Abstract
Loess is the dominant soil parent material covering the western and central portions of southern Wisconsin. Glacial till derived mainly from Devonian shales and Silurian dolomite is the most extensive parent material in extreme southeastern Wisconsin. The soils developed in loess are coarser in texture, leached of carbonates to greater depths and more acid and contain a higher percentage of zirconium in their coarse silt than those developed in the till. The clay of the soils developed in loess contains a higher proportion of minerals of more advanced weathering indices (montmorillonite, “pedogenic” chlorite and kaolinite) formed by weathering. The clay mineralogy was fairly uniform in the four soils developed from loess, but the two Gray-Brown Podzolic soils were found to contain only about one-half as high a percentage of total clay and one-fourth as high a percentage of medium and fine clay in their A horizons (which were also 7 in. less in thickness) than the A horizons of their prairie soil analogues. The Varna soil developed in the till contains clay with a higher proportion of minerals of less-advanced weathering indices (mafic chlorite and dioctahedral mica), largely inherited from the parent material. There has been some transformation of mica and mafic chlorite to expansible layer silicates and amorphous material in the Varna solum and the ratio of ferrous to total iron decreased both with decreasing particle size (from fine silt through fine clay) and with approach to the soil surface (in the whole clay).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alden, W. C. (1918) The quaternary geology of southeastern Wisconsin, U.S. Geol. Survey Profess. Papers 106.
Andrew, R. W., Jackson, M. L., and Wada, K. (1960) Intersalation as a technique for differentiation of kaolinite from chloritic minerals by X-ray diffraction. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 24, 422–4.
Barshad, I. (1959) Factors affecting clay formation, Clays and Clay Minerals, 6th Conf. [1957], pp. 110–32, Pergamon Press, New York.
Beavers, A. H., Johns, W. D., Grim, R. E., and Odell, R. T. (1955) Clay minerals in some Illinois soils developed from loess and till under grass vegetation, Clays and Clay Minerals, Nat. Acad. Sci.—Nat. Res. Council, Publ. 395, pp. 357–72.
Black, R. F. (1960) “Driftless area” of Wisconsin was glaciated, (abs.), Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 71, 1827.
Brindley, G. W., and Youell, R. F. (1951) Chemical determination of tetrahedral and octahedral aluminum, Acla Cry si. 4, 495–6.
Dixon, J. B., and Jackson, M. L. (1960) Mineralogical analysis of soil clays involving vermiculite-chlorite-kaolinite differentiation, Clays and Clay Minerals, 8th Conf., [1959], pp. 274–86, Pergamon Press, New York.
Droste, J. B., Bhattacharya, N., and Sunderman, J. A. (1962) Clay mineral alteration in some Indiana soils, Clays and Clay Minerals, 9th Conf. [1960], pp. 329–42, Pergamon Press, New York.
Fanning, D. S. (1964) Mineralogy as related to the genesis of some Wisconsin soils developed in loess and in shale-derived till, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Wisconsin.
Frye, J. C., Glass, H. D., and Willman, H. B. (1962) Stratigraphy and mineralogy of the Wisconsinan loesses of Illinois, Illinois State Geol. Surv. Circ. 334.
Frye, J. C., and Willman, H. B. (1960) Classification of the Wisconsinan stage in the Lake Michigan glacial lobe, Illinois State Geol. Surv. Circ. 285.
Frye, J. C., Willman, H. B., and Glass, H. D. (1964) Cretaceous deposits and the Illinoian glacial boundary in western Illinois, Illinois State Geol. Surv. Circ. 364.
Glenn, R. C. (1959) Phosphate and silicate weathering during soil formation, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Wisconsin.
Glenn, R. C., Jackson, M. L., Hole, F. D., and Lee, G. B. (1960) Chemical weathering of layer silicate clays in loess-derived Tama silt loam of southwestern Wisconsin, Clays and Clay Minerals, 8th Conf. [1959], pp. 63–83, Pergamon Press, New York.
Hashimoto, I., and Jackson, M. L. (1960) Rapid dissolution of allophane and kaolinitehalloysite after dehydration, Clays and Clay Minerals, 7th Conf. [1958], pp. 102–13, Pergamon Press, New York.
Hogan, J. D., and Beatty, M. T. (1963) Age and properties of a buried paleosol and overlying loess deposit in southwestern Wisconsin, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 27, 345–50.
Hole, F. D. (1961) A classification of pedoturbations and some other processes and factors of soil formation in relation to isotropism and anisotropism, Soil Sci. 91, 375–7.
Jackson, M. L. (1956) Soil Chemical Analysis—Advanced Course, Published by Author, Madison, Wisconsin.
Jackson, M. L. (1958) Soil Chemical Analysis, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Jackson, M. L. (1960) Structural role of hydronium in layer silicates during soil genesis, Trans. Ith Inter. Cong. Soil Sci. 2, pp. 445–55.
Jackson, M. L. (1964) Chemical composition of soils, Chemistry of the Soil, 2nd ed. (Edited by F. E. Bear) Reinhold, New York.
Kiely, P. V., and Jackson, M. L. (1964) Selective dissolution of micas from potassium feldspars by sodium pyrosulfate fusion of soils and sediments, Am. Mineralogist. 49, 1648–59.
Lincoln, Nebraska, Soil Survey Laboratory Staff. (1959) Lincoln Soil Survey Laboratory Report for Morley and Associated Soils Series From Southeastern Wisconsin, U.S. Dep. Agr., Soil Cons. Serv. Soil Survey Lab., Lincoln, Nebraska.
Murray, H. H., and Leininger, R. K. (1956) Effect of weathering on clay minerals, Clays and Clay Minerals, Nat. Acad. Sci.—Nat. Res. Council, Publ. 456, pp. 340–347.
North Central Regional Publication No. 46 (1955) Field descriptions and analytical data of certain loess-derived Gray-Brown Podzolic soils in the Upper Mississippi River Valley, Illinois Univ. Agr. Exp. Sla. Bull. 587.
Schrader, W. D. (1950) Differences in clay contents of surface soils developed under prairie as compared to forest vegetation in central United States, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 15, 333–7.
Smith, G. D. (1942) Illinois loess—variations in its properties and distribution: a pedologic interpretation, Illinois Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 490, pp. 139–84.
Soil Survey Staff (1960) Soil Classification—A Comprehensive System, 7th Approximation, Soil Conservation Service, U.S.D.A., U.S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Thwaites, F. T. (1943) Pleistocene of a part of northeastern Wisconsin, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 54, 87–144.
Wascher, H. L., Alexander, J. D., Ray, B. W., Beavers, A. H., and Odell, R. T. (1960) Characteristics of soils associated with glacial tills in northeastern Illinois, Illinois Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 665.
Watson, B. G. (1961) Characterization and classification of Morley and associated soils in southeastern Wisconsin, M.S. Thesis, University of Wisconsin.
Willman, H. B., Glass, H. D., and Frye, J. D. (1963) Mineralogy of glacial tills and their weathering profiles in Illinois, Part 1, Glacial tills, Illinois State Geol. Surv. Circ. 347.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Published by permission of Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station and supported in part by the Research Committee of the Graduate School from funds of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and in part by National Science Foundation science facilities grant G-13793-Jackson.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fanning, D.S., Jackson, M.L. Clay Mineral Weathering in Southern Wisconsin Soils Developed in Loess and in Shale-Derived Till. Clays Clay Miner. 13, 175–191 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.1964.0130119
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.1964.0130119