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Most of the UAE's cultivated land is taken up by date palms, which in the early 1990s numbered about 4 million. They are cultivated in the arc of small oases that constitute the Al Liwa Oasis. Both federal and emirate governments provide incentives to farmers. For example, the government offers a 50 percent subsidy on fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides. It also provides loans for machinery and technical assistance. The emirates have forty-one agricultural extension units as well as several experimental farms and agricultural research stations. The number of farmers rose from about 4,000 in the early 1970s to 18,265 in 1988.
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Soil is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. The Earth's body of soil is the pedosphere, which has four important functions: it is a medium for plant growth; it is a means of water storage, supply and purification; it is a modifier of Earth's atmosphere; it is a habitat for organisms; all of which, in turn, modify the soil.
The Ashe series consists of moderately deep, somewhat excessively drained soils on gently sloping to very steep ridges and side slopes of the Blue Ridge (MLRA 130). They formed in residuum that is affected by soil creep in the upper part, and weathered from felsic or mafic igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks such as granite, hornblende gneiss, granodiorite, biotite gneiss, and high-grade metagraywacke.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
Solum thickness ranges from 14 to 40 inches. Depth to lithic contact ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Content of rock fragments ranges from 0 to 35 percent by volume throughout. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid, unless limed. Content of flakes of mica is few or common throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Common trees are black locust, chestnut oak, scarlet oak, eastern white pine, northern red oak, Virginia pine, and pitch pine. The understory species includes mountain laurel, rhododendron, and sourwood. Some areas are in pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Blue Ridge (MLRA 130) of North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The series is extensive.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/ASHE.html
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A representative soil profile of Zavco sandy clay loam, 1 to 5 percent slopes. At a depth of about 70 centimeters, calcium carbonate masses have accumulated so thick that it restricts air and water uptake by the plant roots. (Soil Survey of McMullen County, Texas; by Clark K. Harshbarger, Jon Wiedenfeld, and Gary Harris, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Zavco series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in calcareous loamy residuum from interbedded sandstone and siltstone of the Yegua Formation. These nearly level to gently sloping soils occur on summits, backslopes, and footslopes of interfluves. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 22.2 degrees C (72 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 610 mm (24 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, hyperthermic Aridic Argiustolls
Soil Moisture: A typic-ustic moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts for more than 90 days but less than 180 cumulative days in normal years. June through August and December through February are the driest months. These soils are intermittently moist in September through November and March through May.
Mean annual soil temperature: 22.2 to 23.9 degrees C (72 to 75 degrees F)
Depth to argillic: 18 to 55 cm (7 to 22 in)
Depth to secondary forms of calcium carbonate: 25 to 71 cm (10 to 28 in)
Particle size control section (weighted average): clay content: 38 to 55 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: The major use is wildlife habitat. A few acres are cultivated and the principal crops are grain sorghum, small grain, and introduced perennial grasses. Grasses which make up about 70 percent of the plant community under climax conditions are fourflower trichloris, twoflower trichloris, pinhole bluestem, plains bristlegrass, buffalograss, and pink pappusgrass. About 5 percent forbs such as bundleflower and orange zexmenia, and about 5 percent shrubs such as guajillo and guayacan also occur. With retrogression, plants such as pink pappusgrass and buffalograss increase initially. With continued retrogression, increasers and invaders such as curlymesquite, threeawn, Hall's panicum, red grama, mesquite, whitebrush, blackbrush, twisted acacia and Texas persimmon dominate the plant community. The ecological site is Clay Loam, PE 26-36 (R083CY446TX).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and Central Rio Grande Plain of Texas. LRR I; MLRA 83A, 83C. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/mcmullen...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/Z/ZAVCO.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Typical soil map from Iredell County, NC.
The update soil survey of Iredell County, North Carolina was conducted to ensure that soils information provided for survey areas within Major Land Resource Area 136 have modern interpretations and up-to-date soil descriptions. This information meets the standards established and defined for the survey area in the memorandum of understanding that was developed among cooperating agencies. Soil surveys that are consistent and uniform within a broad area enable the coordination of management recommendations and uniform program application of soils information.
The survey was made to provide information about the soils and miscellaneous areas in the survey area. The information includes a description of the soils and miscellaneous areas and their location and a discussion of their suitability, limitations, and management for specified uses. Soil scientists observed the steepness, length, and shape of the slopes; the general pattern of drainage; the kinds of crops and native plants; and the kinds of bedrock. They dug many holes to study the soil profile, which is the sequence of natural layers, or horizons, in a soil. The profile extends from the surface down into the unconsolidated material in which the soil formed. The unconsolidated material is devoid of roots and other living organisms and has not been changed by other biological activity.
Today, soil surveys are no longer published in book form; they are published to the web and accessed on NRCS Web Soil Survey where a person can create a custom soil survey. This allows for rapid flow of the latest soil information to the user. In the past it could take years to publish a paper soil survey. The information in a soil survey can be used by farmers and ranchers to help determine whether a particular soil type is suited for crops or livestock and what type of soil management might be required.
For more information about the soil survey area, visit:
archive.org/details/usda-soil-survey-of-iredell-county-no...
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of a Torriorthent in the Ras Al Khaimah Emirate, United Arab Emirates.
Landscape: These very deep, sandy-skeletal soils are along a dry, second bottom in Wadi Bih. They formed in sandy alluvial deposits with a large content of gravel, cobbles, and stones.
Torriorthents are fixed on the driest Torriorthents. Typic Torriorthents are extensive soils in the intermountain States of the United States. Most of them have moderate or strong slopes and are used only for grazing. Others that have gentle slopes are irrigated. The gently sloping soils are mostly on fans or piedmont slopes where the sediments are recent and have little organic carbon.
The particle-size control section has 35% or more rock fragments, including 15% or more cobbles and stones. The pH (1:1) ranges from 7.0 to 8.6 throughout the profile. The EC (1:1) is generally less than 1.0 dS/m in all horizons. Rock fragments ranging from gravel to stones and boulders cover the surface. A dark desert varnish is common on the exposed surfaces of the rock fragments.
The A horizon is 5 to 20 cm thick. It is 7.5YR or 10YR, value 3 to 6, and chroma 2 to 6. It is loamy sand, sand, or coarse sand, including very gravelly, extremely gravelly, very cobbly or extremely cobbly texture modifiers.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR, or 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 2 to 6. It is loamy sand, sand, or coarse sand, including very gravelly, extremely gravelly, very cobbly or extremely cobbly texture modifiers. Pockets or lenses of sandy loam up to 5 cm thick are in some pedons. The vertical and under-sides of rock fragments, in some places, are coated with calcium carbonate. The C horizon may be extremely weakly to moderately cemented with carbonates. However, roots appear to be able to penetrate with a spacing of less than 10 cm. Some pedons do not have cementation.
Wādī Al-Biḥ, is a river/wadi that crosses the North-Western Hajar Mountains from the United Arab Emirates, and traversing Oman before returning to the UAE. From the West to the East, it originates in Ras Al Khaimah on the Gulf, before crossing the Omani exclave at the tip of the Musandam Peninsula, past the village of Zighi and into Fujairah at Dibba Al-Hisn, on the Gulf of Oman. The wadi is a popular location for birdwatchers.
For more information about soil classification using the UAE Keys to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
agrifs.ir/sites/default/files/United%20Arab%20Emirates%20...
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Hazleton series; the State Soil of Pennsylvania.
The selection of Hazleton as the official state soil began in 1995 when the Pennsylvania Association of Professional Soil Scientists (PAPSS) and the Pennsylvania Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) collaborated on efforts to prepare for the National Soil Survey Centennial Celebration in 1999. Pennsylvania’s Soil Survey Centennial was celebrated in 2000 based on the first soil survey published in 1900 for “The Lancaster Area”. In order to increase awareness of our most important natural resource, many states developed plans to designate state soils as part of the centennial celebration.
The Hazleton series consists of deep and very deep, well drained soils formed in residuum of acid gray, brown or red sandstone on uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 80 percent. Permeability is moderately rapid to rapid. Mean annual precipitation is about 48 inches. Mean annual air temperature is about 51 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, siliceous, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
Solum thickness ranges from 25 to 50 inches. Depth to lithic contact ranges from 40 to 80 inches . Rock fragments of angular sandstone, dominantly less than 10 inches in size, range from 5 to 70 percent in individual horizons of the solum and from 35 to 80 percent in the C horizon. Boulders, stones, flags and channers cover about 5 to 60 percent of the surface of some pedons. The control section averages less than 18 percent clay. Reaction ranges from strongly acid through extremely acid throughout where unlimed.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most Hazleton soils are in woodland of mixed oaks, maple, cherry and occasional conifers. Some areas have been cleared for pasture and cropland.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and possibly Ohio. MLRA's 124, 126, 127, 147, 148. The series is of large extent; over 2 million acres
For additional information about this state soil, visit:
www.soils4teachers.org/files/s4t/k12outreach/pa-state-soi...
For more information about the soil survey area, visit;
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/pennsylvania/P...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HAZLETON.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of an Histosol from the Hungarian Soil Classification System (HSCS) by Prof. Blaskó Lajos (2008).
For more information about these soils, visit:
regi.tankonyvtar.hu/hu/tartalom/tamop425/0032_talajtan/ch...
HISTOSOLS: Dark soil with high accumulation of partially decomposed organic matter generally developed in wet or cold conditions (from the Greek, histos, meaning tissue). Histosols are composed mainly of organic soil material. During development, the organic matter production exceeds the rate of decomposition. The decomposition is retarded mainly by low temperatures or anerobic (low oxygen) conditions which result in high accumulations of partially decomposed organic matter. Histosols occur mainly in the boreal and sub arctic regions and are also known as peat, muck, bog and organic soil. They cover 5 percent of Europe.
The current Hungarian Soil Classification System (HSCS) was developed in the 1960s, based on the genetic principles of Dokuchaev. The central unit is the soil type grouping soils that were believed to have developed under similar soil forming factors and processes. The major soil types are the highest category which groups soils based on climatic, geographical and genetic bases. Subtypes and varieties are distinguished according to the assumed dominance of soil forming processes and observable/measurable morphogenetic properties.
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of very deep, well drained, coarse-textured Yesan soils in Korea.
Landscape: Yesan soil (foreground) are on low rolling hills. They formed in residuum weathered from granitic materials.
The Yesan series are members of the coarse loamy, mixed, mesic family of Typic Dystrudepts [Haplic Cambisols (Alumic Dystric Chromic) classified by WRB]. They are developed in rolling to hilly areas and are derived from granitic materials.
These soils have ochric epipedons and cambic horizons. Solum thickness ranges from 100 to 200 cm. The Yesan soils in this area where severely eroded.
Depth to hard rock is more than 3 meters and ranges to more than 10 meters. Base saturation is less than 60 percent. Reaction is very strongly to strongly acid. A horizons are brown or yellowish red loam, silt loam, or fine sandy loam. Cambic B horizons are yellowish red, reddish brown, reddish yellow, or red sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam. C horizons are light red, red, strong brown, or yellowish red sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam extremely weathered granitic saprolites.
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A representative soil profile of Atiras fine sand in an area of Falfurrias-Atiras-Medanito complex, 0 to 5 percent slopes. A thin buried A horizon is at a depth of about 150 centimeters. (Soil Survey of Kenedy and Kleberg Counties, Texas; by Nathan I. Haile, and Dennis N. Brezina, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Atiras series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained, rapidly permeable soils. These soils formed in sandy eolian deposits of Holocene age over loamy Quaternary alluvium. These soils are on gently undulating eolian plains associated with vegetated longitudinal dunes on the Sandsheet Prairie of the South Texas Coastal Plain. Slope ranges from 1 to 5 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 23 degrees C (73 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 660 mm (26 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, hyperthermic Typic Ustipsamments
Soil Moisture: An Ustic moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts for more than 90, but less than 150, cumulative days in normal years. The SMCS is also either moist in some or all parts for 180 cumulative days or more, or moist for 90 or more consecutive days in normal years. November through April are the driest months, with a second low in July, while September is the wettest.
Depth to buried soil: 102 to 203 cm (40 to 80 in)
Depth to redox concentrations: 41 to 76 cm (16 to 30 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 9 to 18 percent
Sand content: 80 to 86 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation consists of liveoak, seacoast bluestem, switchgrass, seashore paspalum, Scribner's panicum, partridge pea and turk's cap. The ecological site is Sand, PE 31-44 (R083EY706TX).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Sandsheet Prairie (MLRA 83E in LRR I) of southern Texas. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/kenedykl...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/ATIRAS.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Greys series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loess and silty alluvium from loess. Greys soils are on hills, fan remnants, terraces, moraines, mountain slopes, and footslopes of mountains. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 530 mm and the mean annual air temperature is about 2.5 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive Alfic Argicryolls
Mollic epipedon thickness: 25 to 40 cm
Depth to argillic horizon: 40 to 60 cm
Depth to secondary carbonates: greater than 127 cm
Particle size control section total clay: weighted average 18 to 27 percent
Soil moisture regime: udic
Mean annual soil temperature: 3.3 to 7.2 degrees C. (cryic soil temperature regime)
Mean summer soil temperature: 5 to 8 degrees C and where an O horizon is absent 10.0 to 15.0 degrees C.
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses: woodland, woodland pasture, and some cleared areas are cultivated with wheat and barley
Dominant native vegetation: aspen with an understory of pinegrass, wild rose, snowberry, timothy, and mountain brome
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Distribution: Southeastern Idaho, and Western Wyoming, MLRA 13 and 43B.
Extent: the series is moderately extensive
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/97d01af9d4554b9097cb0a477e04...
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GREYS.html
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A representative soil profile of the Altamont series. Cracking is clearly visible. The soil structure is large blocks between the cracks, which reduce soil strength. The paralithic contact of sandstone is visible at a depth of about 110 centimeters. (Supplement to the Soil Survey of Santa Clara Area, California, Western Part; narratives written by William Reed, natural resources specialist, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Altamont series consists of deep, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from fine-grained sandstone and shale. These soils are on gently sloping to very steep uplands. The average annual precipitation is about 17 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 59 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Aridic Haploxererts
Clay content is 35 to 60 percent. They have intersecting slickensides and have cracks more than 1 cm wide to a depth of 20 inches or more that open and close once each year. The cracks close in November or December and remain closed until April or May and remain open the rest of the year. Mean annual soil temperature is 59 degrees to 65 degrees F. Depth to a paralithic contact of shale, sandstone or mudstone is 40 to 60 inches. Roots do not penetrate the paralithic materials except along fractures. Angular prisms 6 to 12 inches in diameter that extend from near the surface to depths of 15 to 30 inches are characteristic of these soils when dry.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and dry farmed grains, mainly barley. The principal vegetation is annual grasses, forbs, and scattered oak trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: In the Diablo Ranges in the California Coast Ranges in central and southern California and the Sutter Buttes. The soils are extensive. MLRA 15, 18, 20.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/san...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/ALTAMONT.html
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A representative soil profile of the Nez Perce series. Nez Perce soils are on loess-covered hills and basalt plateaus at elevations of 2,600 to 4,100 feet. They formed in loess, although the lower part may be formed in material weathered from the underlying basalt. The climate is subhumid with peak precipitation is in May and June and minimum precipitation in July and August.
The Nez Perce series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that formed mainly in loess. Nez Perce soils are on loess-covered basalt plateaus and have slopes of 0 to 25 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 21 inches. The average annual temperature is about 45 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Xeric Argialbolls
Mollic epipedon thickness - 12 to 20 inches
Organic matter content in mollic epipedon (weighted average) - 3 to 6 percent
Depth to perched seasonal water table - 12 to 30 inches
Depth to argillic horizon - 14 to 27 inches
Depth to secondary lime - 20 to 40 inches
Some pedons have few basalt gravel and cobble throughout; however, the rock fragments are usually below the albic horizon
Average annual soil temperature - 47 to 50 degrees F
Average summer soil temperature - 60 to 65 degrees F
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content - 35 to 55 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Soils are cultivated. Winter wheat, winter peas, barley, hay, and pasture are the principal crops. The natural vegetation is mainly Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, sticky geranium, silky lupine, and arrowleaf balsamroot.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Idaho and eastern Washington. The series is extensive.
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/97d01af9d4554b9097cb0a477e04...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/N/NEZ_PERCE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#nez%20perce
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Pinncamp series. (Soil Survey of Pinnacles National Monument, California; by Ken Oster, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Pinncamp series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from igneous rocks. The Pinncamp soils are on stream terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 17 inches (432 millimeters) and the mean annual air temperature is about 61 degrees F (16 degrees C).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, thermic Psammentic Haploxerolls
Depth to bedrock: over 60 inches (155 centimeters).
Mean annual soil temperature: 60 to 63 degrees F (16 to 17 degrees C).
Soil moisture control section: dry in all parts from about May 15 to November 15 (180 days), and moist in all parts from about January 15 to April 15 (90 days).
Soil reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline throughout the profile.
Particle size control section: Clay: ranges 4 to 10 percent; Coarse fragments: ranges 40 to 55 percent mostly gravel.
Base saturation by ammonium acetate: 86 to 100%
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for watershed, wildlife habitat and recreation. Vegetation is live oak forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: San Benito County, California in MLRA 14 Central California Coastal Valleys. These soils are of small extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/CA7...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/PINNCAMP.html
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Geologist, Brooks Evens, shows sampling results at Nike C-32 in Porter, Ind., where the Corps tested soil and water of neighboring residents.
A soil profile and landscape of the Bouldin soil series in Kentucky. Typical profile of Bouldin very bouldery loam. The Bouldin series consists of deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in stony colluvium weathered from interbedded sandstone, siltstone, and shale.
Landscape: An area of Shelocta-Bouldin complex, 30 to 75 percent slopes, extremely stony, very rocky, on the side slopes of the gorge below the sandstone escarpment. They are on steep and very steep hillslopes and mountainflanks with slopes that range from 10 to 75 percent. (Soil Survey of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, KY and TN; by Harry S. Evans and Jennifer Y. Mason, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Elevation: 244 to 500 meters
Mean annual precipitation: 1,211 to 1,542 millimeters
Mean annual air temperature: 5 to 19 degrees C
Frost-free period: 139 to 187 days
Map Unit Composition
Contrasting soils: Gilpin soils—5 percent; Ramsey soils—5 percent; Rock outcrop—5
percent; Wallen soils—5 percent; Kimper soils—2 percent; Muse soils—2 percent;
Wernock soils—2 percent; Alticrest soils—1 percent; Craigsville soils—1 percent;
Lily soils—1 percent; Sequoia soils—1 percent
Description of Bouldin soil
Setting
Landform: Gorge on dissected plateau
Landform position (two-dimensional): Footslope
Landform position (three-dimensional): Base slope and head slope
Down-slope shape: Concave
Across-slope shape: Concave
Parent material: Loamy-skeletal colluvium derived from sandstone and shale
Soil Properties and Qualities
Depth class: Very deep
Drainage class: Somewhat excessively drained
Organic matter content in the surface layer: 1.0 to 4.0 percent
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat ): High
Available water capacity: Low—about 12.2 centimeters to a depth of 152 centimeters
Depth to restrictive features: Greater than 203 centimeters
Potential for surface runoff: Medium
Depth to the top of the seasonal high water table: Greater than 2 meters
Flooding: None
Ponding: None
Surface layer texture: Very bouldery fine sandy loam
Calcium carbonate maximum: 0 percent
Shrink-swell potential: Low
Typical Profile
0 to 15 centimeters; very bouldery fine sandy loam
15 to 33 centimeters; very bouldery loam
33 to 203 centimeters; very bouldery loam
Interpretive Groups
Land capability classification: 7s
Prime farmland: Not prime farmland
Hydric soil: No
Use and Management Concerns
• These soils are unsuited to cropland.
• These soils are unsuited to pasture and hayland.
• Proper planning for resource management is essential in order to minimize the potential negative impact to soil and water quality, especially in areas on steeper slopes.
• A resource management plan should focus on the proper location of hiking, horse, and multi-use trails, and careful attention should be given to all applicable best management practices.
• The slope poses safety hazards and creates a potential for erosion during the construction or maintenance of hiking, biking, horse, and multi-use trails.
• The slope creates unsafe operating conditions and reduces the operating efficiency of off-road vehicles.
• Because of the slope, the use of equipment for planting and seeding is impractical.
• The slope makes the use of mechanical planting equipment impractical.
• The use of mechanical planting equipment is impractical because of the content of rock fragments.
• Rock fragments restrict the use of equipment during site preparation for planting or seeding.
• The low strength interferes with the construction of trails, especially multi-use trails.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/tennessee/big_...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BOULDIN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Airship series. A large volume of fragments is visible in all horizons. The rounded edges on the fragments indicate transport in water of some distance. Airship soils, although in areas where many of the ridges are sharp and narrow in shape with very steep side slopes, formed in alluvium on a very eroded older terrace. These soils are very deep but have a limited available water capacity and support mostly brush.
The Airstrip series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils formed in colluvium and residuum derived from sandstone and siltstone. Airstrip soils are on mountains and have slopes of 9 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 2290 millimeters (90 inches) and the mean annual temperature is about 11 degrees C (52 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Pachic Humixerepts
Note: Photo taken when the soil was dry.
Soil moisture: The soil is dry in all parts in the moisture control section from about July 10 to September 20, and is moist in all parts from about October 1 to June 1. The soils have xeric moisture regime.
Soil temperature: The mean annual soil temperature is 10 to 15 degrees C (50 to 59 degrees F). The difference between mean summer and mean winter temperature is 6 to 10 degrees C. The soils have a mesic soil temperature regime.
Depth to a lithic contact: 50 to 100 centimeters.
The umbric epipedon is 50 to 75 centimeters thick.
Base saturation, by ammonium acetate, is less than 35 percent throughout.
Surface fragments: 15 to 35 percent gravel, 0 to 5 percent cobbles
Particle-Size Control Section (weighted average):
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent gravel and 0 to 25 percent cobbles.
Clay content: 12 to 26 percent clay.
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil has been used for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and watershed. Natural vegetation consists of California oatgrass, dogtail grass, foxtail fescue, tall oatgrass, plantain, sheep sorrel, hairy cat's ear, and annual legumes. Invasion by Douglas-fir and other forest species occurs primarily in disturbed areas and along forest borders.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: California Coastal Redwood Belt; MLRA 4B. The series is not extensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/san...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/AIRSTRIP.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Rains soil series in North Carolina.
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Poorly drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very shallow, persistent
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None, very rare, rare, occasional, frequent for brief to
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible
Permeability: Moderate (Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
Landscape: Lower, middle, upper coastal plain
Landform: Flats, depressions, Carolina bays
Geomorphic Component: Talfs, dips
Parent Material: Marine deposits, fluviomarine deposits
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleaquults
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Forest, cropland
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--corn, soybeans, and small grains. Where wooded--pond pine, loblolly pine, and hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia
Extent: Large.
The central concept for the Rains series does not include a flooding hazard. However, the series has been correlated in flood plain positions. Additional research is needed to determine if areas of Rains soils that are subject to flooding have haplic or pale clay distribution.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/R/RAINS.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
This region represents the low lying coastal flats dominated by saline soils and slightly higher gypsic rises but including some areas of carbonatic sand sheets underlain by miliolite.
Salt flats are too harsh for most plants and animals to survive, yet are quite fragile. Delicate crystals are easily crushed and the relatively thin upper crust of salt can break through to the mud layer below, leaving tire tracks and even footprints.
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A representative profile of Grayco sandy loam, 0 to 2 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Costilla County Area, Colorado; by Alan J. Stuebe, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Grayco series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in outwash derived from granite, gneiss, and mica schist. Grayco soils are on outwash plains and terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 6 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 10 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 41 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Ustic Haplargids
Soil moisture: aridic bordering on ustic.
Mean annual soil temperature: 41 to 46 degrees F (5.0 to 7.8 degrees C)
Mean summer soil temperature: 63 to 66 degrees F (17.2 to 18.9 degrees C)
Thickness of argillic horizon: 5 to 20 inches (13 centimeters to 51 centimeters)
Depth to argillic horizon: 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 centimeters)
Depth to secondary carbonates: 10 to 20 inches (25 to 51 centimeters)
Depth to lithologic discontinuity: 10 to 40 inches (25 to 102 centimeters)
Depth to strongly contrasting particle size class: 10 to 60 inches (25 to 152 centimeters)
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 18 to 27 percent
Sand content: 35 to 60 percent
Silt content: 13 to 47 percent
Rock fragment content: 15 to 60 percent gravel and cobbles
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and irrigated cropland. Native plants commonly are Wyoming big sage, blue grama, ring muhly, rubber rabbitbrush, and sand dropseed
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: San Luis Valley Area of south-central Colorado; LRR E; MLRA 51. This series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
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Holdrege soil series (Nebraska State Soil)
The Holdrege series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils formed in calcareous loess. These upland soils have slopes ranging from 0 to 15 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 54 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is about 23 inches at the type location.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiustolls
Soil Moisture: The soil moisture control section is moist in some part from October through April; intermittently moist from May through July; driest in July through September
Depth to secondary carbonates: 20 to 40 inches
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 8 to 20 inches; and includes the upper part of the argillic horizon in some pedons
Thickness of the solum: 20 to 40; the lower part of the solum contains free carbonates in some pedons
USE AND VEGETATION: Almost all of the Holdrege soils are cultivated and much is irrigated. Sorghum and corn are the principal row crops. Wheat is the principal small grain. Native vegetation was mid and tall prairie grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Nebraska and north central Kansas. The series is of large extent.
Severely eroded Holdrege soils will no longer classify as Mollisols and will need to be recorrelated to a new series. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon--the zone from 0 to 15 inches (Ap, a and Bt1 horizon); argillic horizon--the zone from 12 to 24 inche4s (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons) and typic-ustic moisture regime. A sandy overblown phase is recognized.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
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A representative soil profile of Moonville medial loam. Moonville soils generally are in proximity to volcanic vents.
The Moonville series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in cinders, and ash. Moonville soils are on lava plains and south-facing mountain sideslopes and have slopes of 0 to 60 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 18 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 42 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Medial, amorphic, frigid Typic Vitrixerands
The soil moisture control section is dry for 90 to 120 consecutive days. The mean annual soil temperature is 42 to 47 degrees and the mean summer soil temperature is 59 to 66 degrees F. Depth to bedrock is over 60 inches. Depth to the calcic horizon is 20 to 35 inches. Phosphate retention is 50 to 80 percent. Acid-oxalate aluminum plus one-half the iron is 1.0 to 2.0. Glass percent is 5 to 30 percent. the 15-bar water on air dried samples is 12 to 15 percent and 20 to 30 percent on moist samples. Field estimated clay content is 12 to 26 percent. The soil profile contains 2 to 10 percent cinder gravels throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for rangeland. Some areas are cultivated. Native vegetation is big sagebrush, three-tip sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, Thurber needlegrass, western yarrow, and prickly gilia.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Idaho; adjacent to Craters of the Moon National Monument. It is inextensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
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A soil profile and landscape of a Torripsamment from the United Arab Emirates.
Typic Torripsamments, carbonatic, hyperthermic, calcic phase (Soil AD155) are very deep sandy soils with carbonatic mineralogy and a calcic horizon at a depth of more than 100 to 200 cm. They occur on hummocky undulating to rolling plain or undulating sand sheets mostly in northern parts of the Emirate and are frequently associated with the coastal plain. They are typically excessively drained or somewhat excessively drained and have rapid or very rapid permeability.
The soil occurs on sand sheets and dunes and occasional closed depressions. Topography may vary from gently undulating plain to rolling plain and even rolling rises.
Dominant vegetation species recorded include Cyperus conglomeratus and Haloxylon salicornicum. This minor soil is generally confined to north-east areas of the Emirate although occasional sites have also been recorded at the margins of the coastal plain.
(No photo in published survey.)
For more information about soil classification using the UAE Keys to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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Profile of Aguilita silty clay loam, 5 to 20 percent slopes. Aguilita soils are characterized by surface and subsurface layers of silty clay loam that have soft masses of secondary calcium carbonate. They are in the ustic soil moisture regime (Soil Survey of San Germán Area, Puerto Rico by Jorge L. Lugo-Camacho, Natural Resources Conservation Service).
The Aguilita series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils on ridge tops, summits and side slopes in uplands and limestone hills of the Semiarid Mountains and Valleys MLRA. They formed of colluvium and residuum that weathered from soft limestone bedrock. Near the type location, the mean annual temperature is about 77 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is about 46 inches. Slopes range from 5 to 60 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, carbonatic, isohyperthermic Aridic Calciustolls
Solum thickness ranges from 10 to 32 inches. Depth to hard limestone bedrock is more than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline throughout. Accumulations of soft masses of calcium carbonate range from few to many in the Bk and C horizons. Content of pebbles range from 0 to 25 percent, by volume, throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Aguilita soils are used for hayland and pastureland. The vegetation consists mainly of Hurricane grass and Kleberg bluestem grass. Other vegetation consists of Mesquite and other xerophytic grasses and shrubs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Uplands and limestone hills of the Semiarid Mountains and Valleys MLRA. The series is small extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
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A petrocalcic horizon is a diagnostic horizon in the USDA soil taxonomy (ST) and in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB). They are formed when secondary calcium carbonate or other carbonates accumulate in the subsoil to the extent that the soil becomes cemented into a hardpan.
They can occur in conjunction with duripans where the conditions are right and there are enough free carbonates in the soil. Calcium Carbonates are found in alkaline soils, which are typical of arid and semiarid climates. A common field test for the presence of carbonates is application of hydrochloric acid to the soil, which indicates by fizzing and bubbling the presence of calcium carbonates.
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A representative soil profile of the Bastsil fine sandy loam. The soil has prismatic structure. (Soil Survey of Jack County, Texas; by Wilfred E. Crenwelge, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Bastsil series consist of very deep, well drained moderately permeable soils that formed in loamy alluvial sediments. These nearly level to gently sloping soils are on stream terraces on river valleys. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 828 mm (33 in) and the mean annual air temperature is about 19 degrees C (66 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, active, thermic Udic Paleustalfs
Soil moisture: An ustic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts for more than 90 but less than 150 cumulative days in normal years.
Soil depth: very deep, greater than 203 cm (80 in)
Thickness of ochric epipedon: 20 to 41cm (8 to 16 in)
Depth to argillic horizon: 20 to 41 cm (8 to 16 in)
Depth to secondary calcium carbonates (when present): 157 to 203cm (61 to 80 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 20 to 30 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent
Beds of siliceous gravel and sand are typically within a depth of 1.5 to 3.7 m (5 to 12 ft). The gravel are mainly smooth, rounded, and less than 8 cm (3 in) across.
Some pedons mentioned iron manganese concretions in the lower Bt horizons
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for crops and improved pastures. Crops include peanuts, grain sorghum, small grain, and truck crops. Pastures of improved bermudagrass or kleingrass are common. Native vegetation is mainly little bluestem with other perennial grasses and grape, greenbriar, low shrubs, with post oak and blackjack oak trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Texas, mainly along terraces of the Brazos and Trinity Rivers or other rivers that have watersheds primarily with soils of Cretaceous age. The series is of moderate extent.
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Profile of Babco loamy fine sand in an area of Tyden-Babco complex, 0 to 1 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Tyler County, Texas by Levi Steptoe, Jr., Natural Resources Conservation Services)
The Babco series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained, moderately slow permeable soils that formed in sandy and loamy alluvium of Quarternary age. These nearly level soils are on relic bars on terrace risers of river valleys. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 20 degrees C (68 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 1321 mm (52 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Oxyaquic Alorthods
Soil Moisture: An udic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is 20 to 60 cm (8 to 24 in). The soil moisture control section remains moist in some or all parts for more than 275 cumulative days in normal years.
Mean annual soil temperature: 20.6 to 21.7 degrees C (69 to 71 degrees F)
Solum thickness is more than 200 cm (80 in).
USE AND VEGETATION: Used primarily for woodland and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation is longleaf pine and water oak. Loblolly and slash pine are used in planted stands. The understory is composed of various shrubs such as gallberry and wax myrtle. Grasses include bluestems and panicums, and various forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Western Gulf Coast Flatwoods of southeast Texas and possibly Louisiana; LRR T; MLRA 152B; small extent. These soils were formerly included with the Besner and Betis series. The classification is based on laboratory data indicating less than 0.10 percent iron by ammonium oxalate and high aluminum saturation.
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Alford soil series. (Kentucky Soil Atlas; by Anastasios D. Karathanasis, University of Kentucky)
When photographing soils, a soil scientist will commonly use a knife to pick the profile face to show natural soil structure (left side of profile). Or, they may use a knife or shovel to smooth the surface (right side of the profile) which helps show change in color or horizonation.
Landscape: Alford soils are commonly on loess hills. Nearly level to sloping areas are used to grow corn, soybeans, wheat, and legume-grass mixtures for hay and pasture. Steeper areas are used for permanent pasture or woodland. Native vegetation is forest.
The Alford series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in loess. These soils are commonly on loess hills and less commonly on outwash plains. Slopes range from 0 to 60 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 13 degrees C (56 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is 1068 mm (42 inches).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Ultic Hapludalfs
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 112 to 203 cm (44 to 80 inches)
Depth to carbonates: typically greater than 203 cm (80 inches), but can range to 152 cm (60 inches) in severely eroded pedons
Particle size control section averages: from 25 to 32 percent clay and 1 to 5 percent sand, to a depth of 112 cm (44 inches) or more the sand content is less than 7 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Most nearly level to sloping areas are used to grow corn, soybeans, wheat, and legume-grass mixtures for hay and pasture. Steeper areas are used for permanent pasture or woodland. Native vegetation is forest. Maple, yellow-poplar, oak, and hickory are the dominant species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern and west-central Indiana, southeastern Illinois, northwestern Kentucky and southern Ohio. Alford soils are of large extent and dominantly within MLRA's 114A, 114B and 115A. They are less extensive in MLRA's 111D, 113, 120A, 120B, 122, 124, and 126.
For additional information about Kentucky soils, visit:
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Crossbedding in a very young, recently deposited Salidic Torripsamments in the UAE.
(Classification by UAE Keys to Soil Taxonomy)
Salidic Torripsamments are the Torripsamments that have an ECe of more than 8 to less than 30 dS m −1 in a layer 10 cm or more thick within 100 cm of the soil surface. These soils are not used for any productive purpose and are considered permanently unsuitable for irrigated agriculture due to salt content.
Torripsamments are the cool to hot Psamments of arid climates. They have an aridic (or torric) moisture regime and a temperature regime warmer than cryic. Many of these soils are on stable surfaces, some are on dunes, some are stabilized, and some are moving.
Torripsamments consist of quartz, mixed sands, volcanic glass, or even gypsum and may have any color. Generally, they are neutral or calcareous and are nearly level to steep. The vegetation consists mostly of xerophytic shrubs, grasses, and forbs. Many of these soils support more vegetation than other soils with an aridic moisture regime, presumably because they lose less water as runoff. Some of the soils on dunes support a few ephemeral plants or have a partial cover of xerophytic and ephemeral plants. The shifting dunes may be devoid of plants in normal years. Most of the deposits are of late-Pleistocene or younger age. These soils are used mainly for grazing. They are extensive in the Western United States.
Psamments are the Entisols that have less than 35 percent (by volume) rock fragments and a texture of loamy fine sand or coarser in all layers (sandy loam lamellae are permitted) within the particle-size control section.
Entisols are the soils that have little or no evidence of the development of pedogenic horizons. Most Entisols have no diagnostic horizons other than an ochric epipedon. A few that have a sandy or sandy-skeletal particle-size class have a horizon that would be a cambic horizon were it not for the particle-size class exclusion. On many landscapes the soil material is not in place long enough for pedogenic processes to form distinctive horizons. Some of these soils are on steep, actively eroding slopes, on flood plains or glacial outwash plains that receive new deposits of alluvium at frequent intervals, or are wind-blown deposits. Most Entisols in the fine-earth fraction (<2mm) consist primarily of quartz or other minerals that are resistant to the weathering needed to form diagnostic horizons.
For more information about soil classification using the UAE Keys to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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Soil profile: The Caneyville series consists of moderately deep, well-drained soils formed in a thin silty mantle over fine textured residuum of limestone. The soils are on ridges and hillsides. Slopes range from 2 to 120 percent. (Soil Survey of Floyd County, Indiana; by Steven W. Neyhouse, Byron G. Nagel, and Dena L. Marshall, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
The solum thickness and depth to bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral in the A and Ap horizons and the upper part of the Bt horizon, and from moderately acid to slightly alkaline in the lower part of the Bt horizon. Fragments of limestone, chert, or sandstone (surface layer only) range from 0 to 10 percent in the A and upper Bt horizon, and 0 to 35 percent immediately above limestone bedrock.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in hay, pasture, or forest, and few are used for corn and small grain. Native forests are oaks, hickory, elm, hackberry, and redbud as the dominant species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky and southern Indiana. Extent is large.
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A Typic Torriorthents in the UAE.
(Classification by UAE Keys to Soil Taxonomy)
Typic Torriorthents are fixed on the driest Torriorthents. Many of these soils are shallow to weakly cemented rock. Some are moderately deep or deep to hard rock. Soils that are partially cemented by silica are excluded from the Typic subgroup because this feature is considered to indicate the initial development of a duripan. Typic Torriorthents are extensive soils in the intermountain States of the United States. Most of them have moderate or strong slopes and are used only for grazing. Others that have gentle slopes are irrigated. The gently sloping soils are mostly on fans or piedmont slopes where the sediments are recent and have little organic carbon.
Torriorthents are the dry Orthents of cool to hot, arid regions. They have an aridic (or torric) moisture regime and a temperature regime warmer than cryic. Generally, they are neutral or calcareous and are on moderate to very steep slopes. A few are on gentle slopes. Many of the gently sloping soils are on rock pediments, are very shallow, have a sandy-skeletal particle-size class, or are salty. Others are on fans where sediments are recent but have little organic carbon. The vegetation on Torriorthents commonly is sparse and consists mostly of xerophytic shrubs and ephemeral grasses and forbs. The vegetation on a few of the soils is saltgrass. Torriorthents are used mainly for grazing. They are extensive in the Western United States.
Orthents are Entisols primarily on recent erosional surfaces. The erosion may be geologic or may have been induced by cultivation, mining, or other factors. Any former soil that was on the landscape has been completely removed or so truncated that the diagnostic horizons for all other orders do not occur. Orthents occur in any climate and under any vegetation. They are do not occur in areas that have aquic conditions, a high water table, and the colors defined for Aquents or on shifting or stabilized sand dunes.
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North Carolina State Soil
The Cecil series consists of very deep, well drained moderately permeable soils on ridges and side slopes of the Piedmont uplands. They are deep to saprolite and very deep to bedrock. They formed in residuum weathered from felsic, igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont uplands. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults
USE AND VEGETATION: About half of the total acreage is in cultivation, with the remainder in pasture and forest. Common crops are small grains, corn, cotton, and tobacco.
Originally mapped in Cecil County, Maryland in 1899, more than 10 million acres (40,000 km²) of the Cecil soil series are now mapped in the Piedmont region of the southeastern United States. It extends from Virginia through North Carolina (where it is the state soil), South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, with the typic Cecil pedon actually located in Franklin County, NC.
The Cecil series developed over igneous rock such as granite, and metamorphic rock which is chemically similar to granite. Virgin Cecil soils support forests dominated by pine, oak and hickory, and have a topsoil of brown sandy loam. The subsoil is a red clay which is dominated by kaolinite and has considerable mica. Few Cecil soils are in their virgin state, for most have been cultivated at one time or another. Indifferent land management has allowed many areas of Cecil soils to lose their topsoils through soil erosion, exposing the red clay subsoil. This clay is amenable to cultivation, responds well to careful management, and supports healthy growth of pine where allowed to revert to forest. Like other well-drained Ultisols, it is ideal for urban development; however, in common with other kaolinite-dominated clays, it has little ability to recover from soil compaction.
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Soil profile: Typical profile of Hard Labor soil. The Hard Labor soils have a perched water table typically at a depth of 75 to 100 centimeters (gray iron depletions are visible in the photo). These soils commonly occur on toeslopes. (Soil Survey of Greene County, Georgia; by Dee C. Pederson and Gregory H. Clark, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Hard Labor series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in material weathered from felsic igneous and metamorphic rock, primarily granite and granite gneiss. The Hard Labor soils are on summits and side slopes of the Piedmont uplands. There is a perched water table in late winter and early spring. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent. Near the type location, the mean annual temperature is 60 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation is 45 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Oxyaquic Kanhapludults
Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 60 inches or more. Depth to bedrock is more than 5 feet. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout the profile, unless limed. Limed soils typically are slightly acid or neutral in the upper part of the profile. Content of rock fragments ranges from 0 to 35 percent by volume in the A and E horizons, and from 0 to 10 percent by volume in the B and C horizons. Fragments are dominantly pebbles in size. Most pedons have none to common flakes of mica in the A, E, and Bt horizons, and few to many flakes of mica in the BC and C horizons. Content of plinthite nodules ranges from 0 to 5 percent in the lower Bt and BC horizons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is in cultivation or pasture and the remainder is in forests of mixed hardwoods and pine. Common crops are cotton, corn, soybeans, and small grains.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Piedmont of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and possibly Virginia. The series is currently of small extent, but is anticipated to become of large extent with future examinations of areas in the Piedmont mapped as Appling, Durham, Vance, or Wedowee soils.
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The Ager series consist of deep, well drained soils that formed in lacustrine sediment. Ager soils are on terraces. Slopes range from 2 to 60 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 12 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 48 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, smectitic, mesic Chromic Haploxererts
Depth to a paralithic contact of mudstone or siltstone lake deposits is 40 to 60 inches. Depth to secondary carbonates is less than 10 inches. The mean annual soil temperature is about 50 to 55 F. The soil between depths of 4 to 12 inches is usually dry all of the time from July 15 until October 15 and is moist in some or all parts all the rest of the year. The soil has cracks that open and close once each year, remain open during the period of July through October and remain closed the rest of the year. Few to many intersecting slickensides occur in the lower A horizon. Rock fragments range to 25 percent of the surface horizon and occur just on the surface and consist mostly of rounded basalt cobbles. The control section usually has 60 to 70 percent clay and ranges to 75 percent clay in some pedons.
USE AND VEGETATION: The steeper slopes are used as rangeland. The more gently sloping soils are used for dry land crops. Vegetation is scattered trees, shrubs and grass, mainly western juniper, big sagebrush, rabbitbrush, cheatgrass, medusahead and thistles. In some places there are small patches of bare granular soil.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern California and Idaho, and possibly southeastern Oregon and Nevada. The soils are inextensive.
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Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Somewhat poorly drained
Permeability: Moderate
Surface Runoff: Slow
Parent Material: Loamy alluvial sediments
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, thermic Aeric Endoaquults
Where cultivated--corn, oats, soybeans, small grain, and pasture are dominant. Where wooded--white oak, red oak, post oak, loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, hickory, red maple, sweetgum, and elm; understory plants include American holly, flowering dogwood, sassafras, greenbrier, giant cane and inkberry (bitter gallberry) are common.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia and possibly South Carolina. Extent is moderate.
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Profile of Cochina clay, 0 to 1 percent slopes, occasionally flooded. Cochina soils formed in calcareous clayey alluvium. These soils are clayey throughout and classified as Vertisols.
The landscape is a bedded area of Cochina clay, 0 to 1 percent slopes, occasionally flooded. Seed beds are prepared in case enough moisture is received to plant. This map unit is in Capability Class 3w. (Soil Survey of McMullen County, Texas; by Clark K. Harshbarger, Jon Wiedenfeld, and Gary Harris, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Setting
Major land resource area: MLRA 83B—Western Rio Grande Plain
Elevation: 140 to 405 feet
Mean annual precipitation: 22 to 26 inches
Mean annual air temperature: 70 to 72 degrees F
Frost-free period: 265 to 301 days
Composition
Major components:
Cochina frequently flooded and similar soils: 90 percent
Minor components: 10 percent
Soil Description
Cochina soils, frequently flooded
Landscape: River valleys
Landforms: Flood plains
Down-slope shape: Linear
Across-slope shape: Linear
Parent material: Calcareous clayey alluvium
Typical Profile
A—0 to 4 inches; moderately alkaline clay
Bnss—4 to 33 inches; moderately alkaline clay
Bnssz—33 to 80 inches; moderately alkaline clay
Properties and Qualities
Slope: 0 to 1 percent
Depth to first restrictive layer: No restrictive layer
Slowest soil permeability to 60 inches, above first cemented restrictive layer: 0.001 to
0.06 in/hr (very slow)
Salinity, representative within 40 inches: Saline
Salinity, maximum within 40 inches: Saline
Sodicity, representative within 40 inches: Sodic
Sodicity, maximum within 40 inches: Sodic
Representative total available water capacity to 60 inches: About 6.6 inches (moderate)
Natural drainage class: Moderately well drained
Runoff: Medium
Flooding frequency: Frequent
Interpretive Groups
Land capability nonirrigated: 4w
Land capability irrigated: 4w
Ecological site name: Clayey Bottomland 18-35" PZ
Ecological site number: R083BY414TX
Typical vegetation: Buffalograss, false Rhodes grass, other perennial grasses, pinhole bluestem, white tridens, other trees, alkali sacaton, other perennial forbs, pink pappusgrass, plains bristlegrass, sedge, southwestern bristlegrass, vine mesquite, Virginia wildrye, other shrubs.
Use and Management
Major land uses: The major land uses for this soil are livestock grazing, forage production, and wildlife habitat. Some areas are planted in food plots to supplement wildlife. Wildlife habitat: This soil is well suited to wildlife habitat. Deer, dove, javelina, and quail are common in areas of this soil.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/mcmullen...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/COCHINA.html
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The Babelthuap series consists of; very deep, well drained, that is shallow to an abrupt textural change. These soils are on erosional crests of hills on volcanic islands. Babelthuap soils formed in saprolite derived from basalt, andesite, dacite volcanic breccias, tuff, and bedded tuff. Slope is 2 to 75 percent. The mean annual rainfall is about 3685 millimeters (145 inches), and the mean annual temperature is about 27 C (81 F.)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, ferruginous, isohyperthermic Typic Kandiperox
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are in fern-land plant communities and are used only for watershed. A few areas are used as a source for mining bauxite. The vegetation is degraded anthropic savannah consisting of poor stands of Gleichenia linearis, Nepenthea mirabilis, Ectrosia lepornia and Paspalum orbiculare, scattered shrubs and pandanus.
This plant community is commonly dominant with Gleicheinia sp. Other associates that may be found scattered if the ferns are still short and young include Lycopodium cernuum. If the area has not been subjugated to fire for a considerable amount of time then there is often nothing but Gleichienia or at least a considerable lower diversity then areas exposed to occasional fire. It is common to come across small pockets of these areas deep in the hills of the upland forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 193 Volcanic Islands of Western Micronesia, Republic of Palau. These soils of these series are of small extent; about 9000 acres in size. They are mapped on the islands of island of Babeldaob and to a lesser extent on Koror and Arakabesan.
The surface layer becomes dry for short periods particularly during the months of February, March, and April, due to the high coarse fragment content. The soil does not meet the definition of an oxic horizon for the clay content increases by more than 8 percent within 15 centimeters (6 inches.) Gibbsite is aluminum hydroxide and it is the principal component of bauxite. It is the product of intense soil weathering and is very stable in the soil environment. Gibbsite does not contribute to the soluble aluminum in the soil because it is stable.
Some agricultural crops suffer from aluminum toxicity when the Al saturation is only 10%. Aluminum interferes with the photosynthetic cycle by complexing with phosphate, so with high soluble aluminum the plant is starved for phosphate. Al-toxicity also stunts root growth thereby limiting the amount of soil the plant can exploit for nutrients. Stunted roots can also limit water uptake and can cause plants to wilt with only a few days without water. Some plants (e.g. cassava) have high tolerance to high levels of soluble aluminum. On the Babelthuap series, ferns that are highly tolerant to aluminum can make up nearly 100% of the plant community in places. High soluble Al and acidity may adversely affect soil health by inhibiting beneficial organisms. When liming soils with high soluble aluminum the rule of thumb is to add 1.5 tons of CaCO3 per acre for every milliequivalents of soluble aluminum. The pH only needs to be raised to about 5.5 to eliminate the harmful effects of high soluble aluminum.
Apparent field textures vary for tropical soils; therefore, field textures and their mid-point values of texture classes were used rather than laboratory analysis for particle size. Particle size distribution is difficult to determine in tropical soils because of the strong cohesion of aggregates and their tendency to suspend particles. The poor dispersion reflects the water-stable aggregates of clay in silt and sand-sized "particles." Therefore, the soils may have a lot of clay but physically they behave as coarser textures.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BABELTHUAP.html
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A representative soil profile of the Backcanyon series. The shallow Backcanyon soil is in map unit 270--Locobill-Backcanyon-Sesame complex, 20 to 60 percent slopes. (Kern County, Northeastern Part, and Southeastern Part of Tulare County, California; by Kerry D. Arroues, Edd Russell, and James Regal, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Backcanyon series consists of shallow, well drained soils on hill slopes and mountain slopes. These soils formed in material weathered mainly from interbedded calcareous metamorphic and granitic rocks. Slopes are 15 to 60 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 380 millimeters (15 inches) and the average annual temperature is about 17 degrees C. (62 degrees F.).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic, shallow Calcic Haploxerepts
Soil temperature - Average annual: 15 to 18 degrees C. (59 to 65 degrees F.). The soil temperature is greater than 5 degrees C. (41 degrees F.) from about February 1 to December 15 (300 to 330 days) and is greater than 8 degrees C. (47 degrees F.) from about March 1 to December 1 (250 to 290 days).
Soil moisture - The soils are dry from about June 10 to November 15 (140 to 160 days). The soil is moist in some or all parts for 90 or more days when the soil temperature is greater than 8 degrees C. (47 degrees F.).
Particle size control section:
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent boulders and stones, 0 to 7 percent cobbles and 10 to 35 percent gravel.
Depth to weathered rock (paralithic contact): 30 to 50 centimeters (12 to 20 inches).
Depth to hard rock: (lithic materials) 51 to 89 centimeters (15 to 30 inches).
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The vegetation is mainly California junipers, red brome, goldenbush, Digger pine, yucca, and California buckwheat. Oaks occur in some areas.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South central Sierra Nevada Range in California. This series is not extensive. MLRA is 18.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/CA6...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
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The Ander series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, soils that formed in residuum weathered from sandstone in the Goliad Formation. These nearly level to very gently sloping soils are on footslopes of low hills on an inland dissected coastal plain. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 21.1 degrees C (70 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 864 mm (34 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, hyperthermic Udic Paleustolls
Soil Moisture: An ustic soil moisture regime bordering on udic. The soil moisture control section remains dry for less than 120 cumulative days in normal years. Precipitation falls mostly during the months of April through June and October and November. The driest months are July through September and January through March.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mostly for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Native grasses include little bluestem, feathery bluestem, Nash and hooded windmillgrass, and Texas and plains bristlegrass. Woody species consist of live oak, post oak, mesquite, huisache, spiny hackberry, and pricklypear. Coastal bermudagrass is the dominant improved pasture grass. (Ecological site name: Tight Sandy Loam 25-35" Pz; Ecological site number: R083AY412TX)
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Rio Grande Plain (MLRA 83A in LRR I) of south-central Texas; minor extent
REMARKS: These soils were formerly included with the Papalote series. The Papalote series has an ochric epipedon. The redoximorphic features are considered relict and do not reflect present day moisture conditions.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/ANDER.html
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A soil profile and landscape of a Aquisalid from the United Arab Emirates.
Typic Aquisalids, sandy, mixed, hyperthermic, lithic phase (Soil AD130) are deep sands with a surface salt crust. The soils usually occur in sabkha flats within the coastal plain. They are formed in alluvial sands. They are poorly drained or somewhat poorly drained soils and have a moderately slow to moderate permeability. Water table fluctuates between 40 and 90cm depth. The soil overlies a lithic contact below 50cm.
For more information about soil classification in the UAE, visit:
www.biosaline.org/publications/united-arab-emirates-keys-...
These soils are most commonly formed on plains and slight depressions in coastal flats above the tidal zone. The high salt concentration and the shallow water table prevent the growth of vegetation and the soils remain unused and barren.
The soils are of limited extent and have only been recorded within the coastal plain and at Sabkha Matti.
Plate 28: Typical soil profile and associated landscape for Typic Aquisalids, sandy, mixed, hyperthermic lithic phase (Soil AD130).
For more information about soil classification in the UAE, visit:
vdocument.in/united-arab-emirates-keys-to-soil-taxonomy.h...
Texas State Soil
The Houston Black series occurs on about 1.5 million acres in the Blackand Land Prairie, which extends from north of Dallas south to San Antonio. Because of their highly expansive clays. Houston Black soils are recognized throughout the world as the classic Vertisols, which shrink and swell is markedly expressed with changes in moisture content. Common or many intersecting slickensides (surface of cracks produced in soils containing a high proportion of swelling clay) are in the AC and C horizons. These are cyclic soils, with cycles of microknolls and microbasins repeated at linear intervals of 6 to 12 feet. These soils formed under prairie vegetation and in calcareous clays and marls. Water enters the soils rapidly when they are dry and cracked and very slowly when they are moist. Houston Black soils are used extensively for grain sorghum, cotton, corn, small grain, and forage grasses. They also occur in several metropolitan areas, where their very high shrink-swell potential commonly is a limitation affecting building site development.
The Professional Soil Scientists Association of Texas has recommended to the State Legislature that the Houston Black series be designated the State soil. The series was established in 1902.
The Houston series consists of moderately well drained, slowly permeable, cyclic soils that formed in alkaline clays and chalk of the Blackland Prairies. These clayey soils have very high shrink-swell potential. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent.
(Authors: Julie Howe and Clay Robinson; Around the World, Soil Science Society of America)
For more information about "State Soils" click HERE.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Udic Haplusterts
USE AND VEGETATION: Nearly all is cultivated and used for growing cotton, sorghums, and corn. Cotton root rot is prevalent on most areas and limits cotton yields and the use of some legumes in rotations. Native vegetation consists of tall and mid grass prairies of little bluestem, big bluestem, indiangrass, switchgrass, and sideoats grama, with scattered elm, mesquite, and hackberry trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Land Resource Region J - Southwestern Prairies Cotton and Forage Region. East Central Texas. The Blackland Prairies (MLRAs 86A and 86B) and eastern part of the Grand Prairies (MLRA 85) of Texas. This soil is of large extent.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Brazoria County, Texas; 1902.
For more information about the Houston Black soil series using "Soil Data Explorer" click HERE
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Deep, transitory or very deep
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible to medium
Permeability: Moderate (Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high)
Landscape: Lower, middle, or upper coastal plain
Landform: Uplands or marine terraces
Geomorphic Component: Interfluve, side slopes
Hillslope Profile Position: Summits, shoulders, backslopes
Parent Material: Marine deposits or fluviomarine deposits
Slope: 0 to 10 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kandiudults
Thickness of the sandy surface and subsurface layers: 3 to 19 inches
Depth to top of the Argillic horizon: 3 to 19 inches
Depth to the base of the Argillic horizon: 60 to more than 80 inches
Depth to top of the Kandic horizon: 3 to 19 inches
Depth to bedrock: Greater than 80 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 40 to 72 inches, January to March
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid, throughout except where limed
Rock Fragment Content: 0 to 5 percent, by volume throughout; mostly quartz pebbles or ironstone nodules
Plinthite Content: 0 to 4 percent to a depth of 60 inches and 0 to 10 percent or more below 60 inches
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Mostly cleared and used for general farm crops.
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--corn, cotton, peanuts, tobacco, and soybeans. Where wooded--pines and mixed hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia
Extent: Large
The June, 1988 revision recognized the low activity clay properties of this soil as defined in the low activity clay amendment of Soil Taxonomy, August 1986. 10/2004, changed water table from 4.0-6.0 ft to 3.3-6.0 ft to cover depth that would be included in the typic subgroup versus associated soils in the Oxyaquic subgroup.
For a detailed description, visit:
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In both the FAO soil classification and the USDA soil taxonomy, a histosol is a soil consisting primarily of organic materials. They are defined as having 40 centimetres (16 in) or more of organic soil material in the upper 80 centimetres (31 in). Organic soil material has an organic carbon content (by weight) of 12 to 18 percent, or more, depending on the clay content of the soil. These materials include muck (sapric soil material), mucky peat (hemic soil material), or peat (fibric soil material). Typically, histosols have very low bulk density and are poorly drained because the organic matter holds water very well. Most are acidic and many are very deficient in major plant nutrients which are washed away in the consistently moist soil. Histosols are known by various other names in other countries, such as peat or muck.
For more information on Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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The UAE is historically known for its attachment to camels which are of social and economic value in the region. The animal is famously known as the ship of the desert because of its walk, which is much like the motion of a ship at sea. Patience is one of its most observable features and camels are generally useful animal.
Historically, camels in the UAE were a dependable source of not only transport but also food and milk. Arabs were proud of the number of camels they possessed. The camels were given as a bride's dowry among the Bedouin tribes. Not to mention its use as payment of Zakat — the annual portion of a Muslim's personal fortune that is given as charity to people in need — as which was at times paid in camels instead of money.
The population of camels in the UAE in 2003 was estimated at over 178,000, according to the Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage.
The Helena series... (soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HELENA.html)
consists of very deep, moderately well drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in residuum weathered from a mixture of felsic, intermediate, or mafic igneous or high-grade metamorphic rocks, such as aplitic granite or granite gneiss that is cut by dykes of gabbro and diorite, or mixed with hornblende schist or hornblende gneiss. These soils are on broad ridges and toeslopes of the Piedmont uplands. Slope is dominantly between 2 to 10 percent but ranges from 0 to 15 percent. Near the type location, mean annual precipitation is 46 inches, and mean annual temperature is 61 degrees F.
Taxonomic class: Fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Aquic Hapludults
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Mostly cultivated
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--tobacco, corn, soybean, small grain, and vegetables. Dominant forest vegetation includes a mix of hardwood and pine. Native species include loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, Virginia pine, sweetgum, willow oak, red oak, white oak, yellow-poplar, and American elm. Understory species include sourwood, flowering dogwood, winged elm, eastern cedar, hophornbean, eastern redbud, and sassafrass.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Appling soils--are well drained and have a low shrink-swell potential
Cecil soils--are well drained, have a red subsoil, and have a low shrink-swell potential
Cullen soils--are well drained, have a red subsoil, and have a low shrink-swell potential
Durham soils--have less clay in the subsoil
Enon soils--are well-drained and have a higher base saturation
Hard Labor--soils have a moderate shrink-swell potential
Iredell soils--have a higher base saturation
Louisburg soils--are well drained and have less clay in the subsoil
Mecklenburg soils--are well drained, have a red subsoil, and have a higher base saturation
Pacolet soils--are well drained, have a red subsoil, and have a low shrink-swell potential
Rion soils--are well drained and have less clay in the subsoil
Santuc soils--have less clay in the subsoil
Sedgefield soils--have a higher base saturation
Vance soils--are well drained.
Wedowee soils--are well drained and have a low shrink-swell potential
Wilkes soils--are well drained, have a higher base saturation, and have a depth to paralithic contact of less than 20 inches
Worsham soils--are poorly drained
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Extent: Large: casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#helena
A soil profile of the well drained, very deep loamy Edneyville soils. (Soil Survey of Grayson County, Virginia; by Robert K. Conner, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Edneyville soils are on ridges, hills, and spurs on low mountains and foothills. Major uses include woodland, pasture, hayland, and occasionally fruit trees, burley tobacco, Christmas trees, and vegetables.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
Solum Thickness: 51 to 140 cm (20 to 55 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 152 cm (60 inches) to weathered bedrock.
Depth Class: Very deep
Rock Fragment content: 0 to 35 percent, by volume, but typically less than 20 percent throughout the profile.
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to moderately acid in the A horizon, except where limed; very strongly acid or strongly acid in the B and C horizons
Content of Mica: 0 to 20 percent, by volume mica flakes throughout
USE AND VEGETATION:
Dominant Vegetation: Where wooded--white oak, black oak, scarlet oak, chestnut oak, hickory, eastern white pine, Virginia pine, and pitch pine. Yellow poplar and northern red oak occur in the north central mountains of MLRA 130B. Understory includes mountain laurel, flowering dogwood, sourwood, black locust, American chestnut sprouts, greenbrier, Christmas fern, and rhododendron. Where cleared--pasture, hay, and occasionally fruit trees, burley tobacco, Christmas trees, and vegetables.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Southern Blue Ridge (MLRA 130-B) of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Northern Piedmont (MLRA 148).
Extent: Large--more than 100,000 acres.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/virginia/VA077...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/E/EDNEYVILLE.html
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Arkansas State Soil
The Stuttgart series consists of very deep, moderately well to somewhat poorly drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in silty and clayey alluvium. These level to gently sloping soils are on Prairie terraces in the Lower Mississippi Valley, MLRA 131. Slopes are typically less than 3 percent, but range to 5 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Albaquultic Hapludalfs
Solum thickness is more than 60 to more than 80 inches. There is an abrupt texture change between the ochric epipedon and the underlying argillic horizon. Sodium saturation ranges from 5 to 15 percent in the upper 16 inches of the argillic. It generally increases with depth and may range over 20 percent in the lower part in some pedons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cleared and used for the production of rice, soybeans, small grains and corn. The native vegetation was mainly tall grasses, with large areas of hardwood forests of oaks, gums and ash with scattered areas of shortleaf pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Prairie terraces in Arkansas and possibly Louisiana. The series is of large extent with over 150,000 acres mapped.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/arkansas/AR001...
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soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/STUTTGART.html
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A loamy-skeletal Humic Dystrocryept and landscape in Idaho.
These soils are like Typic Dystrocryepts, but they have a thick surface layer and an umbric or mollic epipedon. Many of the soils are in areas of higher precipitation than the soils of the Typic subgroup. Humic Dystrocryepts are of moderate extent in the United States. They are mostly in the mountains of the Western States. The vegetation is mostly coniferous forest. The soils are used mainly for timber production and wildlife habitat.
Dystrocryepts are the Cryepts that do not have free carbonates and have a base saturation (by NH4OAc) of less than 60 percent in all horizons at a depth between 25 and 75 cm from the mineral soil surface.
Cryepts are the cold Inceptisols of high mountains or high latitudes. They cannot have permafrost within 100 cm of the soil surface. TCryepts are moderately extensive in the United States. They occur in the high mountains of the West and in southern Alaska as well as in other mountainous areas of the world.
The central concept of Inceptisols is that of soils that are of cool to very warm, humid and subhumid regions and that have a cambic horizon. The order of Inceptisols includes a wide variety of soils. In some areas Inceptisols are soils with minimal development, while in other areas they are soils with diagnostic horizons that merely fail the criteria of the other soil orders. Inceptisols have many kinds of diagnostic horizons and epipedons.
Skeletal soils have in the particle-size control section, 10 percent or more fine-earth and a total content of rock fragments of 35 percent or more (by volume).
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
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For additional information about soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...
The "Kina" series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils that formed in partially decomposed organic material derived from sedges. Kina soils occupy depressional bench-like areas associated with drumlinoid hills and the toeslope, lower backslopes, and floors of valleys. Mean annual temperature is about 45 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation is about 100 inches. Slopes range from 0 to 60 percent.
Left: A soil profile of the Kina soil series
For more information about the soil profile, see "Kina soil series"
Center: Typical landscape of Kina soil
Right: Closeup of Oi and Oe horizon
For more information about describing, sampling, classifying, and/or mapping soils, please refer to the following references: "Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils", "Keys to Soil Taxonomy", and the "Soil Survey Manual".
A representative soil profile of a Mollisol from the Cerado physiographic region--a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais and the Federal District of Brazil. (Horizonation is by Brazil soil classification system.)
Landscape: Typical landscape and vegetation (pastureland) occurring on upland side-slopes in Brazil.
Mollisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Mollisols form in semi-arid to semi-humid areas, typically under a grassland cover. They are most commonly found in the mid-latitudes, namely in North America, mostly east of the Rocky Mountains, in South America in Argentina (Pampas) and Brazil, and in Asia in Mongolia and the Russian Steppes. Their parent material is typically base-rich and calcareous and include limestone, loess, or wind-blown sand. The main processes that lead to the formation of grassland Mollisols are melanisation, decomposition, humification and pedoturbation.
Mollisols have deep, high organic matter, nutrient-enriched surface soil (A horizon), typically more than 25 cm thick. This fertile surface horizon, known as a mollic epipedon, is the defining diagnostic feature of Mollisols. Mollic epipedons result from the long-term addition of organic materials derived from plant roots, and typically have soft, granular soil structure.
In the Brazil soil classification system, Chernossolos are soils with high clay activity that are very dark, well structured, rich in organic matter, high content of exchangeable cations. They are commonly not deep (<100cm) and are mostly found in the south and east parts of Brazil.
For additional information about these soils, visit:
sites.google.com/site/soil350brazilsoilsla/soil-formation...
and...
For additional information about U.S. soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...