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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Hosmer series in Kentucky. Hosmer soils have a perched, seasonal water table at a depth of 46 to 76 centimeters (1.5 to 2.5 feet) from December through April in most years. The saturation helps form Fe-Mg concretions in he zone above the seasonal saturation. These concretions are evident at the lower part of the Ap horizon.
Landscape: The Hosmer series (foreground) consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils formed in loess on hills and are very productive with good natural fertility. Slopes are commonly 2 to 12 percent, but range from 0 to 30 percent.
They are moderately deep to a fragipan. Slopes are commonly 2 to 12 percent, but range from 0 to 30 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1068 mm (42 inches) and mean annual temperature is about 14 degrees C (57 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Fragiudalfs
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 127 to more than 203 cm (50 to more than 80 inches)
Depth to the fragipan: 51 to 91 cm (20 to 36 inches)
The particle-size control section averages: 22 to 30 percent clay and 2 to 10 percent sand
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for growing corn, soybeans, winter wheat, or used for hay. Some areas are used for pasture and woodland. Native vegetation is mixed, deciduous hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Indiana, southern Illinois and western Kentucky. The acreage is of large extent and is in MLRAs 113, 114B, 115A, 120A and 120B. The type location is in MLRA 115A.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HOSMER.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Maury series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in silty material over residuum weathered from phosphatic limestone. These soils are on nearly level to moderately steep uplands. Slopes range from 0 to 20 percent. (Kentucky Soil Atlas; by Anastasios D. Karathanasis, University of Kentucky)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Typic Paleudalfs
Thickness of the solum ranges from 60 to 120 inches or more. Thickness of the argillic horizon ranges from 50 to 100 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 60 to 200 inches or more. Chert fragments, less than 3 inches in diameter, range from 0 to 5 percent in the Bt, BC and C horizons. The reaction of the Ap or A horizons range from neutral to strongly acid; the upper part of the Bt horizon ranges from slightly acid to strongly acid; the lower part of the Bt, BC and C horizons range from moderately acid to very strongly acid. The phosphate content in the solum is variable but is typically medium or high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for crops such as burley tobacco, corn, small grains, and alfalfa; and for pasture. Bluegrass and white clover are the most common pasture plants. Native vegetation was dominated by oaks, elm, ash, black walnut, black and honey locust, hackberry, black cherry, and Kentucky coffee tree. Glades of native grasses and canes were reported by early settlers.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Inner Bluegrass Physiographic Region of Kentucky. The Maury series is currently used in the Central Basin of Tennessee as a thermic taxajunct. The extent is large.
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/M/MAURY.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Blount series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils that are moderately deep or deep to dense till. Blount soils formed in till and are on wave-worked till plains, till plains, and near-shore zones (relict). Slope ranges from 0 to 6 percent. (Delaware County, Indiana; by Gary R. Struben, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, illitic, mesic Aeric Epiaqualfs
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 51 to 114 cm (20 to 45 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 48 to 102 cm (19 to 40 inches)
Depth to densic contact: 76 to 152 cm (30 to 60 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages 35 to 45 percent clay
Rock fragments: predominantly igneous, limestone, and dolomite gravel
USE AND VEGETATION: Almost all areas of Blount soils are cultivated. Corn, soybeans, small grain, and meadow are the principal crops. Native vegetation is hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Dominant acreage is in MLRA 111B, with lesser acreages in MLRAs 95B, 97, 98, 99, 108A, and 110. Blount soils are in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/indiana/IN035/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BLOUNT.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Otanya series in an area of Otanya very fine sandy loam, 1 to 3 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Tyler County, Texas; by Levi Steptoe, Jr., Natural Resources Conservation Services)
The Otanya series consists of very deep, well drained soils. These nearly level to gently sloping soils formed in loamy fluviomarine deposits of the Lissie Formation of early to mid Pleistocene age. Slope ranges from 1 to 5 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 19.4 degrees C (67 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 1295 mm (51 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleudults
Soil Moisture: An udic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12 in) below the soil surface and remains dry less than 90 cumulative days in most years.
Mean annual soil temperature: 20.6 to 21.7 degrees C (68 to 70 degrees F)
Depth to argillic horizon: 18 to 58 cm (7 to 23 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 18 to 25 percent
CEC/clay ratio: 0.30 to 0.40
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for timber and pasture. Forest vegetation includes loblolly, shortleaf, slash and longleaf pines, sweetgum, red oak, and hickory trees. Pastures are mainly improved bermudagrass and bahiagrass. A few areas are cultivated and used for growing vegetables and blueberries.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeast Texas and possibly southwestern Louisiana; LRR T; Western Gulf Coast Flatwoods (MLRA 152B); large extent. These soils have been included in the Segno and Malbis series. The Otanya series was proposed in Jasper County, Texas 1977 and was dropped in 1980. It was redefined slightly and proposed for active status in 1982. The type location was moved from Polk County to Tyler County, which is centrally located in the series province. The classification was changed from Plinthic Paleudults to Typic Paleudults during the correlation of the update of MLRA 152B in June 2004 after pit studies showed that less than 5 percent plinthite is common in most pedons. The water table depths and time period were established as a result of a water table study conducted in Jasper County, Texas and Beauregard Parish, Louisiana from 1998 to 2002.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/TX457/0/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/O/OTANYA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil mottling-lithochromic mottling above a paralithic contact (about 1 meter depth) in a Woolwine soil.
For a detailed description of the soil, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WOOLWINE.html
Mottling (mottles, mottled) refers to secondary soil colors not associated with compositional properties. Lithochromic mottles are a type of mottling associated with variations of color due to weathering of parent materials.
Terms such as mixed, intermingled, mottled, or multicolored to describe color are discouraged.
Example: If the color pattern is not related to aquic conditions and has numerous, diverse colors without a dominant color—
BC--70 to 97 centimeters (about 25 to 31 inches); red (2.5YR 4/8) very gravelly sandy clay loam; weak very coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common medium and coarse roots; 40 percent, by volume weak red (10R 4/3), dusky red (10R 3/3), and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) mottles; 10 percent paragravel; 15 percent fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; soil peds part along relic rock fractures; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 25 centimeters, about 10 inches thick)
Example: If the color pattern is not related to aquic conditions and is too intricate (bands, patches, etc.) with numerous, diverse colors to credibly identify a dominant color—
BC=30 to 50 inches; variegated dark gray (5Y 4/1), yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), and brown (7.5YR4/4) clay loam; ...
-or-
C=50 to 60 inches; variegated loam saprolite in shades of red, brown, yellow, and white;…
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-...
For more information about Hydric Soils and their Field Indicators, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
View of Klickitat Valley, west of Goldendale, Washington. Cropland in foreground is on Goldendale soil. Mount Adams is in background.
KLICKITAT COUNTY AREA is in the south-central part of Washington. The Columbia River lies along the southern margin of the area. The northern boundary begins on the southeastern flanks of Mount Adams, extends over the Simcoe Mountains, and follows the crest of Horse Heaven Hills. Elevation ranges from about 70 feet along the Columbia River to about 5,900 feet at the top of the Simcoe Mountains.
The area is 84 miles long and 13 to 29 miles wide. It has a total area of 1,013,863 acres, or 1,583 square miles. About 24 percent of the area is cultivated, 42 percent is rangeland, and 34 percent is forestland. The major crops include small grain, grass and legumes grown for hay and pasture, and orchard crops. About 32,333 acres are irrigated. About 137 different kinds of soils are in the survey area.
A majority of the soils formed in loess and colluvium and residuum derived from basalt. Some soils formed in alluvium, eolian sand, and lake sediment. Most of the soils are very deep and well drained; however, many soils in the eastern part of the survey area are moderately deep or shallow over basalt. Some soils in low-lying areas have restricted drainage and are affected by wetness or excessive salts.
An old unpublished soil survey covers most of the survey area. This present survey updates the earlier survey. It gives additional information and provides maps that show the soils in greater detail.
Today, soil surveys are no longer published in book form; they are published to the web and accessed on NRCS Web Soil Survey where a person can create a custom soil survey. This allows for rapid flow of the latest soil information to the user. In the past it could take years to publish a paper soil survey. The information in a soil survey can be used by farmers and ranchers to help determine whether a particular soil type is suited for crops or livestock and what type of soil management might be required.
For more information, visit:
archive.org/details/usda-soil-survey-of-klickitat-county-...
Profile of Clareville sandy clay loam in an area of Czar-Clareville complex, 0 to 2 percent slopes, rarely flooded. The rich dark surface of this profile indicates an accumulation of organic matter and is naturally fertile. (Soil Survey of McMullen County, Texas; by Clark K. Harshbarger, Jon Wiedenfeld, and Gary Harris, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Clareville series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loamy alluvial sediments of Holocene age. These nearly level to very gently sloping soils are on base slope on draws and drainageways. Slope ranges from 0 to 5 percent but mainly less that 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 711 mm (28 in) and mean annual air temperature is about 22 degrees C (72 degrees F)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, hyperthermic Pachic Argiustolls
Solum thickness ranges from 150 to 203 (60 to 80 in). The mollic epipedon is 50 to 127 cm (20 to 50 in) thick.
Soil Moisture: A typic-ustic moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts for more than 90 days but less than 180 cumulative days in normal years. June through August and December through February are the driest months. These soils are intermittently moist in September through November and March through May. Mean annual soil temperature: 22 to 24 (72 to 75 degrees F).
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: 61 to 91 cm (24 to 36 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 35 to 45 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly as cropland but some areas are in rangeland. Cultivated crops are cotton, grain sorghum, and corn. Native grasses include Arizona cottontop, little bluestem, sideoats grama, curlymesquite, and Texas bristlegrass. Woody invaders are whitebrush, spiny hackberry, and mesquite.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and Central Rio Grande Plain and Gulf Coast Prairies, Texas; LRR I; MLRA 83A, 83C. The series is moderately extensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/mcmullen...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CLAREVILLE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Minidoka series in Idaho.
Landscape: Minidoka soils are used for irrigated cropland, pastureland and rangeland. The principal crops grown are wheat, barley, potatoes, alfalfa hay, sugar beets, corn, corn silage and dry beans.
The Minidoka series consists of moderately deep to a duripan, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in loess and alluvium from mixed sources. They are on basalt plains and terraces, with slopes of 0 to 12 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 9 inches, and the average annual air temperature is about 51 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Xeric Haplodurids
Average annual soil temperature - 47 to 53 degrees F.
Depth to duripan - 20 to 40 inches
Depth to bedrock - 40 to more than 60 inches
Depth to calcic horizon - 7 to 16 inches and are calcareous to the soil surface.
Particle-size control section - 10 to 18 percent total clay, 5 to 15 percent carbonate free clay, 3 to 15 percent fine sand or coarser.
USE AND VEGETATION: Minidoka soils are used for irrigated cropland, pastureland and rangeland. The principal crops grown are wheat, barley, potatoes, alfalfa hay, sugar beets, corn, corn silage and dry beans. The native vegetation is Wyoming big sagebrush, and Thurber needlegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southcentral and southwestern Idaho. This series is extensive.
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/97d01af9d4554b9097cb0a477e04...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MINIDOKA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Cullowhee series consists of somewhat poorly drained, moderately rapidly permeable soils on flood plains in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. They formed in recent alluvium that is loamy in the upper part and is moderately deep to sandy strata that contain more than 35 percent by volume rock fragments. They are very deep to bedrock. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Fluvaquentic Humudepts
Solum thickness ranges from 12 to 35 inches. Sandy C horizons that contain more that 35 percent by volume gravel and/or cobbles are within depths of 20 to 40 inches. Gravel and/or cobbles are in the A and AC horizons of some pedons but comprise less than 35 percent. Content of mica flakes is few to common. Reaction is very strongly acid to slightly acid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of this soil is used for hay, corn, pasture, truck crops, or ornamental crops. The rest is mainly in hardwood forest. Common trees are yellow poplar, red maple, sycamore, yellow birch, and river birch. A few areas have been planted to eastern white pine. Common understory plants include rhododendron, sedges, and eastern hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Blue Ridge mountains, MLRA 130B of North Carolina, and possibly Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. The series is of small extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CULLOWHEE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Brundage series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in saline loamy alluvium. These soils are on drainageways and stream terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 22 degrees C (72 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 56 cm (21 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, hyperthermic Aridic Natrustalfs
USE AND VEGETATION: Used as rangeland and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation presently includes such grasses as red grama, threeawn, Hall's panicum, pink pappusgrass, hooded windmillgrass, sand dropseed, and Arizona cottontop. Woody plants include mesquite, blackbrush, whitebrush, condalia, guyacan, twisted acacia, and a few cacti.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western and Central Rio Grande Plain, Texas; LRR I; MLRA 83B and 83C; large extent. Classification change from Ustollic Natrargids to Aridic Natrustalfs based on geographic distribution of the series, rainfall patterns, and vegetative production and composition. The soil has an ustic soil moisture regime that borders on the aridic soil moisture regime.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BRUNDAGE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Dellwood series consists of moderately well drained, moderately rapidly to very rapidly permeable soils formed in dominantly coarse-textured alluvium on flood plains in the Southern Blue Ridge mountains, MLRA 130B. These soils are shallow to sandy material that has more than 35 percent by volume of gravel and cobbles. Near the type location, average annual precipitation is about 50 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 53 degrees F. Slope ranges from 0 to 5 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Oxyaquic Humudepts
Solum thickness and depth to coarse-textured material that contains more than 35 percent by volume rounded gravel and cobbles is 8 to 20 inches. Reaction is very strongly acid to neutral. Content of mica flakes ranges from none to many. Organic matter content is irregular with depth.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is cleared and used for pasture and hayland. Some is in urban uses. The rest is mainly in hardwood forest. Sycamore, yellow-poplar, river birch, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, and red maple are the dominant trees. Common understory plants are rhododendron, ironwood, flowering dogwood, red maple, tag alder, greenbrier, and switchcane.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Blue Ridge mountains, MLRA 130B of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
The Dellwood soils were formerly included with the Craigsville, French, and Potomac series. However, the combination of an umbric epipedon and sandy-skeletal family is not described by any of those soils. Dellwood has formed downstream from areas of high rainfall and steep slopes. Large variations in stream flow may occur over short periods.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/D/DELLWOOD.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of a poorly drained Myakka soil series from the 2014 Florida FFA Land Judging Contest. (Photos courtesy of L. Rex Ellis, Environmental Scientist V, Bureau of Water Resources, Division of Water and Land Resources, St. Johns River Water Management District). For more information about the site, visit: landjudging.org/contests/2014/field1/
The Myakka series consists of very deep, very poorly or poorly drained, moderately rapid or moderately permeable soils that occur primarily in mesic flatwoods of peninsular Florida. They formed in sandy marine deposits. Near the type location, the average annual temperature is about 72 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation is about 55 inches. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, siliceous, hyperthermic Aeric Alaquods
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Myakka soils are used for commercial forest production or native range. Large areas with adequate water control measures are used for citrus, improved pasture, and truck crops. Native vegetation includes longleaf and slash pine with an undergrowth of saw palmetto, running oak, inkberry, wax myrtle, huckleberry, chalky bluestem, pineland threeawn, and scattered fetterbush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Peninsular Florida, primarily in MLRA155 (Southern Florida Flatwoods), and to a less extent in MLRA 154 (South-Central Florida Ridge), MLRA156A (Florida Everglades and Associated Areas), and MLRA156B (Southern Florida Lowlands). The series is of large extent (about 1,400,072 acres).
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MYAKKA.html
For acreage, geographic distribution and pedons sampled, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#myakka
For more information about describing soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052523...
For additional information about soil classification using Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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!!!
The desert is 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long, and 500 kilometres (310 mi) wide. Its surface elevation varies from 800 metres (2,600 ft) in the southwest to around sea level in the northeast. The terrain is covered with sand dunes with heights up to 250 metres (820 ft), interspersed with gravel and gypsum plains. The sand is of a reddish-orange color due to the presence of feldspar. There are also brackish salt flats in some areas, such as the Umm al Samim area on the desert's eastern edge. Along the middle length of the desert there are a number of raised, hardened areas of calcium carbonate, gypsum, marl, or clay that were once the site of shallow lakes.
These lakes existed during periods from 6,000 to 5,000 years ago and 3,000 to 2,000 years ago. The lakes are thought to have formed as a result of "cataclysmic rainfall" similar to present-day monsoon rains and most probably lasted for only a few years. Evidence suggests that the lakes were home to a variety of flora and fauna. Fossil remains indicate the presence of several animal species, such as hippopotamus, water buffalo, and long-horned cattle. The lakes also contained small snails, ostracods, and when conditions were suitable, freshwater clams. Deposits of calcium carbonate and opal phytoliths indicate the presence of plants and algae.
There is also evidence of human activity dating from 3,000 to 2,000 years ago, including chipped flint tools, but no actual human remains have been found. The region is classified as "hyper-arid", with typical annual rainfall of less than 3 centimetres (1.2 in). Daily maximum temperatures average at 47 °C (117 °F) and can reach as high as 51 °C (124 °F). Fauna includes arachnids (e.g. scorpions) and rodents, while plants live throughout the Empty Quarter. As an ecoregion, the Rub' al Khali falls within the Arabian Desert and East Saharo-Arabian xeric shrublands. The Asiatic cheetahs, once widespread in Saudi Arabia, are regionally extinct from the desert.
Geologically, the Empty Quarter is one of the most oil-rich sites in the world. Vast oil reserves have been discovered underneath the sand dunes. Sheyba, at the northeastern edge of the Rub' al Khali, is a major light crude oil-producing site in Saudi Arabia. Ghawar, the largest oil field in the world, extends southward into the northernmost parts of the Empty Quarter.
For more photos related to soils and landscapes visit:
The Garbutt series consists of very deep, well drained soils on fan terraces, basalt plains, and alluvial fans. They formed in loess and silty alluvium. Permeability is moderate. Slopes are 0 to 12 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 8 inches and the average annual temperature is about 51 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Typic Torriorthents
Average annual soil temperature - 47 to 54 degrees F.
Control section-percent clay - 12 to 18
Texture - very fine sandy loam or silt loam
Reaction - mildly to strongly alkaline
Mineralogy - mixed with 1 or more layers having 20 to 50 percent volcanic glass in the sand and silt fraction
USE AND VEGETATION: Irrigated areas are used for production of beans, corn, alfalfa, sugar beets, small grains, hay and pasture. Potential vegetation in the natural plant community is winterfat, bud sagebrush, shadscale, bottlebrush squirreltail, Sandberg
bluegrass, and Indian ricegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern and south central Idaho and eastern Oregon. The soils are extensive.
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/97d01af9d4554b9097cb0a477e04...
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GARBUTT.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The 12 soil orders of Soil Taxonomy and geographic extent in the United States.
Soil Taxonomy is a soil classification system developed by the United States Department of Agriculture’s soil survey staff. This system is based on measurable and observable soil properties and was designed to facilitate detailed soil survey. Although it is not the only system for classifying soils, Soil Taxonomy is widely used worldwide and many of its features have been adopted into other systems.
At the highest level of classification, Soil Taxonomy places soils into one of 12 categories known as “orders.” Each of these orders represents a grouping of soils with distinct characteristics and ecological significance. To illustrate this, we have put together a collection of images and information to highlight the distribution, properties and land use for each of the 12 soil orders. (University of Idaho).
For additional information and example(s) of "The Twelve Orders of Soil Taxonomy", click HERE.
To learn more about soils and soil formation in Idaho, click HERE.
A representative soil profile and landscape of the Satellite soil series from the 2014 Florida FFA Land Judging Contest. (Photos courtesy of L. Rex Ellis, Environmental Scientist V, Bureau of Water Resources, Division of Water and Land Resources, St. Johns River Water Management District). For more information about the site, visit: landjudging.org/contests/2014/field4/
The Satellite series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained, rapidly permeable soils on low knolls and ridges of the Southern Florida Flatwoods (MLRA 155) and to a lesser extent in the South Central Florida Ridge (MLRA 154), Southern Florida Lowlands (MLRA 156B), Florida Everglades and Associated Areas (MLRA 156A) and the Atlantic Coast Flatwoods (MLRA 153A). They formed in thick beds of marine sand. Near the type location, the mean annual temperature is about 74 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is about 55 inches. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Hyperthermic, uncoated Aquic Quartzipsamments
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Satellite soil are used for forest and range. Native vegetation consists of south Florida slash pine, Florida rosemary, sand live oak, longleaf pine, saw palmetto, pineland threeawn, and other native grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Peninsular Florida. The series is of small extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
www.flickr.com/photos/jakelley/51847901746/in/dateposted-...
For acreage, geographic distribution and pedons sampled, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#satellite
For more information about describing soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052523...
For additional information about soil classification using Soil Taxonomy, visit:
Cryoturbation.—The physical mixing of soil material within a pedon by frost churning. Evidence of this process is considered a diagnostic soil characteristic for both mineral and organic soils. Cryoturbation is defined by macromorphological evidence that can be observed visually in a profile, such as irregular or broken horizons, involutions, accumulations of organic matter on the permafrost table, oriented rock fragments, and silt caps on rock fragments. It is a criterion used in the taxonomic keys to identify Turbels. See gelic materials>/i>.
Figure 33.—This soil shows strong evidence of “cryoturbation;” the mixing of materials from various horizons of the soil due to freezing and thawing.
Glossic Stagnosol from loess; by Cezary Kabala, Institute of Soil Science, University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)
A Stagnosol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is soil with strong mottling of the soil profile due to redox processes caused by stagnating surface water. Stagnosols are periodically wet and mottled in the topsoil and subsoil, with or without concretions and/or bleaching. The topsoil can also be completely bleached (albic horizon). A common name in many national classification systems for most Stagnosols is pseudogley. In the USDA soil taxonomy, many of them belong to the Aqualfs, Aquults, Aquents, Aquepts and Aquolls.
They are developed in a wide variety of unconsolidated materials like glacial till, and loamy aeolian, alluvial and colluvial deposits and physically weathered siltstone. Stagnosols occur on flat to gently sloping land in cool temperate to subtropical regions with humid to perhumid climate conditions.
Glossic Stagnosol have albelluvic glossae starting ≤ 100 cm from the soil surface. The term albeluvic glossae (from Latin albus, white, and eluere, to wash out, and Greek glossa, tongue) is connotative of penetrations of clay- and Fe-depleted material into an argic horizon. Albeluvic glossae occur along soil aggregate surfaces forming vertically continuous tongues. In horizontal sections they exhibit a polygonal pattern.
For more information on the World Reference Base soil classification system, visit:
A representative soil profile and landscape of the Compton soil series from England. (Photos and information provided by LandIS, Land Information System: Cranfield University 2022. The Soils Guide. Available: www.landis.org.uk. Cranfield University, UK. Last accessed 14/01/2022). (Photos revised.)
These and associated soils are stoneless mostly reddish clayey soils affected by groundwater. Flat land. Risk of flooding.
They are classified as Clayic Fluvic Eutric Gleysols by the WRB soil classification system. (www.fao.org/3/i3794en/I3794en.pdf)
For more information about this soil, visit:
The Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD) has completed a $6.5 million (USD) contract with an Australian firm (GRM International) for a soil survey, which involves satellite images, soil analyses and land mapping.
The soil survey project was undertaken in two phases and involved the mapping and classification of the various types of soils in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in two different scales. In the first phase the entire emirate was surveyed at a scale of 1:100,000, and in the second phase 400,000 hectares of land, evaluated as suitable for irrigated agriculture was surveyed at a scale of 1:25,000.
The project was approved by the Executive Committee of Abu Dhabi last year. The survey, according to the agency, will assist decision-makers in future land use planning on scientific grounds. "It will also provide an on-the-ground, scientific inventory of soil resources, help in developing a soil database using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), prepare a soil survey report and soil and land use maps and build the capacity of UAE nationals," Al Mansouri said after signing the agreement.
Unplanned expansion and developmental activities have caused the deterioration of soil resources. Under the project, the soil, mainly in the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi, will be mapped and classified using the latest satellite images, and norms and standards of the United States Department of Agriculture.
"Planners, engineers and developers will be able to use the soil survey maps and data to evaluate soil for engineering purposes, select sites for residence, agriculture, industry, construction, routes for highways," said Majid Al Mansouri, EAD Secretary-General.
A representative soil profile of the Hawthorne soil series. (Soil Survey of Bedford County, Tennessee; Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Hawthorne series consists of moderately deep, somewhat excessively drained soils on uplands. The soil formed in residuum of interbedded siltstone and cherty limestone. Slopes range from 5 to 70 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Dystrudepts
Solum thickness ranges from 15 to 40 inches. Depth to soft bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to hard bedrock is below 40 inches. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to extremely acid. Coarse fragments range from l0 to 35 percent in the A horizon, and 35 to 60 percent in the B and C horizons. Transitional horizons have colors and textures similar to adjacent horizon
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is woodland consisting of chestnut and white oaks, hickory, hackberry, and eastern red cedar. A few areas on ridgetops are cleared and used for pasture or hay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Highland Rim and Nashville Basin of Tennessee. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/tennessee/TN00...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HAWTHORNE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Tallapoosa series. Tallapoosa soils formed in residuum weathered from phyllite. These somewhat excessively drained soils have soft bedrock at shallow depths and are droughty during dry periods. (Soil Survey of Coosa County, Alabama; by John L. Burns, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Tallapoosa series consists of shallow, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in residuum weathered from phyllite and mica schist. These soils are on narrow ridges and sideslopes of the Piedmont Plateau. Slopes range from 5 to 80 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, semiactive, thermic, shallow Typic Hapludults
Solum thickness ranges from 3 to 20 inches. Depth to a paralithic contact (Cr) is 10 to 20 inches and depth to hard bedrock (R) is more than 6 feet. Content of rock fragments ranges from 0 to 35 percent by volume in the solum. Reaction is very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the soil is in forest of mixed hardwood and pine. A small percentage is cleared and used for growing corn, small grain, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Piedmont Plateau of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and possibly Virginia. The series is extensive. Tallapoosa soils have been included in the Madison and Louisa series. This revision changes mineralogy from micaceous to mixed based on regional observations in Alabama and Georgia. Also, the 8th edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy removed shallow families from the Inceptic (formerly Ochreptic) subgroups.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/alabama/AL037/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TALLAPOOSA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Beotia series consists of very deep, well drained or moderately well drained soils formed in silty glaciolacustrine deposits on lake plains. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the solum and moderately high to moderately low in the underlying material. Slopes range from 0 to 6 percent. Mean annual air temperature is 43 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is about 19 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, frigid Pachic Hapludolls
The mollic epipedon ranges from 16 to 30 inches in thickness and extends into the Bw horizon. The control section typically is silt loam with between 18 and 27 percent clay. The depth to free calcium carbonate ranges from 16 to about 30 inches.
USE AND VEGETATION: Largely cultivated; corn, soybeans, small grain and alfalfa 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: Northeastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota and southeastern North Dakota. The series is of moderate extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BEOTIA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A Takyri-Alkalic Halosol. These soils distribute mainly in the piedmont diluvial fans or alluvial plains in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, Ningxia Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and others. Parent materials are alluvial or diluvial deposits, and loess-like materials are dominant. The plant communities vary with distribution areas, and the major vegetation is composed of halophytic plants. Landscapes and morphological features of profiles also vary with distribution areas. (Photos and notes courtesy of China Soils Museum, Guangdong Institute of World Soil Resources; with revision.)
In Chinese Soil Taxonomy, Halosols are soils with accumulation of salts or alkali under influence of ground water or dry environments. In Soil Taxonomy these soils are commonly Aridisols, Alfisols, or Inceptisols.
For additional information about this soil and the Soils Museum, visit:
www.giwsr.com/en/article/index/204
For additional information about Soil Taxonomy, visit:
The typical pedon of Chungcheon soil (coarse-loamy, Typic Fluvaquent) from the MPRC (Multi-Purpose Range Complex) in South Korea. MPRC also known as Rodriguez Range at Yeongpyeong-ri, north of Pocheon, South Korea supports units of the 2nd Infantry Division for helicopter, Bradley Fighting Vehicle, M1 Abrams tank, artillery, mortor, and close air support training. The image is illustration 3.20 from the Planning Level Survey, 8th US Army Korea (1998). The primary purpose of planning level surveys are to ensure Army activities and natural resources conservation measures on mission land are integrated and consistent with federal stewardship requirements and host nation agreements.
Chungcheon soils are in valleys. Elevation ranges from about 5 to 150 meters. The native vegetation consists of grasses, wildflowers, and shrubs. The soils formed in alluvial from mixed igneous and metamorphic rocks on rice paddy terraces or along natural drainageways.
Typic Fluvaquents.—The concept of Typic Fluvaquents is centered almost exclusively on very young water-laid deposits that are mostly in wet areas on flood plains. These soils show too little evidence of alteration. Redoximorphic features in the soils extend downward from a point very close to the surface, and the water table is at or close to the surface most of the year unless artificial drainage has been provided. Most Typic Fluvaquents are nearly level, and their parent materials are Holocene sediments. Many support forest vegetation, but most support shrub or grassy vegetation.
A representative soil profile and landscape of the Wighill soil series from England. (Photos and information provided by LandIS, Land Information System: Cranfield University 2022. The Soils Guide. Available: www.landis.org.uk. Cranfield University, UK. Last accessed 14/01/2022). (Photos revised.)
These and associated soils are dominantly brownish or reddish subsoils and no prominent mottling or greyish colours (gleying) above 40 cm depth. They are developed mainly on permeable materials at elevations below about 300 m.0.D. Most are in agricultural use.
They are They formed in loamy or clayey with an ordinary clay-enriched subsoil.
They are classified as Endostagnic Luvisols by the WRB soil classification system. (www.fao.org/3/i3794en/I3794en.pdf)
For more information about this soil, visit:
A Typic Endoaqualf (PRC-12) from Guangdong Province China.
Endoaqualfs are the Aqualfs that have an epipedon that rests on an argillic horizon without an abrupt textural change if the argillic horizon has moderately low or lower saturated hydraulic conductivity. The soil temperature regime is frigid, isomesic, mesic, or warmer.
Endoaqualfs are characterized by endoaquic saturation. The ground water fluctuates from a level near the soil surface to below the argillic horizon and is sometimes below a depth of 200 cm. Before cultivation, most Endoaqualfs supported either a deciduous broadleaf or a coniferous forest. Generally, Endoaqualfs are nearly level, and their parent materials are typically late-Pleistocene sediments.
For additional information about soil classification, visit:
sites.google.com/site/dinpuithai/Home/taxonomy/j-alfisols...
Note: The left side of the photo exhibits natural soil structure. The right side has been smoothed.
The Greenbriar series consists of deep, well drained soils formed in a thin mantle of silty material and residuum weathered from acid shales and siltstones. Permeability is moderate. These gently sloping to steep soils are on upland ridges, side slopes, and toeslopes. Slopes range from 2 to 30 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
Thickness of the solum ranges from 30 to 60 inches. Depth to hard bedrock ranges from 40 to 72 inches. Rock fragments range from 0 to 5 percent in the upper solum and from 0 to 35 percent in the lower solum and substratum. Rock fragments are mostly weathered and unweathered shale or siltstone. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to extremely acid throughout the profile, except where limed.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for crops or pasture. Major crops grown are small grains, corn, soybeans, tobacco, and hay. Forests are mixed hardwoods of oak, maple, hickory, ash, gum, dogwood, beech, and pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Greenbriar soils are in the Knobs of Kentucky and possibly southern Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The area is estimated to be of moderate extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GREENBRIAR.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Built to provide a shortcut from the Dragon Valley area, to the rest of Casey. It was also used for PT, since it would get your heart rate up good while running up and down the steps on the steep hill.
Camp Casey is a U.S. military base in Dongducheon (also spelled Tongduchon), South Korea, 40 miles (64 km) north of Seoul, South Korea. Camp Casey was named in 1952 after Major Hugh Boyd Casey, who was killed in a plane crash near the camp site during the Korean War. Camp Casey is one of several U.S. Army bases in South Korea near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Camp Casey, Camp Hovey, and neighboring Camp Castle and Camp Mobile hold the main armor, engineer, and mechanized infantry elements of the 2nd Infantry Division (United States) in South Korea. Camp Casey spans 3,500 acres (14 km2) and is occupied by 6,300 military personnel and 2,500 civilians.
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Narragansett series; the State Soil of Rhode Island.
Landscape: Most of the Narragansett soils are found in uplands in central and southern portions of Rhode Island but there are small areas not mapped throughout the state. Note the large stones and boulders cleared from this agricultural field.
The Narragansett soil series was first established in Kent and Washington Counties, Rhode Island in 1934. The soil series is named for the town where the soil was first mapped and classified. The town of Narragansett was named for the indigenous Narragansett Tribe. Narragansett is an English alteration of Nanhigganeuck, their actual name meaning “people of the small point.” In 1979 an Act to designate the Narragansett Silt Loam as the Official State Soil of Rhode Island was enacted by the General Assembly, the Act did not pass the legislative process so the series is not officially considered the Rhode Island State Soil.
The Narragansett series consists of very deep, well drained loamy soils formed in a mantle of medium-textured deposits overlying till. They are nearly level to moderately steep soils on till plains, low ridges and hills. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. Permeability is moderate in the surface layer and subsoil and moderately rapid or rapid in the substratum. Mean annual temperature is about 50 degrees F. and the mean annual precipitation is about 47 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
Thickness of the solum and depth to the lithologic discontinuity range from 18 to 38 inches. Depth to bedrock is commonly more than 6 feet. Rock fragments range from 0 to 25 percent in the solum and from 10 to 50 percent in the substratum. Except where the surface layer is stony, the fragments are mostly subrounded pebbles and typically make up 60 percent or more of the total rock fragments. Unless limed, the soil is extremely acid to moderately acid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas are cleared and used for cultivated crops, hay or pasture. Common crops are silage corn, tobacco and vegetables. Some areas are wooded and scattered areas are used for community development. Common trees are red, white and black oak, hickory, white ash, sugar maple, red maple, gray birch, white pine and hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Glaciated uplands in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island; MLRAs 144A and 145. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the the soil, visit:
www.soils4teachers.org/files/s4t/k12outreach/ri-state-soi...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/N/NARRAGANSETT.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Kentucky State Soil
Soil profile: Profile of Crider silt loam in an area of Crider-Vertrees silt loams, karst, rolling, eroded. This very deep soil has a 3-foot-thick loess cap over a cherty layer over a paleosol developed from clayey limestone residuum.
Landscape: No-till corn in an area of Crider soil. Crop residue management helps to slow runoff, reducing erosion. Crider soils in Harrison County are along backslopes, shoulders, and summits around sinkholes on hills underlain with Mississippian limestone bedrock. (Soil Survey of Harrison County, Indiana; by Steven W. Neyhouse, Sr., Byron G. Nagel, Gary R. Struben, and Steven Blanford, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
archive.org/details/HarrisonIN2009
Map Unit Composition
75 percent Crider and similar soils
10 percent Knobcreek, eroded and similar soils on backslopes
10 percent Vertrees, eroded and similar soils on backslopes
5 percent moderately well drained Bedford and similar soils on shoulders and summits
Interpretive Groups
Land capability classification: 2e
Prime farmland: All areas are prime farmland
Properties and Qualities of the Crider Soil
Parent material: Loess, loamy materials, and clayey residuum over the underlying
Mississippian limestone bedrock
Drainage class: Well drained
Permeability range to a depth of 40 inches: Moderate
Permeability range below a depth of 40 inches: Moderate
Depth to restrictive feature: 60 to 120 inches to lithic bedrock
Available water capacity: About 10.2 inches to a depth of 60 inches
Organic matter content of surface layer: 1.0 to 3.0 percent
Shrink-swell potential: Moderate
Seasonal high water table: None
Ponding: None
Flooding: None
Hydric soil: No
Potential frost action: High
Corrosivity: Moderate for steel and moderate for concrete
Potential for surface runoff: Low
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CRIDER.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of Veleno clay loam, 0 to 2 percent slopes. A clayey natric horizon begins at a depth of 15 centimeters and extends throughout the solum. Natric horizons have accumulations of sodium. (Soil Survey of Zapata County, Texas; by Ramiro Molina and Roel D. Guerra, Jr., Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Veleno series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in calcareous, saline, clayey alluvium. These nearly level to gently sloping soils are on drainageways. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 23 degrees C (73 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 533 mm (21 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, hyperthermic Halic Haplusterts
Solum thickness is more than 203 cm (80 in).
Soil Moisture: An ustic bordering on aridic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section, 8 to 24 inches, is moist in some or all parts for less than 90 consecutive days in normal years.
Mean annual soil temperature: 22 to 23 degrees C (72 to 74 degrees F).
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: 61 to 127 cm (24 to 50 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 40 to 60 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly as rangeland and wildlife habitat. The native vegetation consists of four-flower trichloris, Arizona cottontop, Plains bristlegrass, hooded windmillgrass, pink pappusgrass and woody shrubs such as mesquite, pricklypear, Texas ebony, tasajillo, and spiny hackberry. The ecological site is Saline Clay 18-25 PZ(R083BY432TX).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Rio Grande Plains, Texas, LRR I; MLRA 83B; the series is of moderate extent. These soils were formerly included in the Montell series. The Montell series typically are not mapped in floodplains. This series will be used for areas mapped as Montell flooded in published soil surveys.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/zapataTX...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/V/VELENO.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Moulton series (Chromic Luvisols) 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
Mapped areas of Moulton soils occurs on 130 km² of gently rolling open chalkland in Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk, between Stevenage and Newmarket. It occupies flat-topped hills, dry valley floors or gentle slopes and is known as Redlands in Cambridgeshire. The soils are formed in thin loamy chalky drift lying on chalk. Many are now leached of calcium carbonate but these occur in a complex pattern with calcareous soils. About one-third of the land is occupied by Moulton soils, coarse loamy argillic brown earths, with reddish brown or strong brown subsoils over extremely calcareous chalky drift or chalk.
Because of their loamy texture and permeable chalky substrate, these soils are well drained (Wetness Class I). The soil water available to crops is moderate. Plant roots can often penetrate the well-fissured drift beneath the shallower soils and some moisture is available from the finely porous chalk. In average years the soils are slightly droughty for cereals, oilseed rape and sugar beet, moderately droughty for potatoes and very droughty for grass. In wet years soils are slightly droughty for grass.
The land is mostly cultivated for cereals and sugar beet. There is some permanent grassland on stud farms around Newmarket where shelter belts with beech and larch commonly enclose the paddocks. The soils present few problems for cultivation or trafficking and conditions are often suitable for landwork until the end of the year. There are ample opportunities for spring cultivations except in the wettest years.
For additional information about the soil association, visit:
www.landis.org.uk/services/soilsguide/mapunit.cfm?mu=57111
For more information on the World Reference Base soil classification system, visit:
Soil profile: The Badin series consists of moderately deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in residuum weathered from fine-grained metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks of the Carolina Slate Belt. (Soil Survey of Randolph County, North Carolina; by Perry W. Wyatt, North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources)
Landscape: A dairy farm in an area of Badin-Tarrus complex, 2 to 8 percent slopes. The Uwharrie National Forest is in the background. Badin soils are on gently sloping to steep uplands in the Piedmont. Slopes range from 2 to 55 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Typic Hapludults
Solum thickness is 20 to 40 inches. Depth to weathered bedrock is 20 to 40 inches. Depth to hard bedrock is 40 inches or more. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to extremely acid in all horizons except where the surface has been limed. Limed soils are typically moderately acid or slightly acid in the A horizon. Rock fragment content is commonly 5 to 35 percent by volume in the A, E, BE, BA, and Bt horizons, and 20 to 60 percent in the BC and C horizons. Some pedons have individual horizons that have 0 to 5 percent rock fragments by volume. Fragments are dominantly channers.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for growing corn, small grain, soybeans, grain sorghum, mixed hay, and pasture. The remainder is in woodlands of oaks, hickory, loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, Virginia pine, and yellow-poplar. Common understory species are American holly, flowering dogwood, sourwood, and American hornbeam.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Piedmont Plateau of North Carolina and Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/north_carolina...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BADIN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of an Aridic Haplustert. (Photo and comments courtesy of Stan Buol, NCSU.)
This profile was photographed in Yavapai County, Arizona. The soil is formed in basalt on a 2 percent slope. It is vegetated by grassland and sparse juniper and pinon pine. The soil is silty clay texture with slightly alkaline pH values in all horizons. Hard basalt rock is present at some depth below the bottom of the pit.
The surface A1 horizon of 4 inches is strong granular structure. Below the A1 horizon the structure is extremely hard, when dry angular and subangular blocky with slickenside features indicative of the churning action in Vertisols as the soil shrinks when dry and expands when wetted. Although not visible in the photo the soil has 5mm or wider cracks that are open more than 210 days each year within 50 cm of the surface, i.e. the Aridic subgroup. The site is used for cattle grazing and wildlife.
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Aridic Haplusterts are the Haplusterts that have a soil moisture regime that borders on aridic. They do not have a lithic contact within 50 cm of the soil surface, a petrocalcic horizon, or significant amounts of salts or sodium. These soils occur in South Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, and Wyoming. They commonly are used as rangeland.
Haplusterts are the most common of the Usterts. They are derived from a variety of parent materials, including sedimentary rocks, alluvium, marl, and basic igneous rocks. Slopes range from nearly level to strongly sloping. Haplusterts occur in many Western and Southwestern States, on the northern Great Plains, and in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. They are used as rangeland, cropland, or pasture.
Usterts are the Vertisols in temperate areas that do not receive high amounts of rainfall during the summer, in areas of monsoonal climate, and in tropical and subtropical areas that have two rainy and two dry seasons. Cracks open and close once or twice during the year. Usterts are extensive in Texas, on the Great Plains, in Australia, in Africa south of the Sahara, and in India. Many of these soils formed in gently sloping areas of fine textured marine deposits or alluvium. Some are derived from basic igneous rocks. If irrigated, Usterts are used intensively, but large areas are used for grazing because of a lack of machinery to till the soils.
The central concept of Vertisols is that of clayey soils that have deep, wide cracks for some time during the year and have slickensides within 100 cm of the mineral soil surface. They shrink when dry and swell when moistened. Vertisols make up a relatively homogeneous order because of the amounts and kinds of clay common to them; however, their microvariability within a pedon is great. Before the advent of modern classification systems, these soils were already well known for their characteristic color, the cracks they produce during the dry season, and the difficulty of their engineering properties.
For more information about describing soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052523...
For additional information about soil classification using Soil Taxonomy, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Knuckle soil series. (Soil Survey of Pinnacles National Monument, California; by Ken Oster, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: A typical area of a Knuckle soil on south aspects. Chalone soil is on north aspects.
The Knuckle series consists of shallow to bedrock, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in rhyolite. The Knuckle soils are on hills. Slopes range from 35 to 70 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 17 inches (432 millimeters) and the mean annual air temperature is about 61 degrees F (16 degrees C).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, thermic Lithic Xerorthents
Depth to bedrock: 6 to 20 inches (16 to 50 centimeters).
Mean annual soil temperature: 60 to 63 degrees F (16 to 17 degrees C).
Soil moisture control section: dry in all parts from about May 15 to November 15 (180 days), and moist in all parts from about January 15 to April 15 (90 days).
Particle size control section: 2 to 15 percent clay, 35 to 60 percent rock fragments from rhyolite.
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for watershed, wildlife habitat and recreation. Vegetation is sparse chamise chaparral.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: San Benito County, California in MLRA 15 -- Central California Coast Range. These soils are of small extent. San Benito County, California. Source of name from Knuckle Ridge. This series was established based on limited acreage observed within the National Park Service Pinnacles National Monument boundary.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/CA7...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/K/KNUCKLE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Kellistown series in an area of unimproved grassland from Ireland. These soils formed in coarse loamy drift with limestones.
For detailed information about this soil, visit;
gis.teagasc.ie/soils/soilguide.php
gis.teagasc.ie/soils/rep_profile_sheet.php?series_code=10...
For information about the soil series of Ireland, visit;
gis.teagasc.ie/soils/soilguide.php
In the Irish soil classification system these soils are Typical Luvisols (soils with clay enriched subsoil).
For more information about describing and classifying soils using the Irish Soils Classification System, visit:
gis.teagasc.ie/soils/downloads/SIS_Final_Technical_Report...
Leptic Haplogypsids, sandy, gypsic, hyperthermic, lithic phase (Soil AD111) are moderately deep to deep sandy soils with gypsum occurring at or near the soil surface and high concentrations of gypsum in the subsoil. Root depth is limited by the occurrence of a lithic contact below 50cm.
These soils occur on older sediments in deflation plains and at the higher margins of inland and coastal sabkhas throughout Abu Dhabi. They are well drained or somewhat excessively drained and permeability is rapid or moderately rapid above the lithic contact. Subsoil drainage could be affected by the presence of underlying bedrock. These soils are formed in old sand and gravel deposits.
Commonly these soils remain as a barren land but are sometimes used for low intensity grazing by camel, sheep or goats. They typically have less than 5% vegetation cover of Cyperus conglomeratus, Haloxylon salicornicum and Zygophyllum spp.
Scattered occurrences of this minor soil type have been observed in north-eastern and western areas of the Emirate. The soil is recorded as a component of one map unit type near Sila in the west of the Emirate.
Plate 9: Typical soil profile and associated landscape for Leptic Haplogypsids, sandy, gypsic, hyperthermic, lithic phase (Soil AD111).
The Bluegrove series consists of moderately deep over sandstone bedrock, well drained, moderately slowly or slowly permeable, soils that formed in residuum weathered from sandstone and claystone. These soils are on gently sloping and sloping ridges and structural benches on hills. Slopes range from 1 to 8 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 18 degrees C (65 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 737 mm (29 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, thermic Typic Haplustalfs
USE AND VEGETATION: About one-half of these soils are cultivated. Small grains are the main crops. The present vegetation is buffalograss, sideoats grama, blue grama, Arizona cottontop, Texas wintergrass, and dropseed. Mesquite trees are the dominant woody plants but scattered post oak occurs on some areas.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Texas North Central Prairies (LRR H; MLRA 80B), and Central Rolling Red Prairies of north Texas and possibly southern Oklahoma (LRR H; MLRA 80A). The series is of large extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BLUEGROVE.html
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Ironstone fragments from a petroferric layer. A petroferric (Gr. petra, rock, and L. ferrum, iron; implying ironstone) contact is a boundary between soil and a continuous layer of indurated material in which iron is an important cement and organic matter is either absent or present only in traces. The indurated layer must be continuous within the limits of each pedon, but it may be fractured if the average lateral distance between fractures is 10 cm or more. The fact that this ironstone layer contains little or no organic matter distinguishes it from a placic horizon and an indurated spodic horizon (ortstein), both of which contain organic matter.
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].
Several features can aid in making the distinction between a lithic contact and a petroferric contact.
First, a petroferric contact is roughly horizontal.
Second, the material directly below a petroferric contact contains a high amount of iron (normally 30 percent or more Fe2O3. The underlying material is commonly interbedded or stratified fine-earth.
Third, the ironstone sheets below a petroferric contact are thin; their thickness ranges from a few centimeters to very few meters. Sandstone, on the other hand, may be thin or very thick, may be level-bedded or tilted, and may contain only a small percentage of Fe2O3.
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-...
Photo from the 4th International Meeting on Red Mediterranean Soils, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (1997).
The central concept of Vertisols is that of clayey soils that have deep, wide cracks for some time during the year and have slickensides within 100 cm of the mineral soil surface. They shrink when dry and swell when moistened. Vertisols make up a relatively homogeneous order because of the amounts and kinds of clay common to them; however, their microvariability within a pedon is great. Before the advent of modern classification systems, these soils were already well known for their characteristic color, the cracks they produce during the dry season, and the difficulty of their engineering properties.
Xererts are the Vertisols of Mediterranean climates, which are typified by cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers. These soils have cracks that regularly close and open each year. Because the soils dry every summer and remoisten in the winter, damage to structures and roads is very significant. If not irrigated, these soils are used for small grain or grazing. In the United States, most of the soils supported grasses before they were cultivated.
Haploxererts are the Xererts that do not have a calcic or petrocalcic horizon or a duripan. These are the most common of the Xererts. They formed in a variety of parent materials, including volcanic and sedimentary rocks, lacustrine deposits, and alluvium. In many areas these soils are used for grazing by livestock. In some areas they are used for citrus, small grain, truck crops, or rice.
Typic Haploxererts are centered on deep or very deep, clayey soils with dark colored surface layers. These soils do not have significant amounts of sodium or salts, a soil moisture regime that borders on aridic or udic, or aquic conditions within 100 cm of the soil surface for extended periods. They occur in Oregon, Idaho, and California and are used for rangeland, pasture, or dryland or irrigated crops.
For additional information about soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...
The McAfee series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in residuum weathered from phosphatic limestone. These soils are on gently sloping to steep uplands. Slopes range from 2 to 50 percent. (Kentucky Soil Atlas; by Anastasios D. Karathanasis, University of Kentucky)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Mollic Hapludalfs
Solum thickness and depth to limestone bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Fragments of chert from 2 mm to 3 inches across, or fragments of limestone, from 1 to 6 inches across, range from 0 to 15 percent in the solum, and from 0 to 25 percent in the substratum. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to neutral in the solum and from slightly acid to mildly alkaline in the C horizon.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for growing corn, small grains, burley tobacco and hay or as pasture. Original vegetation was hardwoods interspersed with grassy glades. Forests were elm, maple, oak species, ash, hickory, hackberry, redbud, black and honey locust, Kentucky coffee tree, black walnut, Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) and eastern red cedar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky.
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/M/MCAFEE.html
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Mitchellbay soil series. (Soil Survey of San Juan County, Washington; by Michael Regan, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Typical area of Mitchellbay gravelly sandy loam, 5 to 15 percent slopes, under pasture in foreground, on Orcas Island.
The Mitchellbay series consists of moderately deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in glacial drift over dense glaciomarine deposits. Mitchellbay soils are in valleys and on glacial drift plains and have slopes of 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 31 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 48 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquultic Haploxeralfs
Mean annual soil temperature - 48 to 50 degrees F.
Moisture control section - dry 60 to 75 days following the summer solstice
Depth to redoximorphic features - 9 to 18 inches
Depth to densic contact - 20 to 40 inches
Particle-size control section:
Clay content - 18 to 35 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for pasture, forage crop production, and forestry. Potential natural vegetation consists of western redcedar, bigleaf maple, Douglas-fir, grand fir, red alder, swordfern, deer fern, salal, stinging nettle, gooseberry, and snowberry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwest Washington; MLRA A2, Northern Part. Series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/washington/WA0...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MITCHELLBAY.html
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A representative soil profile of Owens clay. Alternating layers of clay and shale are at a depth of about 60 centimeters.( Soil Survey of Jack County, Texas; by Wilfred E. Crenwelge, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Owens series consists of shallow to moderately deep over claystone bedrock or dense clay well drained, very slowly Permeable soils that formed in residuum from claystone bedrock. These soils are on gently sloping to steep escarpments and plains. Slopes range from 1 to 45 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 813 mm (32 in) and the mean annual air temperature is about 18.3 degrees C (65 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, thermic Typic Haplustepts
Soil Moisture: Typic-ustic soil moisture regime
Depth to densic material: 36 to 76 cm (14 to 30 in)
Reaction: slightly or moderately alkaline throughout, but some pedons are noncalcareous in the upper part.
Surface fragments: limestone, ironstone, or sandstone cover 0 to 45 percent of the soil surface; fragments less than 25 cm (10 in) across cover 0 to 25 percent; fragments 25 to 61 cm (10 to 24 in) cover 0 to 20 percent with a few fragments that are more than 122 cm (48 in) across.
Coarse fragments: 0 to 10 percent in the solum, mainly less than 25 cm (10 in) across .
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 sideoats grama, silver bluestem, buffalograss, vine-mesquite, curlymesquite, Texas needlegrass, Arizona cottontop, hairy triden, bundleflower, engelmanndaisy, western ragweed, algerita, and lotebush. Tasajillo and mesquite have invaded in most areas.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Texas North-Central Prairies (MLRA 80B), and Rolling Limestone Prairie (MLRA 78A) of Texas. The Owens Series is extensive.
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/O/OWENS.html
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Profile of Tyden silt loam in an area of Tyden-Babco complex, 0 to 1 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Tyler County, Texas by Levi Steptoe, Jr., Natural Resources Conservation Services)
The Tyden series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils. These nearly level soils formed in loamy alluvium of Quartenary age. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 20 degrees C (68 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 1321 mm (52 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, siliceous, active, thermic Umbric Paleaquults
Soil Moisture: An aquic moisture regime)
Mean annual soil temperature: 20.6 to 21.7 degrees C (69 to 71 degrees F)
Solum thickness is more than 200 cm (80 in).
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 5 to 14 percent
CEC/clay ratio: 0.40 to 0.45
Reaction: extremely acid or very strongly acid throughout
USE AND VEGETATION: Primarily used for woodland and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation includes water oak, large gallberry, titi, buttonbush, and sweetbay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeast Texas; LRR-T; MLRA-152B (Western Gulf Coast Flatwoods; small extent.
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BABCO.html
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TYDEN.html
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