Organic soils in the northern Lake States Soils This map shows locations of organic soils in the northern Lake States. These soils form under waterlogged, oxygen-limited conditions that slow down the rate of decomposition, resulting in the buildup of plant and animal material over time.
Some organic deposits can become very thick.
Colors in the map represent ranges in percentage of organic soils within soil associations. Soil associations are made up of a group of geographically associated soils which may be quite different from each other but occur together in repeatable patterns. The information used to make this map was derived from classifications of the soil units that make up soil associations. This map should be used only for general interpretations, because site-specific organic soil occurrences will vary from the average condition depicted here. The following higher resolution version of the above map may be viewed by clicking the link below.