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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of Umberci very gravelly sandy loam in an area of Umberci-Rock outcrop association, 30 to 50 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Clark Mountain, Jean Lake, and Crescent Peak Grazing Allotments; by Carrie-Ann Houdeshell, Jeff Goats, Leon Lato, Heath McAllister, and Allison Tokunaga, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Umberci soils are on hills and mountains. Slopes are 30 to 75 percent. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium weathered from limestone and dolomite. Elevation is 840 to 1605 meters (2800 to 5250 feet).
The Umberci series consists of very shallow to bedrock, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium from limestone and dolomite. Umberci soils are on mountains and hills. Slopes range from 30 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 140 millimeters and the mean annual temperature is about 16.5 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, thermic Lithic Torriorthents
Soil moisture - Usually dry, moist in some part for short periods during winter and early spring and for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July to September following summer convection storms; Typic-aridic moisture regime.
Soil temperature 15 to 22 degrees C (59 to 72 degrees F).
Depth to lithic contact 12 to 25 centimeters (5 to 10 inches).
Percent clay: 8 to 14 percent.
Rock fragments: Averages 35 to 55 percent, mainly gravel.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: averages 50 to 65 percent in the less than 2 millimeter fraction and 55 to 70 percent in the less than 20 millimeter fraction.
USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. Vegetation is mainly Nevada jointfir, snakeweed, Utah mortonia, shadscale, and big galleta.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mojave Desert of southeastern California. The soils are of moderate extent. MLRA: 30.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/cla...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
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A soil profile of a moderately well drained Argiudoll in the eastern part of the Great Plains. It has a mollic epipedon about 40 cm thick underlain by an argillic horizon, which extends to a depth of about 130 cm. The argillic horizon has prismatic structure with dark organic stains on prism faces. Pockets of white, soft calcium carbonate are below a depth of
about 130 centimeters. (Soil Survey Staff. 2015. Illustrated guide to Soil Taxonomy. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, Nebraska)
Argiudolls have a relatively thin argillic (clay accumulation) subsoil horizon or one in which the percentage of clay decreases greatly with increasing depth. The mollic (rich in humus and bases) epipedon commonly is black to very dark brown, and the argillic horizon is mostly brownish. Many of these soils are noncalcareous to a considerable depth below the argillic horizon. Some Argiudolls have a zone of accumulation of calcium carbonate below the argillic horizon. Argiudolls formed mostly in late-Wisconsinan deposits or on surfaces of that age. Many or most of these soils supported boreal forests during the Pleistocene that were later replaced by tall grass prairies during the Holocene. Argiudolls are extensive in Iowa, Illinois, and adjacent States.
To download the latest version of Soil Taxonomy, 2nd Edition, 1999, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
For additional information about soil classification using Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th Edition, 2022, visit:
[www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/Keys-to-Soi...]
To download the latest version of Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th Edition, 2022, visit:
[www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...]
For an Illustrated Guide to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of Cecil soil.
Landscape: Hayland in an area of Cecil sandy clay loam, 6 to 10 percent slopes, severely eroded. Establishing and maintaining a vegetative cover helps to protect pastures from erosion. (Soil Survey of Monroe County, Georgia; by Dee C. Pederson and Sherry E. Carlson, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
archive.org/details/usda-soil-survey-of-monroe-county-geo...
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.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CECIL.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: Typical profile of a Lewhand soil. The ochric epipedon extends from the surface to a depth of 20 centimeters (A horizon). (Soil Survey of Clearwater Area, Idaho; by Glenn Hoffman, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Lewhand series consists of shallow to a fragipan, poorly drained soils formed in mixed alluvium with an admixture of volcanic ash. Permeability is very slow and slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 35 inches and the average annual temperature is about 42 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, frigid Vitrandic Fragiudalfs
Depth to fragipan - 13 to 19 inches
Average annual soil temperature - 39 to 45 degrees F. (Frigid temperature regime)
Soil moisture control section - not dry for 45 consecutive days following the summer solstice. Aquic conditions from November to June. Udic moisture regime.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for livestock grazing, watershed and some crop production. The main crops are hay and oats. Potential native vegetation is black hawthorn, scattered lodgepole pine, snowberry, sedges and rushes.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North central Idaho; Lewhand soils are not extensive.
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
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For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/idaho/clearwat...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/L/LEWHAND.html
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A representative soil profile of the Berryland series. (Photo provided by Jim Turenne, USDA-NRCS; New England Soil Profiles)
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Very poorly drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: High
Landscape: Coastal plain, upland or lowland
Parent Material: Sandy eolian deposits and /or fluviomarine sediments
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 13 degrees C. (56 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 1143 mm (45 inches)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, siliceous, mesic Typic Alaquods
Solum Thickness: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 183 cm (72 inches)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: + 15 cm (6 inches) to 25 cm (10 inches), October to June. Unless drained, the water table is at depths of 30 to 61 cm (12 to 24 inches) in summer months.
Depth to the Spodic Horizon: 25 to 41 cm (10 to 16 inches)
Rock Fragments: less than 15 percent, by volume throughout the profile, mostly quartzose pebbles, commonly less than 5 percent. The Bh horizon contains firm nodules that range from non-cemented to strongly cemented and are hard to very hard when dry.
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid, throughout the profile, unless limed
Other Features: Iron content is low in most pedons and specimens from the Bh horizon do not normally turn red when heated unless the soils are limed.
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses--Mostly in woodland. Some of the soil has been cleared for growing high-bush blueberries and cranberries. Drained areas have been used for growing vegetables, corn, soybeans and small grain
Where wooded--predominantly pitch pine, widely spaced Atlantic white cedar, red maple, and black gum. The dense understory is commonly high-bush blueberry, sweet pepperbush, bay magnolia, leather leaf, gallberry, and greenbriar. In Maryland, loblolly pine, pond pine, red maple, sweetgum, black gum, willow oak, swamp chestnut oak, and American holly are important forest trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution--Coastal Plain of New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, and possibly Long Island, New York
Extent--Moderate
For additional information about New England soils, visit:
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BERRYLAND.html
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Dates anyone? They are absolutely deliceous! The actual date tree population in UAE is about 40 millions of which 8.5 in AL-AIN region. The gene pool is large and composes about 120 date varieties. New introductions from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Oman included Khallas, AbouMaan, Hallawi, Khissab, Khenezi, Nabut Saif, Jabiri, Hillali, Lulu, Chichi, Khadraoui, Sakii, Sultana and Barhi varieties.
The Red Palm Weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olive is considered a major pest of the date palm in the Middle East where it causes severe damage.
The Apalona series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils formed in loess and the underlying residuum from shale interbedded with sandstone and siltstone. They are moderately deep or shallow to a fragipan. These soils are on benches of hills. Slopes range from 0 to 12 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 109 cm (43 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 12 degrees C (54 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Fragiudalfs
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 152 to more than 203 cm (60 to more than 80 inches)
Depth to a paralithic contact: more than 183 cm (72 inches)
Depth to fragipan: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches), except severely eroded pedons range from 38 to 91 cm (15 to 24 inches)
Rock fragments are dominantly very strongly cemented to indurated sandstone and siltstone channers.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for growing corn and soybeans, hay and pasture. Some areas are in woodland and wildlife areas. Native vegetation is mixed, deciduous hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Indiana. The acreage is of small extent in MLRA 120B.
The Little Wood series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loess, alluvium, and residuum from mixed sources. Little Wood soils are on fan terraces, stream terraces, and dissected alluvial terraces. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. Permeability is moderate in the upper part and very rapid below. The average annual precipitation is about 14 inches and the average annual air temperature is about 43 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Ultic Argixerolls
Average annual soil temperature - 42 to 47 degrees F.
Average summer soil temperature - 60 to 65 degrees F.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 10 to 19 inches
Depth to sandy-skeletal layer and base of the argillic - 21 to 34 inches
Reaction - moderately acid to neutral
Base saturation - 50 to 75 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Dry cropland, irrigated cropland, rangeland, and housing sites. Alfalfa hay, pasture, and small grains are the principle crops. Vegetation is bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, Sandberg bluegrass, needlegrasses, mountain big sagebrush, and basin big sagebrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Little Wood soils are moderately extensive in south-central Idaho.
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/L/LITTLE_WOOD.html
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The soils and miscellaneous areas (e.g., Rock outcrop) in a survey area are in an orderly pattern that is related to the geology, landforms, topography, climate, and natural vegetation. Each kind of soil and miscellaneous area is associated with a particular kind of landform or with a segment of the landform. Note soils in this photo range from deep (L) to shallow (R).
Soil scientists delineate these repeating patterns of landform segments, or natural bodies, on a map. By observing the soils and miscellaneous areas in the survey area and relating their position to specific segments of the landform, a soil scientist develops a concept, or model, of how they formed. Thus, during mapping, these models enable the soil scientist to predict with considerable accuracy the kind of soil or miscellaneous area on the landscape (Hudson, 1992).
The repetitive patterns imprinted in soils by the soil-forming factors can be observed at scales ranging from continental to microscopic. These patterns are the basis for soil identification and mapping at different scales. A system of terminology, definitions, and operations can be ascribed to the various scales. Hierarchical systems of classes and subclasses are established to produce groupings at the different scales.
Commonly, individual soils on the landscape merge into one another as their characteristics gradually change. To construct an accurate soil map, however, soil scientists must determine the boundaries between the soils. Some boundaries are sharp, where soils change over a few meters, while others are more gradual. Soil scientists can observe only a limited number of pedons. Nevertheless, these observations, supplemented by an understanding of the soil-vegetation-landscape relationship, are sufficient to verify predictions of the kinds of soil and to determine their boundaries.
Soil scientists record the characteristics of the pedons, associated plant communities, geology, landforms, and other features that they study. They describe the kind and arrangement of soil horizons and their color, texture, size and shape of soil aggregates, kind and amount of rock fragments, distribution of plant roots, reaction, and other features that enable them to classify and identify soils. They describe plant species present (their combinations, productivity, and condition) to classify plant communities, correlate them to the soils with which they are typically associated, and predict their response to management and change.
After the soil scientists identify and describe the properties of landscape components, or natural bodies of soils, the components are correlated to an appropriate taxonomic class, which is used for naming map units. Correlation, or comparison of individual soils with similar soils in the same taxonomic class in other areas, confirms data and helps the staff determine the need to assemble additional data. Taxonomic classes are concepts. Each taxonomic class has a set of soil characteristics with precisely defined limits. The classes are used as a basis for comparison to classify soils systematically. Soil Taxonomy, the system of taxonomic classification used in the United States, is based mainly on the kind and character of soil properties and the arrangement of horizons within the profile (Soil Survey Staff, 1999).
A soil scientist is a person who is qualified to evaluate and interpret soils and soil-related data for the purpose of understanding soil resources as they contribute to not only agricultural production, but as they affect environmental quality and as they are managed for protection of human health and the environment. The university degree should be in Soil Science, or closely related field (i.e., natural resources, environmental science, earth science, etc.) and include sufficient soils-related course work so the Soil Scientist has a measurable level of understanding of the soil environment, including soil morphology and soil forming factors, soil chemistry, soil physics, and soil biology, and the dynamic interaction of these areas.
For more information about Describing and Sampling soils, visit;
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For more information about Soil Taxonomy, visit;
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For more information about Describing and Sampling soils, visit;
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For more information about Soil Taxonomy, visit;
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STANLEY W. BUOL is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Soil Science at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, where he held William Neal Reynolds Distinguished and Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professorships before retirement. He earned B.S., M.S., and PhD. Degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to moving to North Carolina State University, he was a faculty member of the Agricultural Chemistry and Soils Department at the University of Arizona. He is a Fellow in both the Soil Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy. He has received the International Soil Science Award and Distinguished Service Award from the Soil Society of America and the Achievement Award from the North Carolina Soil Science Society. In addition to several papers in scientific journals and book chapters, he has authored the book Soils, Land, and Life.
Soil scientists explore and seek to understand the earth’s land and water resources. Practitioners of soil science identify, interpret, and manage soils for agriculture, forestry, rangeland, ecosystems, urban uses, and mining and reclamation in an environmentally responsible way.
Soil survey or soil mapping, is the process of classifying soil types and other soil properties in a given area and geo-encoding such information. It applies the principles of soil science, and draws heavily from geomorphology, theories of soil formation, physical geography, and analysis of vegetation and land use patterns. Primary data for the soil survey are acquired by field sampling and by remote sensing.
In the past, a soil scientist would take hard-copies of aerial photography, topo-sheets, and mapping keys into the field with them. Today, a growing number of soil scientists bring a ruggedized tablet computer and GPS into the field with them.
The term soil survey may also be used as a noun to describe the published results. In the United States, these surveys were once published in book form for individual counties by the National Cooperative Soil Survey.
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.
An architect or engineer might use the engineering properties of a soil to determine whether it is suitable for a certain type of construction. A homeowner may even use the information for maintaining or constructing their garden, yard, or home. Soils are the basis of agriculture and play a critical role in agricultural production as they provide the medium upon which crops can grow. Yet, during the past few decades, focus on the importance of soils has diminished, coupled with harsh man-made and natural conditions that have resulted in soil erosion and soil nutrient mining.
Soil profile: A typical profile of Etowah gravelly silt loam. (Soil Survey of Cannon County, Tennessee; by Jerry L. Prater, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Hay harvested on Etowah loam, 2 to 5 percent slopes. This soil is well suited to cropland, hayland, and pasture. (Soil Survey of Overton County, Tennessee; by Carlie McCowan, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Etowah series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils on high stream terraces, alluvial fans and foot slopes. These soils formed in alluvium or colluvium that is commonly underlain by limestone residuum below 40 inches. The slopes range from 0 to 35 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleudults
The solum is more than 60 inches thick. Depth to bedrock, commonly limestone, ranges from 6 to 15 feet or more. Coarse fragments are commonly less than 5 percent, but range from 0 to 15 percent in each horizon, except the A horizon ranges to 20 percent. Some pedons contain some fine mica flakes. Reaction is strongly acid or very strongly acid except the surface layer is less acid in recently limed areas.
USE AND VEGETATION: Practically all is cleared and used primarily for growing hay, pasture, corn, and small grain. Original vegetation was oaks, hickory, tulip poplar, elm, beech, and shortleaf, and Virginia pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Highland Rim, and Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys of Tennessee; northwestern Georgia, northern Alabama and Maryland. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey areas, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/tennessee/cann...
and...
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/tennessee/TN13...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/E/ETOWAH.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative profile of the Clifftop series. Clifftop soils are moderately deep (50 to 100 cm) to bedrock. (Soil Survey of Gauley River National Recreation Area, West Virginia; by Aron Sattler and James Bell, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
archive.org/details/usda-soil-survey-of-gauley-river-nati...
Landscape: Hayland in an area of Clifftop channery silt loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes. This map unit qualifies as prime farmland.
Landscapes: Plateau and mountains
Landforms: Ridge, hillslope, mountain slope
MLRA(s): 127 (Eastern Allegheny Plateau and Mountains) and 125 (Cumberland Plateau and Mountains)
Geomorphic Component: Interfluves, side slopes, and nose slopes
Hillslope Profile Position: Summit, shoulder, backslope
Parent Material: Residuum derived from of early Pennsylvania Period acid shale, siltstone, or fine-grained sandstone (members of the Pottsville Series or its analogue)
Depth Class: Moderately deep to soft bedrock
Slope: 3 to 70 percent
Elevation: 549 to 1067 m (1795 to 3500 feet)
Frost-free period: 140 to 180 days
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
Depth to the top of the Argillic: 13 to 51 cm (5 to 20 inches)
Depth to the base of the Argillic: 30 to 91 cm (12 to 36 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches); bedrock is dominantly very weakly to moderately cemented shale, siltstone, or fine-grained sandstone of early Pennsylvanian Period age (members of the Pottsville Group or its analogue)
Rock Fragment content (by volume): 0 to 25 percent in the upper solum, 15 to 65 percent in the BC and C horizon.
Soil Reaction: strongly acid to extremely acid throughout, except where limed or affected by forest fires.
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Woodland, pasture, and hay land, and minor urban development
Dominant Vegetation: Oak-hickory or mixed mesophytic forests.
Where wooded--scarlet, black, white, red, or chestnut oak, red maple, pignut or mockernut hickory, yellow poplar, American Holly, beech, and Virginia or white pine are the dominate species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: West Virginia, and possibly; Kentucky, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
Extent: Moderate
The Clifftop series is limited to soils formed in materials weathered from early Pennsylvanian Period geologic parent materials (members of the Pottsville Group or its analogue).
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/west_virginia/...
For a detailed description, visit:
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This soil is on flood plains and on terraces along wadis in mountain valleys. This soil is excessively drained. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity class for the surface
layer is very high.
This soil is mostly used for rangeland grazing for goats and camels. A few small mountain villages are also located on this soil. Due to the presence of water aquifers, some areas are used for growing date palms or other crops, although the soil in these areas has been replaced with less stony material. Commonly described vegetation species include Acacia tortilis, Tephrosia apollinea, Euphorbia larica, and Rhazya stricta. Vegetation cover is about 1 to 8%.
The main distinguishing feature of this soil is the high content of cobbles and stones. Because the soil is dominated by gravel, cobbles and stones it has very low water and nutrient holding capacity. It is nearly impossible to dig by hand, so even small excavations require power equipment. Soil strength is high due to the coarse nature of the soil and it can provide a good surface for building sites and roads, although the large size of the rock fragments can present difficulties for construction projects.
A representative soil profile of an Allbeluvisol from the Hungarian Soil Classification System (HSCS) by Prof. Blaskó Lajos (2008).
[epa.oszk.hu/02500/02541/00042/pdf/EPA02541_hungeobull_201...]
ALBELUVISOLS: Acid soil with a bleached horizon penetrating a clay accumulation horizon (from the Latin, albus, meaning white and eluere, meaning to wash out). Albeluvisols have an accumulation of clay in the subsoil with an irregular or broken upperboundary and deep penetrations or ‘tonguing’ of bleached soil material into the illuviation horizon. The typical “albeluvic tongues” are generally the result of freeze-thaw processes in periglacial conditions and often show a polygonal network in horizontal cuts. Albeluvisols occur mainly in the moist and cool temperate regions. Also known as Podzoluvisols. They cover 15 percent of Europe as the most common soil.
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 an Oxisol 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 interfuve and side-slopes in Brazil.
Oxisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Oxisols are weathered soils that are low in fertility. They are most common on the gentle slopes of geologically old surfaces in tropical and subtropical regions. Their profiles are distinctive because of a lack of obvious horizons. Their surface horizons are normally somewhat darker than the subsoil, but the transition of subsoil features is gradual. Some oxisols have been previously classified as laterite soils.
Oxisol (Latossolos) and landscape BRAZIL--In the Brazil soil classification system, these Latossolos are highly weathered soils composed mostly of clay and weathering resistant sand particles. Clay silicates of low activity (kaolinite clays) or iron and aluminum oxide rich (haematite, goethite, gibbsite) are common. There are little noticeable horizonation differences. These are naturally very infertile soils, but, because of the ideal topography and physical conditions, some are being used for agricultural production. These soils do require fertilizers because of the ease of leaching of nutrients through the highly weathered soils.
For additional information about these soils, visit:
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and...
For additional information about U.S. soil classification, visit:
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Plinthite (Gr. plinthos, brick) is an iron-rich, humus-poor mixture of clay with quartz and other highly weathered minerals. It commonly occurs as reddish redox concentrations in a layer that has a polygonal (irregular), platy (lenticular), or reticulate (blocky) pattern. Plinthite irreversibly hardens upon exposure to repeated wetting and drying, especially if exposed to heat from the sun.
Other morphologically similar iron-rich materials that do not progressively harden upon repeated wetting and drying are not considered plinthite. The horizon in which plinthite occurs commonly has 2.5 percent (by mass) or more citrate dithionite extractable iron in the fine-earth fraction and a ratio between acid oxalate extractable Fe and citrate-dithionite extractable Fe of less than 0.10.
For more information about these soils, visit;
www.sbcs.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/v42e0170190-1.pdf
For more information about soil classification using the WRB system, visit:
www.fao.org/3/i3794en/I3794en.pdf
For more information about describing and sampling soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
or Chapter 3 of the Soil Survey manual:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/The-Soil-Su...
For additional information on "How to Use the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils" (video reference), visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Vallers series. Vallers soils are poorly drainedand runoff is negligible to low. Permeability is moderately slow and an apparent seasonal high water table is at a depth of 0.5 to 1.5 feet at some time during the period of March through July.
Landscape: The Vallers soils are on level and nearly level slight rises, shallow depressions and drainageways of till plains, moraines and lake plains. They are on slightly concave to slightly convex slopes with gradient of 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in fine-loamy, calcareous till of Late Wisconsinan Age. In some areas, these soils have a silty lacustrine mantle as much as 24 inches thick.
The Vallers series consists of very deep, poorly drained soils that formed in calcareous fine-loamy till on till plains, moraines and lake plains. These soils have moderately slow permeability. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 22 inches, and mean annual air temperature is about 43 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Typic Calciaquolls
The mollic epipedon ranges from 7 to 25 inches in thickness. In some pedons the lower part of the mollic epipedon qualifies as part of the calcic horizon. The calcic horizon has a calcium carbonate equivalent of about 20 to 35 percent. The 10 to 40 inch particle-size control section typically has between 22 and 32 percent clay but ranges from 18 to 35 percent and 15 to 35 percent sand coarser than very fine sand. It typically contains 2 to 8 percent rock fragments of mixed lithology, but in some pedons the upper part lacks rock fragments. Typically, the soil is calcareous throughout, but a few pedons under native vegetation lack free carbonates in the upper 7 inches of the soil. The soil is typically slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline throughout, but is neutral in the surface layer where it lacks free carbonates. Firm subsoil, saline, stony, and depressional phases are recognized.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of this soil is cultivated. Corn, soybeans, small grains and legumes are the principal crops. Native vegetation is tall grass prairie.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Minnesota, northeastern South Dakota, and eastern North Dakota. The series is of large extent.
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/V/VALLERS.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Landscape: Intermountain hills, low and intermediate mountains
Landform: Mountain slope, hillslopes, and ridges
Geomorphic Component: Mountain top, mountain flank, side slope, and interfluves
Hillslope Profile Position: Summit, shoulder, and backslope
Parent Material Origin: Felsic to mafic, igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks, such as mica gneiss, hornblende gneiss, and amphibolite.
Parent Material Kind: Residuum that is affected by soil creep in the upper solum.
Slope: Typically 15 to 50 percent, but range from 2 to 95 percent.
Elevation: 427 to 1341 meters; (1,400 to 4,400 feet)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, parasesquic, mesic Typic Hapludults
Solum Thickness: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: 51 to 102 cm to weathered bedrock, (20 to 40 inches)
Depth Class: Moderately 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 horizons, 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:
Major Uses: Woodland, less often pasture, hayland, and rarely cultivated crops.
Dominant Vegetation: Where wooded--chestnut oak, white oak, scarlet oak, black oak, hickory with some eastern white pine, Virginia pine, and shortleaf pine. Understory includes flowering dogwood, American chestnut sprouts, sourwood, mountain laurel, flame azalea, and buffalo nut.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Southern Blue Ridge (MLRA 130-B) of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Extent: Large--more than 100,000 acres.
Cowee soils were previously mapped with Saluda and Evard soils. The Cowee Series recognizes soils that are moderately deep, 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches), to weathered bedrock. Saluda soils are shallow and Evard soils are very deep. The 1/98 revision places the Cowee series in a fine-loamy, parasesquic, mesic Typic Hapludults family. The series was formerly in a mixed mineralogy family. CEC activity class placement is based on sample pedon S85-NC-099-003 and on similar soils such as Brevard and Evard.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/COWEE.html
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A representative soil profile of Darco loamy fine sand. (Soil Survey of Shelby County, Texas; by Kirby Griffith, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Darco series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in sandy and loamy residuum from Southern Coastal Plain marine deposits of the Carrizo Sand, Queen City Sand, and Sparta Sand Formations. These gently sloping to steep soils are on uplands. Slopes range from 1 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 1016 to 1270 mm (40 to 50 in) and the mean annual air temperature ranges from 17 to 20 degrees C (63 to 68 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Grossarenic Paleudults
Soil Moisture: Udic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is moist in some or all parts for more than 275 days in normal years, July and August are the driest months, while November to May are the wettest months.
Mean annual soil temperature range: 18 to 21 degrees C (64 to 70 degrees F).
Solum thickness: Greater than 203 cm (80 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 12 to 35 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the soil is used for pasture or woodland. Pastures are mainly in coastal bermudagrass or weeping lovegrass. Native trees include loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, red oak, and hickory. Watermelons, peanuts, small grain for grazing, and vegetables are grown in some areas.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The series is extensive. These soils were formerly included in the Lakeland and Troup series. The series was updated in 2002 to allow value 6 in the Bt horizon and to allow clay loam texture below 60 inches deep. The series was updated in 2004 to allow 7.5YR hue in the E and EB horizons.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/TX419/0/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/D/DARCO.html
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The Al Dhaid series is a very deep soil formed in gravelly alluvial deposits. (NE014) UAE.
Typic Haplocalcids, sandy-skeletal, mixed, hyperthermic
Diagnostic subsurface horizon described in this profile is: Calcic horizon 25 to 90 cm.
The weighted average of the silt plus clay in the particle-size control section is less than 15%. The pH (1:1) ranges from 7.0 to 8.6 throughout the profile. The EC (1:1) is generally less than 1.0 in all horizons, but it may be as high as 6.0 in some areas that have been irrigated. In addition, in pedons where EC (1:1) values are elevated, ESP and SAR values may also range to about 20 and 15 respectively. A desert pavement of gravel in many areas covers 15 to 60% of the soil surface. The size of the rock fragments on and in the soil is predominantly gravel, but may include cobbles and a few stones, especially in areas close to the mountains. The size of rock fragments generally decreases as distance from the mountains increases.
The A horizon is generally about 20 cm thick, but ranges from 10 to 20 cm. Hue is 7.5YR or 10YR, value is 5 to 7, and chroma is 3 or 4. Texture is loamy fine sand, loamy sand, or sandy loam, including as gravelly or very gravelly texture modifiers.
The B horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is very gravelly or extremely gravelly coarse sand, sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand. Texture in the upper 10 to 20 cm of the B horizon may be sand, fine sand, loamy sand including gravelly texture modifiers. Accumulations of calcium carbonate are evident in the form of masses or concretions.
The B horizon may be extremely weakly to moderately cemented with carbonates, particularly in pedons where it extends below 100 cm. Where cemented, roots appear to be able to penetrate with a spacing of less than 10 cm. In some pedons the B horizon extends to more than 200 cm.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is very gravelly or extremely gravelly coarse sand, sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam.
A soil profile of Barnwell loamy coarse sand. (Soil Survey of Lee County, South Carolina; by Charles M. Ogg, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
MLRA(s): 133A-Southern Coastal Plain
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Deep and transitory
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible to high
Permeability: Moderately slow to slow
Shrink-swell potential: Low
Landscape: Middle and upper coastal plain
Landform: Uplands
Hillslope Profile Position: Summits, shoulders, backslopes
Geomorphic Component: Interfluves, side slopes
Parent Material: Marine deposits
Slope: 2 to 15 percent
Elevation (type location): Unknown
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 62 degrees F.
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 45 inches
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults
Thickness of the sandy surface and subsurface layers: 3 to 19 inches
Depth to top of the Argillic or Kandic horizon: 3 to 19 inches
Depth to the base of the Argillic horizon: 35 to 80
Depth to contrasting soil material (lithologic discontinuity): 35 to more than 80 inches
Depth to densic materials: 40 to more than 60 inches
Soil reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid throughout, except where limed
Mica content: 0 to 20 percent
Depth to bedrock: Greater than 80 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 40 to 60 inches, November to April
Rock Fragment content: 0 to 35 percent, by volume throughout
Content of mica: None to 20 percent
Other Feature: 40 to 60 inches to a densic BC horizon with firm or very firm moist consistence
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Truck and row crops
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--watermelon, canteloupe, wheat, soybean, cotton, and corn. Where wooded--mixed hardwoods and pines.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Southern Coastal Plain in South Carolina, and possibly Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia
Extent: Moderate
For more detailed information, please visit:
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The Craggey series consists of shallow, somewhat excessively drained, loamy soils on ridges and side slopes at high elevations in the Southern Blue Ridge mountains, MLRA 130B. They formed in residuum that is affected by soil creep and weathered from felsic to mafic, igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, isotic, frigid Lithic Humudepts
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is in State or Federal ownership and is used for watershed protection, recreation, and wildlife habitat. In areas higher than about 5,400 feet, red spruce and fraser fir are the dominant trees. At the lower elevations, northern red oak, black oak, American beech, yellow birch, black cherry, sugar maple, eastern hemlock, and yellow buckeye are common trees. In many areas, the trees are stunted due to wind and ice damage and a "windswept" phase is recognized. The acreage covered by heath balds is vegetated with rhododendron, mountain laurel, blueberry, striped maple, bearberry, flame azalea, hawthorn, blue ridge goldenrod, and mountain ash.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: High elevations in the Southern Blue Ridge mountains, MLRA 130B of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
Coarse soil structure with clay films.
A soil ped with internal clay coating from an Oxisol in Brazil. Oxisols are an order in USDA soil taxonomy, best known for their occurrence in tropical rain forest, 15-25 degrees north and south of the Equator. They are classified as ferralsols in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources; some oxisols have been previously classified as laterite soils.The main processes of soil formation of oxisols are weathering, humification and pedoturbation due to animals. These processes produce the characteristic soil profile. They are defined as soils containing at all depths no more than 10 percent weatherable minerals, and low cation exchange capacity. Oxisols are always a red or yellowish color, due to the high concentration of iron(III) and aluminium oxides and hydroxides. In addition they also contain quartz and kaolin, plus small amounts of other clay minerals and organic matter.
For more information about describing and sampling soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
or Chapter 3 of the Soil Survey manual:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/The-Soil-Su...
For additional information on "How to Use the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils" (video reference), visit:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_hQaXV7MpM
For additional information about soil classification using USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...
or;
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
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Wah Day Farm - first arrivals... Soil sampling thanks to Wayne Pagel (RPS Cairns) - Thanks Wayne! :-)
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Moenkopie series. (Soil Survey of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona and Utah; by Michael W. Burney, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: An area of Moenkopie-Rock outcrop complex, 3 to 24 percent slopes. Rock outcrop-Torriorthents complex, 20 to 65 percent slopes, extremely bouldery is in the background.
The Moenkopie series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils that formed in alluvium from sandstone and shale. Moenkopie soils are on mesas, plateaus, hills, and structural benches. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 9 inches. Mean annual air temperature is about 52 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Lithic Torriorthents
Soil moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during July-August and December-January. Driest during May and June. Typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil temperature: 52 to 59 degrees F.
Depth to bedrock: dominantly 9 to 18 inches, but ranges from 4 to 20 inches
Rock fragments: averages less than 35 percent in the particle size control section; individual horizons can range from 35 to 65 percent
Texture: (A and C or B horizons) - loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, loamy fine sand, coarse sandy loam, loamy coarse sand (less than 18 percent clay)
Reaction: slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline
Calcium carbonate equivalent: less than 15 percent in the A horizon and less than 35 percent below
Organic matter: less than 1 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation is blue grama, galleta, alkali sacaton, threeawn, fourwing saltbush, snakeweed, and sand dropseed, and juniper, algerita, cliffrose, and widely spaced pinyon pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Arizona and southern Utah. The series is of large extent. MLRA 35.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/arizona/glenca...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MOENKOPIE.html
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A representative soil profile of the Batch series (Skeletic Endoleptic Entic Podzols) in England. (Cranfield University 2021. The Soils Guide. Available: www.landis.org.uk. Cranfield University, UK.)
Soils classified and described by the World Reference Base for England and Wales:
www.landis.org.uk/services/soilsguide/wrb_list.cfm
This soil is in an association of well drained, stony, brownish and reddish loamy soils confined to southern Shropshire. It is mapped mainly on the Long Mynd and to the south and west on Hopesay and Linley Hills. The underlying rocks are Precambrian Longmyndian sandstones, siltstones and flaggy mudstones which range in colour from grey to purple.
Landscape: Most of the terrain is uncultivated and the semi-natural vegetation is mainly Agrostis-Festuca grassland infested to a varied extent by bracken. The higher parts of the Long Mynd carry heather and bilberry communities but there are some enclosed permanent pastures supporting sheep, particularly on Linley and Hopesay Hills.
The Batch series is moderately deep and very stony throughout or in the subsoil, and is developed in conglomerates as well as sandstones or siltstones. The main soils of this association were mapped as the Batch complex by Mackney and Burnham (1966).
Where there are rock outcrops or sparsely vegetated screes, as on the steep valley sides which dissect the eastern slopes of the Long Mynd, shallow loamy brown rankers of the Powys series are found. All the constituent soils are acid or strongly acid throughout and have the greatest percentage of clay in the topsoil, suggesting that weathering is most intense near the surface. Leaching has removed iron from the upper horizons and deposited it lower down forming a brightly colored subsoil layer.
The grazing value of the grassland communities is generally good and the heather moorland moderate to poor depending on its herb richness. The land provides grazing for sheep belonging to nearby lowland farms but is also much used for recreation. The balance between the various interests is a delicate one because sheep grazing, like burning, helps to maintain the heather and bracken vegetation by preventing the regeneration of trees.
For additional information about the soil association, visit:
www.landis.org.uk/services/soilsguide/mapunit.cfm?mu=61105
For more information on the World Reference Base soil classification system, visit:
Soil profile: Ander fine sandy loam, 1 to 3 percent slopes. The dark mollic epipedon extends to a depth of 42 centimeters (17 inches), and the subsoil has clayey textures. (Soil Survey of Goliad County, Texas; by Jonathan K. Wiedenfeld, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: An area of Ander fine sandy loam, 0 to 1 percent slopes. Live oak trees grow well on Ander soils. 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.
The Ander series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, soils that formed in residuum weathered from sandstone in the Goliad Formation. 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.
Mean annual soil temperature: 22.2 to 22.8 degrees C (72 to 73 degrees F)
Depth to argillic horizon: 18 cm to 38 cm (7 to 15 in)
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: 61 to 122 cm (24 to 48 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 35 to 45 percent
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. 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 additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/goliadTX...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/ANDER.html
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Dapplegray series in an area of Urban land-Dapplegray complex, 5 to 20 percent slopes. Human-transported materials extend below a depth of 160 centimeters. (Supplement to the Soil Survey of Los Angeles County, California, Southeastern Part; Narratives written by Randy L. Riddle, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: An area of Dappleygray soil on a hillslope terrace in Ranch Palos Verdes, overlooking the marine terrace below and the Pacific Ocean. The hillside has been completely reshaped.
The Dapplegray series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in human-transported materials (HTM) on engineered hillslopes terraces in areas weathered from calcareous shale bedrock and other calcareous sedimentary rocks. The mean annual precipitation is about 383 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 17 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, spolic, mixed, superactive, calcareous, thermic Typic Xerorthents
Note: Taxonomic subgroup tagged as typic due to presence of human-transported materials. The soil has occurs on appropriate landforms and has soil properties that support the concept of human-transported materials. The use of the Anthroportic subgroup is not currently permitted in the xeric soil moisture regime, but will be explored for future consideration for correlation.
Soil moisture: moist below a depth of about 30 cm some time from October to December and remains moist in some part between depths of about 30 to 90 cm until April or May.
Mean annual soil temperature: 17 to 20 degrees C.
Human-transported materials (HTMs): typically greater than 100 cm, often greater than 200 cm thick.
Rock fragments: typically 10 to 35 percent, transported from the source material or are detached fragments from in-situ bedrock. Some pedons have less than 10 percent fragments.
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline.
Artifacts: 0 to 10 percent, construction debris.
USE AND VEGETATION: Dapplegray soils are used for residential neighborhoods in urban areas. Vegetation is ornamental plants, succulents and lawns.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal hills, foot hills, and low mountains of southern California mountains; MLRA 20. These soils are of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/los...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
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In Soil Taxonomy, a lamella is an illuvial soil horizon less than 7.5 cm thick that contains an accumulation of oriented silicate clay on or bridging sand and silt grains. Lamellae play an important role in the flux of water and nutrients, especially in coarse-textured soils and, therefore, on plant growth.
The significance of lamellae to soil classification is not in the single lamella but in the multiple number of lamellae, each with an overlying eluvial horizon in a single pedon. A single lamella may occur in a pedon, but more commonly there are several lamellae separated by eluvial horizons.
The movement upward of each lamella is not uniform throughout its extent. Consequently, lamellae are wavy rather than smooth, like the bedding planes from which they originated.
For more information about describing and sampling soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
or Chapter 3 of the Soil Survey manual:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/The-Soil-Su...
For additional information on "How to Use the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils" (video reference), visit:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_hQaXV7MpM
For additional information about soil classification using USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...
or;
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
A plinthic soil contains a significant amount of plinthite. Plinthite (Gr. plinthos, brick) is an iron-rich, humus-poor mixture of clay with quartz and other highly weathered minerals. It commonly occurs as reddish redox concentrations in a layer that has a polygonal (irregular), platy (lenticular), or reticulate (blocky) pattern. Plinthite irreversibly hardens upon exposure to repeated wetting and drying, especially if exposed to heat from the sun. Other morphologically similar iron-rich materials that do not progressively harden upon repeated wetting and drying are not considered plinthite. The horizon in which plinthite occurs commonly has 2.5 percent (by mass) or more citrate dithionite extractable iron in the fine-earth fraction and a ratio between acid oxalate extractable Fe and citrate-dithionite extractable Fe of less than 0.10.
In soil science, the "C" horizon is the soil layer consisting more or less of weathered parent rock or deposited material that is little affected by pedogenesis (soil formation). If an overlying horizon contains a significant amount of clay, over time, the clay may be transported into and along vertical cracks or along channels within macropores creating clay coats or clay flows.
The dark red zone in the lower part of this profile is an example of the aquitard layer below a well developed plinthic B horizon of a coastal plain soil. The horizon exhibits very weak very coarse blocky structure with very thick clay coating on internal seams or cracks. Clay coating is common in the very deep layers (3-4 meters or more below the soil surface) where pedogenesis is thought to be minimal or not present. The red area has a sandy loam to sandy clay loam texture, whereas the gray area has texture of clay loam or clay.
These tubes or channels are thought to be formed by biological activity at a time when the sediments were being deposited. In the current environment, they commonly contain coarse roots within elongated macropores. The macropores may be completed filled with soil material or they be open (areas that once contained live roots, but are currently void of roots due to decomposition), allowing for the transmission of air and water within the channel.
Because of the dark red color and dense characteristics, these layers are referred to by the local soil scientists as the "brick" layer.
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Typical profile and landscape of Banister soil. Banister soils are moderately well drained, clayey soils on low stream terraces, mainly along major streams and rivers in the southern part of Iredell County, NC. They have a water table at a depth of 1.5 to 3 feet, mainly in the winter and early spring. (Soil Survey of Iredell County, North Carolina by Robert H. Ranson, Jr., and Roger J. Leab, Natural Resources Conservation Service).
Setting
Major land resource area: Southern Piedmont (MLRA 136)
Landscape: River and stream valley
Landform position: Low stream terrace
Elevation: 700 to 1,200 feet
Map Unit Composition
Banister and similar soils: Typically 55 percent, ranging from about 40 to 80 percent
Typical Profile of Banister
Surface layer:
0 to 13 inches; dark brown and yellowish brown fine sandy loam
Subsoil:
13 to 22 inches; yellowish brown clay loam that has red masses of oxidized iron
22 to 37 inches; brownish yellow clay that has strong brown masses of oxidized iron and light gray iron depletions
37 to 44 inches; light gray and pale yellow clay that has red masses of oxidized iron
44 to 50 inches; light gray, white, and light bluish gray sandy clay loam
Substratum:
50 to 80 inches; multicolored, stratified very gravelly coarse sand, sandy clay loam, gravelly sandy loam, and sand
Soil Properties and Qualities
Banister
Available water capacity: Moderate (about 8.2 inches)
Slowest saturated hydraulic conductivity: Moderately high (about 0.20 in/hr)
Depth class: Very deep (more than 60 inches)
Depth to root-restrictive feature: More than 60 inches
Agricultural drainage class: Moderately well drained
Depth to seasonal water saturation: About 18 to 36 inches
Water table kind: Apparent
Flooding hazard: Rare
Ponding hazard: None
Shrink-swell potential: Moderate
Runoff class: Low
Surface fragments: None
Parent material: Old clayey alluvium derived from igneous and metamorphic rock
Use and Management Considerations
Cropland
Suitability: Well suited
Management concerns: Erodibility, wetness, and trafficability
Management measures and considerations:
• Resource management systems that include terraces and diversions, stripcropping, contour tillage, no-till farming, and crop residue management help to minimize erosion, control surface runoff, and maximize the infiltration of rainfall.
• Delaying spring planting because of wetness from the seasonal high water table helps to prevent the clodding and rutting caused by equipment.
• Avoiding tillage when the soil is wet helps to prevent clodding and crusting.
• Management of surface water helps to reduce the wetness limitation and improve soil productivity.
• Applying lime and fertilizer according to recommendations based on soil tests helps to increase the availability of plant nutrients and maximize crop productivity.
Pasture and hayland
Suitability: Well suited
Management concerns: Wetness and trafficability
Management measures and considerations:
• Avoiding overgrazing and avoiding grazing when the soil is too wet help to prevent soil compaction, decreased productivity, and a rough soil surface.
• Fencing livestock away from creeks and streams and using pressure-fed watering tanks help to prevent streambank caving, sedimentation, and water contamination by animal waste.
• Applying lime and fertilizer according to recommendations based on soil tests helps to increase the availability of plant nutrients and maximizes productivity when establishing, maintaining, or renovating hayland and pasture.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
archive.org/details/usda-soil-survey-of-iredell-county-no...
For a detailed description of the soil, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BANISTER.html
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Trail series in an area of Monue-Trail-Nepalto complex, 1 to 6 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Glen Canyon Recreation Area, Arizona and Utah; by Michael W. Burney, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Trail soils are on floodplains, channels, valley bottoms, low terraces, alluvial flats, and alluvial fans and have slopes of 0 to 8 percent. These soils formed in stratified alluvium weathered dominantly from sandstone, siltstone, limestone and mudstone. Elevations range from 3,800 to 6,200 feet.
The Trail series consists of very deep, well drained and somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in stratified alluvium. Trail soils are on floodplains and alluvial fans and have slopes of 0 to 8 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 8 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 54 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Typic Torrifluvents
Soil Moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during July-September and December-February. Driest during May and June. Typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil Temperature: 51 to 61 degrees F.
Rock Fragments: less than 15 percent gravel
Reaction: slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline
Calcium carbonate: effervescent from at depth of less than 10 inches to more than 40 inches
Salinity: none to slightly saline
Sodicity: none to slightly sodic
USE AND VEGETATION: Trail soils are used for livestock grazing and irrigated cropland. The present vegetation is cottonwood, salt cedar, willow, Russian thistle, camelthorn, fourwing saltbush, and sand dropseed.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Arizona, southern Colorado, northern New Mexico and southern Utah. This series is not extensive. MLRA 35 and 36. Use in MLRA 70C is not allowed.
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A soil profile of an Aeric Alaquod in Florida, the Myakka soil series. The spodic horizon (black) begins at a depth of about 62 cm. (Soil Survey Staff. 2015. Illustrated guide to Soil Taxonomy. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, Nebraska; p. 4-380.)
Alaquods have a water table that fluctuates seasonally. During wet periods, iron is chemically reduced (thus making it mobile) and moved out of the soil profile. The spodic horizon consists mostly of an accumulation of organic matter and aluminum and commonly has few or no redoximorphic concentrations (reddish to black accumulations of iron-manganese oxides).
The albic (light-colored and leached) horizon in the drier Alaquods is typically thick. The wettest Alaquods have no albic horizon but generally have uncoated sand grains above the spodic horizon. Alaquods typically have sandy texture. Because of their high humus content, however, some of them feel and behave like loamy soils. Alaquods occur primarily in the southeastern United States.
To download the latest version of Soil Taxonomy, 2nd Edition, 1999, visit:
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For additional information about soil classification using Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th Edition, 2022, visit:
[www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/Keys-to-Soi...]
To download the latest version of Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th Edition, 2022, visit:
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For an Illustrated Guide to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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A representative soil profile of the Halverson soil series. (Soil Survey of Polk County, Minnesota; by Charles T. Saari and Rodney B. Heschke, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Halverson series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in a mantle of sandy glacial outwash or eolian sands and in the underlying loamy till. These soils are typically on convex slopes of till plains and moraines. The permeability is rapid in the sandy mantle and moderate in the underlying till. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 24 inches. Mean annual air temperature is about 40 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Arenic Argiudolls
Thickness of the sandy mantle ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The mollic epipedon ranges from 10 to 16 inches in thickness. Depth to the base of the argillic ranges from 26 to 55 inches. The upper sediment typically does not have rock fragments, but may contain up to 10 percent, mainly at the boundary with loamy glacial till. The loamy till contains from 2 to 13 percent gravel and 0 to 5 percent cobbles of mixed lithology. The soil moisture control section is not dry in all parts for as long as 45 consecutive days for the 120 days following the summer solstice. It is also not dry in any part for as long as 90 cumulative days per year in 6 out of 10 years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. The principal crops are small grain, corn, soybeans, and hay. Some areas are in woodland or pasture. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods and prairie grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwest and West central Minnesota. Not extensive.
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The Appling 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 metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont uplands. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. Near the type location, mean annual precipitation is 45 inches and mean annual temperature is 60 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults
The Bt horizon is at least 24 to 50 inches thick and extends to 40 inches or more. Depth to bedrock ranges from 6 to 10 feet or more. The soil is very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout, unless limed. Limed soils typically are moderately acid or slightly acid in the upper part. Content of coarse fragments ranges from 0 to 35 percent by volume in the A and E horizons and 0 to 10 percent by volume in the Bt horizon. Fragments are dominantly gravel in size. Most pedons have few to common flakes of mica in the A and Bt horizons and few to many flakes of mica in the BC and C 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 corn, tobacco, soybeans, cotton, and small grains.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Piedmont of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of large extent.
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Vertrees series. (Soil Survey of Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky; by William H. Craddock and Susan B. Southard, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Cattle utilizing a water body in a pasture field in an area of Crider-Vertrees silt loams, karst, rolling, eroded. The water body is a sinkhole that has sealed up, allowing water to pond. Vertrees soils have slopes ranging from 2 to 30 percent and are on uplands. Most areas are karst. (Soil Survey of Harrison County, Indiana; by Steven W. Neyhouse, Sr., Byron G. Nagel, Gary R. Struben, and Steven Blanford, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Vertrees series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in residuum from limestone interbedded with siltstone and shale. These gently sloping to steep soils are on ridges and side slopes. Slopes range from 2 to 30 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Paleudalfs
The solum thickness and depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to very strongly acid to a depth of about 50 inches, and from very strongly acid to neutral below 50 inches. Rock fragments of chert or channers of siltstone range from 0 to 35 percent by volume in the A and BE horizons, 0 to 25 percent by volume in individual Bt horizons to a depth of about 50 inches. The weighted average of coarse fragments is less than 15 percent. Below 50 inches, chert and channers of siltstone range from 0 to 35 percent by volume.
USE AND VEGETATION: Due to the karst topography, most areas are used for pasture and hay. Steeper areas are forested. Native forests consisted of oaks, hickory, elm, maple, dogwood, red cedar, persimmon, and sassafras as the dominant species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Pennyroyal region of Kentucky and southern Indiana. The extent is moderate.
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The Al Aswad series is a very deep soil formed in human-transported fill material. (NE010) UAE.
Taxonomic classification: Typic Torriorthents, coarse-loamy, carbonatic, hyperthermic
Diagnostic subsurface horizon described in this profile is: None
This soil is formed in human-transported fill material, mostly overlying sabkha. The particle-size control section is dominated by very fine sand textures. Some of the sands consist of pieces of shell fragments. The properties of individual layers of this soil reflect the properties of the soil from the location where the fill material was obtained and can therefore be quite variable from layer to layer.
The pH (1:1) ranges from 7.0 to 8.9 throughout the profile. Most horizons have EC (1:1) values ranging from about 0.2 to 2.5, but it can be as high as 10.0. Shell fragments larger than 2mm range from 0 to about 30% in individual horizons.
The A horizon is generally about 20 cm thick but ranges from 10 to 25 cm. Hue is 10YR or 2.5Y, value is 6 or 7, and chroma is 2 to 4. Texture is fine sand, very fine sand, loamy very fine sand, or loamy fine sand.
The C horizons have hue of 10YR or 2.5 Y, value of 5 to 8, and chroma 2 to 4. Texture of the particle-size control section is dominantly very fine sand or loamy very fine sand, but layers may also be fine sand, loamy fine sand, or sandy loam.
A profile of Maverick clay, 1 to 3 percent slopes. The olive colored material beginning at around 90 centimeters slakes in water, and qualifies as densic material. The layer between 60 to 90 centimeters is a transitional area. The brown bands in the subsoil are layers of strongly cemented gypsum crystals. Densic layers restrict the movement of water and roots. (Soil Survey of Duval County, Texas; by John L. Sackett III, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Maverick series consists of soils that are moderately deep to densic material, well drained soils. These gently sloping to strongly sloping soils formed in calcareous, saline clayey residuum weathered from Cretaceous and Tertiary mudstone. Slope ranges from 1 to 10 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 22 degrees C (72 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 610 mm (24 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, hyperthermic Aridic Haplustepts
Note: Classification change from Ustollic Camborthids to Aridic Haplustepts based on geographic distribution of the series, rainfall patterns, and vegetative production and composition.
Soil Moisture: An aridic ustic moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is moist in some or all parts for less than 90 consecutive days in normal years. June to August and December to February are the driest months, while September to November and March to May are the wettest months.
Solum thickness: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 in) to densic material (weathered mudstone bedrock)
Mean annual soil temperature: 22 to 24 degrees C (72 to 76 degrees F)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 35 to 55 percent
Coarse Fragments: 0 to 5 percent
CEC/clay ratio: 0.6 to 1.00
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The grasses consist of a sparse cover of curlymesquite, hairy tridens, tobosa, red grama, and threeawn. Woody vegetation is mostly scrubby mesquite, blackbrush, guayacan, and twisted acacia. The ecological site is Rolling Hardland, PE 19-31 (R083BY431TX).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Rio Grande Plain, Texas; LRR I; MLRA 83B. The series is of large extent.
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Soil profile: Sharondale series consists of very deep, well drained soils with moderately rapid permeability. They formed in loamy colluvium weathered from sandstone, siltstone, and shale. (Soil Survey of Pike County, Kentucky; by John A. Kelley, Soil Conservation Service)
Landscape: These moderately steep to very steep soils are in coves or on mountain sides on north and east facing slopes. Slope ranges from 15 to 100 percent but is dominantly 45 to 90 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 43 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 58 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludolls
Thickness of the solum ranges from 40 to 80 inches and depth to hard bedrock is more than 5 feet. Flat rock fragments, mostly 2mm to 15 inches in length, range from 10 to 85 percent in individual horizons, but average 35 percent or more in the particle-size control section. Clay content ranges from 8 to 27 percent, but is commonly between 12 and 27 percent. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral throughout.
Most areas are in second growth forests with mixed stands of yellow poplar, American basswood, white ash, cucumber tree, northern red oak, black walnut, hickory, black locust, yellow buckeye, Ohio buckeye, and umbrella magnolia.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Sharondale soils are in the Cumberland-Allegheny Plateau of eastern Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, and possibly eastern Tennessee. The area is estimated to be of moderate extent, about 50,000 acres. (30,000 acres in Pike County). The Sharondale soils were mostly mapped as Cutshin soils in the past.
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Soil profile: Braddock soil in an area of Braddock-Appomattox complex, 2 to 8 percent slopes. The Braddock series consists of very deep, well drained, and moderately permeable soils formed in colluvium and alluvium derived dominantly from a mixture of crystalline rocks. (Soil Survey of Iredell County, North Carolina by Robert H. Ranson, Jr., and Roger J. Leab, Natural Resources Conservation Service).
archive.org/details/usda-soil-survey-of-iredell-county-no...
Landscape: Braddock soils are on footslopes of ridges and colluvial fans and adjacent high terraces. Mean and annual precipitation is about 40 inches and mean annual temperature is about 57 degrees F near the type location. Slopes range from 0 to 45 percent.
Setting
Major land resource area: Southern Blue Ridge and Southern Piedmont
Landscape: Fan on interfluves and upland and mountain valley
Landform position: Summit
Elevation: 1,100 to 1,700 feet
Map Unit Composition
Braddock and similar soils: Typically 50 percent, ranging from about 40 to 60 percent
Appomattox and similar soils: Typically 45 percent, ranging from about 40 to 50
percent
Typical Profile
Braddock
Surface layer:
0 to 2 inches; dark brown sandy loam
Subsurface layer:
2 to 11 inches; yellowish brown sandy loam
Subsoil:
11 to 61 inches; red clay that has brownish yellow, dark red, and reddish yellow
mottles in the lower part
61 to 80 inches; red sandy clay loam
Minor Components
Similar components:
• Clifford soils in similar areas
Soil Properties and Qualities
Braddock
Available water capacity: Moderate (about 6.6 inches)
Slowest saturated hydraulic conductivity: Moderately high (about 0.6 in/hr)
Depth class: Very deep (more than 60 inches)
Depth to root-restrictive feature: More than 60 inches
Agricultural drainage class: Well drained
Depth to seasonal water saturation: More than 6 feet
Flooding hazard: None
Ponding hazard: None
Shrink-swell potential: Moderate
Runoff class: Low
Surface fragments: None
Parent material: Old colluvium and/or old alluvium derived from igneous and
metamorphic rock
Use and Management Considerations
Cropland
Suitability: Well suited
Management concerns: Erodibility and soil fertility
Management measures and considerations:
• Resource management systems that include conservation tillage, crop residue management, stripcropping, and sod-based rotations help to prevent erosion by stabilizing the soil, controlling surface runoff, and maximizing the infiltration of water.
• Incorporating crop residue into the soil or leaving residue on the soil surface helps to maximize the infiltration of water.
• Applying lime and fertilizer according to recommendations based on soil tests helps to increase the availability of plant nutrients and maximize crop productivity.
Pasture and hayland
Suitability: Well suited
Management concerns: Erodibility and soil fertility
Management measures and considerations:
• Planting adapted species helps to ensure the production of high-quality forage and reduce the hazard of erosion.
• Using a rotational grazing system and implementing a well planned clipping and harvesting schedule help to maintain pastures and increase productivity.
• Applying lime and fertilizer according to recommendations based on soil tests helps to increase the availability of plant nutrients and maximizes productivity when establishing, maintaining, or renovating hayland and pasture.
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The Ajman series is a very deep soil formed in eolian sands. (NE009) UAE.
Taxonomic classification: Typic Torriorthents, coarse-loamy, carbonatic, hyperthermic
Diagnostic subsurface horizon described in this profile is: None. Due to the finely stratified nature of the horizons and lack of structure, this soil does not have a cambic horizon. The slight variations in chroma between horizons is due to the nature of the parent material. Also, the predominance of very fine sand texture prevents this soil from being classified as a Psamment.
The particle-size control section is dominated by very fine sand textures. Some of the sands consist of pieces of shell fragments. The pH (1:1) ranges from 7.2 to 8.4 throughout the profile. Most horizons have EC (1:1) values ranging from about 0.15 to 2.0, but in some places, especially in relatively low-lying positions where a water table may be present slightly below 200 cm, EC (1:1) values range from 2 to 10. Shell fragments larger than 2mm range from 0 to about 10% in individual horizons.
The A horizon is generally about 20 cm thick but ranges from 10 to 25 cm. Hue is 10YR or 2.5Y, value is 5 to 7, and chroma is 2 to 4. Texture is very fine sand, loamy very fine sand, or loamy fine sand.
The C horizons have hue of 10YR or 2.5 Y, value of 5 to 8, and chroma 2 to 4. Texture of the particle-size control section is dominantly very fine sand, but layers may also be fine sand or loamy fine sand. It is finely stratified and, in some pedons, cross-bedded due to the eolian origin.
Modern GPR systems are light-weight, highly mobile, and integrated. A typical GPR system consists of a control unit (located beneath blue visor on the cart) with an antenna (orange box beneath the cart).
Ground-penetrating radar is an impulse radar system. It transmits short pulses of very high and ultra-high frequency (from about 30 MHz to 1.2 GHz) electromagnetic energy into the soil and underlying strata from an antenna. When these pulses contact an interface between layers with contrasting dielectric permittivity, a portion of the energy is reflected back to a receiving antenna. The more abrupt and contrasting the difference in dielectric permittivity, the greater the amount of energy that is reflected back to the receiving antenna. Ground-penetrating radar has been used by soil scientists principally in order 1, 2, and 3 soil surveys. It serves as a quality control tool in documenting the taxonomic compositions and improving the interpretations of soil map units (Doolittle and Butnor, 2008). In these applications, GPR documents the presence, depth, lateral extent, and variability of diagnostic subsurface horizons. Typically, strong radar reflections are produced by abrupt interfaces between highly contrasting soil materials.
Where soil conditions are suitable, GPR can determine the depth to contrasting master (B, C, and R) subsurface horizons and layers. Other soil horizons and layers have also been identified with GPR. Examples include buried genetic horizons, dense root-restricting layers, frozen soil layers, illuvial accumulations of organic matter, and cemented or indurated horizons. Ground-penetrating radar generally is unable to detect subtle changes in soil properties (e.g., structure, porosity, and texture), transitional horizons (e.g., AB, AC, and BC), or vertical divisions of master horizons. However, GPR has been used to infer distinct vertical changes in soil color associated with abrupt and contrasting changes in organic carbon content.
Photo courtesy of EAD-Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi. www.ead.gov.ae/
John Kelley is a soil scientist previously with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), United States Department of Agriculture and Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi, UAE. John is a soil survey quality assurance expert and a specialist in soil mapping, soil classification, and correlation of soil survey projects. He has extensive experience in soil survey procedures and documentation including digital soil photography.
A representative soil profile of the Belhaven series in Virginia.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, dysic, thermic Terric Haplosaprists
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Very poorly drained
Permeability: Moderately slow to moderately rapid
Surface Runoff: Very slow
Parent Material: Highly decomposed organic matter underlain by loamy marine sediments
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Where wooded--plant communities that reflect past history of treatment. Areas with a history of severe burning have scattered pond pine and a dense undergrowth of both large holly and small gallberry and huckleberry, fetterbush lyonia, swamp cyrilla, loblolly bay gordonia, greenbrier and southern bayberry, as well as scattered red maple, red bay, sweetbay magnolia, and reeds. Similar areas may have a smaller population of these species and contain large amounts of broomsedge. Areas without severe burning have red maple, Southern bald cypress, pond pine, Atlantic white-cedar, red bay, sweet bay, and other hydrophytic species. Where cultivated--corn, soybeans, small grain, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Lower Coastal Plain of North Carolina and Virginia with moderate extent
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Houdek series; the State Soil of South Dakota (original image by Bruce Kunze, USDA-NRCS).
Landscape: South Dakota has a large acreage of productive, prairie derived soils on glacial till (material deposited by glaciers). Houdek is a native soil of South Dakota and does not occur in any other state.
Most of these soils are medium textured and have high natural fertility. The Houdek soil was chosen because of its large extent and its importance to agriculture. The Professional Soil Scientists Association of South Dakota and the South Dakota chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society worked together to commemorate the importance of soil to South Dakota. It is fitting that Houdek loam, a typical prairie derived glacial till soil, was adopted as the state soil to acknowledge the importance soil has played in our State’s most important industry, agriculture.
The Houdek series was established in 1955 in Spink County, South Dakota. The series was separated from the Barnes series which was established in 1914. In 1990, the late Governor George Mickelson signed a House Bill into law, making the Houdek loam South Dakota’s Official State Soil.
The Houdek series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in glacial till on uplands. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderately slow in the underlying material. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 22 inches, and mean annual air temperature is about 47 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiustolls
The depth to carbonates ranges from 14 to 24 inches. Thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 8 to 20 inches and includes all or part of the Bt horizon. The soil contains 0 to 10 percent by volume of coarse fragments as pebbles. Some pedons contain up to 20 percent by volume of stones throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Small grain, corn, alfalfa, and feed grains are the principal crops. Native vegetation is big bluestem, little bluestem, western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, needleandthread, sideoats grama, blue grama, sedges, and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: East-central South Dakota. The series is of large extent.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Spink County, South Dakota, 1955.
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Plate 7: Typical soil profile and associated landscape for the Tarbush series (soil AD207).
Taxonomic classification: Lithic Calcigypsids, sandy, mixed, hyperthermic
The Tarbush series is a shallow sandy soil overlying bedrock (typically calcareous sandstone). The soils are typically moderately well to excessively drained. They occur on flats and gentle slopes within level to gently undulating deflation plains. They are formed from eolian sands and occur in older landscapes.
These soils are used for rangeland grazing of camels though vegetation cover is frequently less than 5%. Common vegetation species recorded include Haloxylon salicornicum and Zygophyllum spp.
Scattered occurrences of this soil have been described in the Ghayathi sub-area and in the northern part of the Al Ain sub-area.
The main feature of this soil is the shallow depth (<50cm) to a lithic contact. The soil material above the hardpan is sandy, shows evidence of the accumulation of carbonates and gypsum and is nonsaline. The shallow depth to the hardpan layer is the main restriction for this soil. This restricts water movement, moisture retention and presents a barrier to root development further restricting the availability of nutrients. The presence of gypsum also suggests that salinity might be a problem under irrigation. This soil is considered unsuitable for irrigated agriculture.
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Tama series; the State Soil of Iowa. (Soil survey of Tama County, Iowa; by Robin J. Wisner, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Tama soils are on interfluves and side slopes on uplands and on treads and risers on stream terraces in river valleys. Slope ranges from 0 to 20 percent. Nearly level to gently sloping areas are cultivated. The principal crops are corn, soybeans, small grains, and legume hays. Steeper slopes are pastured. The native vegetation is big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, and other grasses of the tall grass prairie.
The Tama series is considered one of the most productive of the soils in Iowa that are used for agricultural purposes. It makes up about 825,000 acres in east-central and eastern Iowa. The series was first identified in Black Hawk County, Iowa, in 1917. It has been identified in 26 counties in Iowa. It also has been identified in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiudolls
Tama soils formed in 48 or more inches of silty loess; under tall prairie grasses with a deep, fibrous root system; and under relatively humid climatic conditions. Over hundreds of years, the grasses have added organic matter to the soils, producing a relatively thick, dark surface layer. In some areas, erosion has significantly affected the properties of the soils. Eroded Tama soils have less total nitrogen and organic matter and more clay in the surface layer than uneroded Tama soils.
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Soil profile of Bowie fine sandy loam, 1 to 5 percent slopes. Bowie soils have a fine sandy loam surface over a sandy clay loam subsoil that contains plinthite. (Soil Survey of San Augustine and Sabine Counties, Texas; by Kirby Griffith, Natural Resources Conservation Service).
The Bowie series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loamy Coastal Plain deposits on the Queen City, Reklaw, Cook Mountain, Sparta, Cockfield and Carrizo Sand Formations. These very gently sloping to moderately sloping soils are on interfluves. Slopes range from 1 to 8 percent but are dominantly 1 to 5 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 18 degrees C (65 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 1270 mm (50 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Plinthic Paleudults
Soil Moisture: An udic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is not dry in any part for more than 90 days in normal years.
Mean annual soil temperature: 16 to 21 degrees C (61 to 70 degrees F)
Depth to argillic horizon: 5 to 51 cm (2 to 20 in)
Thickness of solum: 152 to more than 203 cm (60 to more than 80 in)
Depth to redox concentrations: 25 cm to 173 cm (10 to 68 in)
Depth to episaturation: 107 to 152 cm (42 to 60 in)
Depth to albic materials: 114 to 173 cm (45 to 68 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content in the Control Section: 18 to 30 percent
Silt plus very fine sand : 30 to 60 percent
Very fine sand and fragments up to 8 cm (3 in) in diameter: 15 to 45 percent of sand fraction
Cation Exchange Capacity: 6.0 to 18.0 meg/100 gram of soil.
USE AND VEGETATION: The principal use is for pasture and forest. Some areas are used for growing corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes, peaches, watermelons and other vegetables or fruit crops. Pasture is mainly bermudagrass or bahiagrass. Forests consist of loblolly and shortleaf pines, sweetgum, red oak, and hickory trees with tall and midgrasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Land Resource Region P, MLRA 133A and 133B; The series is of large extent, over 1 million acres.
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Fig. 5.18 Anhydritic Aquisalids (AD125) UAE
Anhydritic Aquisalids. These are the Aquisalids that have an anhydritic horizon with its upper boundary within 100 cm of the soil surface.
Anhydritic horizons (whitish area in photo) are horizons in which anhydrite has accumulated through neoformation or transformation to a significant extent. It typically occurs as a subsurface horizon. It commonly occurs in conjunction with a salic horizon.
Aquisalids are the Salids that are saturated with water in one or more layers within 100 cm of the mineral soil surface for 1 month or more in normal years.
Salids are the salty Aridisols with a salic horizon. They commonly occur in wet areas in the deserts where capillary rise and evaporation of water concentrate the salts near the surface. Some of these soils have redoximorphic depletions and concentrations. In other soils redoximorphic features may not be evident because of a high pH and the associated low redox potential, which inhibit iron and manganese reduction. These soils occur dominantly in depressional areas where ground water saturates the soils at least part of the year. The vegetation on these soils generally is sparse, consisting of salt-tolerant shrubs, grasses, and forbs. Although these soils may hold water at a tension less than 1500 kPa, the dissolved salt content makes the soils physiologically dry.
Salic horizons have an accumulation of salts that are more soluble than gypsum in cold water. A common salt is halite, the crystalline form of sodium chloride. In some areas soluble sulfates may also accumulate with the crystalline forms, such as thernadite, hexahydrite, epsomite, and mirabilite. Two of the commonly occurring bicarbonates are trona and natron. Under extreme aridic conditions and at low temperatures, evaporites of calcium chloride, nitrates, and other soluble salts may accumulate. Identification of the kinds of crystalline salts requires detailed mineralogical analyses. In extremely arid areas, such as parts of Chile and Antarctica, where measurable precipitation is rare, salic horizons have a hard or rigid rupture-resistance class. These types of salic horizons are physical barriers to roots, but they slake in water and, therefore, are not considered cemented.
Aridisols, as their name implies, are soils in which water is not available to mesophytic plants for long periods. During most of the time when the soils are warm enough for plants to grow, soil water is held at potentials less than the permanent wilting point or has a content of soluble salts great enough to limit the growth of plants other than halophytes, or both. There is no period of 90 consecutive days when moisture is continuously available for plant growth.
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