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The Madison series consists of well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in residuum weathered from felsic or intermediate, high-grade metamorphic or igneous rocks high in mica content. They are very deep to bedrock and moderately deep to saprolite. They are on gently sloping to steep uplands in the Piedmont.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults
About half the total acreage is cultivated or used for pasture. Principal crops grown are cotton, corn, wheat, oats, soybeans, peaches, apples, and vegetables. Original forest species include white, black, post, and red oaks; hickories; dogwood, sourwood; maple and elm. Shortleaf and loblolly pine were present in places and are now common, along with Virginia pine, in abandoned fields.
The soils are extensive within the Piedmont of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
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The Freeboard series consists of deep moderately well drained soils that formed in andesite and volcanic rock residuum. Freeboard soils are on side slopes of interfluves of hills and mountains on islands. The mean annual precipitation is about 355 millimeters (14 inches) and the mean annual temperature is about 21 degrees C (69 degrees F). Slopes range from 5 to 65 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Vertic Haploxeralfs
The mean annual soil temperature is 15 to 22 degrees C. (59 to 71 degrees F.) The soil moisture control section is dry in all parts from about mid-June to mid-November and is usually moist the rest of the time.
USE AND VEGETATION: Wildlife habitat, recreation and building site development. Vegetation is perennial and annual grasses, sage, Lemonade bush, and cactus, Non-native Scrub and Coastal Sage Scrub.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Santa Catalina Island, Los Angeles County, California. The soil is not extensive. MLRA 20 Southern California Mountains.
For a detailed soil description, visit:
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Profile of a soil in the Dothan series. A farm pond in an area of Dothan sandy loam, 2 to 5 percent slopes. This map unit is well suited to hay, pasture, and cultivated crops (Barbour County, Alabama by Johnny C. Trayvick, Natural Resources Conservation Service).
Landscape: Coastal Plain
Landform: Uplands
Landform position: Broad ridges; side slopes
Shape of areas: Rounded to irregular
Size of areas: 10 to 200 acres
Composition
Dothan and similar soils: 80 percent
Dissimilar soils: 20 percent
Typical Profile
Surface layer:
0 to 11 inches—brown fine sandy loam
Subsoil:
11 to 29 inches—yellowish brown sandy clay loam that has strong brown mottles
29 to 42 inches—yellowish brown sandy clay loam that has strong brown mottles
42 to 52 inches—light yellowish brown sandy clay loam that has pale brown, strong brown, and light brownish gray mottles
52 to 63 inches—strong brown sandy clay loam that has pale brown, dark red, and light brownish gray mottles
63 to 80 inches—dark red sandy clay loam that has yellowish brown and gray mottles
Soil Properties and Qualities
Depth class: Very deep
Drainage class: Well drained
Seasonal high water table: Perched, at a depth of 3 to
5 feet from January through April
Permeability: Moderately slow
Available water capacity: Moderate
Shrink-swell potential: Low
Flooding: None
Content of organic matter in the surface layer: Low
Natural fertility: Low
Tilth: Good
Reaction: Very strongly acid to moderately acid
Other distinctive properties: 5 percent or more plinthite at a depth of 24 to 60 inches
Minor Components
Dissimilar soils:
• Fuquay soils, which are in the slightly lower positions and have sandy surface and subsurface layers with a combined thickness of 20 to 40 inches
• Orangeburg soils, which are on the slightly higher knolls, have a reddish subsoil, and have less than 5 percent plinthite in the subsoil
• Bonifay soils, which are in the slightly lower positions and have sandy surface and subsurface layers with a combined thickness of 40 to 80 inches
Similar soils:
• Small areas of soils that have less clay in the subsoil than the Dothan soil
Land Use
Dominant uses: Cropland, pasture, and hayland
Other uses: Woodland
Cropland
Suitability: Well suited
Commonly grown crops: Cotton, corn, and peanuts
Management concerns: Erosion
• Terraces and diversions, stripcropping, contour tillage, no-till planting, and crop residue management reduce the hazard of erosion, help to control surface runoff, and maximize rainfall infiltration.
Pasture and hayland
Suitability: Well suited
Commonly grown crops: Coastal bermudagrass and bahiagrass
Management concerns: Erosion
Management measures and considerations:
• Preparing seedbeds on the contour or across the slope reduces the hazard of erosion and increases the germination rate.
Interpretive Groups
Land capability classification: 2e
Woodland ordination symbol: 9A for loblolly pine
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/alabama/AL005/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/D/DOTHAN.html
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A representative soil profile of Hand loam. The soil is dark to a depth of about 35 centimeters; calcium carbonate is below this depth. (Soil Survey of Spink County, South Dakota; by James B. Millar, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Hand series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in stratified loamy glacial meltwater sediments on uplands. Permeability is moderate. Slopes range from 0 to 15 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 22 inches, and mean annual air temperature is about 46 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Haplustolls
Depth to free carbonates ranges from 12 to 26 inches. Thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 8 to 20 inches and extends into the Bw horizon. The control section averages between 18 and 30 percent clay. Bulk density of the C horizon is 1.25 to 1.40. The thickness of stratified meltwater deposits ranges from 40 inches to many feet over loamy glacial till.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Corn, oats, soybeans, grain sorghum, alfalfa, and tame grasses are the main crops. Native vegetation includes big bluestem, little bluestem, blue grama, western wheatgrass, sideoats grama, and needlegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: East-central and southeastern South Dakota. It is extensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/south_dakota/S...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HAND.html
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Triangle series.
Landscape: Triangle soils are in the basin rim and very low alluvial fans of valleys. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. The soils have formed in mixed alluvium derived from granitic and sedimentary rocks. Most of the areas are flat smooth ponds or basins.
The Triangle series consists of deep, very poorly drained wide cracking soils with a high percentage of exchangeable sodium. They formed in mixed alluvium in basin rims and have slopes of less than 2 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 11 inches and the mean annual temperature is 62 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Sodic Epiaquerts
Most years the entire profile is saturated from September through April by a water table and stagnant surface water. Cracks range from 2 to 8 cm wide at the surface and 1 to 2 cm at depths of 34 inches from May 1 to September 15. The depth from the surface to the unrelated lower C horizon ranges from 45 to 70 inches.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are ponded and used for waterfowl hunting with some areas used for limited grazing (during spring and summer) between hunting seasons. The vegetation is swampgrass, Baltic rush, alkali bullrush, sour clover, and other salt tolerant wetland grasses and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils are distributed along the basin rim of the central part of the San Joaqin Valley in California. They are not extensive. These soils were formerly included with and surveyed as the Willows series in the Los Banos Area, series 1939 report. They are being differentiated by characteristics that show a reducing environment (Aquic Moisture Regime) and by being ponded for six months which is not characteristic of the Willows series.
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
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soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TRIANGLE.html
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A representative soil profile of a Suggsville soil in an area of Prim-Suggsville-Watsonia complex, 2 to 10 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Wayne County, Mississippi; by Ralph Thornton, Natural Resources Conservation Service).
The Suggsville series consists of deep, well drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in clayey sediments overlying limestone and chalk. They are on convex ridges and side slopes on uplands of the Alabama and Mississippi Blackland Prairie and the Southern Coastal Plain Major Land Resource Areas. Near the type location, the average annual air temperature is about 64 degrees F. and the average annual precipitation is about 59 inches. Slope ranges from 1 to 35 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, smectitic, thermic Chromic Dystruderts
Depth to a paralithic contact ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Depth to horizons with secondary carbonates ranges from 30 to 50 inches. Content of rounded quartzite pebbles ranges from 0 to 10 percent throughout the profile.
USE AND VEGETATION: Principal use is woodland and wildlife habitat. Some areas are in pasture or hayland. Common trees in wooded areas include longleaf pine, loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, spruce pine, southern red oak, post oak, yellow poplar, yellow chestnut oak, sweetgum, and hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 135A and 133A in southwest Alabama and in southeast Mississippi. It is of small extent. This soil has been included with the Oktibbeha series.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/mississippi/MS...
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soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/SUGGSVILLE.html
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Note: The left side of the photo exhibits natural soil structure. The right side has been smoothed.
The Carville series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in recent loamy alluvium. These soils are on nearly level to very gently sloping natural levee positions on flood plains, mainly along the Mississippi River and its distributaries. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, calcareous, hyperthermic Fluventic Endoaquepts
St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana; located from the intersection of U.S. Highways 51 and 61 in LaPlace, Louisiana, 0.97 kilometers (0.6 mile) southeast on U.S. Highway 61, then 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) northeast on Oswald Avenue, then 137 meters (450 feet) northwest through tree line, then 402 meters (0.25 mile) southwest along tree line, and 76 meters (250 feet) due north into pasture; Latitude 30 degrees, 4 minutes, 7.25 seconds N.; Longitude 90 degrees, 27 minutes, 50.04 seconds W., Laplace, Louisiana USGS 7.5 Minute Quadrangle, NAD-27.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas have been cleared and are primarily used for sugarcane, small grain, soybeans, corn, truck crops, pasture, and hay crops. The native forest vegetation in uncultivated areas is predominantly oaks, cottonwood, hickories, and sweetgum with an undergrowth of vines and canes.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Mississippi River Alluvium in south-central Louisiana. The series is of small extent. The series was proposed for the update of St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana in 2001. The series was established by an Amendment to the Correlation of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana in 8/2002. Carville soils were formerly included in the Convent series.
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soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CARVILLE.html
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A representative soil profile of the Tabecheding series. Tabecheding soils formed in marine terrace sediments. They have a high water table, which is indicated by reddish iron concentrations between depths of 30 and 50 centimeters. (Soil Survey of the Islands of Palau, Republic of Palau; by Jason L. Nemecek and Robert T. Gavenda, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Tabecheding series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils on dissected marine terraces. These soils formed in bedded marine clay deposits. Slope is 2 to 30 percent. The mean annual rainfall is about 145 inches, and the mean annual temperature is about 81 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, halloysitic, isohyperthermic Aquic Tropudults
The solum is 15 to 22 inches thick. A perched water table is at a depth of 15 to 35 inches throughout the year.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are in idle land which has reverted to an anthropic savannah and is used for watershed. Present vegetation is Ischaemum digitalum, Rhynchospora rubra, Dianella ensifolia, Hedyotis fruticulosa and Lindsaea ensifolia.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Airai Municipality, island of Babelthuap. This series is of small extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/pacific_basin/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TABECHEDING.html
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The Orangeburg series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils on uplands of the Southern Coastal Plain (MLRA 133A). They formed in loamy and clayey marine sediments. Near the type location, the average annual temperature is about 65 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation is about 52 inches. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kandiudults
Solum thickness typically is 72 to 96 inches and ranges from 60 to 120 inches. Ironstone nodules range from 0 to 10 percent, by volume, throughout the solum. Reaction of the A and Bt1 horizons is very strongly acid to moderately acid, and the Bt2 and underlying horizons are very strongly acid or strongly acid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Orangeburg soils are used for growing cotton, corn, tobacco and peanuts. Some areas are in pasture and woodland. Forest species include longleaf pine, shortleaf pine, loblolly pine, various oaks, hickory and dogwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Coastal Plain of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The series is of large extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/O/ORANGEBURG.html
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A representative soil profile of the Ships soil series. (Soil Survey of Robertson County, Texas; By Harold W. Hyde, Natural Resources Conservation Service).
The Ships series consists of soils that are very deep to clayey alluvium derived from calcareous shale formed from Permian age red bed sediments. They are moderately well drained and very slowly permeable. These soils are nearly level to gently sloping and occur on flood plains of river valleys. The slope range is 0 to 5 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1006 mm (40.0 in) and the mean annual air temperature is about 18.7 degrees C (66.0 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, mixed, active, thermic Chromic Hapluderts
Soil Moisture: Udic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is 10 to 30 cm. Soil is not dry in any part of the soil moisture control section for more than 90 cumulative days in normal years.
Mean annual soil temperature: 19.8 to 21.6 degrees C (65 to 71 degrees F)
Soil Depth: very deep, greater than 203 cm (80 in)
Thickness of ochric epipedon: 15 to 76 cm (6 to 30 in)
Depth to secondary carbonates: 38 to 107 cm (15 to 42 in)
Vertic features: 5 to 50 percent slickensides starting at a depth of 15 to 61 cm (6 to 24 in); cracks at least 1 cm (0.4 in) wide extend from the surface to a depth of more than 20 inches when the soil is dry. Cracks are open for 60 to 90 cumulative days during most years.
COLE: 0.05 to 0.11
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 60 to 70 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 1 percent siliceous pebbles
Exchangeable sodium: 2 to 8 percent
Base Saturation: 100 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Mainly used as cropland. Crops include cotton, corn, grain sorghum, small grain, and some improved pastures of bermudagrass, johnsongrass, or small grain. Native vegetation includes big bluestem, little bluestem, Indiangrass, switchgrass, Virginia wildrye, and beaked panicum. Adjacent to stream channels ash, elm, and pecan are the dominant trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: General area: South Central Texas (mainly along the Colorado and Brazos Rivers) Land Resource Region: J - Southwestern Prairies Cotton and Forage Region Major Land Resource Area: 86A - Texas Blackland Prairie, Northern Part
Extent: moderate--these soils were formerly included in the Miller series.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bastrop County, Texas, 1973.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/TX395/0/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/SHIPS.html
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The Inez series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that formed in loamy alluvium of late Pleistocene age. These nearly level soils are on stream terraces on flat coastal plains. Slopes are typically less than 1 percent but range from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 991 mm (39 in) and the mean annual air temperature is about 22 degrees C (72 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, hyperthermic Oxyaquic Vertic Hapludalfs
Soil Moisture: Udic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts for less than 90 days in normal years.
Mean annual soil temperature: 22.2 to 22.8 degrees C (72 to 73 degrees F)
Depth to argillic horizon: 28 to 69 cm (11 to 1827 in)
Depth to secondary carbonates: 46 to 135 cm (18 to 53 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 35 to 55 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for rangeland and a few areas are used for growing rice. Native vegetation for these savannah soils includes grasses such as little bluestem, indiangrass, Florida paspalum, brownseed paspalum, and woody vegetation such as post oak, live oak, blackjack oak, yaupon, American beautyberry, and greenbriar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General area: Upper to coastal prairie of Texas
Land Resource Region: T (Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region)
Major Land Resource Area: 150A (Gulf Coast Prairies)
Extent: moderate
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/I/INEZ.html
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Nicholson series. (Kentucky Soil Atlas; by Anastasios D. Karathanasis, University of Kentucky)
Landscape: Nicholson soils are on nearly level to rolling upland ridgetops and shoulder slopes. Nearly all areas are used for growing corn, burley tobacco, small grains, truck and fruit crops, hay, pasture, and for urban-suburban development.(Soil Survey of Christian County, Kentucky, by Ronald D. Froedge, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Nicholson series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils with a slowly permeable fragipan in the subsoil. The soils formed in a mantle of loess or silty material underlain by residuum of limestone, calcareous shale, and siltstone. The soil is on upland ridgetops. Slopes range from 0 to 20 percent. Near the type location, the annual air temperature is 53.3 degrees F. and the mean annual precipitation is 41.3 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Fragiudalfs
Depth to limestone, calcareous shale, or siltstone is more than 60 inches. Depth to the fragipan is 16 to 30 inches. Reaction ranges from very strongly to slightly acid above and in the fragipan; below the fragipan the reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly alkaline. Rock fragments range from 0 to 15 percent in the Ap, Bt, Btx, and 2Bt horizon and 0 to 35 percent in the 2C horizon.
USE AND VEGETATION: Nearly all areas are used for growing corn, burley tobacco, small grains, truck and fruit crops, hay, pasture, and for urban-suburban development. The original vegetation was hardwood, chiefly oaks, maples, black walnut, hickory, ash, beech, elm, hackberry, black locust, Kentucky coffee tree; eastern redcedar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and possibly Virginia. The series is of moderate extent. When the classification of the Bedford soil series was changed from an Ultisol to an Alfisol, these soils became very similar. The Nicholson soils developed from loess (or silty material) over interbeded limestone, calcareous shale and siltstone of the Ordovician age.
The Bedford soils developed from loess (or silty material) over limestone of the Missippian and/or Silurian age. The structure in the substratum of the Nicholson soils is not as well developed as that of the Bedford soils because of the interbeded calcareous shale and siltstone. Therefore, the Ksat in the substratum of the Nicholson soils is slower than the Bedford soils. The colors of the substratum for the Nicholson soils tend to be yellower than the Bedford soils. The Nicholson soils are 7.5YR or yellower, and the Bedford soils are 5YR and redder.
For additional information about Kentucky soils, visit:
uknowledge.uky.edu/pss_book/4/
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/N/NICHOLSON.html
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Photo Credit: Jeffrey Dubinsky
Copyright: DubinskyPhotography.com
May not be used for commercial or editorial purposes without the express consent of Dubinsky Photography.
The Dosrios series consist of soils that are very deep to mudstone, well drained, very slowly permeable soils, that formed in moderately saline clayey marine sediments overlying clayey residuum derived from mudstone of Tertiary age. These soils are on summits and shoulders of interfluves. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 544 mm (22 in) and the mean annual air temperature is about 21 degrees C (72 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, hyperthermic Sodic Haplusterts
Soil moisture: A typic-ustic moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts for more than 90 but less than 180 cumulative days in normal years. June through August and December through February are the driest months. These soils are intermittently moist in September through November and March through May. Mean annual soil temperature: 21 to 23 degrees C (72 to 74 degrees F)
Depth to densic material: 160 to 190 cm (63 to 75 in)
Depth to gypsic materials: 112 to 184 cm (44 to 72 in)
Depth to lithologic discontinuity: 160 to 190 cm (63 to 75 in)
Depth to secondary carbonates: 52 to 83 cm (21 to 33 in)
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for pasture and rangeland. Scattered areas are cultivated mainly to grain sorghum, small grain and introduced grasses. Native vegetation includes grasses such as alkali sacaton, sideoats grama, plains bristlegrass, twoflower trichloris, tobosagrass, vine-mesquite, pinhole bluestem, and buffalograss. Woody vegetation includes mesquite, agarita, and pricklypear cactus. The ecological site is Rolling Blackland 18-25 PZ (083BY632TX).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and Western Rio Grande Plain, Texas; LRR I, MLRA 83A and 83B; large extent. This series was formerly included in the Monteola series.
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The geomorphology and geology of the Emirates, together with time and climate, are the main factors that influence the distribution of soils in Abu Dhabi. An understanding of geomorphology and past climates is therefore a useful prerequisite to understanding soil patterns.
While the current arid climate would suggest that wind erosion is the dominant force shaping the geomorphology of the Emirate, this has not always been the case. The extensive fold movements that created the Hajar Mountains, for example, have left outliers at Jabal Hafit that have been eroded by water during a wetter climate in the Pleistocene period. Such wetter periods have also led to the creation of extensive sand and gravel alluvial fans, remnants of which are still found around the mountain. Sea level changes associated with climate variations have led to the development of sabkha, coastal terraces and minor scarps.
However, it is the eolian processes of recent millennia that have dominated the evolution of today’s landscape. Indeed a number of dune forming periods are likely to have occurred, the oldest some 20-30,000 years ago and formed the now lithified core of sandstone, or miliolite, against which more recent dune building has developed. The Quaternary deposits consist of extensive eolian dune sands that form low lying sandy deserts extending southwards into the Rub al Khali and which pass eastwards into gently sloping fans composed of thick alluvial fan gravels (mainly of Pliocene age) bordering the Hajar Mountains. Along the coast there is a complex of islands and lagoons bordered by a flat plain sabkha.
In the United Arab Emirates throughout the Quaternary period, but particularly during glacial periods, the whole Arabian Gulf was almost dry and the sea retreated to the Straits of Hormuz. At this time the united Tigris and Euphrates rivers extended the entire length of the Gulf, with perhaps occasional lakes, and carried large loads of sediments that were deposited during periods of flood and then reworked by the dominant north-westerly Shamal winds. It is the Shamal that is primarily responsible for the creation and molding of the dune-fields seen in the Emirate today. However, these powerful winds have not only created extensive dune fields but have also deflated areas leaving extensive areas of plain between dune systems and sabkha flats where groundwater levels approach the surface. This deflation, together with changes in sea level, has eroded older sediments, leaving isolated, flattopped mesas and buttes jabals), and northwest to south-east ridges (yardangs), elongated parallel to the direction of the Shamal, as the only remnants of formerly extensive sheets of Miocene and Quaternary strata.
The current marine incursion into the Arabian Gulf limits the source of new material to continue feeding the dune fields of the Emirate. This shortage has led to the deflation of existing coastal fats to a level, predominantly reflecting the extent of the capillary fringe from the underlying saline water tables which stabilizes the soil.
The Shamal winds continue to blow sand south-eastwards however, and the sand sheets and dune systems thicken and get larger towards the south and south-east of the Emirate, culminating in the megabarchan dunes at the edge of the Rub al Khali.
In eastern and south-eastern areas the landscape is also affected by seasonal south-easterly winds that have led to the development of additional deflation areas and the creation of star dunes, the formation of which is influenced by winds from more than one direction. In the extreme south-east of the Emirate there is again a shortage of wind-blown sand and extensive deflation flats have been created separated by high linear dune ridges.
In some inland areas deflation has stripped the surface mantle of eolian sands, frequently creating inverted topographic geoforms. Former low areas, where fossil soils with flourishing vegetation, or playas lakes and interdunal sabkhas with calcite or gypsum crests had developed, are now found capping local flat-topped high-relief features while the uncemented dune sands that previously surrounded these original relative low areas have been removed by wind erosion.
In the west of the Emirate Sabkhat Matti is a low lying area that may be the remains of an old estuarine feature that drained paleo-lakes occurring within what is now Saudi Arabia.
During the extensive soil survey of Abu Dhabi Emirate 27 generalized soil-landscape regions were recognized. These regions have been identified on the basis of likely soils and characteristic landforms and are broadly consistent with major sub-divisions identified by other researchers.
Photo courtesy of EAD-Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi. www.ead.gov.ae/
Dr. Michael A. Wilson is a Research Soil Scientist, USDA-NRCS-National Soil Survey Laboratory in Lincoln, Nebraska, He has served in this position for more than 25 years conducting soil genesis research specifically in the area of soil geochemistry and mineralogy. He has contributed to numerous USDA soils-related research projects in both the US and around the world specializing in climate change and soil classification/interpretation.
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of Bonneau loamy sand. Bonneau soils have thick sandy surface layers underlain by a loamy moderately permeable subsoil. In the winter months (December through March) they have a seasonal high water table at a depth below 100 centimeters.
Landscape: Irrigated peanuts growing in an area of Bonneau loamy sand, 0 to 5 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Grady County, Georgia; by Scott Moore, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, siliceous, subactive, thermic Arenic Paleudults
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Deep, common
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible to medium
Permeability: Moderate
Shrink-swell potential: Low
Landscape: Lower, middle, and upper coastal plain
Landform: Marine terraces, uplands
Hillslope Profile Position: Summits, shoulders, backslopes
Geomorphic Component: Interfluves, side slopes
Parent Material: Marine deposits, fluviomarine deposits
Slope: 0 to 12 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Where cultivated--growing cotton, corn, soybeans, small grain, pasture grasses, and tobacco. Where wooded--mixed hardwood and pine, including longleaf and loblolly pine, white, red, turkey, and post oak, dogwood, and hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal Plain of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, with moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/georgia/GA131/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BONNEAU.html
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A representative soil profile of the Rains soil series in North Carolina.
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Poorly drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very shallow, persistent
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None, very rare, rare, occasional, frequent for brief to
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible
Permeability: Moderate (Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
Landscape: Lower, middle, upper coastal plain
Landform: Flats, depressions, Carolina bays
Geomorphic Component: Talfs, dips
Parent Material: Marine deposits, fluviomarine deposits
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleaquults
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Forest, cropland
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--corn, soybeans, and small grains. Where wooded--pond pine, loblolly pine, and hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia
Extent: Large.
The central concept for the Rains series does not include a flooding hazard. However, the series has been correlated in flood plain positions. Additional research is needed to determine if areas of Rains soils that are subject to flooding have haplic or pale clay distribution.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/R/RAINS.html
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The El Cacique series consists of shallow, well drained, moderately slowly permeable soils on summits and side slopes of the serpentinite hills and mountains of the Humid Mountains and Valleys MLRA. They formed in material that weathered from serpentinite bedrock. Near the type location, the mean annual temperature is about 81 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is about 80 inches. Slopes range from 5 to 90 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, magnesic, isohyperthermic, shallow Typic Argiudolls
Depth to highly fractured serpentinite bedrock ranges from 6 to 13 inches. Depth to consolidated serpentinite bedrock ranges from 12 to 20 inches. Reaction is neutral throughout. Rock fragments include pebbles and cobbles composed of serpentinite. The combined total of rock and pararock fragments in the control section is less than 35 percent, by volume.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of El Cacique soils are used for forestland, grazing, or wildlife habitat. The vegetation consists of Maricao doncella, Cupey delmonte, and Algarrobo trees, Cariaquillo, Leucaena, Arbol de navidad del pobre, and Carrasco shrubs, along with lamina and guinea grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Summits and side slopes of the humid serpentinite hills and mountains of southern Puerto Rico. This series is not extensive. These soils were formerly included in the Maresua series.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/E/EL_CACIQUE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
In order to observe a pedon fully, including soil structure (size and kind), horizon boundary topography, and short-range variability in horizon thickness, a pit exposing a vertical face approximately 1 meter across to an appropriate depth is adequate for most soils. Excavations associated with roads, railways, gravel pits, and other soil disturbances provide easy access for studying soils.
Photographs should be taken after the layers have been identified but before the vertical section is disturbed in the description-writing process. An estimation of the volume of stones or other features also is done before the layers are disturbed.
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.
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The Jolly series consists of shallow soils over sandstone bedrock. These well drained, moderately permeable soils that developed in residuum and colluvium from sandstone. These soils are on gently sloping to strongly sloping ridges on hills. Slopes range from 1 to 12 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 737mm (29 in) and the mean annual air temperature is 18.3 degrees C (65 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, siliceous, active, thermic, shallow Typic Haplustalfs
Depth to bedrock: 30 to 51 cm (12 to 20 in)
Surface fragments: 0 to 10 percent; gravel, cobbles, or stones with a few outcrops of sandstone bedrock
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 20 to 30 percent
Coarse fragments: 0 to 30 percent; partially weathered sandstone gravel, cobbles, or flagstones
USE AND VEGETATION: The principal use is for rangeland. Small acreage has been cultivated in the past but most cultivated areas are now abandoned and returned to rangeland. Native vegetation is mainly little bluestem, sand bluestem, cane bluestem, sideoats grama, vine-mesquite, Arizona cottontop, Texas wintergrass, Wrights threeawn, blue grama and sand dropseed. Mesquite and prickly pear have invaded most areas.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North and North-central Texas; and possibly in southwestern Oklahoma. Most of these soils are across the Central Rolling Red prairies (MLRA 80A) and northeastern Texas North Central Prairies (MLRA 80B). Jolly soils are of moderate extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/J/JOLLY.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Yeager series consists of very deep well drained soils formed in recent sandy alluvium. Permeability is moderately rapid or rapid. These soils are on flood plains and narrow step-like treads and risers along major rivers and streams. Slopes range from 0 to 30 percent, but are dominantly less than 4 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Typic Udifluvents
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 through 8. Texture is dominantly loamy sand or loamy fine sand with thin strata of loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam or sand coarser than very fine sand. Individual strata are mostly less than 10cm thick. Some fine sandy loam strata ranges to 15cm thick.
The 2C horizon, generally below a depth of 40 inches, has colors similar to the overlying C horizon. The fine-earth fraction consists of sand, loamy sand or loamy fine sand and is commonly stratified. Most pedons have some lenses or thin strata of fine sand; very fine sand, silt, or loam. Redoximorphic features in shades of red, yellow, brown or gray are common along bedding planes.
Bedrock is more than 60 inches deep. Rock fragments, mostly rounded or subrounded gravel or channers (2mm to 3 inches in size), make up 0 to 14 percent by volume to a depth of 40 inches. Below 40 inches fragments make up 0 to 50 percent. Flakes of mica or fine fragments of coal generally range from very few to common in most pedons, but may be absent. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral.
USE AND VEGETATION: Less sloping areas are cleared and used for pasture. A few areas are used for growing cultivated crops or gardens. On steeper riverbanks the native vegetation is a mixed mesophytic forest of yellow-poplar, American sycamore, red maple, river birch and box elder.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Kentucky, with possible similar areas in West Virginia, Virginia and eastern Tennessee. The area is estimated to be of small extent, about 15,000 acres.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/Y/YEAGER.html
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A representative soil profile of a Fox soil. The dark yellowish brown subsoil tongues into the sandy and gravelly substratum. (Soil Survey of Hancock County, Ohio; by Rick A. Robbins and Mark M. Feusner, Ohio Department of Natural Resources)
The Fox series consists of very deep, well drained soils which are moderately deep to stratified calcareous sandy outwash. These soils formed in thin loess and in loamy alluvium or just in loamy alluvium overlying stratified calcareous sandy outwash on outwash plains, stream terraces, valley trains, kames, and glacial moraines. Slopes range from 0 to 35 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 762 mm (30 inches) near the type location. Mean annual air temperature is about 9.4 degrees C (49 F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Thickness of loess mantle: 0 to 61 cm (0 to 24 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages from 18 to 35 percent clay, 15 to 45 percent fine sand or coarser
Depth to free carbonates and stratified sandy outwash: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Volume of gravel: 0 to 35 percent in the loamy mantle, averages 3 to 70 percent in the stratified outwash and ranges from 0 to 95 percent in individual strata.
Volume of cobbles: 0 to 50 percent in individual strata in the outwash
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid in the upper part of the solum, but it ranges to neutral in the upper parts of some pedons where the soil is limed and ranges from moderately acid to slightly alkaline in the in the lower subsoil and is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline in the outwash
Free calcium carbonates: in the sand and gravel outwash and in the lower part of the loamy mantle in some pedons
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the less sloping areas are used for cropland. Common crops are corn, soybeans, small grains, and hay. Some areas are used for pastureland or woodland. Native vegetation is hardwood forest. Common trees are northern red oak, white oak, sugar maple, black cherry, and white ash.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 95B, 97, 98, 99, 108A, 108B, 110, 111A, 111B, 111C, 111D, 111E, 113, 114A, 114B, and 124 in southeastern Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, southern Michigan, western Ohio, and eastern Iowa. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/ohio/OH063/0/O...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/F/FOX.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Depth Class: Moderately deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high
Landscape: Mountains and hills
Parent Material: Residuum weathered mainly from red inter-bedded siltstone and shale
Slope: 3 to 80 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Ultic Hapludalfs
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Mostly forested; some areas have been cleared and are used for pasture.
Dominant Vegetation: Northern hardwoods consisting of American beech, black birch, yellow birch, sugar maple, black cherry, white ash, northern red oak, and black locust.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: West Virginia and possibly Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Extent: Large extent with estimated acreage exceeding 350,000 acres. Cateache soils were previously mapped as members of the Teas series (inactive) or as a high base substratum phase of the Calvin series.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CATEACHE.html
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Soil profile of Corazones very gravelly sandy loam in an area of Corazones very gravelly sandy loam, 1 to 8 percent slopes. Corazones soils formed in gravelly alluvium, and are on pediments. The gravels are readily observable at a depth of about 65 centimeters (Big Bend National Park Part of Brewster County, Texas; by James Gordon, Soil Scientist, James A. Douglass, Soil Scientist, and Dr. Lynn E. Loomis, Soil Scientist, Natural Resources Conservation Service).
The Corazones series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately rapidly permeable soils that formed in gravelly alluvium. These soils are on undulating to strongly rolling coalescent fan piedmonts and fan remnants. Slopes range from 1 to 50 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Ustic Haplocalcids
Solum thickness: greater than 80 inches
Depth to a calcic horizon: 4 to 25 inches
Desert pavement of igneous gravel covers from 75 to 95 percent of the surface
Total clay content: 7 to 18 percent
Rock fragments: 35 to 80 percent by volume
Soil moisture: Ustic aridic soil moisture regime. Receives precipitation in all months. Driest period is November through April with peak rainfall occurring during May through October.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is creosote bush, bush muhly and black grama.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Texas. MLRA 42. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/bigbendT...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CORAZONES.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
The Faywood series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in limestone residuum interbedded with thin layers of shale. These soils are on uplands.
Most areas are used for growing hay and pasture. Some areas are used for growing corn, small grains, and tobacco. A few areas are idle or wooded. Native vegetation was dominantly upland oaks, hickory, black walnut, black locust, white ash, beech, hackberry and eastern redcedar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and possibly Indiana and Virginia. The series is of large extent.
For a detailed description, please visit:
Depth class: very deep
Drainage class: somewhat poorly
Parent material: stratified silty and sandy alluvium overlying sand and gravel
Landform: floodplains
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, nonacid Aquic Cryofluvents
Depth to sand and gravel ranges from 20 to 40 inches (50 to 102 cm). Organic carbon content decreases irregularly with depth. The texture of the upper part of the control section is stratified silt loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam and very fine sand with a weighted average of more than 15 percent fine sand or coarser and less than 18 percent clay. This material contains significant amounts of mica but less than 25 percent. Texture of the lower part of the control section is sand or loamy sand with coarse fragments ranging from 0 to 70 percent.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in native forest consisting of white spruce, cottonwood and quaking aspen with alder shrubs. A water table is present at a depth of 3 to 6 feet for some period in most summers, allowing capillary rise of water into the soil profile.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 229 Interior Alaska Lowlands. The series is of minor extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/PILEDRIVER.html
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The Rub' al Khali is the largest contiguous sand desert in the world, encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. The desert covers some 650,000 square kilometres including parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It is part of the larger Arabian Desert. One very large pile of sand!!!
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Depth class: very shallow to moderately deep over permafrost
Drainage class: very poorly drained
Parent material: silty alluvium or organic matter over alluvium in regions of groundwater discharge
Landform: alluvial plains in broad valleys and flats
Slope: 0 to 3 percent
Mean annual temperature: 21 to 28 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 9 to 14 inches
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, subgelic Ruptic Histoturbels
USE AND VEGETATION: Mosquito soils are used for wildlife habitat and watershed protection. Soil drainage is not improved sufficiently by clearing to allow agricultural use. The soils support forest of tamarack and black spruce, with shrub birch and cottonsedge in the understory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 229, Interior Alaska Lowlands. The series is of moderate extent. Groundwater discharge neutralizes organic acids in the organic horizon, and results in a higher pH of these horizons than in most other Ruptic Histoturbels in this region. Because permafrost is relatively impermeable, groundwater must be discharged through associated unfrozen soils.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MOSQUITO.html
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A representative soil profile of the Eden series. The Eden series consists of moderately deep, well drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in residuum from interbedded calcareous shale, siltstone, and limestone. These soils are on hillsides and narrow ridgetops with slopes ranging from 2 to 70 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 55 degrees F and mean annual precipitation is about 43 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
The solum thickness ranges from 36 to 102 cm (14 to 40 inches). The depth of a paralithic contact ranges from 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches). Coarse fragments of limestone flagstones, siltstone and shale range from 0 to 25 percent in the A horizons, 10 to 35 percent in the B horizons, and 25 to 75 percent in the C horizons. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through moderately alkaline in the sola, and mildly alkaline through strongly alkaline in the generally calcareous C horizons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for pasture and hay, but some steeply sloping areas have reverted to forest or brushy pasture. Some broader ridgetops are used for tobacco, corn, and small grains. Native vegetation is hardwoods, chiefly species of oak, ash, elm, hickory, hackberry, and black walnut, black and honey locust; in places, red cedar. There were many glades of native grasses, sedges, and canes.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Hills of the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, southern Indiana, and southern Ohio. Extent is large, over 1.5 million acres
For additional information about Kentucky soils, visit:
uknowledge.uky.edu/pss_book/4/
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/E/EDEN.html
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A soil profile of a Calciustert in India. This soil has an ochric epipedon about 12 cm thick underlain by a cambic horizon that extends to a depth of about 90 cm. The cambic horizon has slickensides and wedge-shaped peds. A light-colored calcic horizon is below a depth of 90 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)
Calciusterts have a calcic (calcium carbonate accumulation) or petrocalcic (cemented by calcium carbonate) horizon. These soils commonly are derived from parent materials rich in carbonates, such as marine deposits or eolian material. Some Calciusterts have a mollic (rich in humus and bases) epipedon. Although Calciusterts have limited acreage in the United States, they are significant in other parts of the world.
For additional information about soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/cla...
A representative soil profile of Windthorst fine sandy loam. It is difficult for roots to penetrate the lower part of the clayey subsoil and the underlying material. (Soil Survey of Jack County, Texas; by Wilfred E. Crenwelge, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Windthorst series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, moderately slowly permeable soils that formed in sandy and clayey residuum weathered from claystone and sandstone of Cretaceous age. These very gently sloping to strongly sloping soils occur on summits, shoulders, and backslopes of ridges on hills. Slope range is 1 to 12 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 864 mm (34 in) and the mean annual temperature is about 18.3 degrees C (65 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, thermic Udic Paleustalfs
Soil Moisture: An ustic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts for more than 90, but less than 120 days in normal years.
Solum thickness: from 100 to about 150 cm (40 to about 60 in)
Depth to argillic horizon: 5 to 48 cm (2 to 19 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 35 to 45 percent
Base saturation: 75 to 90 percent
USE AND VEGETATION:
The major uses are livestock grazing and hay production, but some areas are cultivated; peanuts, sorghums, and small grains are the main crops. The native plant community is post oak and blackjack oak trees with an understory of little bluestem, indiangrass, greenbrier, and annual grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General location: north-central Texas and south-central Oklahoma
Land Resource Region: J-Southwestern Prairies Cotton and Forage Region
Major Land Resource Area: 84B-West Cross Timbers
Extent: large
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/TX237/0/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WINDTHORST.html
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The Flasher series consists of shallow, somewhat excessively drained soils formed in soft sandstone on side slopes, shoulder slopes and summits of hills and ridges on uplands and side slopes of valleys. Permeability is moderately rapid or rapid. Slopes range from 3 to 70 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 14 inches and mean annual temperature is about 42 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, frigid, shallow Typic Ustipsamments
Depth to soft sandstone typically is 10 to 20 inches and ranges from 7 to 20 inches. The control section typically is loamy fine sand, but range includes fine sand, loamy sand and sand. The soil ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline throughout and commonly contains carbonates.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for range and pasture. Native vegetation is prairie sandreed, blue grama, little bluestem, upland sedges, some creeping cedar and other shrubs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western North Dakota, northwestern South Dakota and eastern Montana. The soil is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/north_dakota/N...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/F/FLASHER.html
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The United States Department of Agriculture (Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) has been using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology to study subsurface soil features since 1979. GPR is a broad band, impulse radar system that has been designed to penetrate earthen materials.
Using GPR to Characterize Plinthite and Ironstone Layers in Ultisols. Available from: www.researchgate.net/publication/282805887_Using_GPR_to_C... [accessed Dec 09 2020].
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-...
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Kolomoki soil series. (Soil Survey of Clay and Quitman Counties, Georgia; by Ken W. Monroe, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Landscape: An area of the Kolomoki-Wahee general soil map unit. This area is in Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge and is used for wildlife habitat. (Soil Survey of Stewart County, Georgia By Kenneth W. Monroe, Natural Resources
Conservation Service)
The Kolomoki series consists of deep, well drained soils on stream terraces of the Southern Coastal Plain near larger streams. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderate to rapid in the underlying material. Slopes are 0 to 5 percent. Near the type location, the mean annual temperature is about 67 degrees F. and the mean annual precipitation is about 53 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Hapludults
The solum thickness is 30 to 55 inches. It is very strongly acid to medium acid throughout except for the surface layer in limed areas. Fine flakes of mica are few to common throughout. The control section has an average clay content of 35 to 50 percent and an average silt content of 15 to 35 percent.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the soil is used for crops such as corn, soybeans, peanuts, small grain, and truck crops. The remainder is in pine or mixed pine and hardwood. Common species include loblolly pine, slash pine, longleaf pine, sweetgum, red oak, American holly, and dogwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Georgia, and possibly Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is not extensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/georgia/GA658/...
and
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/georgia/stewar...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/K/KOLOMOKI.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Landscape--Columbia basalt plateau
Landform--loess hills
Slope--0 to 25 percent
Parent material--Holocence and late Pleistocence loess with a minor amount of volcanic ash in upper part
Mean annual precipitation--about 580 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about 8 degrees C
Depth class--very deep
Drainage class--moderately well drained
Soil moisture regime--xeric
Soil temperature regime--mesic
Soil moisture subclass--aquic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquandic Palexeralfs
Mean annual soil temperature--8 to 9 degrees C
Moisture control section--usually moist, but dry 60 to 75 consecutive days following summer solstice in most years
Depth to argillic horizon--40 to 75 cm
Average content of clay in particle-size control section--20 to 35 percent in upper part, 27 to 40 percent in lower part
Thickness of volcanic ash influence--18 to 25 cm
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--dominantly crop production
Common crops--small grain, peas, alfalfa, grass
Potential natural vegetation--ponderosa pine, scattered Douglas-fir, Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, pinegrass, sedges, rose, common snowberry, serviceberry
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Washington and possibly northern Idaho; MLRA 9; moderate extent
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/F/FREEMAN.html
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Soil profile: A profile of Musgrave silty clay in an area of Musgrave silty clay, 1 to 20 percent slopes. Musgrave soils very shallow or shallow densic material. The densic material begins at a depth of about 50 cm. (Soil Survey of Big Bend National Park, Texas; by James Gordon, Soil Scientist, James A. Douglass, Soil Scientist, and Dr. Lynn E. Loomis, Soil Scientist, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: An area of Musgrave silty clay, 1 to 20 percent slopes. The Musgrave soils are on low hills and are sparsely vegetated. Musgrave soils are in the Clay Hill ecological site, Hot Desert Shrub vegetative zone of MLRA 42—Southern Desertic Basins, Plains, and Mountains.
The Musgrave series consists of soils that are very shallow and shallow to weathered tuff bedrock. They are well drained soils that have moderately slowly permeable surface layers over slowly permeable tuffaceous bedrock of the Duff and Pruett Formations. They formed in residuum derived from tuff. These soils are on scarps and erosional remnants. Slopes range from 1 to 30 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, superactive, calcareous, hyperthermic, shallow Ustic Torriorthents
Soil moisture - Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during July-September. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime. Geographically associated soils occur in the thermic temperature regime.
Depth to weathered tuff bedrock: 4 to 20 inches
Clay content of the particle-size control section: 35 to 55 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: less than 15 percent
Ignimbrite, tuff, limestone, and chert pebbles, cobbles, stones, and boulders cover 35 to 95 percent of the surface
These soils do not have subsoil horizons above the densic contact that have soil structure.
Reaction: moderatelt alkaline to strongly alkaline
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Woody species include creosotebush, ocotillo, whitethorn acacia, and range ratany. Grass species include black grama, chino grama, sideoats grama, bush muhly, plains bristlegrass, Arizona cottontop, and slim tridens.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Trans-Pecos Texas in the Southern Desertic Basins, Plains, and Mountains, Desert Shrub vegetative zone. This soil occurs in LRR-D, MLRA 42. The soil is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/bigbendT...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MUSGRAVE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Potomac soil series in Pike County, Kentucky.
The Potomac series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils formed in coarse-textured alluvial material on flood plains. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Typic Udifluvents
Depth to bedrock is greater than 5 feet. Pebbles and cobblestones dominantly of sandstone range from 0 to 50 percent in the A horizon, and the weighted average by volume in the C horizon is dominantly greater than 50 percent, but ranges from 35 to 70 percent. Subhorizons of the C horizon in some pedons are nearly free of rock fragments and in others it ranges to 80 percent. Unlimed soils are mildly alkaline to very strongly acid.
USE AND VEGETATION: More than one-half of the acreage is cleared and used mainly for pasture or hay. Many areas are idle and reverting to woody vegetation. Native vegetation was mixed hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Ridge and Valley and southern Appalachian Plateau areas of West Virginia, also Kentucky and North Carolina. The extent is moderate. These soils were previously mapped as Alluvial land and Alluvial land, cobbly. These soils as mapped are sandy-skeletal, but in some areas they are marginal to loamy-skeletal.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/POTOMAC.html
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A representative soil profile of the profile of the Oakley series. The mollic epipedon extends to a depth of about 20 centimeters. A calcic horizon is below a depth of about 30 centimeters. (Soil Survey of Jackson County, Oklahoma; by Richard Gelnar, Clay Salisbury, and Scott Keenan, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Oakley series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately or moderately slowly permeable soils that formed in calcareous, loamy alluvium over Permian age redbed sediments. These soils occur on nearly level to moderately sloping plain terraces in the Central Rolling Red Plains (MLRA 78). Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, thermic Typic Calciustolls
Thickness of the solum ranges from 60 to more than 80 inches. Depth to a lithologic discontinuity of weathered Permian age redbed sediments ranges from 60 to more than 80 inches. Some pedons contain a few brown or gray redoximorphic depletions below 40 inches. Most pedons have a perched water table below 48 inches during the winter and spring of years with above normal rainfall. These soils are calcareous throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mainly used for cropland. Wheat and sorghum are the principal crops. Some areas have been seeded to Old World bluestem or native grass pasture. Native vegetation is a mixed grass prairie, consisting mainly of little bluestem, grama species, and buffalograss.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Rolling Red Plains LRR H (MLRA 78B & 78C) of southwestern Oklahoma and northwest parts of Texas. The series is of small extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/oklahoma/OK065...
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Soil profile: The Haro series consists of shallow, well drained soils formed in glacial drift mixed with colluvium from metasedimentary bedrock. (Soil Survey of San Juan County, Washington; by By Michael Regan, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Haro soils are on south facing hillslopes and mountain slopes at elevations near sea level to 2200 feet. Slopes are 5 to 75 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 26 inches. Mean annual air temperature is about 50 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, isotic, mesic Lithic Ultic Haploxerolls
Mean annual soil temperature - 50 to 54 degrees F.
Soil moisture control section - dry 75 to 90 days following summer solstice
Mollic epipedon thickness - 10 to 20 inches (A and Bw horizons)
Base saturation by ammonium acetate greater than 50 percent from the soil surface to the top of a lithic contact
Base saturation by sum of cations less than 75 percent from the soil surface to the top of a lithic contact
Depth to lithic contact - 10 to 20 inches
Reaction - moderately acid or strongly acid
Volcanic glass - less than 5 percent throughout
Particle size control section:
Clay content - 5 to 18 percent
Rock fragments - 0 to 35 percent gravel, 0 to 5 percent cobbles, 0 to 35 percent total
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for home sites, pasture, and wildlife habitat. Potential natural vegetation consists of Oregon white oak, Pacific madrone, Roemers fescue, western brackenfern, trailing blackberry, baldhip rose, oceanspray, and common snowberry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwest Washington; MLRA 2, Northern Part. Series is of small extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/washington/WA0...
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The Haggatt series consists of deep, well-drained soils formed in clayey residuum that can be capped with up to 51 cm (20 inches) of loess. They are on hills and in sinkholes underlain with limestone. Slopes range from 2 to 25 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, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches)
Depth to a lithic contact: 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches)
Thickness of the loess: 0 to 51 cm (0 to 20 inches)
Rock fragments: dominantly gravel size chert and include cobbles and stones
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for hay, pastures or are in forest. Native vegetation is deciduous hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern and south central Indiana and north-central Kentucky. The soil is of small extent in MLRA 122.
Data on the family particle-size classification of this series shows both fine and fine-silty over clayey. This series is tentatively placed in the fine family. The series has been correlated in Indiana as the Hagerstown series with a lithic contact between 102 to 152 cm (40 and 60 inches). The permeability of these soils is being revised from moderate to moderately slow. Saturated hydraulic conductivity data was collected by Ammozemeter, and permeability was shown to be slower than moderate.
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A pontoon boat used for subaqueous soil sampling. The sampling is conducted through the moon-pool. A sealed core is strapped to the end of the chain fall. The chain fall is attached to the tripod, which is centered over the moon-pool.
Subaqueous soils differ from subaerial, or terrestrial, soils by having perennial water on the soil surface. These soils occur in shallow freshwater and marine environments, such as ponds, lakes, and the subtidal areas of estuaries and tidal embayments. The Soil Survey Staff (2014) defines “shallow” as approximately 2.5 m. At depths greater than 2.5 m, sunlight is typically attenuated and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) is typically absent. In especially clear waters, however, this depth may be much greater. Thus, for interpretive purposes, mapping is typically done to depths of 5 meters of water. Areas with extreme tidal ranges are also included as subaqueous soils even though they may be exposed for an hour or two during a neap tide or similar event. Subaqueous soils occur on a range of subtidal and limnic landforms, such as flood-tidal deltas, washover fans, and lake beds (Schoeneberger and Wysocki, 2012; USDA-NRCS, 2016). These soils are currently classified in the Histosol and Entisol orders of Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 2014).
For detailed sampling and description of non-fluid materials, a vibracore sampler is ideal. Vibracore samplers consist of a concrete mixer motor, a cable that delivers the vibration from the motor to the sampling tube, and a vibration head that clamps onto the irrigation pipe (core barrel) to deliver the vibration to the core barrel that collects the sample. The vibration loosens (or liquefies) the soil material around the core barrel so that the core can be easily pushed into the soil with a minimal amount of pressure from the top of the pipe. This sampling approach is typically done from a pontoon boat with a moon pool. If the body of water is too small for a pontoon boat, or gas-powered boats cannot be used, a small barge with a moon-pool in the middle can be used. In this case, the concrete mixer motor is in the small boat used to pull the barge and the soil is collected and retrieved through the moon pool in the barge. There are “backpack” types of vibracores that can be used off barges or through the ice. In some cases, these types of corers are not powerful enough to push the tubes through dense soil materials.
A profile of Bojac soils. (Charles City County, Virginia; by Robert L. Hodges and Pamela J. Thomas, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Well drained
Permeability: Moderately rapid
Surface Runoff: Slow to medium
Parent Material: Loamy and sandy fluvial and marine sediments
Slope: 0 to 10 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, thermic Typic Hapludults
Solum Thickness: 30 to 65 inches
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 60 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 48 to 72 inches, November to April
Soil Reaction: extremely acid to slightly acid except where the surface has been limed
Gravel Content: Quartz gravel make up 0 to 5 percent of the solum and 0 to 15 percent of the C horizon in the non-flooded phase; 0 to 35 percent in the solum and 0 to 50 percent of the C horizon in the flooded phase
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Mostly cultivated
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--peanuts, soybeans, and corn. Where wooded--loblolly pine, sweet gum, oak, hickory, and maple
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Atlantic Coastal Plain of Virginia, North Carolina, and possibly Georgia, Florida, and Alabama
Extent: Moderate
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/virginia/VA036...
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Soil profile: A profile of Paisano very gravelly fine sandy loam in an area of Chilicotal-Paisano association, 5 to 30 percent slopes. Paisano soils are very shallow or shallow to a petrocalcic horizon. The petrocalcic horizon is at a depth of about 30 centimeters. Paisano soils formed from gravelly alluvium derived from mixed sources. (Soil Survey of Big Bend National Park, Part of Brewster County, Texas; by James Gordon, Soil Scientist, James A. Douglass, Soil Scientist, and Dr. Lynn E. Loomis, Soil Scientist, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Paisano series consists of soils that are very shallow or shallow to a petrocalcic horizon. They are well drained soils that are, moderately rapidly permeable above a very slowly permeable petrocalcic horizon. They formed in gravelly alluvium derived from mixed sources. These soils are on fan piedmonts and fan remnants. Slopes range from 1 to 12 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, thermic, shallow Calcic Petrocalcids
Depth to the petrocalcic horizon: 6 to 20 inches
Coarse fragments: 35 to 85 percent. Fragments are mainly less than 3 inches in diameter, and are siliceous, sandstone, limestone and strongly cemented calcium carbonate pan fragments. Cobbles range from 0 to 15 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 75 percent
Reaction: slight to moderately alkaline throughout
Mean annual soil temperature: 62 to 69 degrees F.
Soil moisture: Ustic aridic moisture regime
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation is blue grama, black grama, sideoats grama, bush muhly, threeawn, fluff grass, creosote bush, javelina bush, catclaw, and white thorn acacia.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Arizona and West Texas. MLRAs 41 and 42. The soil is of minor extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/bigbendT...
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The Ramita series consists of very deep, poorly drained, moderately slow permeable soils. These soils formed in sandy eolian deposits over loamy quaternary alluvium on the Sandsheet Prairie of the South Texas Coastal Plain. These nearly level to gently sloping soils. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 22 degrees C (72 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 660 mm (26 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, hyperthermic Typic Natraqualfs
Soil Moisture: An aquic soil moisture regime bordering on udic. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts for less than 120 cumulative days in normal years. November through April are the driest months, with a second low in July, while September is the wettest. Although rainfall amounts are that of an ustic moisture regime, the effective precipitation is higher because the soil is in a water receiving position. A water table is present in most pedons at depths of 30 to 91 cm (12 to 36 in) in most years from November through April. This is due to reduced evapotranspiration levels and the lateral flow of water through the soil after the heaviest rainfall month of September.
Depth to natric horizon: 10 to 46 cm (4 to 18 in)
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: 76 to 203 cm (30 to more than 80 in)
Depth to redox concentrations: 10 to 46 cm (4 to 18 in)
Depth to redox depletions or reduced matrix: 10 to 89 cm (4 to 35 in)
Depth to episaturation: 31 to 91 cm (12 to 36 in), in most years, from November to April.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation consists of gulf cordgrass, seashore saltgrass, bushy sea-oxeye, purple lovegrass, seacoast bluestem, sacaton, and annuals. The ecological site is Salty Prairie, PE 31 to 44 (R083EY710TX)
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Sandsheet Prairie (MLRA 83E in LRR I) in southern Texas. The series is of moderate extent.These soils were formerly included in the Sauz series. The Ramita series are separated based on the higher clay content of the argillic horizons.
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A representative soil profile of Portrero fine sand, in an area of Potrero-Lopeno-Noria complex, 0 to 5 percent slopes. A buried gleyed soil begins at a depth of about 80 centimeters. A water table is present at this depth. (Soil Survey of Kenedy and Kleberg Counties, Texas; by Nathan I. Haile, and Dennis N. Brezina, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Potrero series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained, rapid permeable soils deposits on convex linear mounds in deflation flats of active and recently active dune complexes. These nearly level to gently sloping soils formed in sandy eolian sediments of Holocene age overlying loamy eolian deposits of Pleistocene age. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 23 degrees C (73 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 686 mm (27 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, hyperthermic Aquic Ustipsamments
Soil Moisture: An Ustic moisture regime. The Soil Moisture Control Section is dry in some or all parts for more than 90, but less than 150 cumulative days in normal years. The SMCS is also either moist in some or all parts for 180 cumulative days or more, or moist for 90 or more consecutive days in normal years. A water table occurs at a depth of 31 to 91 cm (12 to 36 in) for at least two months in most years. November through April are the driest months, with a second dry period in July. September is the wettest month.
Mean annual soil temperature: 23 to 24 degrees C (74 to 76 degrees F)
Depth to masses of iron accumulations: 0 to 51 cm (0 to 20 in)
Depth to iron depletions or depleted matrix: 61 to 99 cm (24 to 39 in)
Depth to endosaturation: 31 to 91 cm (12 to 36 in) for at least two months in normal years
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation is dominantly gulfdune paspalum. Other vegetation consists of seacoast bluestem, broomsedge bluestem, mistflower, false indigo and burhead. The ecosite is Low Coastal Sand range site, (R150BY650TX).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Gulf Coast Saline Prairie (MLRA 150B in LRR T) of southern Texas. The series is of moderate extent. The series was formerly included in the Mustang series. The series was separated based on the presence of a buried soil. Classification changed from Aquic Arenic Paleustalfs to Aquic Ustipsamments 10/2005 based on typifying pedon and supporting documentation.
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www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/kenedykl...
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Soil profile of Bigriver soil. (Soil Survey of Redwood National and State Parks, California; by Joseph P. Seney and Alaina C. Frazier, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and James H. Popenoe, Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Retired)
The Bigriver series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed from alluvium derived from mixed sources. Bigriver soils are on lower alluvial flats and floodplains and have slopes of 0 to 5 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 1400 millimeters (55 inches) and the mean annual air temperature is about 12 degrees C (53 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid, isomesic Typic Udifluvents
Soil moisture: The soil between the depths of 27 and 56 centimeters (11 to 22 inches) is moist in all parts from November 1 to August 15 and is dry in some part from September 1 to October 15 in most years. The soils have a udic moisture regime.
Soil temperature: The mean annual soil temperature is 10 degrees to 12 degrees C (50 to 53 degrees F) but ranges to 15 degrees C (59 degrees F) on the southern Oregon coast. The difference between mean summer and winter temperature is 2 to 4 degrees C (35 to 40 degrees F).
The Organic carbon decreases irregularly with increasing depth.
Reaction is neutral to strongly acid and base saturation is 50 to 80 percent throughout.
Particle-Size Control Section (weighted average):
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent gravel.
Clay content: 5 to 18 percent.
Some pedons have an Oi horizon (0 to 5 centimeters thick).
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for timber production, wildlife habitat, recreation and watershed. Vegetation consists of redwood, tanoak, swordfern, huckleberry and oxalis.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: California Coastal Redwood Belt and southwestern Oregon; MLRA 4B. The series is not extensive.
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www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/CA6...
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Soil profile: Profile of Studybutte very gravelly loam, in an area of Studybutte-Rock outcrop complex, 20 to 60 percent slopes. In this photograph, cobbles are observed, however, gravel-sized coarse fragments dominate in the soil profile. Studybutte soils are very shallow and shallow to igneous bedrock. Soil Survey of Big Bend National Park, Texas; by James Gordon, Soil Scientist, James A. Douglass, Soil Scientist, and Dr. Lynn E. Loomis, Soil Scientist, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: On the Maverick Mountain behind, Studybutte-Rock outcrop complex, 20 to 60 percent slopes is on intrusive igneous bedrock. Studybutte soils from in residuum and colluvium weathered from Tertiary-age siliceous igneous rock. They are on hill slopes and mountainsides with slopes of 10 to 50 percent but range from 2 to 60 percent.
The Studybutte series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils that are moderately rapidly permeable over very slowly permeable bedrock. The soils developed in residuum and colluvium weathered from siliceous igneous bedrock. These soils are on hills and mountains. Slopes range from 2 to 60 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 11 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 70 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, nonacid, hyperthermic Lithic Ustic Torriorthents
Soil moisture: Ustic aridic soil moisture regime. Receives precipitation in all months. Driest period is November through April with peak rainfall occurring during May through October.
Mean annual soil temperature: 72 to 78 degrees F.
Depth to igneous bedrock: 4 to 20 inches
Clay content: 5 to 25 percent
Rock fragment content: 35 to 80 percent igneous fragments; 25 to 60 percent gravel; 0 to 20 percent cobbles; 0 to 20 percent stones
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat and for recreation. Vegetation physiognomy is desert shrubland. Dominant woody plants include lechuguilla, leatherstem, cenizo, catclaw acacia, ocotillo, tasajillo, creosotebush, pricklypear, and dalea species. Grasses are chino grama, sideoats grama, and tanglehead.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Texas. MLRA 42. The series is moderately extensive.
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