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(Original image courtesy of Matthew C. Ricker, NC State University)
[cals.ncsu.edu/crop-and-soil-sciences/people/mcricker/]
The original photo may be viewed at:
www.flickr.com/photos/soilscience/49095430603/in/album-72...
The Fannin series consists of very deep, well drained soils on gently sloping to very steep ridges and side slopes of the Southern Blue Ridge (MLRA 130B). They formed in residuum that is affected by soil creep in the upper part, and is weathered from high-grade metamorphic rocks that are high in mica content such as mica schist and mica gneiss. Mean annual temperature is 52 degrees F., and mean annual rainfall is about 52 inches near the type location. Slopes are 6 to 95 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, micaceous, mesic Typic Hapludults
Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 45 inches. Depth to lithic or paralithic contact is more than 60 inches. Content of coarse fragments range from 0 to 35 percent in the A and C horizons and from 0 to 25 percent in the B horizons. Fragments are dominantly gravel in most pedons but cobbles are dominant in some pedons. Reaction is very strongly acid to slightly acid. Content of flakes of mica is common or many in the surface layer and upper B horizon and is many in the lower B and C horizons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in forest. Common trees are chestnut oak, scarlet oak, black oak, white oak, hickory, eastern white pine, Virginia pine, and pitch pine. Yellow poplar and northern red oak are common in the northern portions of MLRA 130B. The understory includes flowering dogwood, American chestnut sprouts, flame azalea, blueberry, buffalo nut, mountain laurel, rhododendron, and sourwood. Cleared areas are principally used for pasture and hayland. Small areas are used for growing corn, small grain, truck crops, apples, and Christmas trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Blue Ridge (MLRA 130B) of North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
Fannin series was formerly classified in the Red-Yellow Podzolic great soil group. Available data show that the Fannin soils have average clay content of less than 35 percent in the Bt horizons, average silt content of 20 to 50 percent in the upper 20 inches of the Bt horizons, and much mica throughout the sola. These soils feel as if they are higher in silt than mechanical analyses shows them to be. They have a greasy feel caused by the high mica content. The mica is dominantly soft and mineral structure is destroyed by prolonged rubbing.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/F/FANNIN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Township series. (Soil Survey of Clearwater Area, Idaho; by Glenn Hoffman, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Township series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in residuum and colluvium from schist and gneiss that are high in mica, with a thick mantle of volcanic ash. They are located on mountain slopes. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high and slopes range from 10 to 75 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 40 inches and the average annual temperature is about 42 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy over loamy-skeletal, amorphic over micaceous, frigid Typic Udivitrands
NOTE: The mineralogy class was changed from paramicaceous to micaceous in 07/2010 by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the responsible MLRA regional office. The change was necessary based on the eleventh edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 2010.
Average annual soil temperature - 39 to 46 degrees F. (Frigid soil temperature regime)
Soil moisture regime - usually moist year round and not dry for 30 consecutive days during June to October. (Udic soil moisture regime)
Thickness of volcanic ash mantle - 14 to 23 inches.
Volcanic glass - 15 to 50 percent
Acid-oxalate extractable Al+1/2 Fe - 1.3 to 2.7 percent
Phosphorous retention - 55 to 95 percent
15 bar water retention - 8.0 to 12.0 percent on air-dried samples
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for timber production, recreation, watershed, and wildlife habitat. Potential natural vegetation is western redcedar, grand fir, Douglas-fir, western white pine, western larch, and Rocky mountain maple with an understory of queencup beadlily, goldthread, bunchberry dogwood, oneleaf foamflower, northern twinflower, darkwoods violet, common prince's pine, common beargrass, myrtle pachystima, rustyleaf menziesia, western thimbleberry, and common snowberry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North Central Idaho. Township soils are moderately extensive. MLRA 43A. This soil is named after a nearby mountain.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/idaho/clearwat...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TOWNSHIP.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Heintooga series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately rapidly permeable soils on toe slopes, fans and benches in coves at high elevations in the Southern Blue Ridge mountains, MLRA 130B. They formed in colluvium weathered from low-grade metasedimentary rocks. Slope ranges from 2 to 95 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, isotic, frigid Typic Humudepts
Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from ultra acid to strongly acid throughout. Content of mica flakes is none or few throughout. Rock fragment content ranges from 35 to 80 percent channers and flagstones throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Nearly all of this soil is in forest. Common trees are northern red oak, black birch, American beech, yellow birch, black cherry, sugar maple, eastern hemlock, yellow buckeye, red spruce, and fraser fir. In many areas the trees are stunted due to wind and ice damage and a "windswept" phase is recognized. The understory species are serviceberry, striped maple, American chestnut sprouts, pin cherry, rhododendron, mountain-laurel, silverbell, blueberry, and flame azalea. Common forbs are hay-scented fern, wood fern, New York fern, Solomon's seal, yellow mandarin, and trillium.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Higher elevations of the Southern Blue Ridge mountains, MLRA 130B of North Carolina, Tennessee, and possibly Virginia. This series is of small extent.
The Heintooga series was formerly included with the Balsam series. However, Balsam soils formed in colluvium from high-grade metamorphic and igneous rocks. Although Heintooga soils may exhibit some of the characteristics of andic soil properties, they lack the volcanic glass found in soils of similar taxa in the Western United States.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HEINTOOGA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Profile of Lufkin loam. Texture and color change between the surface layer and the clay subsoil. (Soil Survey of Robertson County, Texas; By Harold W. Hyde, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Lufkin series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, very slowly permeable soils on high terraces or remnants of terraces associated with uplands. The soil formed in slightly acid to alkaline clayey sediments. Slopes are dominantly less than 1 percent but range to 3 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Oxyaquic Vertic Paleustalfs
Solum thickness ranges from 60 to more than 80 inches. Base saturation ranges from 80 to 100 percent by sum of cations throughout the argillic horizon. Clay content of the 10- to 40- inch particle size control section ranges from 35 to 45 percent. When dry, cracks at least 1/4 inch wide extend from the top of the argillic horizon through a thickness of 12 inches or more within the upper 50 inches of the soil. Slickensides and/or wedge-shaped aggregates and pressure faces range from few to common throughout the argillic horizon. Linear extensibility is greater than 2.5 inches (6.0 cm) in the upper 40 inches (100 cm) of the soil. COLE ranges from 0.07 to 0.10 in the upper 50 inches of the argillic horizon. Siliceous pebbles range from none to 10 percent of some subhorizons. Most pedons contain secondary carbonates, barite masses, or gypsum crystals beginning at a depth of 40 to 70 inches. Redox features are both relict and contemporary. The soil does not have aquic soil conditions in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly cultivated in the past but now most areas are in unimproved pastures. Some areas are farmed to grain sorghums, hay crops or small grains for grazing. Other areas are in mixed bermudagrass, dallisgrass, or bahiagrass pastures. Native vegetation is bluestems, gramas, paspalums and threeawn grasses with sedges, post oak, water oak, willow oak, and elm trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mainly in the Texas Claypan region of Texas (MLRA 87A, 87B, and to a lesser extent, on terraces of 86A).
Classification change from Udertic Paleustalfs to Oxyaquic Vertic Paleustalfs based on knowledge that these soils are saturated for 2 to 4 weeks in most years. This period of time is within the definition of saturation for one month or more if rules of rounding are applied, i.e., 2 to 6 weeks saturation is considered inclusive. The soil would classify in the Epioxyaquic subgroup if provided for by SOIL TAXONOMY.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/TX395/0/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/L/LUFKIN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Histosols are organic soils have organic matter as the primary parent material. They occur when conditions allow organic matter to accumulate at a faster rate than it can be decomposed. This is usually under wet conditions such as a wetland.
Fibrists are the wet Histosols in which the organic materials are only slightly decomposed. More than two-fifths or more than three-fourths of the soil consists of fibers that remain after rubbing between the thumb and fingers.
Cryofibrists are cold Fibrists. The fibers may be derived from any plant, woody or herbaceous. These soils may freeze during the winter, or they may have a climate in which the soils do not freeze during winter in normal years but are cold in summer. In either situation, the low temperatures limit the use of the soils. Most of these soils support native vegetation.
Hydric Cryofibrists have a layer of water within the control section, below the surface tier. These soils are of small extent, mostly in the State of Alaska in the United States.
Hydric soils are formed under conditions of saturation, flooding, or ponding long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part (Federal Register, 1994). Most hydric soils exhibit characteristic morphologies that result from repeated periods of saturation or inundation that last more than a few days.
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...
A representative soil profile of the Sharondale soil series in Kentucky.
Sharondale series consists of very deep, well drained soils with moderately rapid permeability. They formed in loamy colluvium weathered from sandstone, siltstone, and shale. (Soil Survey of Pike County, Kentucky; by John A. Kelley, Soil Conservation Service)
Landscape: These moderately steep to very steep soils are in coves or on mountain sides on north and east facing slopes. Slope ranges from 15 to 100 percent but is dominantly 45 to 90 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 43 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 58 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludolls
Thickness of the solum ranges from 40 to 80 inches and depth to hard bedrock is more than 5 feet. Flat rock fragments, mostly 2mm to 15 inches in length, range from 10 to 85 percent in individual horizons, but average 35 percent or more in the particle-size control section. Clay content ranges from 8 to 27 percent, but is commonly between 12 and 27 percent. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral throughout.
Most areas are in second growth forests with mixed stands of yellow poplar, American basswood, white ash, cucumber tree, northern red oak, black walnut, hickory, black locust, yellow buckeye, Ohio buckeye, and umbrella magnolia.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Sharondale soils are in the Cumberland-Allegheny Plateau of eastern Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, and eastern Tennessee. The area is estimated to be of moderate extent, about 50,000 acres. (30,000 acres in Pike County). The Sharondale soils were mostly mapped as Cutshin soils in the past.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/kentucky/KY195...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/SHARONDALE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: Chokecherry very gravelly sandy loam. (Soil Survey of Teton Area, Idaho and Wyoming; by Carla B. Rebernak, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Typical range vegetation on detailed map unit Chokecherry-Tubbs Hollow-Sheep Creek, dry complex, 3 to 60 percent slopes. Idaho range site: R013XY114ID; SHALLOW STONY 12-20 ARAR8/PSSPS. (Soil Survey of Bear Lake County Area, Idaho; by Francis R. Kukachka, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Chokecherry series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in alluvium and residuum derived from red sandstone, red siltstone, yellow sandstone or siltstone, gray siltstone or loess influenced quartzite or rhyolite. Chokecherry soils are on mountain slopes, hillslopes, and ridges. Slopes range from 2 to 60 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive Lithic Haplocryolls
USE AND VEGETATION: Chokecherry soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly mountain big sage, low sage, bluebunch wheatgrass, antelope bitterbrush, serviceberry, snowberry, rabbitbrush, lupine, and few mountain mahogany.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Chokecherry soils are of small extent in southeastern and south-central Idaho; MLRA 43B and 13.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/wyoming/TetonI...
and...
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/idaho/bearlake...
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/C/CHOKECHERRY.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Landscape: hills and mountains in Cumberland Plateau and Mountains
Landform: hillslope, mountain side,
Geomorphic Component: benches, side slope, base slopes
Hillslope Profile Position: back slope, footslope and toeslopes
Parent Material Origin: sandstone and siltstone
Parent Material Kind: Colluvium
Slope: 8 to 90 percent
Elevation: 183 to 1219 meters, 600 to 4000 feet
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Forestry
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--Less sloping areas are used for pasture and as sites for houses or gardens. Where wooded--are in secondary growth hardwood forest with mixed stands of white oak, American beech, mockernut hickory, pignut hickory, black oak, sugar maple, sassafras, red maple, chestnut oak, Virginia pine, and flowering dogwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Allegheny-Cumberland Plateau of eastern Kentucky with possible similar areas in West Virginia, Virginia, and eastern Tennessee
Extent: Large, approximately 200,000 acres.
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/F/FEDSCREEK.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Berks series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils formed in residuum weathered from shale, siltstone and fine grained sandstone on rounded and dissected uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 80 percent. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid. Mean annual precipitation is 42 inches. Mean annual temperature is 52 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
Solum thickness ranges from 12 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is 20 to 40 inches. Depth to the top of the cambic horizon range from 3 to 12 inches. Rock fragments range from 10 to 50 percent in the Ap and A horizons, from 15 to 75 percent in individual horizons of the B, and from 35 to 90 percent in the C horizon. The average volume of rock fragments in the particle-size control section is more than 35 percent. In unlimed soils reaction ranges from extremely acid to slightly acid throughout. The dominant clay minerals are illite, vermiculite and interstratified vermiculite chlorite. Small amounts of kaolinite are present.
USE AND VEGETATION: Approximately 60 percent of Berks soils are in cropland and pasture, the remainder are in woodland or other uses. Principal crops are corn, wheat, oats, barley, Christmas trees and hay. Native vegetation is mixed, deciduous hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, and Southern Illinois. MLRA's 115, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 139, 147 and 148. The series is of large extent. The Ashby, Kistler and Trexler soils, which were moderately shallow in some Pennsylvania published surveys are now included in the Berks Series.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BERKS.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Gritney series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that formed in fine-textured sediments on Coastal Plain uplands. Permeability is slow. Slopes range from 0 to 15 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Aquic Hapludults
USE AND VEGETATION: Gritney soils are used for crops, pasture and forest land. Principal crops grown are corn, soybeans, small grain, cotton, peanuts and hay and pasture. Wooded areas are mixed hardwood and pine. Tree species include white oak, post oak, southern red oak, red maple, sweetgum, hickory, elm, ash, American sycamore, beech, and loblolly pine. Common understory plants are American holly, dogwood, sassafras, sourwood, and waxmyrtle. Threeawn is a common native grass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Virginia, and possibly South Carolina.
Tifton Series--Georgia State Soil:
www.soils4teachers.org/files/s4t/k12outreach/ga-state-soi...
The Tifton series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loamy marine sediments. Tifton soils are on interfluves. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 18 degrees C (64 degrees F), and the mean annual precipitation is about 1360 millimeters (53 inches).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Plinthic Kandiudults
Depth to horizons with 5 percent or more plinthite is dominantly 76 to 127 centimeters (30 to 50 inches), but in some pedons it is 63 centimeters (25 inches). Silt content is less than 20 percent. Depth to Redox features i predominantly greater than 102 centimeters (40 inches), but some pedons have iron depletions below a depth of 76 centimeters (30 inches).
USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas of Tifton soils are under cultivation with cotton, corn, peanuts, vegetable crops, and small grains. Some areas are in pasture and forestland. The forested areas consist largely of longleaf pine, loblolly pine, slash pine with some scattered hardwoods on cutover areas.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Major Land Resource Area (MLRA): The series occurs primarily in the Southern Coastal Plain (MLRA 133A), but it also occurs to a lesser extent in the Atlantic Coast Flatwoods (MLRA 153A).
Extent: large extent
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/georgia/webste...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TIFTON.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil color does not affect the behavior and use of soil; however, it can indicate the composition of the soil and give clues to the conditions that the soil is subjected to. Soil can exhibit a wide range of color; grey, black, white, reds, browns, yellows and greens. Varying horizontal bands of colour in the soil often identify a specific soil horizon. The development and distribution of color in soil results from chemical and biological weathering, especially redox reactions. As the primary minerals in soil parent material weather, the elements combine into new and colorful compounds. Soil conditions produce uniform or gradual color changes, while reducing environments result in disrupted color flow with complex, mottled patterns and points of color concentration.
Soil survey of the Northern Emirates. The soil survey of the Northern Emirates, United Arab Emirates (UAE) was conducted during 2010 – 2012. The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) implemented the Soil Survey through GRM International. The project was funded by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, and its objective was to develop a digital soil information repository to aid in broad land-use planning and agricultural expansion in the Northern Emirates.
The survey used Geographic Information Systems, satellite image processing, and field mapping to produce a Soil Information System. Scientific and technical standards, including the soil classification system and nomenclature, were based on those of the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service. These standards have been used in other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sultanate of Oman, State of Kuwait, State of Qatar, and more recently in the Abu Dhabi soil survey project in the UAE. The project was completed at scale of 1:50,000.
A number of thematic maps, including suitability for irrigated agriculture, salinity, and current land use, were generated as part of the project. The Abu Dhabi Soils Information System (ADSIS) was expanded and enhanced and renamed to United Arab Emirates Soils Information System (UAESIS), to assist in the storage, processing, retrieval, and management of the national soil-related information.
Information from the soil survey is expected to be used by various groups, including the agricultural farming community, decision makers, land-use planners, officials, engineers, and environmental impact assessors. Conservationists and specialists in recreation, wildlife management, waste disposal, and pollution control will also use the soil information to help understand, protect and enhance the environment.
The report and maps provide a detailed assessment and account of soil in the Northern Emirates and are a fitting accompaniment to the Soil Survey of the Abu Dhabi Emirate. Finally, the project produced a national soil map of the United Arab Emirates, by compiling results from this survey, the soil survey of Abu Dhabi completed in 2010, and the soil map of Dubai developed in 2003.
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-...
Typical profile of a Zylstra soil. This soil is similar to the Elwha soil except that the Zylstra soil is somewhat poorly drained and thus the redoximorphic features (red and orange stains) are at a shallower depth. The compacted dense horizon is at a depth of about 95 centimeters. (Soil Survey of Island County, Washington; by Bruce Lindsay, Erik Dahlke, and Toby Rodgers, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Zylstra series consists of moderately deep to densic contact, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in compacted glacial drift underlain by dense glaciomarine deposits. Zylstra soils are on hillslopes and outwash plains at elevations from 40 to 90 meters. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 813 mm. The mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, mesic Aquic Humixerepts
Mean annual soil temperature - 10 to 11 degrees C
Depth to redoximorphic features - 23 to 46 cm
Umbric epipedon thickness - 25 to 38 cm
Depth to densic contact - 50 to 100 cm
Reaction - strongly acid to neutral
Particle size control section:
Clay content - 5 to 18 percent
Rock fragments - 0 to 25 percent gravel and 0 to 10 percent cobbles
USE AND VEGETATION: Zylstra soils are used for home sites, timber production, crop production, and livestock grazing. Potential natural vegetation is western redcedar, Douglas-fir, grand fir, lodgepole pine, red alder, common snowberry, trailing blackberry, salmonberry, stinging nettle, salal, swordfern, and bracken fern.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Washington; MLRA 2. Series is of small extent. Most of the area mapped as Zylstra was previously mapped as Swantown in the 1950 Island County soil survey. Swantown soils are loamy-skeletal and have a Bsm, or cemented horizon.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/washington/isl...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/Z/ZYLSTRA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
One of the more motherly lecturers at University, Jean Ingram, who taught soil science, judging the annual cake competition. I made a "meta-cake" in the form of a tea-table sporting a cake.
Mid-1980s.
Slide scan.
Taken with Minolta MD Auto-Bellows I, Minolta MD Macro-Rokkor 50mm f3.5 and Slide Copier on Panasonic GH2.
Let’s sample here... type location for Lithic Aquisalid.
John A. 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 most recent publication is "United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy".
Soils are the basis of agriculture and play a critical role in agricultural production as they provide the medium upon which crops can grow. Yet, during the past few decades, focus on the importance of soils has diminished, coupled with harsh man-made and natural conditions that have resulted in soil erosion and soil nutrient mining.
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 soil classification in the UAE, visit:
vdocument.in/united-arab-emirates-keys-to-soil-taxonomy.h...
A representative soil profile of a fine-loamy, mixed, active, isohyperthermic Udic Paleustalf from India (Photo and initial observations courtesy of Stan Buol, NCSU.)
For more soil images by Stan Buol, visit:
www.flickr.com/photos/soilscience/albums/7215762485031052...
This profile was photographed on the ICRASAT research center near Hyderabad, India. The soil is formed in medium textured sediments on a nearly level slope. The upper boundary of an argillic horizon is present below an Ap horizon at 18 cm. The clay content in the argillic does not decrease by more than 20% of its’ maximum within 150 cm of the surface thus taxonomic placement in a ‘Pale’ Great Group of Ustalfs.
Although white CaCO3 nodules are present below 50 cm (and greatly exposed by digging tools) the carbonate content is insufficient to qualify as a calcic horizon within 60 cm of the surface. However, soil moisture data indicate that the control section is dry in some or all parts less than 120 consecutive days in normal years and thus the placement in a Udic Subgroup of Paleustalfs. These soils have been cultivated for food crops for several centuries.
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Udic Paleustalfs are like Typic Paleustalfs, but they are moist for longer periods. They are intergrades between Paleudalfs and Paleustalfs. They are extensive in parts of the United States. Their slopes are gentle, and most of the soils are used as cropland.
Paleustalfs are the reddish or red Ustalfs that are on old surfaces. Many of them have some plinthite in their lower horizons. Paleustalfs occur in relatively stable landscape positions, their slopes are mostly gentle, and their genesis began before the late Pleistocene. In the United States, they typically have a Bk or calcic horizon in or below the argillic horizon as a result of additions of atmospheric carbonates. Commonly, secondary lime coats the surfaces of peds that have noncalcareous interiors and the soils may be noncalcareous at a depth of less than 200 cm.
A few of these soils, near the boundary where they join Aridisols, have received enough calcareous dust to have a petrocalcic horizon. A few others, near the boundary where they join Udults or Udalfs, do not have a Bk horizon. Before cultivation, the vegetation on the Paleustalfs in the United States included a mixture of grasses and woody plants. These soils are moderately extensive in the southern part of the Great Plains in the United States, and they probably are extensive in Africa and southern Asia.
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:
Spent the day learning all about soil and romping around the Rodale Institute research farmlands, I was in a state of bliss! :) It was an incredible reminder of the fine details of my passions that I've let slip over the months as well as be re-inspired by their passionate vision for the future and the vastness of the larger picture.
A Typic Haplogypsid, petrogypsic 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 (CaSO 4) 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.
This pedon has a petrogypsic horizon at a depth of 100 to 200 cm and is identified as a "phase" in classification. In the UAE soil classification system, phases of soil taxa have been developed for those mineral soils that have soil properties or characteristics that occur at a deeper depth than currently identified for an established taxonomic subgroup or soil properties that effect interpretations not currently recognized at the subgroup level. The phases which have been identified in the UAE include: anhydritic, aquic, calcic, gypsic, lithic, petrocalcic, petrogypsic, salic, salidic, shelly, and sodic.
The petrogypsic horizon is a horizon in which visible secondary gypsum has accumulated or has been transformed. The horizon is cemented (i.e., extremely weakly through indurated cementation classes), and the cementation is both laterally continuous and root limiting, even when the soil is moist. Th e horizon 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:
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For additional information about soil classification using Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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For more information about soil classification using the UAE Keys to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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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.
Salidic Leptic Haplogypsids have an ECe of more ha 8 to less than 30 dS/m in a layer 10 cm or more thick within 100 cm of the soil surface and 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.
A soil profile of a Aquiturbel in Alaska. The permafrost begins at a depth of about 50 cm. Active freezing and thawing cycles take place above the permafrost. This profile exhibits evidence of cryoturbation (mixing by frost action), such as thin ice lenses and pockets of darker colored organic matter mixed into the lighter colored surrounding soil material. Frost heaving results in a hummocky surface. (Soil Survey Staff. 2015. Illustrated guide to Soil Taxonomy. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, Nebraska)
Aquiturbels are saturated with water close to the surface. Saturation commonly occurs in spring, when water perches on the permafrost and temperatures are warm enough for oxygen depletion and iron reduction. These soils can have mollic (rich in humus and bases), umbric (humus-rich with low base saturation), or ochric (typically thin and/or light-colored) epipedons. They occur in depressional areas in Alaska, Canada, and Eurasia.
To download the latest version of Soil Taxonomy, 2nd Edition, 1999, visit:
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For additional information about soil classification using Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th Edition, 2022, visit:
[www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/Keys-to-Soi...]
To download the latest version of Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th Edition, 2022, visit:
[www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...]
For an Illustrated Guide to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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A representative soil profile of the Arches series. (Soil Survey of Arches National Park, Utah; by Catherine E. Scott, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Arches series consists of very shallow and shallow, well to excessively drained, rapidly permeable soils that formed in sandy eolian deposits and residuum derived from sandstone. These soils are on plateaus, benches, sand sheets on structural benches, cuestas, mesas, and hills with slopes of 2 to 60 percent. Average annual precipitation is 11 inches and mean annual air temperature is about 50 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, mesic Lithic Torripsamments
Soil moisture: The soil is dry during May and June. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime
Mean annual soil temperature: 47 to 59 degrees F.
Depth to bedrock: 4 to 20 inches
Rock fragment content: 0 to 5 percent
Control section texture: sand, fine sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand. The sands are dominantly fine or very fine with a small percentage of medium or coarse sand
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and recreation. Native vegetation is Indian ricegrass, galleta, blackbrush, Mormon-tea and Utah juniper.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwest New Mexico and western Colorado. The soils of this series are extensive. MLRAs are 35 and 36. This series is not to be correlated outside MLRA 35 and 36. Named after Arches National Park.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/utah/archesUT2...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
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The Bayamón soil series was first designated as Puerto Rico’s representative soil under Law 115 of May 12, 1999 by the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly. It is found only in Puerto Rico and was first described in 1936 in Manati Municipio (municipality). It was named after Bahamón, a chief of the indigenous Tainos peoples whom Christopher Columbus met when he first came to the island of Puerto Rico on his second voyage in 1493. Bayamón is also the name of one of the main cities in Puerto Rico and the name of one of its rivers.
Bayamón soils are classified as prime farmland. Slopes range from 2 to 12 percent on uplands, coastal plains and in valleys intermingled among limestone hills (haystacks) and sinkholes in the karst region of the northern part of the island. These soils were historically used for sugar cane production, and more recently for pineapple, which grows better on acid soils. For many decades, the Espanola Roja pineapple was used for lotus juice. Now, other pineapple varieties are grown as fresh fruit for consumption on the island. Currently, the pineapple production has declined, and these soils are being used for food crops, pasture and hay for livestock. Some producers have even planted coffee. The soil supports native grasslands of Guinea grass, Zarcilla and Tulipan Africano.
For more information about this and other State Soils, visit the Soil Science Society of America "Around the World-State Soils" website.
MSU researcher Haddish Melakeberhan, along with assistant Zinthuz Maung (right) examines plant-nematode interaction in soil nutrient management, primarily in soybeans, vegetables and sugarbeets.
A representative soil profile of Venus loam, rarely flooded. (Soil Survey of Hamilton County, Texas; by John E. Allison, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Venus series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in loamy calcareous alluvial sediments. These nearly level to moderately sloping soils occur mainly on stream terraces and footslopes of hills and ridges. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 19 degrees C (66 degrees F), and the mean annual precipitation is about 864 mm (34 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Udic Calciustolls
Soil moisture: Udic ustic moisture regime.
Solum thickness: 150 to 200 cm (60 to 80 in)
Mollic epipedon: 25 to 50 cm (10 to 20 in)
Coarse fragments: 0 to 10 percent by volume, siliceous gravel
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Total clay content: 18 to 35 percent
Silicate clay content: 18 to 30 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 40 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly cultivated, mainly to small grains. Original vegetation was tall and mid grass and widely spaced live oak and other hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Areas are in Texas and possibly in Oklahoma. LRR-I and J. Mostly in the MLRA 85-Grand Prairie and MLRA 81C-Edwards Plateau, Eastern part. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
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For a detailed soil description, visit:
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Mollisols occur in savannahs and mountain valleys (such as Central Asia, or the North American Great Plains). These environments have historically been strongly influenced by fire and abundant pedoturbation from organisms such as ants and earth worms. It was estimated that in 2003, only 14 to 26 percent of grassland ecosystems still remained in a relatively natural state (that is, they were not used for agriculture due to the fertility of the A horizon). Globally, they represent about 7% of ice-free land area. As the world's most agriculturally productive soil order, the Mollisols represent one of the more economically important soil orders.
For more information on Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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Plinthite (Gr. plinthos, brick) is an iron-rich, humus-poor mixture of clay with quartz and other highly weathered minerals. It commonly occurs as reddish redox concentrations in a layer that has a polygonal (irregular), platy (lenticular), or reticulate (blocky) pattern. Plinthite irreversibly hardens upon exposure to repeated wetting and drying, especially if exposed to heat from the sun. Other morphologically similar iron-rich materials that do not progressively harden upon repeated wetting and drying are not considered plinthite.
Note the exposed soil surface in the center of the photo as compared to the freshly excavated area to the right. The area in the center has been exposed to the elements for an extended period of time and is essentially 100 percent cemented to a depth of 1 to 2 cm or more. The fresh cut area to the right exhibits a lesser degree of cementation, and a lower volume of cemented material. Cementation decreases with depth as you move from the surface into the soil. This is evidence of progressive cementation upon exposure to repeated wetting and drying. Upon examination of northern exposures along road banks versus southern exposures it was noted the surfaces were more than 90 percent cemented on southerly aspects and about 35 to 65 percent cemented of northern aspects.
A plinthic horizon contains a significant amount of plinthite. If the horizon constitutes a "continuous phase", zones that roots can enter are more than 10cm apart and plinthite makes up 50 percent or more of the volume of the horizon (proposed).
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 more information about a plinthic horizon, visit;
www.researchgate.net/publication/242649722_Rationale_for_...
or;
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S00167061220043...
A representative soil profile of a Luvisol from Russia. (Photo provided by Yakov Kuzyakov, revised.)
Luvisols have a higher clay content in the subsoil than in the topsoil, as a result of pedogenetic processes (especially clay migration) leading to an argic subsoil horizon. Luvisols have high-activity clays throughout the argic horizon and a high base saturation in the 50–100 cm depth. Many Luvisols are known as Texturally-differentiated soils and part of Metamorphic soils (Russia), Sols lessivés (France), Parabraunerden (Germany), Chromosols (Australia) and Luvissolos (Brazil). In the United States of America, they were formerly named Grey-brown podzolic soils and belong now to the Alfisols with high-activity clays.
Albic (from Latin albus, white): having a layer of albic material ≥ 1 cm thick, and starting ≤ 100 cm from the mineral soil surface, that does not consist of tephric material, does not contain carbonates, and does not contain gypsum; and that overlies a diagnostic horizon or forms part of a layer with stagnic properties. Albic material is predominantly light-coloured fine earth, from which organic matter and/or free iron oxides have been removed, or in which the oxides have been segregated to the extent that the colour of the horizon is determined by the colour of the sand and silt particles rather than by coatings on these particles. It generally has a weakly expressed soil structure or lacks structural development altogether. (WRB)
For more information, visit;
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A representative soil profile of a Retisol from Luxembourg. (Photo courtesy of Stefaan Dondeyne, revised.)
Retisols have a clay illuviation horizon with an interfingering of bleached coarser textured soil material into the illuviation horizon forming a net-like pattern. The interfingering bleached coarser-textured material is characterized by a partial removal of clay and free iron oxides. There may be also bleached coarser-textured material falling from the overlying horizon into cracks in the illuvial horizon. Many Retisols correlate with the Podzoluvisols of the Soil Map of the World (FAO–UNESCO, 1971–1981). In other systems they are called Soddy-podzolic or Sodzolic soils (Russia),
Fahlerden (Germany), and Glossaqualfs, Glossocryalfs and Glossudalfs (United States of America). Albeluvisols of the former editions of WRB are included in the concept of Retisols.
Glossic (from Greek glossa, tongue): having albeluvic 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. (WRB)
Stagnic (from Latin stagnare, to stagnate): are soils having a layer ≥ 25 cm thick, and starting ≤ 75 cm from the mineral soil surface, that does not form part of a hydragric horizon and that has stagnic properties in which the area of reductimorphic colours plus the area of oximorphic colours is ≥ 25% of the layer's total area, and reducing conditions for some time during the year in the major part of the layer's volume that has the reductimorphic colours.
Stagnic soil materials develop stagnic properties (from Latin stagnare, to stagnate) if they are, at least temporarily, saturated with surface water (or were saturated in the past, if now drained) for a period long enough that allows reducing conditions to occur (this may range from a few days in the tropics to a few weeks in other areas). In some soils with stagnic properties, the reducing conditions are caused by the intrusion of other liquids such as gasoline.
Albic (from Latin albus, white): having a layer of albic material ≥ 1 cm thick, and starting ≤ 100 cm from the mineral soil surface, that does not consist of tephric material, does not contain carbonates, and does not contain gypsum; and that overlies a diagnostic horizon or forms part of a layer with stagnic properties.
For more information about soil classification using the WRB system, visit:
Profile of Mabank fine sandy loam, 0 to 1 percent slopes. The contact of the light-colored surface layer and the dark-colored subsoil is abrupt. (Soil Survey of Lee County, Texas; by Maurice R. Jurena, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Mabank series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in alkaline clays. These soils are on nearly level to gently sloping terraces or remnants of terraces associated with uplands. Slopes are mainly less than 1 percent but range from 0 to 5 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Oxyaquic Vertic Paleustalfs
Solum thickness ranges from 60 to more than 80 inches. Weighted average clay content of the upper 20 inches of the argillic horizon ranges from 35 to 50 percent. When dry, cracks at least 1/4 inch wide extend from the top of the argillic horizon through a thickness of 12 inches or more within the upper 50 inches of the soil. Slickensides and/or wedge-shaped aggregates and pressure faces range from few to common and occur throughout the argillic horizon. Linear extensibility is greater than 2.5 inches (6.0 cm) in the upper 40 inches (100 cm) of the soil. COLE ranges from 0.07 to 0.10 inches in the upper 50 inches of the argillic. Siliceous and/or ironstone pebbles range from few to about 3 percent of some subhorizons. Redox features are both relic and contemporary. The soil does not have aquic soil conditions in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for growing corn, cotton, grain sorghums, and small grain, but much of the acreage is now idle or in improved bermudagrass pastures. Native vegetation is tall prairie grasses such as little bluestem, indiangrass, switchgrass, and gramas; and scattered elm, hackberry, mesquite, and honey locust trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mainly in the Blackland Prairies (MLRA 86A, 86B) and Texas Claypan (MLRA 87A) areas of Central Texas. The series is of large extent. Classification change Udertic Paleustalfs to Oxyaquic Vertic Paleustalfs based on knowledge that these soils are saturated for 2 to 4 weeks in most years. This period of time is within the definition of saturation for one month or more if rules of rounding are applied, i.e., 2 to 6 weeks saturation is considered inclusive. The soil would classify in the Epioxyaquic subgroup if provided for by SOIL TAXONOMY.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/TX287/0/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MABANK.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Goldsboro series. Goldsboro soils are moderately well drained with a seasonal high water table within a depth of 45 to 75 centimeters commonly during December through April. (Soil Survey of Webster County, Georgia; by Scott Moore, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Moderately well drained
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Moderately deep, transitory
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible to medium
Permeability: Moderate
Landscape: Lower to upper coastal plain
Landform: Marine terraces, uplands
Hillslope Profile Position: Summit, shoulder
Geomorphic Component: Interfluve, talf
Parent Material: Marine deposits, fluviomarine deposits
Slope: 0 to 10 percent
Elevation (type location): Unknown
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, subactive, thermic Aquic Paleudults
Depth to top of the Argillic horizon: 5 to 19 inches
Depth to the base of the Argillic horizon: 60 to more than 80 inches
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 80 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 18 to 30 inches, December to April
Rock Fragment Content: 0 to 50 percent, by volume throughout, mostly quartz pebbles
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid, except where limed
Other soil features: Silt content in the particle-size control section is less than 30 percent.
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Cropland
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--corn, peanuts, tobacco, soybeans, small grain, cotton, and pasture. Where wooded--loblolly pine, longleaf pine, slash pine, sweetgum, southern red oak, white oak, water oak, and red maple, yellow poplar. Understory plants include American holly, blueberry, flowering dogwood, greenbrier, persimmon, redbay, southern bayberry (waxmyrtle), inkberry (bitter gallberry), honeysuckle, poison ivy, and summersweet clethra.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia
Extent: Large
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/georgia/webste...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
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A representative soil profile and landscape of the Hallsworth 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 seasonally waterlogged slowly permeable soils, prominently mottled above 40 cm depth. They have no relatively permeable material starting within and extending below 1 m of the surface.
They are classified as Clayic Eutric Stagnosols by the WRB soil classification system. (www.fao.org/3/i3794en/I3794en.pdf)
For more information about this soil, visit:
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Very poorly drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very shallow, common to persistent
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None, very rare, rare for very brief, brief, or long periods
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible
Permeability: Moderate (Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high)
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
Landscape: Middle and upper coastal plain, sandhills, river valleys
Landform: Stream terraces and flats
Geomorphic Component: Treads, talfs, dips
Parent Material: Marine deposits, fluviomarine deposits, alluvium
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Umbraquults
Thickness of the surface: 10 to 24 inches
Depth to top of the Argillic horizon: 10 to 24 inches
Depth to the base of the Argillic horizon: 40 to more than 80 inches
Depth to contrasting soil material (lithologic discontinuity): 40 to more than 80 inches
Rock Fragment Content: 0 to 5 percent, by volume throughout; mostly quartz pebbles
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid throughout, except where limed
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 80 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 0 to 12 inches, November to May
Other Features: None to few flakes of mica; clay mineralogy is kaolinitic
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Forestland
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--corn, soybeans, small grain, truck crops, hay, and pasture. Where wooded--cypress, blackgum, water and willow oaks, pond, loblolly, and slash pine, and an undergrowth of bay bushes, myrtle, reed, and gallberry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia
Extent: Large
For a detailed description, visit:
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An area of La Covana-Limestone outcrop-Seboruco complex, 12 to 40 percent slopes, in the Subtropical Dry Forest (Guánica). Vegetation consists mainly of dwarf shrubs and cacti (Soil Survey of San Germán Area, Puerto Rico by Jorge L. Lugo-Camacho, Natural Resources Conservation Service).
Setting
Landscape: Hills
Landform: Ridges and hillslopes
Major uses: Wildlife habitat
Elevation: 80 to 750 feet
Composition
La Covana and similar soils: 60 percent
Limestone outcrop: 20 percent
Seboruco and similar soils: 15 percent
Dissimilar soils: 5 percent
Typical Profile
La Covana
Surface layer:
0 to 5 inches—dark reddish brown gravelly clay
Subsoil:
5 to 19 inches—yellowish red extremely gravelly clay that has calcium carbonate concretions
19 to 31 inches—very pale brown indurated petrocalcic material
Substratum:
31 to 80 inches—very pale brown silt loam that has yellow mottles and calcium carbonate concretions
Minor Components
Dissimilar:
• Pitahaya soils that are in positions similar to those of the major soils but are shallow to fractured limestone bedrock
Soil Properties and Qualities
Depth class: La Covana—shallow; Seboruco—moderately deep
Depth to bedrock or hardpan: La Covana—6 to 20 inches; Seboruco—20 to 40 inches
Parent material: La Covana—material that weathered from limestone bedrock; Seboruco—shallow marine sediments overlying limestone bedrock
Surface runoff: Very high
Drainage class: Well drained
Permeability: La Covana—very slow; Seboruco—slow
Available water capacity: Very low
Flooding: None
Hazard of water erosion: Severe
Rock fragments in the surface layer: La Covana—20 to 60 percent, by volume, mostly pebbles and cobbles; Seboruco—less than 10 percent, by volume, mostly pebbles and cobbles
Extent of rock outcrop: Less than 20 percent
Shrink-swell potential: Low
Natural fertility: La Covana—low; Seboruco—moderate
Content of organic matter in the surface layer: La Covana—moderate to high;
Seboruco—moderate
Reaction: La Covana—slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline; Seboruco—moderately alkaline
Land Use
Dominant uses: Wildlife habitat
Other uses: Forestland
Agricultural Development
Cropland
Suitability: La Covana—unsuited; Seboruco—poorly suited
Management concerns: La Covana—depth to hardpan, slope; Seboruco—slope, very low available water capacity
Pasture and hayland
Suitability: Poorly suited to pasture; unsuited to hayland
Commonly grown crops: Buffelgrass; guineagrass
Management concerns: La Covana—depth to hardpan, slope; Seboruco—slope
Management measures and considerations:
• Returning crop residue to the soil improves the retention of soil moisture and increases the supply of plant nutrients.
• Overgrazed pastures should be reestablished and then protected from further overgrazing.
Naturalized pastureland
Suitability: Poorly suited
Management concerns: La Covana—depth to hardpan, slope; Seboruco—slope
Management measures and considerations:
• Overgrazed areas should be reestablished and then protected from further overgrazing.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/puerto_rico/PR...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/L/LA_COVANA.html
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A representative soil profile of the Hard Labor series They consist of very deep, moderately well drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in material weathered from felsic igneous and metamorphic rock, primarily granite and granite gneiss. The Hard Labor soils are on summits and side slopes of the Piedmont uplands. There is a perched water table in late winter and early spring. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Oxyaquic Kanhapludults
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is in cultivation or pasture and the remainder is in forests of mixed hardwoods and pine. Common crops are cotton, corn, soybeans, and small grains.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Piedmont of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and possibly Virginia. The series is currently of small extent, but is anticipated to become of large extent with future examinations of areas in the Piedmont mapped as Appling, Durham, Vance, or Wedowee soils.
REMARKS: These soils were included with the Appling series in several surveys. The name Hard Labor is from a creek and State Park in Morgan County, Georgia.
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HARD_LABOR.html#:~....
Missouri Agribusiness Development Team VI stands ready to deploy to Afghanistan, bringing extensive knowledge in agricultural animals, agronomy, hydrology, pest management, soil science, security and marketing. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Robertson/Missouri National Guard)
Cutting open the core with electric shears.
Subaqueous soils can be sampled by several traditional soil approaches, but marine science approaches are best. For cursory descriptions and sampling, a standard bucket auger can be used. In order to sample from the exact location with depth, some soil mappers use a piece of PVC pipe with an inside diameter a little larger than the teeth on the bucket auger. The auger is placed into the pipe, and the sample is collected in the typical fashion. While the bucket is being removed, the PVC pipe is pushed deeper into the soil. The sample is retrieved and placed in a tray (typically a meter-long piece of vinyl gutter). The auger bucket is pushed down the pipe again, the spoil from pushing the PVC pipe down is removed, and then the next depth is sampled. This procedure is effective for sampling the upper 75 cm of the soil. Below this depth, however, collecting samples with a bucket auger becomes very difficult.
Core barrels are best opened by laying the core down on a table or lab bench and cutting lengthwise on opposite sides with electric metal shears.
Paralithic materials.—A diagnostic soil material consisting of partially weathered or weakly consolidated bedrock that is at least very weakly coherent but no more than moderately coherent. Typically, these materials can be dug with hand tools (although with some difficulty). Dry fragments placed in water do not slake, thus confirming they are coherent. In a soil profile description, the layer consisting of paralithic materials is typically designated by the horizon symbol “Cr.” See densic materials and slake.
Figure 81.—Examples of soil series with paralithic contact and paralithic materials:
Left photo: Shellrock soil series, a Typic Xeropsamment formed from weathered granite.
Center photo: Polkton soil series, an Oxyaquic Vertic Hapludalf formed from weathered Triassic siltstone.
Right photo: Whitetop soil series, a Vitrandic Haploxeroll formed from weakly consolidated ash.
The Duplin series consists of moderately well drained, moderately slow permeable soils that have formed in clayey Coastal Plain sediments. These upland soils have slopes ranging from 0 to 7 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Aquic Paleudults
USE AND VEGETATION: Approximately two-thirds of the total acreage is in cultivation with the remainder in pasture and forest. Common crops grown are corn, cotton, soybeans, tobacco, peanuts, truck crops, and small grain. Original forests consisted of pine and mixed hardwood. Loblolly pine, longleaf pine, white oak, southern red oak, sweetgum, blackgum, yellow-poplar, flowering dogwood, and American holly are dominant species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal Plain areas of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. This series is of large extent.
Profile of a Dwight soil. Dwight soils are very clayey and have a high shrink-swell potential and exchangeable sodium content. These properties limit the availability of water to plants. Note the cracks in the photo that extend to a depth of 40 centimeters. (Soil Survey of Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service)
The Dwight series consists of deep, moderately well drained soils that formed in residuum derived from limestone and shale. Dwight soils are on closed depressions on hillslopes on uplands in the Bluestem Hills, MLRA 76. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual precipitation is 840 millimeters (33 inches), and mean annual temperature is 13 degrees C (55 degrees F), at the type location.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Typic Natrustolls
Soil moisture regime: ustic moisture regime bordering on udic
Soil temperature regime: mesic
Mollic epipedon thickness: 35 to 100 centimeters (14 to 40 inches)
Depth to argillic: 10 to 20 centimeters (4 to 8 inches)
Depth to secondary carbonates: 33 centimeters (13 inches) or greater
Depth to Natric horizon: 10 to 20 centimeters (4 to 8 inches)
Depth to limestone or shale: 100 centimeters to 150 centimeters (40 to 60 inches)
Mean annual soil temperature: 13 to 14 degrees C (55 to 58 degrees F)
Soil moisture: The soil moisture control section is intermittently moist in some part from March through October; driest in November through February
Particle size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 40 to 60 percent
Sand content: 1 to 20 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for native range. Native vegetation is mid and tall prairie grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Kansas and northeast Oklahoma; Land Resource Region H Central Great Plains Winter Wheat and Range Region; Major Land Resource Area 76 Bluestem Hills; Major Land Resource Area 74 Central Kansas Sandstone Hills; Land Resource Region M Central Feed Grains and Livestock Region; Major Land Resource Area 112 Cherokee Prairies. This series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/kansas/Tallgra...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/D/DWIGHT.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A three-day international conference on Soil Classification and Reclamation of Degraded Lands in Arid Environments (ICSC 2010) bringing together more than 130 scholars, researchers and experts was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The conference, held under the patronage of H.H Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region and Chairman of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), aims to share information on land use and planning and discuss various issues in the field of soil classification and reclamation of degraded lands in arid environments.
On the first day of the conference, EAD will reveal the outcomes of the Abu Dhabi Soil Survey, which was initiated in 2006 and completed at the end of 2009.
The conference, which is organized by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) from 17-19 May, 2010 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, was inaugurated by H.E. Majid Al Mansouri, EAD’s Secretary General.
In his opening speech, H.E Al Mansouri welcomed scientists, researchers and experts from 35 countries who have gathered to discuss various issues related to soil, land use and planning of agricultural expansion and sustainable use of natural resources.
"Our economy is rapidly growning and we have a hard desert environment, therefore we needed to identify the characteristics of soils in the various regions of the Emirate, for the development of land management and optimum economical use of those soils,” he said.
"EAD has undertaken an integrated project to survey the soils in the Emirate. This project has been brought to a successful conclusion after five years of studies, field surveys, and collection of soil samples, training and capacity-building culminating in the development of an integrated “Abu Dhabi Soil Information System” (ADSIS)”.
Dr Ahmed Al Masoum, ICBA’s Deputy Director General, said that "This conference is the beginning of a new era in soil research within the global scientific community."
"The Survey was the first of its kind in the Emirate and covered all areas of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Maps on current land use, vegetation and salinity were produced as well as detailed suitability maps for irrigated agriculture. The soil was mapped and classified using the latest satellite images, and norms and standards of the United States Department of Agriculture” he added.
Dr. Al Masoum added that 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.
“We have uncovered valuable information for strategic planning for sustainable land use in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and particularly for the development of agriculture and sustainable management of natural resources,” he said.
The conference will feature six keynote speakers from Australia and India, Austria, Spain, Thailand and the United States, in addition to 130 speakers representing 35 countries from all over the world. Speakers will highlight Soil Survey and Classification Strategies and Use in Different Ecological Zones; Advances in Soil Salinity Mapping, Monitoring and Reclamation; Land Use Planning and Policy Implications; Use of Marginal Quality Water in Agriculture and Landscaping and Research and Development/Innovations in Soil Classification & Reclamation.
A workshop on how to use soil survey data in planning and policy making will be held on the sidelines of the conference.
www.researchgate.net/publication/259265194_Book_of_Abstra...
This photo accompanies Figure 8.—Indicator A1, Histosol or Histel. [Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States].
Observe and Document the Site:
Before making any decision about the presence or absence of hydric soils, the overall site and how it interacts with the soil should be considered. The steps below, while not required to identify a hydric soil, can help to explain why a hydric soil is or is not present. Always look at the landscape features of the immediate site and compare them to the surrounding areas. Try to contrast the features of wet and dry sites that are in close proximity. When observing slope features, look first at the area immediately around the sampling point. For example, a nearly level bench or depression at the sampling point may be more important to the wetness of the site than the overall landform on which the bench or depression occurs. Understanding how water moves across the site helps to clarify the reasons for the presence or absence of hydric soil indicators.
Typical landscape of a Belhaven soil. The Belhaven series (Terric Haplosaprists) consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils that formed in highly decomposed organic matter underlain by loamy marine sediments. They have very slow runoff and have moderately slow to moderately rapid permeability. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. Depth to a seasonal high water table (endosaturation) is 0 to 12 inches, primarily in November to May.
These soils are on flats, depressions and flood plains in the Coastal Plain of the southeastern U.S. at elevation less than 25 feet above mean sea level.
Major uses are mostly woodland. Where wooded, plant communities 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, loblollybay 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 these soils are used for corn, soybeans, small grain, and pasture.
Belhaven soils are of moderate extent along the Mid-Atlantic coast in North Carolina and Virginia.
Gypsum is a soft mineral that is easily identified by its hardness, cleavage, and solubility in water. Gypsum may be colored reddish to brown or yellow if impurities are present. In arid sandy areas, growing gypsum crystals may bind sand grains together into complex clusters. Some of which are known as ‘desert roses’.
A gypsum rosette is a mineral which crystalizes in a unique rosette growth pattern. Their are many varieties, some look remarkably like a rose flower with its pedals open, while others from into beautiful bladed spheres. Gypsum is an evaporite, which means its crystals form during the evaporation of water.
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-...
Desert varnish or rock varnish is an orange-yellow to black coating found on exposed rock surfaces in arid environments. Desert varnish is usually around one micrometer thick and represents nanometre-scale layering. Rock rust and desert patina are other terms which are also used for the condition, but less often.
Desert varnish forms only on physically stable rock surfaces that are no longer subject to frequent precipitation, fracturing or wind abrasion. The varnish is primarily composed of particles of clay along with iron and manganese oxides. There is also a host of trace elements and almost always some organic matter. The color of the varnish varies from shades of brown to black.
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-...
The Berks series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils formed in residuum weathered from shale, siltstone and fine grained sandstone on rounded and dissected uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 80 percent. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid. Mean annual precipitation is 42 inches. Mean annual temperature is 52 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
Solum thickness ranges from 12 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is 20 to 40 inches. Depth to the top of the cambic horizon range from 3 to 12 inches. Rock fragments range from 10 to 50 percent in the Ap and A horizons, from 15 to 75 percent in individual horizons of the B, and from 35 to 90 percent in the C horizon. The average volume of rock fragments in the particle-size control section is more than 35 percent. In unlimed soils reaction ranges from extremely acid to slightly acid throughout. The dominant clay minerals are illite, vermiculite and interstratified vermiculite chlorite. Small amounts of kaolinite are present.
USE AND VEGETATION: Approximately 60 percent of Berks soils are in cropland and pasture, the remainder are in woodland or other uses. Principal crops are corn, wheat, oats, barley, Christmas trees and hay. Native vegetation is mixed, deciduous hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, and Southern Illinois. MLRA's 115, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 139, 147 and 148. The series is of large extent. The Ashby, Kistler and Trexler soils, which were moderately shallow in some Pennsylvania published surveys are now included in the Berks Series.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BERKS.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Delaware series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in alluvium on post glacial and glacial terraces along major rivers. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to very high in the substratum. Mean annual precipitation is 40 inches. Mean annual temperature is 49 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
The range in thickness of the solum is 30 to 60 inches. The depth to bedrock is greater than 6 feet. This soil is generally free of rock fragments, but rock fragments can range from 0 to 5 percent by weighted volume in individual horizons. Small rounded pebbles making up the majority of the fragments located mostly in the substratum. The soil reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid and to neutral where limed.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cropped with corn, soybeans, small grains, or truck farming. Few areas are wooded with Maples, American Beech, Cottonwood, Red Oak, American Sycamore, American Basswood, or Ash; few areas have Red Pine Plantations.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern and eastern Pennsylvania, and Central Pennsylvania along major rivers. MLRA 140. The series is of small extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/D/DELAWARE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Ivan soil series. (Soil Survey of Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas; United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service)
The Ivan series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in calcareous silty alluvium. Ivan soils are on flood plains in the Bluestem Hills, MLRA 76. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 910 millimeters (36 inches)and the mean annual temperature is about 13 degrees C (55 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Cumulic Hapludolls
Soil moisture: Udic bordering on ustic.
Mollic epipedon thickness: greater than 61 centimeters (24 inches)
Depth to calcium carbonate: 0 to 25 centimeters (0 to 10 inches)
Mean annual soil temperature: 13 to 14 degrees C (55 to 58 degrees F)
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 18 to 30 percent
Sand content: 0 to 10 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated.
The main principal crops are corn and soybeans.
Native vegetation is walnut, sycamore, and bur oak with an under story of tall grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: East-central Kansas along streams flowing eastward from the Bluestem Hills; Land Resource Region H, Central Great Plains Winter Wheat and Range Region and M, Central Feed Grains and Livestock Region; MLRAs 76, 106, and 112; The series is extensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/kansas/Tallgra...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/I/IVAN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Inari series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in loamy fluviomarine deposits of Early Pleistocene age. These nearly level to very gently sloping soils are on rises on flat coastal plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 21.1 degrees C (70 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 864 mm (34 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Oxyaquic Argiustolls
Soil Moisture: An ustic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12 in). These soils remain dry in the soil moisture control section for more than 90 cumulative days. The dry period occurs during the late winter and early spring months. These soils are moist during the late summer and fall months.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mostly for livestock grazing. Native vegetation includes grasses such as little bluestem, silver bluestem, indiangrass, brownseed paspalum and balsamscale. A few scattered trees include mesquite, huisache or live oak. (Ecological site name: Loamy Prairie 28-40" PZ; Ecological site number: R150AY535TX)
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Gulf Coast Prairies (MLRA 150A) of South Texas from the tributaries of the San Antonio River to the Mission River; Land Resource Region T-Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region; the series is of small extent. Goliad County, Texas, 2009. The name comes from a small community in northern Refugio County, TX.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/I/INARI.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil scientists explore and seek to understand the earth’s land and water resources. Practitioners of soil science identify, interpret, and manage soils for agriculture, forestry, rangeland, ecosystems, urban uses, and mining and reclamation in an environmentally responsible way.
Soil survey or soil mapping, is the process of classifying soil types and other soil properties in a given area and geo-encoding such information. It applies the principles of soil science, and draws heavily from geomorphology, theories of soil formation, physical geography, and analysis of vegetation and land use patterns. Primary data for the soil survey are acquired by field sampling and by remote sensing.
In the past, a soil scientist would take hard-copies of aerial photography, topo-sheets, and mapping keys into the field with them. Today, a growing number of soil scientists bring a ruggedized tablet computer and GPS into the field with them.
The term soil survey may also be used as a noun to describe the published results. In the United States, these surveys were once published in book form for individual counties by the National Cooperative Soil Survey.
Today, soil surveys are no longer published in book form; they are published to the web and accessed on NRCS Web Soil Survey where a person can create a custom soil survey. This allows for rapid flow of the latest soil information to the user. In the past it could take years to publish a paper soil survey. The information in a soil survey can be used by farmers and ranchers to help determine whether a particular soil type is suited for crops or livestock and what type of soil management might be required.
archive.org/details/carterKY1983
An architect or engineer might use the engineering properties of a soil to determine whether it is suitable for a certain type of construction. A homeowner may even use the information for maintaining or constructing their garden, yard, or home. Soils are the basis of agriculture and play a critical role in agricultural production as they provide the medium upon which crops can grow. Yet, during the past few decades, focus on the importance of soils has diminished, coupled with harsh man-made and natural conditions that have resulted in soil erosion and soil nutrient mining.
For more photos related to soils and landscapes visit:
Field texturing an Oxisol... loam... or maybe clay loam, or wait maybe clay. You must keep working the soil in order to determine the correct texture. These soils are typically 75 or more percent clay, but when texturing initially feel much coarser due to the strong very fine structural aggregates (units) commonly referred to as "pseudo sand".
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, typical for soils formed on very old, stable landscapes. Oxisols are always a red or yellowish color, due to the high concentration of iron(III) and aluminium oxides and hydroxides. In addition they also contain quartz and kaolin, plus small amounts of other clay minerals and organic matter.
For more information about soil classification using the WRB system, visit:
www.fao.org/3/i3794en/I3794en.pdf
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:
A representative soil profile of a Mollisol from the Cerado physiographic region--a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais and the Federal District of Brazil. (Horizonation is by Brazil soil classification system.)
Landscape: Typical landscape and vegetation (pastureland) occurring on upland side-slopes in Brazil.
Mollisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Mollisols form in semi-arid to semi-humid areas, typically under a grassland cover. They are most commonly found in the mid-latitudes, namely in North America, mostly east of the Rocky Mountains, in South America in Argentina (Pampas) and Brazil, and in Asia in Mongolia and the Russian Steppes. Their parent material is typically base-rich and calcareous and include limestone, loess, or wind-blown sand. The main processes that lead to the formation of grassland Mollisols are melanisation, decomposition, humification and pedoturbation.
Mollisols have deep, high organic matter, nutrient-enriched surface soil (A horizon), typically more than 25 cm thick. This fertile surface horizon, known as a mollic epipedon, is the defining diagnostic feature of Mollisols. Mollic epipedons result from the long-term addition of organic materials derived from plant roots, and typically have soft, granular soil structure.
In the Brazil soil classification system, these Chernossolos are well structured soils, rich in organic matter, with high content of exchangeable cations. They are typically found in the south and east parts of Brazil.
For additional information about these soils, visit:
sites.google.com/site/soil350brazilsoilsla/soil-formation...
and...
For additional information about U.S. soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...