WSPSS 2018 Glacial/Soils Tour

Milo Haprstead’s Farm Wyocena Profile Plainfield Lake

The Wisconsin Society of Professional Soil Scientist organization hosted a Glacial/Soils Tour on September 28th in Portage and Waushara Counties. First stop was retired University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point soils professor, Milo Harpstead’s farm to examine two soil pits in and around an ice walled lake. The two soil series looked at were Rosholt and Wyocena. Elmo Rawling, Geologist from the Wisconsin Geological & Natural History Survey gave a presentation about the area which included information on stagnant ice deposits, ice walled lakes, outwash plains, and the three moraines we would be travelling over throughout the day; the Arnott, the Hancock and the Almond Moraines.

The tour also included information on Cosmogenic Boulder Aging from the Arnott and Hancock Moraines.

Soil pit on top of the ice walled lake at Milo Harpstead’s farm

The last stop of the tour was at Plainfield Lake to discuss an ongoing water study. Local residents in the area are concerned that irregation systems are drawing down lake water levels. The state of Wisconsin granted money to install monitoring wells to see if lake levels are gradually going down. We examined the sandy soils in close proximity to one of the monitoring wells.

Karla D. PetgesWSPSS Treasurer