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This photo accompanies Figure 8.—Indicator A1, Histosol or Histel. [Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States].
Greg Hammer, Resource Soil Scientist, Smithfield, VA describing and documenting a hydric Belhaven soil.
Observe and Document the Soil:
To observe and document a hydric soil, first remove from the soil surface any woody material larger than 2 cm in cross section that cannot be crushed or shredded when rubbed. Do not remove the organic surface layers of the soil, which generally consist of plant remains in various stages of decomposition. Dig a hole and describe the soil profile. In general, the hole should be dug to the depth needed to document an indicator or to confirm the absence of indicators. For most soils, the recommended excavation depth is approximately 20 inches (50 cm) from the soil surface, although a shallower soil pit may suffice for some indicators (e.g., A2, Histic Epipedon). Digging may be difficult in some areas because of rocks or hardpans. Use the completed profile description to determine which hydric soil indicators have been met (USDA, NRCS, 2006a).
For soils with thick, dark surface layers, deeper examination may be required when field indicators are not observed at a depth of ≤20 inches (50 cm) from the soil surface. The accumulation of organic matter in these soils may mask redoximorphic features in the
surface layers. Examination to a depth of 40 inches (1 m) or more may be needed to determine whether the soils meet the requirements of indicator A12 (Thick Dark Surface). A soil auger or probe may be useful for sampling soil materials below a depth of 20 inches. Whenever possible, excavate the soil deep enough to determine if there are layers or materials present that might restrict soil drainage. This determination will help to indicate why the soil may or may not be hydric. After a sufficient number of exploratory excavations have been made to determine the soil hydrologic relationships at the site, subsequent excavations can be limited to the depth needed to identify hydric soil indicators. Consider taking photographs of both the soil and the overall site, including a clearly marked measurement scale in pictures of soil profiles.
The Appling series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils on ridges and side slopes of the Piedmont uplands. They are deep to saprolite and very deep to bedrock. They formed in residuum weathered from felsic igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont uplands. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. Near the type location, mean annual precipitation is 45 inches and mean annual temperature is 60 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults
The Bt horizon is at least 24 to 50 inches thick and extends to 40 inches or more. Depth to bedrock ranges from 6 to 10 feet or more. The soil is very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout, unless limed. Limed soils typically are moderately acid or slightly acid in the upper part. Content of coarse fragments ranges from 0 to 35 percent by volume in the A and E horizons and 0 to 10 percent by volume in the Bt horizon. Fragments are dominantly gravel in size. Most pedons have few to common flakes of mica in the A and Bt horizons and few to many flakes of mica in the BC and C horizons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is in cultivation or pasture and the remainder is in forests of mixed hardwoods and pine. Common crops are corn, tobacco, soybeans, cotton, and small grains.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Piedmont of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of large extent.
For more information on Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class/
For a detailed description of the soil, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/APPLING.html
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A representative soil profile of the Halverson soil series. (Soil Survey of Polk County, Minnesota; by Charles T. Saari and Rodney B. Heschke, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Halverson series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in a mantle of sandy glacial outwash or eolian sands and in the underlying loamy till. These soils are typically on convex slopes of till plains and moraines. The permeability is rapid in the sandy mantle and moderate in the underlying till. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 24 inches. Mean annual air temperature is about 40 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Arenic Argiudolls
Thickness of the sandy mantle ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The mollic epipedon ranges from 10 to 16 inches in thickness. Depth to the base of the argillic ranges from 26 to 55 inches. The upper sediment typically does not have rock fragments, but may contain up to 10 percent, mainly at the boundary with loamy glacial till. The loamy till contains from 2 to 13 percent gravel and 0 to 5 percent cobbles of mixed lithology. The soil moisture control section is not dry in all parts for as long as 45 consecutive days for the 120 days following the summer solstice. It is also not dry in any part for as long as 90 cumulative days per year in 6 out of 10 years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. The principal crops are small grain, corn, soybeans, and hay. Some areas are in woodland or pasture. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods and prairie grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwest and West central Minnesota. Not extensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/minnesota/MN11...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HALVERSON.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Clifton series (Chromic Eutric Albic Luvic Stagnosols) 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
Clifton soils consists of seasonally waterlogged soils developed in reddish fine loamy till and related glaciofluvial deposits. Clifton soils usually form on gently undulating terrain, but the land is deeply incised by rivers and streams in places. The soils are mainly under cereals and grass.
Mapped areas are extensive south and west of the Pennines, from south Staffordshire and Clwyd to the Scottish border. East of the Pennines it is restricted to Teesside. The till, mainly of Devensian age, is derived from Permo-Triassic sandstones and mudstones and is non-calcareous or decalcified to at least 80 cm depth. It is generally dense and slowly permeable, but contains occasional pockets of sand and gravel and, in many areas is overlain by coarse loamy glaciofluvial deposits, usually less than 70 cm thick with an irregular lower boundary. Because of the slowly permeable nature of the till, the soils are mainly typical stagnogley soils. Clifton series is developed where the overlying glaciofluvial deposits are absent or relatively thin (less than 40 cm thick) and the Claverley series, formerly classified as a deep sandy loam phase of the Clifton series, is found where this drift is thicker.
Clifton and Claverley series have slowly permeable subsoils and their upper horizons are seasonally waterlogged (Wetness Class IV). Drainage measures significantly reduce the duration of waterlogging in Clifton profiles (Wetness Class III), but have an even greater effect on Claverley soils. Like the Clifton series, Salwick soils are slowly permeable but, being on slopes, shed more water by surface run-off and their upper horizons do not stay wet for quite as long (Wetness Class III). Quorndon soils suffer from seasonal waterlogging by groundwater for most of the winter (Wetness Class III or IV). Underdrainage is very effective however and normally ensures that the soils stay well drained in all but the wettest seasons (Wetness Class I). In most of the soils, water moves laterally through the topsoil or immediate subsoil (above 40 cm depth) and, in general, they tend to shed excess winter rain.
The soils of the Clifton association are mainly under cereals and grass. Their major limitation is that of wetness but where drained, the soils produce good yields of common agricultural crops. In the Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth area, where the climate is relatively dry and topsoils are mainly coarse loamy and easily worked, potatoes and sugar beet are frequently included in the rotation.
The soils generally have a moderate cation exchange capacity and are inherently fertile. Although the parent material is often calcareous, with high percentage base saturation, soils are usually decalcified to below 1 m depth and topsoils need occasional dressings of lime. Amounts of naturally available phosphorus and potassium are small, especially in Quorndon and Claverley soils, but with regular fertilizer applications deficiencies are rare. There is normally a moderate and well balanced supply of trace elements, but manganese deficiency sometimes occurs where liming has raised the pH above neutral.
For additional information about the soil association, visit:
www.landis.org.uk/services/soilsguide/mapunit.cfm?mu=71114
For more information on the World Reference Base soil classification system, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Vertrees series. (Soil Survey of Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky; by William H. Craddock and Susan B. Southard, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Cattle utilizing a water body in a pasture field in an area of Crider-Vertrees silt loams, karst, rolling, eroded. The water body is a sinkhole that has sealed up, allowing water to pond. Vertrees soils have slopes ranging from 2 to 30 percent and are on uplands. Most areas are karst. (Soil Survey of Harrison County, Indiana; by Steven W. Neyhouse, Sr., Byron G. Nagel, Gary R. Struben, and Steven Blanford, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Vertrees series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in residuum from limestone interbedded with siltstone and shale. These gently sloping to steep soils are on ridges and side slopes. Slopes range from 2 to 30 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Paleudalfs
The solum thickness and depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to very strongly acid to a depth of about 50 inches, and from very strongly acid to neutral below 50 inches. Rock fragments of chert or channers of siltstone range from 0 to 35 percent by volume in the A and BE horizons, 0 to 25 percent by volume in individual Bt horizons to a depth of about 50 inches. The weighted average of coarse fragments is less than 15 percent. Below 50 inches, chert and channers of siltstone range from 0 to 35 percent by volume.
USE AND VEGETATION: Due to the karst topography, most areas are used for pasture and hay. Steeper areas are forested. Native forests consisted of oaks, hickory, elm, maple, dogwood, red cedar, persimmon, and sassafras as the dominant species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Pennyroyal region of Kentucky and southern Indiana. The extent is moderate.
For additional information about the survey areas, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/kentucky/mammo...
and...
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/indiana/IN061/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/V/VERTREES.html
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A representative soil profile of the Belhaven series in Virginia.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, dysic, thermic Terric Haplosaprists
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Very poorly drained
Permeability: Moderately slow to moderately rapid
Surface Runoff: Very slow
Parent Material: Highly decomposed organic matter underlain by loamy marine sediments
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Where wooded--plant communities that reflect past history of treatment. Areas with a history of severe burning have scattered pond pine and a dense undergrowth of both large holly and small gallberry and huckleberry, fetterbush lyonia, swamp cyrilla, loblolly bay gordonia, greenbrier and southern bayberry, as well as scattered red maple, red bay, sweetbay magnolia, and reeds. Similar areas may have a smaller population of these species and contain large amounts of broomsedge. Areas without severe burning have red maple, Southern bald cypress, pond pine, Atlantic white-cedar, red bay, sweet bay, and other hydrophytic species. Where cultivated--corn, soybeans, small grain, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Lower Coastal Plain of North Carolina and Virginia with moderate extent
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BELHAVEN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
MSU researcher Haddish Melakeberhan, along with assistant Zinthuz Maung (right) examines plant-nematode interaction in soil nutrient management, primarily in soybeans, vegetables and sugarbeets.
On the western side of the mountains, there are inliers of Cretaceous to Neogene (Miocene) rocks. These inliers are mainly in the southern half of the area, and although usually within a few kilometers of the mountain front, can be found up to 20 km to the west of the mountains. They occur as isolated rises and hills surrounded by alluvium and sand dunes. The different kinds of bedrock in the mountains influence the composition of alluvial fans on both the east and west sides of the mountain range.
In a few places there are rising dunes where sand is being blown up the sides of hills and mountains. These are common along the Fayah Range near Quarn Nazwa and also along the western side of the Hajar Mountains around Manama.
A plinthic soil contains a significant amount of plinthite. Plinthite (Gr. plinthos, brick) is an iron-rich, humus-poor mixture of clay with quartz and other highly weathered minerals. It commonly occurs as reddish redox concentrations in a layer that has a polygonal (irregular), platy (lenticular), or reticulate (blocky) pattern. Plinthite irreversibly hardens upon exposure to repeated wetting and drying, especially if exposed to heat from the sun. Other morphologically similar iron-rich materials that do not progressively harden upon repeated wetting and drying are not considered plinthite. The horizon in which plinthite occurs commonly has 2.5 percent (by mass) or more citrate dithionite extractable iron in the fine-earth fraction and a ratio between acid oxalate extractable Fe and citrate-dithionite extractable Fe of less than 0.10.
In soil science, the "C" horizon is the soil layer consisting more or less of weathered parent rock or deposited material that is little affected by pedogenesis (soil formation). If an overlying horizon contains a significant amount of clay, over time, the clay may be transported into and along vertical cracks or along channels within macropores creating clay coats or clay flows.
The dark red zone in the lower part of this profile is an example of the aquitard layer below a well developed plinthic B horizon of a coastal plain soil. The horizon exhibits very weak very coarse blocky structure with very thick clay coating on internal seams or cracks. Clay coating is common in the very deep layers (3-4 meters or more below the soil surface) where pedogenesis is thought to be minimal or not present. The red area has a sandy loam to sandy clay loam texture, whereas the gray area has texture of clay loam or clay.
These tubes or channels are thought to be formed by biological activity at a time when the sediments were being deposited. In the current environment, they commonly contain coarse roots within elongated macropores. The macropores may be completed filled with soil material or they be open (areas that once contained live roots, but are currently void of roots due to decomposition), allowing for the transmission of air and water within the channel.
Because of the dark red color and dense characteristics, these layers are referred to by the local soil scientists as the "brick" layer.
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A representative soil profile of the Batcombe series (Profundic Chromic Endostagnic 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
Batcombe soils are developed in Plateau Drift and Clay-with-flints which cap chalk plateaux at 90 to 250 m O.D. Most of the association is on level or gently sloping ground but slopes are steeper and convex near the margins of the drift outcrops.
Batcombe soils have moderately permeable clayey subsoils and, where underlain at no great depth by chalk, are only occasionally waterlogged (Wetness Class II). Most excess winter rain drains vertically down to the unsaturated Chalk and any water moving laterally over the clay enters the Chalk at the margins of the Plateau Drift. Carstens and Winchester soils are well drained (Wetness Class I) with well-structured clayey subsoils through which water drains rapidly. Unless very stony, Batcomb soils have moderate reserves of water. Because the soils usually occur on high ground with relatively high rainfall and small soil moisture deficits they are rarely more than slightly droughty for any of the main crops, although the soils are moderately droughty for grass.
Thel soils are highly productive and, except on exposed sites, most forest trees grow well. The soils seldom suffer from drought because of their moisture-retentive subsoils, and the presence of chalk at depth ensures that Carstens and Winchester soils are well drained. Corsican pine, European larch, Norway spruce and Western hemlock all grow well. Beech yields particularly well and oak is also well suited.
For additional information about the soil association, visit:
www.landis.org.uk/services/soilsguide/mapunit.cfm?mu=58201
For more information on the World Reference Base soil classification system, visit:
A profile of Maverick clay, 1 to 3 percent slopes. The olive colored material beginning at around 90 centimeters slakes in water, and qualifies as densic material. The layer between 60 to 90 centimeters is a transitional area. The brown bands in the subsoil are layers of strongly cemented gypsum crystals. Densic layers restrict the movement of water and roots. (Soil Survey of Duval County, Texas; by John L. Sackett III, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Maverick series consists of soils that are moderately deep to densic material, well drained soils. These gently sloping to strongly sloping soils formed in calcareous, saline clayey residuum weathered from Cretaceous and Tertiary mudstone. Slope ranges from 1 to 10 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 22 degrees C (72 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 610 mm (24 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, hyperthermic Aridic Haplustepts
Note: Classification change from Ustollic Camborthids to Aridic Haplustepts based on geographic distribution of the series, rainfall patterns, and vegetative production and composition.
Soil Moisture: An aridic ustic moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is moist in some or all parts for less than 90 consecutive days in normal years. June to August and December to February are the driest months, while September to November and March to May are the wettest months.
Solum thickness: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 in) to densic material (weathered mudstone bedrock)
Mean annual soil temperature: 22 to 24 degrees C (72 to 76 degrees F)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 35 to 55 percent
Coarse Fragments: 0 to 5 percent
CEC/clay ratio: 0.6 to 1.00
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The grasses consist of a sparse cover of curlymesquite, hairy tridens, tobosa, red grama, and threeawn. Woody vegetation is mostly scrubby mesquite, blackbrush, guayacan, and twisted acacia. The ecological site is Rolling Hardland, PE 19-31 (R083BY431TX).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Rio Grande Plain, Texas; LRR I; MLRA 83B. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/TX131/Du...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MAVERICK.html
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A soil profile of an Aeric Alaquod in Florida, the Myakka soil series. The spodic horizon (black) begins at a depth of about 62 cm. (Soil Survey Staff. 2015. Illustrated guide to Soil Taxonomy. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, Nebraska; p. 4-380.)
Alaquods have a water table that fluctuates seasonally. During wet periods, iron is chemically reduced (thus making it mobile) and moved out of the soil profile. The spodic horizon consists mostly of an accumulation of organic matter and aluminum and commonly has few or no redoximorphic concentrations (reddish to black accumulations of iron-manganese oxides).
The albic (light-colored and leached) horizon in the drier Alaquods is typically thick. The wettest Alaquods have no albic horizon but generally have uncoated sand grains above the spodic horizon. Alaquods typically have sandy texture. Because of their high humus content, however, some of them feel and behave like loamy soils. Alaquods occur primarily in the southeastern United States.
To download the latest version of Soil Taxonomy, 2nd Edition, 1999, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
For additional information about soil classification using Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th Edition, 2022, visit:
[www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/Keys-to-Soi...]
To download the latest version of Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th Edition, 2022, visit:
[www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...]
For an Illustrated Guide to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/Illustrated...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
John A. Kelley is a retired soil scientist previously with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), United States Department of Agriculture and Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi, UAE. John is a soil survey quality assurance expert and a specialist in soil mapping, soil classification, and correlation of soil survey projects. He has extensive experience in soil survey procedures and documentation including digital soil photography. The most recent publication is "United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy".
A soil scientist is a person who is qualified to evaluate and interpret soils and soil-related data for the purpose of understanding soil resources as they contribute to not only agricultural production, but as they affect environmental quality and as they are managed for protection of human health and the environment. The university degree should be in Soil Science, or closely related field (i.e., natural resources, environmental science, earth science, etc.) and include sufficient soils-related course work so the Soil Scientist has a measurable level of understanding of the soil environment, including soil morphology and soil forming factors, soil chemistry, soil physics, and soil biology, and the dynamic interaction of these areas.
For more information about the survey area, visit:
Soil profile: Braddock soil in an area of Braddock-Appomattox complex, 2 to 8 percent slopes. The Braddock series consists of very deep, well drained, and moderately permeable soils formed in colluvium and alluvium derived dominantly from a mixture of crystalline rocks. (Soil Survey of Iredell County, North Carolina by Robert H. Ranson, Jr., and Roger J. Leab, Natural Resources Conservation Service).
archive.org/details/usda-soil-survey-of-iredell-county-no...
Landscape: Braddock soils are on footslopes of ridges and colluvial fans and adjacent high terraces. Mean and annual precipitation is about 40 inches and mean annual temperature is about 57 degrees F near the type location. Slopes range from 0 to 45 percent.
Setting
Major land resource area: Southern Blue Ridge and Southern Piedmont
Landscape: Fan on interfluves and upland and mountain valley
Landform position: Summit
Elevation: 1,100 to 1,700 feet
Map Unit Composition
Braddock and similar soils: Typically 50 percent, ranging from about 40 to 60 percent
Appomattox and similar soils: Typically 45 percent, ranging from about 40 to 50
percent
Typical Profile
Braddock
Surface layer:
0 to 2 inches; dark brown sandy loam
Subsurface layer:
2 to 11 inches; yellowish brown sandy loam
Subsoil:
11 to 61 inches; red clay that has brownish yellow, dark red, and reddish yellow
mottles in the lower part
61 to 80 inches; red sandy clay loam
Minor Components
Similar components:
• Clifford soils in similar areas
Soil Properties and Qualities
Braddock
Available water capacity: Moderate (about 6.6 inches)
Slowest saturated hydraulic conductivity: Moderately high (about 0.6 in/hr)
Depth class: Very deep (more than 60 inches)
Depth to root-restrictive feature: More than 60 inches
Agricultural drainage class: Well drained
Depth to seasonal water saturation: More than 6 feet
Flooding hazard: None
Ponding hazard: None
Shrink-swell potential: Moderate
Runoff class: Low
Surface fragments: None
Parent material: Old colluvium and/or old alluvium derived from igneous and
metamorphic rock
Use and Management Considerations
Cropland
Suitability: Well suited
Management concerns: Erodibility and soil fertility
Management measures and considerations:
• Resource management systems that include conservation tillage, crop residue management, stripcropping, and sod-based rotations help to prevent erosion by stabilizing the soil, controlling surface runoff, and maximizing the infiltration of water.
• Incorporating crop residue into the soil or leaving residue on the soil surface helps to maximize the infiltration of water.
• Applying lime and fertilizer according to recommendations based on soil tests helps to increase the availability of plant nutrients and maximize crop productivity.
Pasture and hayland
Suitability: Well suited
Management concerns: Erodibility and soil fertility
Management measures and considerations:
• Planting adapted species helps to ensure the production of high-quality forage and reduce the hazard of erosion.
• Using a rotational grazing system and implementing a well planned clipping and harvesting schedule help to maintain pastures and increase productivity.
• Applying lime and fertilizer according to recommendations based on soil tests helps to increase the availability of plant nutrients and maximizes productivity when establishing, maintaining, or renovating hayland and pasture.
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BRADDOCK.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
This photo accompanies Figure 17.—Indicator A12, Thick Dark Surface. [Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States].
Preparing to describe the soil (Tonka) soil series. To observe and document a hydric soil, first remove from the soil surface any woody material larger than 2 cm in cross section that cannot be crushed or shredded when rubbed. Do not remove the organic surface layers of the soil, which generally consist of plant remains in various stages of decomposition. Dig a hole and describe the soil profile. In general, the hole should be dug to the depth needed to document an indicator or to confirm the absence of indicators. For most soils, the recommended excavation depth is approximately 20 inches (50 cm) from the soil surface, although a shallower soil pit may suffice for some indicators (e.g., A2, Histic Epipedon). Digging may be difficult in some areas because of rocks or hardpans. Use the completed profile description to determine which hydric soil indicators have been met (USDA, NRCS, 2006a).
Whenever possible, excavate the soil deep enough to determine if there are layers or materials present that might restrict soil drainage. This determination will help to indicate why the soil may or may not be hydric. After a sufficient number of exploratory excavations have been made to determine the soil hydrologic relationships at the site, subsequent excavations can be limited to the depth needed to identify hydric soil indicators. Consider taking photographs of both the soil and the overall site, including a clearly marked measurement scale in pictures of soil profiles.
The Al Aswad series is a very deep soil formed in human-transported fill material. (NE010) UAE.
Taxonomic classification: Typic Torriorthents, coarse-loamy, carbonatic, hyperthermic
Diagnostic subsurface horizon described in this profile is: None
This soil is formed in human-transported fill material, mostly overlying sabkha. The particle-size control section is dominated by very fine sand textures. Some of the sands consist of pieces of shell fragments. The properties of individual layers of this soil reflect the properties of the soil from the location where the fill material was obtained and can therefore be quite variable from layer to layer.
The pH (1:1) ranges from 7.0 to 8.9 throughout the profile. Most horizons have EC (1:1) values ranging from about 0.2 to 2.5, but it can be as high as 10.0. Shell fragments larger than 2mm range from 0 to about 30% in individual horizons.
The A horizon is generally about 20 cm thick but ranges from 10 to 25 cm. Hue is 10YR or 2.5Y, value is 6 or 7, and chroma is 2 to 4. Texture is fine sand, very fine sand, loamy very fine sand, or loamy fine sand.
The C horizons have hue of 10YR or 2.5 Y, value of 5 to 8, and chroma 2 to 4. Texture of the particle-size control section is dominantly very fine sand or loamy very fine sand, but layers may also be fine sand, loamy fine sand, or sandy loam.
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Modern GPR systems are light-weight, highly mobile, and integrated. A typical GPR system consists of a control unit (located beneath blue visor on the cart) with an antenna (orange box beneath the cart).
Ground-penetrating radar is an impulse radar system. It transmits short pulses of very high and ultra-high frequency (from about 30 MHz to 1.2 GHz) electromagnetic energy into the soil and underlying strata from an antenna. When these pulses contact an interface between layers with contrasting dielectric permittivity, a portion of the energy is reflected back to a receiving antenna. The more abrupt and contrasting the difference in dielectric permittivity, the greater the amount of energy that is reflected back to the receiving antenna. Ground-penetrating radar has been used by soil scientists principally in order 1, 2, and 3 soil surveys. It serves as a quality control tool in documenting the taxonomic compositions and improving the interpretations of soil map units (Doolittle and Butnor, 2008). In these applications, GPR documents the presence, depth, lateral extent, and variability of diagnostic subsurface horizons. Typically, strong radar reflections are produced by abrupt interfaces between highly contrasting soil materials.
Where soil conditions are suitable, GPR can determine the depth to contrasting master (B, C, and R) subsurface horizons and layers. Other soil horizons and layers have also been identified with GPR. Examples include buried genetic horizons, dense root-restricting layers, frozen soil layers, illuvial accumulations of organic matter, and cemented or indurated horizons. Ground-penetrating radar generally is unable to detect subtle changes in soil properties (e.g., structure, porosity, and texture), transitional horizons (e.g., AB, AC, and BC), or vertical divisions of master horizons. However, GPR has been used to infer distinct vertical changes in soil color associated with abrupt and contrasting changes in organic carbon content.
Photo courtesy of EAD-Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi. www.ead.gov.ae/
For more information about soil classification using the UAE Keys to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
agrifs.ir/sites/default/files/United%20Arab%20Emirates%20...
Photo courtesy of EAD-Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi. www.ead.gov.ae/
John Kelley is a soil scientist previously with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), United States Department of Agriculture and Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi, UAE. John is a soil survey quality assurance expert and a specialist in soil mapping, soil classification, and correlation of soil survey projects. He has extensive experience in soil survey procedures and documentation including digital soil photography.
The Ajman series is a very deep soil formed in eolian sands. (NE009) UAE.
Taxonomic classification: Typic Torriorthents, coarse-loamy, carbonatic, hyperthermic
Diagnostic subsurface horizon described in this profile is: None. Due to the finely stratified nature of the horizons and lack of structure, this soil does not have a cambic horizon. The slight variations in chroma between horizons is due to the nature of the parent material. Also, the predominance of very fine sand texture prevents this soil from being classified as a Psamment.
The particle-size control section is dominated by very fine sand textures. Some of the sands consist of pieces of shell fragments. The pH (1:1) ranges from 7.2 to 8.4 throughout the profile. Most horizons have EC (1:1) values ranging from about 0.15 to 2.0, but in some places, especially in relatively low-lying positions where a water table may be present slightly below 200 cm, EC (1:1) values range from 2 to 10. Shell fragments larger than 2mm range from 0 to about 10% in individual horizons.
The A horizon is generally about 20 cm thick but ranges from 10 to 25 cm. Hue is 10YR or 2.5Y, value is 5 to 7, and chroma is 2 to 4. Texture is very fine sand, loamy very fine sand, or loamy fine sand.
The C horizons have hue of 10YR or 2.5 Y, value of 5 to 8, and chroma 2 to 4. Texture of the particle-size control section is dominantly very fine sand, but layers may also be fine sand or loamy fine sand. It is finely stratified and, in some pedons, cross-bedded due to the eolian origin.
The Dickson soil series was established in 1923 in Dickson County, Tennessee, where it was first mapped in the Soil Survey of Dickson County, Tennessee (published 1926). At the time of the first soil survey about 50% of the acreage was being cultivated with the remaining acreage in forestland. Hugh Hammond Bennett collected samples of Dickson soils from both cultivated and forested settings and studied the moisture retention of the soils. Dickson was selected by the Tennessee NRCS Soil Survey Staff as the state soil due to its acreage and extent mapped within Tennessee.
Dickson soils are important in the production of small grains, soybeans, and tobacco as well as for pasture and hay. In general, soils can be used for agriculture (growing foods, raising animals, stables); engineering (roads, buildings, tunnels); ecology (wildlife habitat, wetlands), recreation (ball fields, playground, camp areas) and more. Dickson soils occur on more than 600,000 acres. Corn and soybeans are the principal row crops and most pastures support tall fescue and white clover. Some areas are in forest chiefly of oaks, yellow-poplar, hick
ories, gums, and maples.
For more information about this and other State Soils, visit the Soil Science Society of America "Around the World-State Soils" website.
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Houdek series; the State Soil of South Dakota (original image by Bruce Kunze, USDA-NRCS).
Landscape: South Dakota has a large acreage of productive, prairie derived soils on glacial till (material deposited by glaciers). Houdek is a native soil of South Dakota and does not occur in any other state.
Most of these soils are medium textured and have high natural fertility. The Houdek soil was chosen because of its large extent and its importance to agriculture. The Professional Soil Scientists Association of South Dakota and the South Dakota chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society worked together to commemorate the importance of soil to South Dakota. It is fitting that Houdek loam, a typical prairie derived glacial till soil, was adopted as the state soil to acknowledge the importance soil has played in our State’s most important industry, agriculture.
The Houdek series was established in 1955 in Spink County, South Dakota. The series was separated from the Barnes series which was established in 1914. In 1990, the late Governor George Mickelson signed a House Bill into law, making the Houdek loam South Dakota’s Official State Soil.
The Houdek series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in glacial till on uplands. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderately slow in the underlying material. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 22 inches, and mean annual air temperature is about 47 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiustolls
The depth to carbonates ranges from 14 to 24 inches. Thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 8 to 20 inches and includes all or part of the Bt horizon. The soil contains 0 to 10 percent by volume of coarse fragments as pebbles. Some pedons contain up to 20 percent by volume of stones throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Small grain, corn, alfalfa, and feed grains are the principal crops. Native vegetation is big bluestem, little bluestem, western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, needleandthread, sideoats grama, blue grama, sedges, and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: East-central South Dakota. The series is of large extent.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Spink County, South Dakota, 1955.
For more information about this state soil, visit:
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Plate 7: Typical soil profile and associated landscape for the Tarbush series (soil AD207).
Taxonomic classification: Lithic Calcigypsids, sandy, mixed, hyperthermic
The Tarbush series is a shallow sandy soil overlying bedrock (typically calcareous sandstone). The soils are typically moderately well to excessively drained. They occur on flats and gentle slopes within level to gently undulating deflation plains. They are formed from eolian sands and occur in older landscapes.
These soils are used for rangeland grazing of camels though vegetation cover is frequently less than 5%. Common vegetation species recorded include Haloxylon salicornicum and Zygophyllum spp.
Scattered occurrences of this soil have been described in the Ghayathi sub-area and in the northern part of the Al Ain sub-area.
The main feature of this soil is the shallow depth (<50cm) to a lithic contact. The soil material above the hardpan is sandy, shows evidence of the accumulation of carbonates and gypsum and is nonsaline. The shallow depth to the hardpan layer is the main restriction for this soil. This restricts water movement, moisture retention and presents a barrier to root development further restricting the availability of nutrients. The presence of gypsum also suggests that salinity might be a problem under irrigation. This soil is considered unsuitable for irrigated agriculture.
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Soil profile of Bowie fine sandy loam, 1 to 5 percent slopes. Bowie soils have a fine sandy loam surface over a sandy clay loam subsoil that contains plinthite. (Soil Survey of San Augustine and Sabine Counties, Texas; by Kirby Griffith, Natural Resources Conservation Service).
The Bowie series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loamy Coastal Plain deposits on the Queen City, Reklaw, Cook Mountain, Sparta, Cockfield and Carrizo Sand Formations. These very gently sloping to moderately sloping soils are on interfluves. Slopes range from 1 to 8 percent but are dominantly 1 to 5 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 18 degrees C (65 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 1270 mm (50 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Plinthic Paleudults
Soil Moisture: An udic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is not dry in any part for more than 90 days in normal years.
Mean annual soil temperature: 16 to 21 degrees C (61 to 70 degrees F)
Depth to argillic horizon: 5 to 51 cm (2 to 20 in)
Thickness of solum: 152 to more than 203 cm (60 to more than 80 in)
Depth to redox concentrations: 25 cm to 173 cm (10 to 68 in)
Depth to episaturation: 107 to 152 cm (42 to 60 in)
Depth to albic materials: 114 to 173 cm (45 to 68 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content in the Control Section: 18 to 30 percent
Silt plus very fine sand : 30 to 60 percent
Very fine sand and fragments up to 8 cm (3 in) in diameter: 15 to 45 percent of sand fraction
Cation Exchange Capacity: 6.0 to 18.0 meg/100 gram of soil.
USE AND VEGETATION: The principal use is for pasture and forest. Some areas are used for growing corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes, peaches, watermelons and other vegetables or fruit crops. Pasture is mainly bermudagrass or bahiagrass. Forests consist of loblolly and shortleaf pines, sweetgum, red oak, and hickory trees with tall and midgrasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Land Resource Region P, MLRA 133A and 133B; The series is of large extent, over 1 million acres.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Tama series; the State Soil of Iowa. (Soil survey of Tama County, Iowa; by Robin J. Wisner, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Tama soils are on interfluves and side slopes on uplands and on treads and risers on stream terraces in river valleys. Slope ranges from 0 to 20 percent. Nearly level to gently sloping areas are cultivated. The principal crops are corn, soybeans, small grains, and legume hays. Steeper slopes are pastured. The native vegetation is big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, and other grasses of the tall grass prairie.
The Tama series is considered one of the most productive of the soils in Iowa that are used for agricultural purposes. It makes up about 825,000 acres in east-central and eastern Iowa. The series was first identified in Black Hawk County, Iowa, in 1917. It has been identified in 26 counties in Iowa. It also has been identified in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiudolls
Tama soils formed in 48 or more inches of silty loess; under tall prairie grasses with a deep, fibrous root system; and under relatively humid climatic conditions. Over hundreds of years, the grasses have added organic matter to the soils, producing a relatively thick, dark surface layer. In some areas, erosion has significantly affected the properties of the soils. Eroded Tama soils have less total nitrogen and organic matter and more clay in the surface layer than uneroded Tama soils.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
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Fig. 5.18 Anhydritic Aquisalids (AD125) UAE
Anhydritic Aquisalids. These are the Aquisalids that have an anhydritic horizon with its upper boundary within 100 cm of the soil surface.
Anhydritic horizons (whitish area in photo) are horizons in which anhydrite has accumulated through neoformation or transformation to a significant extent. It typically occurs as a subsurface horizon. It commonly occurs in conjunction with a salic horizon.
Aquisalids are the Salids that are saturated with water in one or more layers within 100 cm of the mineral soil surface for 1 month or more in normal years.
Salids are the salty Aridisols with a salic horizon. They commonly occur in wet areas in the deserts where capillary rise and evaporation of water concentrate the salts near the surface. Some of these soils have redoximorphic depletions and concentrations. In other soils redoximorphic features may not be evident because of a high pH and the associated low redox potential, which inhibit iron and manganese reduction. These soils occur dominantly in depressional areas where ground water saturates the soils at least part of the year. The vegetation on these soils generally is sparse, consisting of salt-tolerant shrubs, grasses, and forbs. Although these soils may hold water at a tension less than 1500 kPa, the dissolved salt content makes the soils physiologically dry.
Salic horizons have an accumulation of salts that are more soluble than gypsum in cold water. A common salt is halite, the crystalline form of sodium chloride. In some areas soluble sulfates may also accumulate with the crystalline forms, such as thernadite, hexahydrite, epsomite, and mirabilite. Two of the commonly occurring bicarbonates are trona and natron. Under extreme aridic conditions and at low temperatures, evaporites of calcium chloride, nitrates, and other soluble salts may accumulate. Identification of the kinds of crystalline salts requires detailed mineralogical analyses. In extremely arid areas, such as parts of Chile and Antarctica, where measurable precipitation is rare, salic horizons have a hard or rigid rupture-resistance class. These types of salic horizons are physical barriers to roots, but they slake in water and, therefore, are not considered cemented.
Aridisols, as their name implies, are soils in which water is not available to mesophytic plants for long periods. During most of the time when the soils are warm enough for plants to grow, soil water is held at potentials less than the permanent wilting point or has a content of soluble salts great enough to limit the growth of plants other than halophytes, or both. There is no period of 90 consecutive days when moisture is continuously available for plant growth.
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Scientists from PNNL present the fourth and final lesson in their after-school series at Sagebrush Montessori School in Richland, WA. In this lesson, students learned about mushrooms.
Terms of Use: Our images are freely and publicly available for use with the credit line, "Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory"; Please use provided caption information for use in appropriate context.
The Al Kabkub series is a very deep soil formed in gravelly alluvial deposits. (NE015) UAE
Taxonomic classification: Typic Haplocalcids, sandy-skeletal, mixed, hyperthermic
Diagnostic subsurface horizon described in this profile is: Calcic horizon 20 to 120 cm.
The weighted average of the silt plus clay in the particle-size control section is 15% or more. The pH (1:1) ranges from 7.0 to 8.9 throughout the profile. The EC (1:1) is generally less than 1.0 in all horizons, but it may be as high as 6.0 in some areas that have been irrigated. A desert pavement of gravel in many areas covers 2 to 80% of the soil surface. The size of the rock fragments on and in the soil is predominantly gravel, but may include cobbles and a few stones, especially in areas close to the mountains. The size of rock fragments generally decreases as distance from the mountains increases.
The A horizon is generally about 20 cm thick, but ranges from 10 to 25 cm. Hue is 7.5YR or 10YR, value is 4 to 7, and chroma is 3 to 6. Texture is fine sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam including gravelly or very gravelly texture modifiers.
The B horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is very gravelly or extremely gravelly sand, coarse sand, loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or loamy fine sand. Accumulations of calcium carbonate are evident in the form of masses or concretions. Below 100 cm, it is extremely weakly cemented to moderately cemented with carbonates. However, roots appear to be able to penetrate with a spacing of less than 10 cm. Some pedons lack cementation. In some pedons the B horizon extends to more than 200 cm.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is very gravelly or extremely gravelly sand, coarse sand, loamy sand, or loamy coarse sand.
A representative soil profile of a Lithic Haplosaprist from Central Upper Michigan. (Photo provided by R. Schaetzl.)
Lithic Haplosaprists differ from Typic Haplosaprists because they have a lithic contact within the control section. These soils are of very small extent in the United States.
Haplosaprists are the Saprists that have a temperature regime warmer than cryic and that do not have a sulfuric horizon with its upper boundary within 50 cm of the soil surface or sulfidic materials within 100 cm of the soil surface. These soils are wet at the base of the surface tier for more than 30 cumulative days during normal years unless they have been drained. The organic materials in these soils are from many kinds of plant materials, including wood, moss, grass, and herbaceous materials. If these soils are drained and cultivated under the present technology, the organic materials decompose and disappear slowly or rapidly, depending on the management used and the temperature. Eventually, within some decades, the Haplosaprists that are drained and cultivated will be replaced by mineral soils. This conversion of some of the soils has been observed in the United States. Many Haplosaprists support native vegetation, mostly forest plants or shrubs and grasslike plants. Many areas are cleared, drained, and used as cropland.
Saprists are the wet Histosols in which the organic materials are well decomposed. The botanic origin of the organic material is difficult to determine in most of these soils. The fiber content is less than one-sixth after rubbing between the thumb and fingers. Most of these soils have a bulk density of more than 0.2 g/cm3. Saprists occur in areas where the ground water table tends to fluctuate within the soils or in areas where the soils were aerobic during drier periods in the past. They consist of the residue that remains after the aerobic decomposition of organic matter. When drained, fibric and hemic materials commonly decompose to form sapric materials. If the organic materials are deep and are drained either artificially or naturally, the Fibrists and Hemists are converted after some decades to Saprists.
For more information about soils and the Michigan State University-Department of Geography, visit:
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Profile of Chacon sandy clay loam, 0 to 2 percent slopes. The clayey argillic horizon, also known as a Bt horizon, begins at a depth of about 27 centimeters). Chacon soils have loamy surfaces over a clayey subsoil. (Soil Survey of McMullen County, Texas; by Clark K. Harshbarger, Jon Wiedenfeld, and Gary Harris, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Chacon series consists of very deep, well drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in calcareous clays and loamy alluvium over residuum weathered from sandstone and claystone. These nearly level to gently sloping soils occur on terraces and broad smooth plains. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 22 degrees C (72 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 533 mm (21 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, hyperthermic Torrertic Argiustolls
Soil Moisture: An aridic ustic moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is moist in some or all parts for less than 90 consecutive days in normal years. June to August and December to February are the driest months, while September to November and March to May are the wettest months.
Solum thickness: 102 to 203 cm (40 to 80 in) over calcareous clays stratified with weakly consolidated sandstone and shale.
Mean annual soil temperature: 21 to 23 degrees C (70 to 73 degrees F)
Mollic epipedon: 25 to 76 cm (10 to 30 in) thick.
Depth to argillic: 15 to 42 cm (6 to 17 in)
Depth to secondary carbonates: 45 to 102 (17 to 40 in)
Particle-size control section
Clay content: 35 to 50 percent
Coarse fragments: 0 to 5 percent
Vertic properties: COLE is 0.07 to 0.15 in the upper 1.25 meters. The soil cracks 0.4 to 1.0 inch wide at the surface when dry, and the cracks extend to a depth of 51 cm (20 in) or more.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly rangeland. Small areas are cultivated to such crops as small grain, grain sorghum, and introduced grasses. A few areas are irrigated for producing cotton, corn, grain sorghum, small grain, truck crops, and introduced grasses. The original plant community was open grassland dominated by mid-grasses with occasional mesquite trees and woody shrubs. Bundleflower, bush sunflower and orange zexmania are important forbs. In early stages of retrogression, such plants are pink pappusgrass and plains bristlegrass increase but decrease with further deterioration. Other plants which increase or invade are hooded windmillgrass, Hall's panicum, tobosa grass, curley mesquitegrass, threeawns, red grama, mesquite, whitebrush, blackbrush, condalias, wolfberry, spiny hackberry, guyacan, guajillo, twisted acacia, Texas persimmon, and prickly pear cactus.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Rio Grande Plain, Texas; LRR I; MLRA 83B. The series is of moderate extent. These soils were formerly included in the Dant series.
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The Crider soil series was first identified and established as a soil series in Caldwell County in 1957 on the University of Kentucky’s Western Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Substation in Princeton, Ky. It was established to represent the well-drained upland soils on areas having loess (windblown) silt over limestone bedrock primarily on the Pennyroyal section of Southern Indiana, Western Kentucky, and West Tennessee. It is named after the small community of Crider in Caldwell County, KY. The Crider soil was selected as a possible state soil by the Soil Science Society of Kentucky in 1990. A proposal was sent to the KY legislature and Crider officially became the State Soil in 1990.
Most Crider soils are used for crops and pasture. Since it is a deep and well-drained soil, it is well suited to vegetables, corn, small grains, soybeans, tobacco, hay and many other uses, including urban development. The nonurbanized areas of Crider soils with 0 to 6 percent slopes are considered prime farmland, and areas with 6 to 12 percent slopes are considered statewide important farmland by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA-NRCS).
For more information about this and other State Soils, visit the Soil Science Society of America "Around the World-State Soils" website.
A representative soil profile of Quiteria fine sand, in an area of Quiteria fine sand, 0 to 1 percent slopes. A natric horizon starts at about a depth of 30 centimeters. (Soil Survey of Kenedy and Kleberg Counties, Texas; by Nathan I. Haile, and Dennis N. Brezina, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Quiteria series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, moderately slow permeable soils that formed in sandy eolian deposits over loamy Pleistocene age alluvium. These nearly level soils are on the vegetated sandsheet of the South Texas Coastal Plain. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 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: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, hyperthermic Typic Natrustalfs
Soil Moisture: An ustic soil moisture regime. Precipitation pattern: moist spring and fall months and dry summer and winter months. 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.
One or more lithological discontinuities occur in the Btn horizon.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used primarily for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The native climax vegetation in excellent condition is composed of 90 percent grasses, 5 percent woody plants and 5 percent forbs. In excellent condition, tall and midgrasses such as seacoast bluestem, brownseed paspalum and switchgrass dominate. Major forbs include snoutbean, arrowleaf sida, prairie coneflower, firewheel, phlox, and ragweed. Mesquite is the dominant woody plant. The ecological site is Loamy Sand, PE 31 to 44 (R083EY705TX)
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Sandsheet Prairie (MLRA 83E in LRR I) in southern Texas. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
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A soil profile and landscape of a Aquisalid from the United Arab Emirates. AD143 Petrogypsic Aquisalids (UAEKST, Fig. 5.17)
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Aquisalids are the salty soils in wet areas in the deserts where capillary rise and evaporation of water concentrate the salts near the surface. Some of these soils have redoximorphic depletions and concentrations. In other soils redoximorphic features may not be evident because of a high pH and the associated low redox potential, which inhibit iron and manganese reduction. These soils occur dominantly in depressional areas where ground water saturates the soils at least part of the year. The vegetation on these soils generally is sparse, consisting of salt-tolerant shrubs, grasses, and forbs. Although these soils may hold water at a tension less than 1500 kPa, the dissolved salt content makes the soils physiologically dry.
Petrogypsic Aquisalids are the other Aquisalids that have a petrogypsic horizon with its upper boundary within 100 cm of the soil surface.
Petrogypsic horizons are an illuvial horizon, 10 cm or more thick, in which secondary gypsum has accumulated to the extent that the horizon is cemented or indurated (photo 26). Dry fragments do not slake in water, and roots cannot enter, except in vertical fractures that have a horizontal spacing of 10 cm or more. The minimum gypsum content is 5 percent, and the product of the thickness, in cm, multiplied by the gypsum content percentage is 150 or more. Commonly, the gypsum content is far greater than the minimum requirements. In many pedons it is 60 percent or more. Petrogypsic horizons are known to occur only in arid regions and develop in parent materials that are rich in gypsum. They are rare in the United States but are common in parts of Africa and Asia
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Soil profile: The Balsam series consists of very deep, well drained soils. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid in the subsoil and moderately rapid in the underlying material. Typically, rock fragment content increases with depth.
Landscape: Avery County is known for its high-quality Fraser fir Christmas trees and for Grandfather Mountain, which attracts many visitors annually due to its unique plant and animal communities and beautiful scenery. Balsam very cobbly loam, windswept, 15 to 30 percent slopes, extremely bouldery is mapped on the high mountains throughout the county.
The Balsam series consists of very deep, well drained soils on foot slopes, toe slopes, fans and benches in coves at high elevations in the Southern Blue Ridge mountains, MLRA 130B. They formed in colluvium derived from materials weathered from felsic to mafic, high-grade metamorphic or igneous rocks. Near the type location, mean annual air temperature is about 40 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is about 80 inches. Slope ranges from 2 to 95 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, isotic, frigid Typic Humudepts
Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 72 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid. Content of flakes of mica is few or common throughout. Average rock fragment content in the particle-size control section ranges from 35 to 90 percent by volume. They range from gravel to boulders in size. Typically, rock fragment content increases with depth.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is in State or Federal ownership and is used for watershed protection, recreation, and wildlife habitat. Most of this soil is forested. In areas higher than about 5,400 feet, red spruce and fraser fir are the dominant trees. At the lower elevations, northern red oak, American beech, yellow birch, black cherry, sugar maple, eastern hemlock, yellow buckeye, and white ash are common trees. In many areas, the trees are stunted due to wind and ice damage and a "windswept" phase is recognized. Common understory plants are serviceberry, striped maple, American chestnut sprouts, silverbell, pin cherry, rhododendron, flame azalea, blueberry, blackberry, hay-scented fern, trillium, woodfern, New York fern, Solomon's seal, yellow mandarin, and raspberry. A small acreage is used for native pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: High elevations in the Southern Blue Ridge mountains, MLRA 130B of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia This series is of small extent.
The Balsam series was formerly included with the Spivey series. However, Spivey is in the mesic soil temperature class, forms in colluvium derived from low-grade metasedimentary rocks such as phyllite and slate, and contains fragments of those rocks.
Although Balsam soils exhibit at least some of the characteristics of andic soil properties, they lack the volcanic glass commonly found in soils of related taxa in the Western United States.
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A representative soil profile of Campwood clay in an area of Campwood-Knippa complex, 0 to 3 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Edwards and Real Counties, Texas; by Wayne J. Gabriel, Dr. Lynn E. Loomis, and James A. Douglass II Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Campwood series consists of soils that are very deep, well drained soils formed in calcareous clayey alluvium derived from limestone of Cretaceous age. These soils are on nearly level to gently sloping stream terraces and alluvial plains in footslope positions of valleys on dissected plateaus. Slope ranges from 0 to 5 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 20 degrees C (68 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 686 mm (27 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Typic Haplusterts
Solum thickness: More than 203 cm (80 in)
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 36 to 127 cm (14 to 50 in)
Vertic features: begin at a depth of 38 to 100 cm (15 to 40 in), kind-slickensides or wedges; extend to a depth of 203 cm (80 in)
Other features: In some pedons the cracks may not open to the surface when there is a complete cover of grass. These soils have little or no gilgai microrelief.
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 40 to 60 percent total clay with more than 35 percent silicate clay
Coarse fragments: Amount-0 to 5 percent by volume, size-2 to 5 mm, kind-limestone
Calcium carbonate equivalent: Amount-10 to 40 percent by weight
Identifiable secondary carbonate: Amount-0 to 5 percent by volume, size-fine to medium, contrast-distinct, kind-nodules and masses
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly in rangeland. The remainder is used for cropland or wildlife. The major crops are forage sorghums and small grains. The climax plant community is a tall grass prairie. The dominant grass is little bluestem. Other plants include sideoats grama, vine mesquite, yellow Indiangrass, big bluestem, Canada wildrye, live oak, silver bluestem, Texas wintergrass, cane bluestem, hairy wedelia, Texas cupgrass, tall dropseed, and plains lovegrass. The dominant forbs include Maximilian sunflower, Engelmann daisy, and bushsunflower. The woody plants include elm, live oak, hackberry, bumelia, green briar and elbowbush. With heavy stocking rates, the site could potentially deteriorate to a plant population of tumblegrass, hairy tridens, Texas grama, red threeawn, western ragweed, broomweed, prairie coneflower, and Ashe juniper.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwest Plateaus and Plains Range and Cotton Region, LLR I: MLRA 81B-Edwards Plateau, Central Part and MLRA 81C-Edwards Plateau, Eastern Part. This series is of moderate extent. This series includes some soils formerly included with the Krum series.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/TX607/0/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CAMPWOOD.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Amadon series. (Photo provided by Iowa State University)
The Amadon series consists of shallow, well drained soils formed in loamy glacial till deposits overlying limestone bedrock on ground moraines and bedrock benches. Permeability is moderate. Slopes range from 0 to 45 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 30 inches, and the mean annual temperature is about 43 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, active, frigid Lithic Haplorthods
The depth to limestone bedrock ranges from 10 to 20 inches. Reaction is strongly acid or moderately acid throughout. Limestone cobbles and channers range from 0 to 20 percent by volume and commonly are on the surface and mixed throughout the profile. Limestone gravel content ranges from 0 to 14 percent throughout the profile. Clay content ranges from 2 to 12 percent.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are forested. Vegetation consists of sugar maple, American beech, red maple, paper birch, quaking aspen, ironwood, balsam fir, red pine, eastern white pine and northern white cedar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern and Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The series is of small extent.
For more information about ISU-Geospatial Laboratory for Soil Informatics, visit:
glsi.agron.iastate.edu/images/soil-profiles/
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/AMADON.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Rukuhia series from New Zealand. (Photo provided by NZ Soils.co.nz and Waikato Regional Council.) For more information about New Zealand soils, visit;
Rukuhia soils from 0 - 15 cm; Reddish black very weakly decomposed peat. In the New Zealand Soil Classification system these soils are Acid Fibric Organic Soils. For more information about the New Zealand Soil Classification system, visit;
soils.landcareresearch.co.nz/describing-soils/nzsc/
In U.S. Soil Taxonomy, these soils are Hemic Haplofibrists. These are the Fibrists in which the temperature regime is warmer than cryic and less than three-fourths of the fiber volume is derived from Sphagnum. The fibers may have been derived from wood, grasses, sedges, mosses, and other herbaceous plants or from some combination of these.
If these soils are drained and cultivated under the present technology, the organic materials will decompose either slowly or rapidly, depending on the management used and the temperature. Eventually, within some decades, the Haplofibrists that are drained and cultivated will be replaced first by Hemists and Saprists and then by mineral soils. Most of these soils in the United States support native vegetation.
For additional information about U.S. Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/cla...
Anhydrite is a mineral—anhydrous calcium sulfate, CaSO4. Distinctly developed crystals are somewhat rare, the mineral usually presenting the form of cleavage masses. The hardness is 3.5 and the specific gravity 2.9. The color is white, sometimes greyish, bluish, or purple. When exposed to water, anhydrite readily transforms to the more commonly occurring gypsum, (CaSO4·2H2O) by the absorption of water. This transformation is reversible, with gypsum or calcium sulfate hemihydrate forming anhydrite by heating to ~200°C under normal atmospheric conditions. Anhydrite is commonly associated with calcite and halite.
www.researchgate.net/publication/259338144_Proposal_for_A...
The anhydritic horizon is a horizon in which anhydrite has accumulated through neoformation or transformation to a significant extent. It typically occurs as a subsurface horizon. It commonly occurs in conjunction with a salic horizon.
Identification of anhydrite (75-135 cm) is important when determining soil strength. Soils high in anhydrite exhibit fluidity and lack soil strength and load bearing capacity. Moisture content strongly influences soil’s consistence and a water table is commonly within the soil profile. The manner in which specimens of soil fail under increasing force ranges widely and usually is highly dependent on water state. To test for fluidity, a handful of soil material is squeezed in the hand. For moderately fluid materials after exerting full pressure, most flows through the fingers; a small residue remains in the palm of the hand.
For example, if some of the soil flows between the fingers with difficulty, the nvalue is between 0.7 and less than 1.0 (slightly fluid manner of failure class); if the soil flows easily between the fingers, the nvalue is 1 or more (moderately fluid or very fluid manner of failure class) depending on what remains in the palm of the hand.
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 soil classification in the UAE, visit:
vdocument.in/united-arab-emirates-keys-to-soil-taxonomy.h...
A Typic Haplogypsid from the interior of the UAE.
Typic Haplogypsids are the Haplogypsids that do not have have a gypsic horizon with its upper boundary within 18 cm of the soil surface. These soils do not have a lithic contact within 50 cm of the soil surface. In the United States they occur in Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico.
The gypsic horizon is a horizon in which gypsum has accumulated or been transformed to a significant extent (secondary gypsum (CaSO4) has accumulated through more than 150 mm of soil, so that this horizon contains at least 5% more gypsum than the underlying horizon). It typically occurs as a subsurface horizon, but it may occur at the surface in some soils.
Haplogypsids are the Gypsids that have no petrogypsic, natric, argillic, or calcic horizon that has an upper boundary within 100 cm of the soil surface. Some Haplogypsids have a cambic horizon overlying the gypsic horizon. These soils are commonly very pale in color. They are not extensive in the United States. The largest concentrations in the United States are in New Mexico and Texas. The soils are more common in other parts of the world.
Gypsids are the Aridisols that have a gypsic or petrogypsic horizon within 100 cm of the soil surface. Accumulation of gypsum takes place initially as crystal aggregates in the voids of the soils. These aggregates grow by accretion, displacing the enclosing soil material. When the gypsic horizon occurs as a cemented impermeable layer, it is recognized as the petrogypsic horizon. Each of these forms of gypsum accumulation implies processes in the soils, and each presents a constraint to soil use. One of the largest constraints is dissolution of the gypsum, which plays havoc with structures, roads, and irrigation delivery systems. The presence of one or more of these horizons, with or without other diagnostic horizons, defines the great groups of the Gypsids. Gypsids occur in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia, West Asia, and some of the most arid areas of the western part of the United States. Gypsids are on many segments of the landscape. Some of them have calcic or related horizons that overlie the gypsic horizon.
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:
sites.google.com/site/dinpuithai/Home
For more information about soil classification using the UAE Keys to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
agrifs.ir/sites/default/files/United%20Arab%20Emirates%20...
A representative soil profile of the Algood series.
The Algood series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in colluvium weathered from cherty limestone and the underlying clayey residuum. The soils are on colluvial fans and foot slopes at the base of the Cumberland Plateau escarpment and its outliers. Slopes range from 2 to 40 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Paleudalfs
Solum thickness and depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Chert gravels and cobbles are commonly less than 20 percent in each horizon, but range from 0 to 40 percent. Fragments average less than 35 percent in the control section. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to neutral throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Gently sloping or sloping areas are mostly cleared and used for growing corn, small grains, mixed hay, burley tobacco, and assorted truck crops. Steeper areas are in pasture or woodland. Native vegetation consists mainly of secondary growth yellow poplar. Oak, walnut, cherry, and sassafras are other common species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The eastern Highland Rim of Tennessee and the eastern Pennyroyal of Kentucky. Extent is small.
For additional information about U.S. Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/cla...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/ALGOOD.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Note: The left side of the profile is darker in color due to moistening. Colors on the right side are dry.
A representative soil profile of the Pierre series. (Soil Survey of Sioux County, Nebraska; by Mark Willoughby, Dan Shurtliff, Bob Rayer, and Dave Vyain, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Pierre series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils formed in clayey residuum, or local alluvium over residuum, derived from shale bedrock. Pierre soils are on gently sloping to rolling hillslopes on uplands on the Pierre Shale Plains (MLRA 60A). Saturated hydraulic conductivity is low. Slopes range from 0 to 30 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 381 mm (15 inches), and mean annual air temperature is about 8 degrees C (46 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Torrertic Haplustepts
Depth to bedrock: 50 to 100 cm (20 to 40 inches) to a paralithic contact
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: typically typically less than 50 cm (20 inches); some pedons, especially in the northern part of the series domain, lack secondary accumulations and are very weakly or weakly effervescent
Linear extensibilty (LE): 6 to 11 cm
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 40 to 60 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Used primarily as rangeland. Native grasses are mainly western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, sideoats grama, blue grama, buffalograss, and forbs. A few isolated areas are cropped, and a few areas are utilized for hayland and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Pierre shale plains in western South Dakota, northeastern Wyoming, and northwestern Nebraska; LRR G, MLRA 60A. Pierre is still correlated in a few non-MLRA subets of MLRA 63A in west-central South Dakota. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/nebraska/sioux...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/PIERRE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Sawmillcreek series. Sawmillcreek soils are an example of a Haplocryept (coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive Typic Haplocryepts). Sawmillcreek soils have moderately deep mixed loess and alluvium over outwash or till. (Soil Survey of Greater Nenana Area, Alaska; by Dennis Mulligan, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Typical landscape for Sawmillcreek soils. These soils occur on alluvial fans and terraces. Vegetation is black spruce (Picea mariana) forest with an understory of mixed shrubs that include labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum), prickly rose (Rosa acicularis), and vaious willows (Salix spp.).
Depth class: Very deep
Drainage class: well drained
Parent material: loess over calcareous glacial outwash
Landform: alluvial fans
Slopes: 0 to 2 percent
Mean annual precipitation: about 12 inches, 305 mm
Mean annual temperature: about 29 degrees F., -1.6 C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive Typic Haplocryepts
Particle-size control (section weighted average):
Percent clay in the control section: 3 to 7 percent
Total coarse fragments in the upper part of the control section: 0 to 5 percent
Total coarse fragments in the lower part of the control section: 60 to 90 percent
Soil moisture regime: Udic
Mean annual soil temperature: 30 degrees F, -1.1 C.
Thickness of organic materials: 0 to 3 inches, 0 to 8 cm
Depth to glacial till: 10 to 20 inches, 25 to 50 cm
Depth to carbonates: 16 to 30 inches, 41 to 76 cm
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for farmland, pasture, hay and small grains. The native vegetation includes white spruce, black spruce, birch and aspen.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 229, Interior Alaska Lowlands, Alaska. The series is of minor extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/alaska/AK655/0...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/SAWMILLCREEK.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile in a map unit of white, grey or pale sands overlying gravels to depths of at least 80 centimeters (cm). These soils are pale deep sands of the West Midlands of Australia. (Base photo provided by Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Agriculture and Food, Government of Western Australia.)
Topsoil
Pale grey, white or pale yellow in color.
Mainly acidic pH trend though to alkaline throughout.
Subsoil
Subsoil dominated by sand to depths of at least 80cm.
Subsoils often highly leached, poor nutrient status and retention.
Less than 20% Ironstone gravel maybe present below 15cm depth in a band at least 20cm thick
Deep subsoils (> 80cm) may contain clay, ferricrete or coffee rock
For more information about these soils including common management constraints, visit:
www.agric.wa.gov.au/mycrop/mysoil-pale-deep-sands-west-mi...
For more information about the soils of Western Australia, visit;
www.agric.wa.gov.au/climate-land-water/soils
In the Australian soil classification system, the soils in this unit include: Shelly Rudosols, Shelly Calcarosols, Sesqio-Nodular Tenosols, Ferric Bleached-Orthic Tenosols. Bleached –Orthic Tenosols, Aeric Podosol. Ferric-Petroferric Bleached-Orthic Tenosols, Arenic Bleached-Orthic Tenosols, or Basic Arenic Rudosols.
Tenosols have only weak soil profile development and are often shallow. In the Australian Soil Classification they are defined as having limited subsoil (B horizon) development (less than 15% clay content). However, Tenosols have more development than the most rudimentary soils i.e. Rudosols as they include bleached layers and colour changes
Orthic Tenosols occur on the younger parts of the landscape in lower rainfall areas. They are formed on the steep hills in the north and in the rain shadow area around Omeo. They are more prevalent on the drier north and northwest aspects. These soils often merge with Kandosols as the clay content can be slightly higher than specified as the upper limit for Tenosols (i.e. 15%).
For more information about the Australian Soil Classification System, visit;
www.clw.csiro.au/aclep/asc_re_on_line_V2/soilhome.htm
In Soil Taxonomy, these soils are primarily Inceptisols or Entisols. For more information about Soil Taxonomy, visit:
Oxisols are an order in USDA soil taxonomy, best known for their occurrence in tropical rain forest, 15-25 degrees north and south of the Equator. They are classified as ferralsols in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources; some oxisols have been previously classified as laterite soils.The main processes of soil formation of oxisols are weathering, humification and pedoturbation due to animals. These processes produce the characteristic soil profile. They are defined as soils containing at all depths no more than 10 percent weatherable minerals, and low cation exchange capacity. Oxisols are always a red or yellowish color, due to the high concentration of iron(III) and aluminium oxides and hydroxides. In addition they also contain quartz and kaolin, plus small amounts of other clay minerals and organic matter.
For more information on Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class/
For more photos related to soils and landscapes visit:
Tapping rubber trees, latex collection and processing of raw rubber. Many plants produce latex, which oozes from cuts and injuries as a milky sap. Special cells called laticifers produce latex. The Amazon Rubber Boom (1879 to 1912) was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related to the extraction and commercialization of rubber.
For more information about soil surveys in Brazil, visit:
acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2136/sh2013-54...
A representative soil profile of the Yadkin soil series in Iredell County, North Carolina.
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very deep
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Very low to high
Permeability: Moderate
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
Landscape: Piedmont uplands (old stream terraces)
Landform: Hills, ridge
Geomorphic Component: Interfluves, side slopes
Hillslope Profile Position: Summit, shoulder, backslope
Parent Material: Old clayey alluvium (weathered from felsic to mafic metamorphic
or igneous rock)
Slope: 2 to 25 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, mesic Rhodic Kandiudults
Depth to top of Argillic horizon: 10 to 40 centimeters (about 4 to 16 inches thick)
Depth to base of Argillic horizon: Greater than 150 centimeters (about 60 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 200 centimeters (about 80 inches)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Greater than 185 centimeters (about 72 inches)
Rock Fragment Content: 0 to 35 percent in the A and E horizons, and 0 to 20 percent in the Bt and BC horizons; mostly gravel and cobbles
Soil Reaction: Very strongly acid (4.5) to moderately acid (6.0) throughout, unless limed.
Mica Content: 0 to 20 percent, by volume mica flakes
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Cultivated crops, pasture, forest
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--small grain, corn, soybeans, hay, and tobacco. Where forested--shortleaf pine, Virginia pine, northern red oak, southern red oak, and hickory. Understory plants include dogwood, eastern redbud, and sassafras.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: North Carolina and Virginia
Extent: Small
These soils were formerly included in the Davidson and Hiwassee series. Even though these soils typically have a subhorizon with more than 60 percent clay (increasing with depth); overall, they have less than 60 percent clay (weighted average) in the particle-size control section.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/Y/YADKIN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Scientists from PNNL present the fourth and final lesson in their after-school series at Sagebrush Montessori School in Richland, WA. In this lesson, students learned about mushrooms.
Terms of Use: Our images are freely and publicly available for use with the credit line, "Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory"; Please use provided caption information for use in appropriate context.