrecreation.Todate,therehasbeennocomprehensiveinventoryofthesoilsofthe
region, which is undergoing dramatic climate change and environmental degradation.
This book was prepared from US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conser-
vation Service databases, including the Web Soil Survey, Soil Series Extent Explorer, soil
classification and characterization databases, and county soil surveys, supplemented by
shoreline viewer software, a comprehensive review of the scientific literature, the author’s
research, consultation with colleagues, and trips around the Great Lakes.
Methodology
Identification of Soil Series
Soilserieswithin5kmofthecoastlineoftheUSportionoftheGreatLakeswereidentifiedby
following the coastline with Soil Extent Explorer (Natural Resources Conservation Service,
2018a)setatthebroadestviewingscaleof1:50,000.FortheCanadianGLCZ,thecoastlinesof
24countiesordistricts(Table 1.4)werefollowedmanuallyandsoilserieswereidentified.The
scales of these maps were generally 1:63,360 but occasionally were 1:126,720.
Soil Classification
Spreadsheets listing soil series for US and Canada were prepared. For the US Great Lakes
coastline, the NRCS Soil Series Classification Database (SC) was used to create a report for
thelistofseriesintheUSwiththedownloadoption(NRCS,2018b).FortheCanadianGLCZ,
soilserieswereexaminedintheAgricultureandAgri-FoodCanada,SoilsofOntariodatabase
(http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/soils/on/soils.html). Soil classification data were entered onto the
spreadsheet manually.
Official Soil Series Descriptions
For the US GLCZ, Official Soil Series Descriptions (NRCS, 2018c) of 664 soil series were
examined, and the following data were added manually to the spreadsheet: parent materials,
landform, vegetation, type and thickness of diagnostic horizons, whether or not there were
competing soil series, and geographically associated soils. For the Canadian GLCZ, soil
descriptionsof144soilserieswereexamined,andthefollowingdatawereaddedmanuallyto
the spreadsheet: parent materials, landform, and texture.
Soil Characterization
FortheUSGLCZ,primarysoilcharacterizationwasobtainedforrepresentativepedonsofkey
soil series from the NRCS Soil Characterization Database (NRCS, 2018c). Only basic data
were included in Tables 5.1 to 5.5, including percent clay, silt, sand, organic C, base
xi
xii Author’sNote
saturation, Fe or Fe , Al or Al , and cation-exchange capacity at pH 7 and pH in water.
d o d o
Preference was given to pedons in the GLCZ and with complete data.
Pedodiversity
Pedodiversity of the US GLCZ was determined from mean density of soil series (number of
soilseries,dividedbyarea)(Bockheim,2018).Endemicsoilsaredefinedastheonlysoilina
family(Bockheim,2005).Raresoilsarethosewithanarealessthan10,000ha(Ditzler,2003).
Endangered soils are defined here as those that are endemic and rare.
Soil-Forming Processes
Dominantsoil-formingprocesseswereidentifiedbasedontaxonomiccategory(Bockheimand
Gennadiyev, 2000). Primary processes were identified at the order (e.g., Spodosol = pod-
solization) and suborder (e.g., Aquept = gleization) levels; and secondary processes were
assigned from the great-group (e.g., Argiudoll = argilluviation) and subgroup
(Spodic = podsolization) levels.
Soil Evolution
SoilserieswereassignedtoproglaciallakesintheGreatLakesbasinbycomparingsoilextent
maps with maps of prominent shorelines (Fig. 2.15). Ages were assigned using the
post-glaciallakechronologygiveninTable 2.1.Theevolutionofsoilsderivedfromstabilized
sanddunes,beachridges,andsandylaketerraceswasdeterminedfromanintegrationofseven
published soil chronosequences-chronofunctions conducted along the Lake Michigan and
Lake Huron shores.
Soil Photographs
County soil survey reports were an excellent source for color images of key soil series.
Additionally, I used personal photographs and those from colleagues.
Additional Information
Other materials that were consulted in preparing this report included research publication
identified electronically from the Web of Science, county soil survey reports, the Web Soil
Survey (https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm), the US Geological
Survey national topographic map (https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/launch/), the Great Lakes
Shoreviewer (http://superiorwatersheds.org/shorelineviewer2011/), and the Quaternary Geo-
logic Atlas of the USA (US Geological Survey, 2012).
Contents
1 Introduction to the Soils of the Great Lakes Coastal Zone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Concept of Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 History of Soils Investigations in the Great Lakes Region. . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 Great Lakes Coastal Zone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2 Soil-Forming Factors of the Great Lakes Coastal Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2 Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.3 Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.4 Relief and Elevation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.5 Bedrock Geology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.6 Surficial Geology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.7 Land Use and Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.8 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3 Soil Taxonomic Systems Used in the Great Lakes Coastal Zone . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.1 Soil Horizons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2 Approaches to Soil Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.3 Soil Taxonomy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.3.1 Hierarchical Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.3.2 Diagnostic Horizons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.3.3 Constructing a Soil Name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.4 The Canadian System of Soil Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.5 Linking the US and Canadian Soil Taxonomic Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4 Soil Taxonomic Structure and Factors Affecting Soil Distribution
in the Great Lakes Coastal Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.1 Soil Taxonomic Structure in the US Great Lakes Coastal Zone. . . . . . . . 43
4.2 Soil Taxonomic Structure in the Canadian Great Lakes Coastal
Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.3 Factors Affecting Soil Distribution in the Great Lakes Coastal Zone . . . . 46
4.3.1 Climate and Soil Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.3.2 Vegetation and Soil Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.3.3 Landforms, Parent Material and Soil Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.3.4 The Time Factor and Soil Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
xiii