View allAll Photos Tagged soilscience
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of shallow, excessively drained soils in Korea underlain by hard granitic rock.
Landscape: These Dystrudept soils are on ridge crests. They formed in residuum weathered from granitic materials.
Dystrudepts are the acid Udepts of humid and perhumid regions. They developed mostly in late-Pleistocene or Holocene deposits. Some developed on older, steeply sloping surfaces. The parent materials generally are acid, moderately or weakly consolidated sedimentary or metamorphic rocks or acid sediments.
Many of the soils formed in saprolite derived from igneous rocks. The vegetation was mostly deciduous trees. Most of the Dystrudepts that formed in alluvium are now cultivated, and many of the other Dystrudepts are used as pasture. The normal horizon sequence in Dystrudepts is an ochric epipedon over a cambic horizon. Some of the steeper Dystrudepts have a shallow densic, lithic, or paralithic contact. Dystrudepts are extensive in the United States. They are mostly in the Eastern and Southern States.
Lithic Dystrudepts are the Dystrudepts, that have a lithic contact at a shallow depth. They formed mostly in acid sedimentary or metamorphic rocks. Most of the soils have moderate to steep slopes. Lithic Dystrudepts are extensive in the United States. They are widely distributed. The largest concentration is in the Northeastern States. The native vegetation consists mostly of mixed forest. Most of these soils are used as forest. Some of the less sloping soils have been cleared and are used as pasture.
For more information about soils in Korea, visit:
A Loess-Orthicl Primosol and landscape. These soils are formed on the basis of loess parent materials. They distribute in locations on Loess Plateau area with severe water and soil loss. They are found mainly in Shanxi and Shaanxi , and oddly in Qinghai, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia. They are resulted from the exposure of loess parent materials due to erosion and slope pediment deposit. Natural vegetation includes trees,shrubs and grasses,such asQuercus spp., Betula spp., Populus tremula, Lespedeza spp., Stipa capillata,and Potentilla chinensis. Most of these soils are used for infertility and drought-resistant cereal crop cultivation. (Photos and notes courtesy of China Soils Museum, Guangdong Institute of World Soil Resources; with revision.)
In Chinese Soil Taxonomy, Primosols are recent soils with no diagnostic horizons or only an ochric epipedon. In Soil Taxonomy these soils are mostly Entisols or some Gelisols.
For additional information about this soil and the Soils Museum, visit:
www.giwsr.com/en/article/index/197
For additional information about Soil Taxonomy, visit:
The question for this horizon is the origin of the clay and degree of transport. Is the concentration of clay the result of translocation from overlying horizons or in-situ weathering, or some combination?
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 Nankin series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately slowly permeable soils on uplands of the Coastal Plain. They formed in stratified loamy and clayey marine sediments. Near the type location, the mean annual air temperature is about 65 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is about 50 inches. Slopes range from 0 to 60 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults
Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Reaction is very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout, except where limed. Nodules or fragments of ironstone range from 0 to 25 percent, by volume, in the A and B horizons. Few to common flakes of mica occur in the lower parts of some pedons. The control section has an average clay content of 35 to 50 percent and an average silt content of less than 20 percent. Plinthite ranges from 0 to 3 percent, by volume, in the Bt horizon.
The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR through 10YR, value of 4 through 6 and chroma of 4 to 8. Masses of iron accumulation in shades of red, yellow, and brown range from none to common. Texture is clay loam, sandy clay, or clay in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have a thin sandy clay loam Bt1 horizon where the BE horizon is absent.
The lower part of the Bt horizon has the same range of colors as the upper part or there is no dominant matrix color and it is multicolored in shades of red, yellow, and brown and below a depth of 40 inches, gray. Redoximorphic features in shades of gray, red, brown, and below a depth of 40 inches, gray range from common to many. Texture is sandy clay loam, clay loam, sandy clay, or clay.
The BC horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 6 or 8 with redoximorphic features in shades of yellow, brown, red, and gray ranging from common to many; or there is no dominant color and is in shades of red, yellow, brown, and gray. Texture is sandy loam or sandy clay loam. Pockets and thin strata of loamy sand, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, and sandy clay occur in some pedons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in woodland with some areas in cropland or pasture. Loblolly pine, longleaf pine, and slash pine the dominant trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Coastal Plain of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The series is of moderate extent, about 700,000 acres.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/N/NANKIN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Laredo series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in calcareous, silty alluvium derived from mixed sources. These nearly level to very gently sloping soils occur on rare flood plains or low Holocene stream terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 23.3 degrees C (74 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 686 mm (27 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Fluventic Haplustolls
Soil Moisture: A Typic-ustic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 21.1 to 23.3 degrees C (70 to 74 degrees F).
Solum thickness is 86 to 203 cm (34 to 80 in)
Depth to identifiable secondary carbonate: 46 to 86 cm (18 to 34 in)
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 in)
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly irrigated cropland of cotton, grain sorghum, sugarcane, a wide variety of cool season vegetables, and citrus. Some dryland farming of cotton and grain sorghum. A few areas are used for wildlife habitat. Native vegetation was midgrasses and some thorny shrubs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Lower Rio Grande Plain, Texas along the Rio Grande; LRR I; MLRA 83D; the series is of moderate extent.
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/L/LAREDO.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Rineanna series in an area of unimproved grassland from Ireland. These soils formed in decalcified coarse loamy material over lithoskeletal limestone.
For detailed information about this soil, visit;
gis.teagasc.ie/soils/rep_profile_sheet.php?series_code=04...
For information about the soil series of Ireland, visit;
gis.teagasc.ie/soils/soilguide.php
In the Irish soil classification system these soils are Humic Lithosols (shallow or extremely gravelly soils).
For more information about describing and classifying soils using the Irish Soils Classification System, visit:
gis.teagasc.ie/soils/downloads/SIS_Final_Technical_Report...
Soil profile: Cottonbend soils formed in several feet of alluvium or colluvium on gently sloping to moderately steep high stream terraces or benches along valley sides. They are characterized by increasing clay content with depth and a striking change in color at the point of contact with significantly older underlying material. (Soil Survey of Gauley River National Recreation Area, West Virginia; by Aron Sattler and James Bell, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Cottonbend series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium or colluvium weathered mainly from sandstone, siltstone and shale; and some limestone. These gently sloping to moderately steep soils are on high stream terraces or benches on valley sides. Slopes range from 2 to 25 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Paleudults
Solum thickness is more than 60 inches and depth to bedrock is greater than 72 inches. Rock fragments, mostly well rounded sandstone, siltstone, and shale gravel and cobbles, range from 0 to 35 percent in the upper part of the solum and from 0 to 60 percent below a depth of about 24 inches. Reaction ranges from very strongly to slightly acid in the upper part, and very strongly to moderately acid in the lower part.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly cleared and used for growing corn or tobacco, also used for producing hay and as pasture. Original forests were mixed hardwoods interspersed with a few pines, primarily upland oaks, hickories, yellow-poplar, and shortleaf and Virginia pines.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Cottonbend soils are in the Cumberland-Allegheny Plateau area of southeastern Kentucky, the Valley and Ridge area of Virginia, and possibly other similar areas in West Virginia and eastern Tennessee. Extent is small.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/virginia/rockb...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/COTTONBEND.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Retsabal series in an area of Retsabal very fine sandy loam, 2 to 15 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Arches National Park, Utah; by Catherine E. Scott, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Retsabal series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in residuum derived from Carmel formation gypsum. Retsabal soils are on stable structural benches and knolls on structural benches with slopes of 2 to 50 percent. Average annual precipitation is about 11 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 49 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-gypseous, hypergypsic, mesic, shallow Leptic Haplogypsids
Mean annual soil temperature: 47 to 57 degrees F.
Soil moisture: Ustic aridic moisture regime
Depth to paralithic bedrock: 4 to 20 inches
Particle size control section averages:
Clay content: 8 to 20 percent clay
USE AND VEGETATION: The soils are used mainly for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and recreation. Potential native vegetation is Torrey Mormontea, Green Mormontea, Indian ricegrass, broom snakeweed and scattered Utah Juniper and two-needle pinyon. These soils have been correlated to the Semidesert Shallow Gypsum (Mormontea) 035XY237UT ecological site at the type location in Utah.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Utah areas of highly gypsiferous materials. This series is of small extent (less than 10,000 acres). MLRA is 35.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/utah/archesUT2...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/R/RETSABAL.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
(Note: shovel is one meter in length)
Redoximorphic features (RMFs) consist of color patterns in a soil that are caused by loss (depletion) or gain (concentration) of pigment compared to the matrix color, formed by oxidation/reduction of iron and/or manganese coupled with their removal, translocation, or accrual; or a soil matrix color controlled by the presence of iron. The composition and responsible formation processes for a soil color or color pattern must be known or inferred before it can be described as an RMF.
These color separations are used by soil scientists to document the presence of an active water table, both epi- and endo- saturation. However, these changes in color may be an indication of a much older environment in which the features formed, not current saturation and reduction processes.
One technique that helps determine if the feature is contemporary is the sharpness of the feature boundary. A color transition that is gradual or diffuse is associated with contemporary aquic conditions; whereas, transitions that are clear or sharp are commonly associated with relic or ancient soil environments.
Color separations observed in this pedon were thought to be relic and not due to active oxidation and reduction processes.
For more information about describing and sampling soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
or Chapter 3 of the Soil Survey manual:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/The-Soil-Su...
For additional information on "How to Use the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils" (video reference), visit:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_hQaXV7MpM
For additional information about soil classification using USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...
or;
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
A representative soil profile of a Cambisol from Germany. (Photo provided by Yakov Kuzyakov, revised.)
Cambisols combine soils with at least an incipient subsurface soil formation. Transformation of parent material is evident from structure formation and mostly brownish discoloration, increasing clay percentage, and/or carbonate removal. Other soil classification systems refer to many Cambisols as Braunerden and Terrae fuscae (Germany), Sols bruns (France), burozems (Russia) and Tenosols (Australia). The name Cambisols was coined for the Soil Map of the World (FAO–UNESCO, 1971–1981) and later adopted by Brazil (Cambissolos). In the United States of America they were formerly called Brown soils/Brown forest soils and are now named Inceptisols. (WRB)
Haplic (from Greek haplous, simple): having a typical expression of certain features (typical in the sense that there is no further or meaningful characterization) and only used if none of the preceding qualifiers applies.
For more information, visit;
wwwuser.gwdg.de/~kuzyakov/soils/WRB-2006_Keys.htm
For more information about Dr. Kuzyakov, visit;
www.uni-goettingen.de/de/212970.html
For more information about soil classification using the WRB system, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Tilsit soil series in Marion County, Kentucky.
Landscape: Hills
Landform: Ridge
Geomorphic Component: Interfluve
Hillslope Profile Position: Summit or shoulder
Parent Material: Silty residuum from interbedded acid siltstone, soft shale, or fine grained sandstone
Slope: 0 to 15 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Fragiudults
Depth to the top of the Argillic: 18 to 38 cm (7 to 15 inches)
Depth to the base of the Argillic: 79 to 185 cm (31 to 73 inches)
Solum Thickness: 79 to 185 cm (31 to 73 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: 102 to 305 cm (40 to 120 inches)
Depth Class: Deep or very deep
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 46 to 81 cm (18 to 32 inches), November to June
Rock Fragment Content: 0 to 10 percent, by volume, in the upper solum, 0 to 40 percent, by volume, in the lower solum, and 0 to 50 percent, by volume, in the substratum
Soil Reaction: Very strongly acid and strongly acid, except where limed
Depth to the Fragipan: 45 to 86 cm (18 to 34 inches)
Fine-Earth Fraction: Averages 18 to 35 percent clay and less than 15 percent sand in the particle size control section
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Cropland, hayland, and pasture
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--Corn, soybeans, wheat, tobacco, and truck crops.
Where wooded--Oak, hickory, Virginia pine, maple, gum, poplar, dogwood, beech, ironwood, persimmon, and sassafras.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia
Extent: Large, about 2.8 million acres at the time of this revision
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TILSIT.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A typical profile of a Mitchellbay soil. This soil has a compact, dense horizon at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. In this profile, it is at a depth of about 38 inches. Water perches on the dense horizon during the wet season, which results in redoximorphic features. The light-colored material between depths of 12 and 28 inches is a result of removal of iron and manganese by reduction during wet periods. (Soil Survey of Island County, Washington; by Bruce Lindsay, Erik Dahlke, and Toby Rodgers, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Mitchellbay series consists of moderately deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in glacial drift over dense glaciomarine deposits. Mitchellbay soils are in valleys and on glacial drift plains and have slopes of 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 31 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 48 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquultic Haploxeralfs
Mean annual soil temperature - 48 to 50 degrees F.
Moisture control section - dry 60 to 75 days following the summer solstice
Depth to redoximorphic features - 9 to 18 inches
Depth to densic contact - 20 to 40 inches
Particle-size control section:
Clay content - 18 to 35 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for pasture, forage crop production, and forestry. Potential natural vegetation consists of western redcedar, bigleaf maple, Douglas-fir, grand fir, red alder, swordfern, deer fern, salal, stinging nettle, gooseberry, and snowberry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwest Washington; MLRA A2, Northern Part. Series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/washington/isl...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MITCHELLBAY.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Profile of Bissett very gravelly loam in an area of Bissett-Rock outcrop complex, 20 to 70 percent slopes. Bissett soils contain more than 35 percent coarse fragments, and are shallow soils over limestone. (Soil Survey of Big Bend National Park, Texas; by James Gordon, Soil Scientist, James A. Douglass, Soil Scientist, and Dr. Lynn E. Loomis, Soil Scientist, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Bissett series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils. They formed in colluvium and residuum weathered from limestone. These soils are on undulating to very steep hills and mountains. Slopes range from 1 to 70 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, thermic Lithic Ustic Haplocalcids
Soil moisture: The soil is moist in some part of the epipedon for less than 90 cumulative days in most years. Ustic aridic moisture regime.
Soil temperature: 61 to 69 degrees F.
Depth bedrock: 6 to 20 inches
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 80 percent by volume
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The native plant community consists of sideoats grama, tanglehead, cane bluestem, green sprangletop, black grama, and plains bristlegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Texas, Southern Arizona, and Southern New Mexico. MLRAs 42 and 38. The series is of moderate extent. These soils were formerly included in the Altuda series. The epipedon meets all requirements for a mollic epipedon except the soil is not moist for 3 months or more (cumulative) during the growing season.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/bigbendT...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BISSETT.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of a Arenosol from the Netherlands. (Photo courtesy of Stefaan Dondeyne, revised.)
Arenosols comprise deep sandy soils. This includes soils in residual sands after in situ weathering of usually quartz-rich sediments or rock, and soils in recently deposited sands such as dunes in deserts and beach lands. Corresponding soils in other classification systems include Psamments (United States of America), Sols minéraux bruts and Sols peu évolués (France), Arenic Rudosols/Tenosols (Australia), Psammozems (Russia) and Neossolos (Brazil). (WRB)
Brunic (br) (from Low German brun, brown): having a layer ≥ 15 cm thick, and starting ≤ 50 cm from the soil surface, that meets diagnostic criteria 2–4 of the cambic horizon but fails diagnostic criterion 1, and does not consist of albic material.
For more information about soil classification using the WRB system, visit:
A soil profile of an Inceptisol. (Soil Survey Staff. 2015. "Illustrated Guide to Soil Taxonomy". U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, Nebraska)
Inceptisols have profiles that are more strongly developed than those of the Entisols but are too weakly developed to meet the criteria for any of the other soil orders. As a consequence, Inceptisols include a diverse collection of soils. The feature common to all Inceptisols is a relatively weak degree of development. Inceptisols are most commonly characterized by a soil profile with an ochric (typically thin and/or light-colored) epipedon and a cambic (minimal soil development) subsoil horizon. However, there are many exceptions. Inceptisols can have a wide range in kinds of surface and subsoil horizons. These horizons commonly include, but are not limited to, an umbric (humus-rich with low base saturation) epipedon, a histic (wet, organic surface layer) epipedon, a calcic (calcium carbonate accumulation) horizon, a petrocalcic (cemented by calcium carbonate) horizon, a duripan (layer cemented by silica), a fragipan (firm and brittle but not cemented layer), and sulfuric (highly acid due to oxidation and production of sulfuric acid) subsoil horizons.
For more information about describing, sampling, classifying, and/or mapping soils, please refer to the following references: "Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils", "Keys to Soil Taxonomy", and the "Soil Survey Manual".
Soil profile: A Endohypersodic, Pedal, Calcic Calcarosol. Original notes and photos provided by the State of Victoria (Agriculture Victoria) with revision.
Landscape: A gently undulating plain with some gilgai microrelief. in a cropped paddock. The soils formed in Quaternary (Woorinen Formation) sediments.
Calcarosols lack strong texture contrast between surface (A) and subsoil (B) horizons. These soils are also calcareous throughout and often have accumulations of calcium carbonate (lime) in the soil profile. These soils form on calcareous, aeolian sediments of variable texture
For more information about these soils, visit;
vro.agriculture.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/malregn.nsf/pages/mall...
In soil taxonomy, these soils are commonly Alfisols or some Aridisols. For more information about Soil Taxonomy, visit;
Soil profile: A Bleached, Mesotrophic, Brown Kurosol. Original notes and photos provided by the State of Victoria (Agriculture Victoria) with revision.
Landscape: These soils are on a crest (6% slope) of a hillslope of rolling hill. Original vegetation includes messmate. They formed in Tertiary sediments.
Kurosols are soils that display a strong texture contrast between surface (A) horizons and subsoil (B) horizons. The upper part of the subsoil is strongly acid (i.e. pH <5.5). Using the Australian Soil Classification, Kurosols can be grouped further (Suborder) based on the colour of the upper 20 cm of the subsoil (i.e. into Red, Brown, Yellow, Grey and Black). These can be further differentiated (into Great Groups) based on subsoil characteristics such as the nutrient level capacities and ratios.
Kurosols occur predominantly in the uplands where rainfall is higher and consequently so is the leaching.
For more information about these soils, visit;
vro.agriculture.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/portregn.nsf/pages/ppw...
In soil taxonomy, these soils are commonly Ultisols or Alfisols. For more information about Soil Taxonomy, visit;
A representative soil profile of the Potomac soil series in North Carolina.
The Potomac series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils formed in coarse-textured alluvial material on flood plains. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Typic Udifluvents
Depth to bedrock is greater than 5 feet. Pebbles and cobblestones dominantly of sandstone range from 0 to 50 percent in the A horizon, and the weighted average by volume in the C horizon is dominantly greater than 50 percent, but ranges from 35 to 70 percent. Subhorizons of the C horizon in some pedons are nearly free of rock fragments and in others it ranges to 80 percent. Unlimed soils are mildly alkaline to very strongly acid.
USE AND VEGETATION: More than one-half of the acreage is cleared and used mainly for pasture or hay. Many areas are idle and reverting to woody vegetation. Native vegetation was mixed hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Ridge and Valley and southern Appalachian Plateau areas of West Virginia, also Kentucky and North Carolina. The extent is moderate. These soils were previously mapped as Alluvial land and Alluvial land, cobbly. These soils as mapped are sandy-skeletal, but in some areas they are marginal to loamy-skeletal.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/POTOMAC.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile in a map unit of soils that have rocks, stones or coarse gravels as a dominant profile feature, often overlying bedrock. These soils are stony soils of the Darling Range area of Australia. (Base photo provided by Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Agriculture and Food, Government of Western Australia.)
Topsoil
Yellow, brown, grey or red sandy topsoils.
Acid throughout the profile.
High gravel content (>20 %).
Subsoil
Gravels (<20%) overlying loams and clays.
For more information about these soils including common management constraints, visit:
www.agric.wa.gov.au/mycrop/mysoil-stony-soils-darling-range
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: Ferric-Petroferric Tenosols, Ferric Petroferric Kandosols or Ferric Petroferric Chromosols. Note: these soils may be genetically linked to Podosols.
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 color changes.
Kandosols are non texture contrast soils (with little or gradual increase in clay content with depth) that have massive (i.e. weakly to non structured) subsoils (B horizons). They are found mainly in the upland areas, often in association with Dermosols, Chromosols and Kurosols. These soils can vary from stony soils to deeper friable soils. Some may almost be texture contrast and have a bleached subsurface (A2) horizon. Using the Australian Soil Classification, Kandosols can be grouped further (into Suborders) based on the color of the upper 20 cm of the subsoil (i.e. Red, Brown, Yellow, Grey and Black). These can be further differentiated based on subsoil characteristics such as nutrient level capacities and ratios and the presence of carbonate or lime.
Chromosols are soils that display a strong texture contrast between surface (A) horizons and subsoil (B) horizons. The upper part of the subsoil ranges from slightly acid to alkaline (pH >5.5) but is not sodic. Using the Australian Soil Classification, Chromosols can be grouped further (in to Suborders) based on the color of the upper 20 cm of the subsoil (i.e. Red, Brown, Yellow, Grey and Black). These can be further differentiated based on subsoil characteristics (in to Great Groups) such as the nutrient level capacities and ratios and the presence of carbonate or lime.
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 Alfisols. For more information about Soil Taxonomy, visit:
Organic soils comprise about 2% of the Earth's ice-free land surface. This includes 0.8% organic soils with permafrost. Organic soils can form in virtually any climate, even in arid areas, as long as water is available. They are most prevalent in the cool, humid boreal forest areas of northern Asia, Europe, and North America. Every province of Canada and almost every state in the USA has organic soil. More than 95% of the total peat reserves of the world are located in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. In these areas precipitation usually exceeds evapotranspiration and summers are relatively cool. At lower latitudes organic soils occur locally on humid coastal plains, for example, South-East Asia, Indonesia, and east North America.
For more information about describing and sampling soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
For additional information about soil classification using USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...
or;
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
A representative soil profile and landscape of the Midelney 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 soils affected by a shallow fluctuating groundwater-table. They are developed mainly within or over permeable material and have prominently mottled or greyish coloured horizons within 40 cm depth Most occupy low-lying or depressional sites.
They have distinct topsoil, in loamy or clayey recent alluvium more than 30 cm thick. They formed in clayey over peaty river alluvium.
They are classified as Clayic Fluvic Eutric Gleysols by the WRB soil classification system. (www.fao.org/3/i3794en/I3794en.pdf)
For more information about this soil, visit:
The Gem series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from basalt or other basic igneous rocks. Gem soils are on uplands and have slopes of 0 to 60 percent. Permeability is slow. The average annual precipitation is about 14 inches and the average annual temperature is about 47 degrees.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Calcic Argixerolls
Average annual soil temperature - 47 to 52 degrees F.
Average summer soil temperature - 65 to 69 degrees F.
Soil moisture - in the 4 to 12 inch section usually moist but is dry for 60 to 80 consecutive days in 7 out of 10 years
Depth to basalt - 20 to 40 inches
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for range; a few areas are cropped to nonirrigated small grains and alfalfa. Vegetation is chiefly bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, big sagebrush, and cheatgrass, and in places Medusahead wildrye, bitterbrush, Idaho fescue, wild buckwheat, lupine, rabbitbrush, and (or) balsamroot.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Basalt areas of southern Idaho, eastern Oregon, and eastern Washington. The series is extensive.
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/97d01af9d4554b9097cb0a477e04...
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GEM.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of a Fluvaquentic Endoaquept (sandy) from Xinxing County, Guangdong Province, China (PRC-09).
Landscape: These coarse-textured soils are on floodplains and second bottoms. They occasionally flood, periodically receiving fresh sediment. They exhibit minimal horizon development.
These are the Endoaquepts that have either 0.2 percent or more organic carbon (Holocene age) at a depth of 125 cm below the mineral soil surface or an irregular decrease in organic-carbon content between a depth of 25 cm and either a depth of 125 cm below the mineral soil surface.
Endoaquepts are the Aquepts that have endosaturation. The ground water commonly fluctuates from a level near the soil surface to below a depth of 50 cm. Before they were cultivated, most Endoaquepts supported forest vegetation. Generally, Endoaquepts are nearly level, and their parent materials are typically late-Pleistocene or younger sediments.
These soils are extensive in the United States. They are on flood plains in all parts of the country, except for the coldest and the driest parts. The native vegetation is mostly water-tolerant trees and grasses. Some of these soils are used as forest, and some have been cleared and artificially drained and are used as cropland or pasture.
Xinxing County is a county of the prefecture-level city of Yunfu in Guangdong, China.
The government of China has placed great importance on work relating to agriculture, rural areas, and the rural population. Since the convening of the Sixteenth National Congress, the government has implemented a series of policies to strengthen agriculture, benefit the rural population, and enable people in rural areas to prosper and thus ensuring balanced development of urban and rural areas. These efforts have brought about remarkable advances in China's agricultural and rural development. China's grain output has grown steadily for years, and overall progress has been made in farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery. The development of agriculture is our number one priority and the key focus of our macro-control policies.
About two-fifths of the people of Guangdong province live in villages, which remain the basic functional units in the countryside. The greatest numbers of villages are in the fertile river deltas and along the waterways. To an even greater extent, towns and cities are located in the deltas and coastal areas and along major communication lines. The most highly urbanized area within the province is the Pearl River Delta, where the great majority of the population lives in urban areas. Guangdong is a relatively highly urbanized province for China, with its largest urban agglomeration centered on Guangzhou.
For additional information about soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of Pantera gravelly coarse sandy loam in an area of Melado and Pantera soils, 1 to 5 percent slopes. Pantera soils have very high amounts of rock fragments in the profile. (Soil Survey of Presidio County, Texas; by Ramiro Molina, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Pantera series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately rapidly permeable soils formed in loamy gravelly alluvial materials. These soils are on nearly level to moderately sloping wide arroyos and drainageways. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 10 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 68 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, hyperthermic Ustic Torrifluvents
Soil moisture: intermittently moist in the soil moisture control section during July-September. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime.
Solum thickness: 6 to 15 inches over 40 to 80 inches or more of unconsolidated stratified, loamy, gravelly, or cobbly alluvial materials. The solum and regolith consists of thin to thick bedded layers of gravelly alluvium separated by bedding planes and which vary in content and size of coarse fragments.
Rock fragments: 35 to 80 percent; 25 to 65 percent gravel; 10 to 40 percent cobbles; 0 to 20 percent stones
Texture in the control section: loamy sand, sand, sandy loam
Clay content: 2 to 15 percent
In some pedons the coarse fragments in the A and C1 horizons have thin patchy coatings of calcium carbonate, with the carbonate content apparently uniform in these horizons. Some pedons are underlain at 40 to 60 inches or more by various kinds of bedrock, clay, shale, lava, ash, or tuff.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Has low carrying capacity. Vegetation is mostly a sparse cover of creosotebush, fluffgrass, sixweeks grama, lechugilla, and ocotillo.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Texas. MLRA 42. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/presidio...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/PANTERA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Nolin soils are very deep and well drained, They formed in alluvium derived from limestones, sandstones, siltstones, shales, and loess. These nearly level to moderately steep soils are on flood plains, in depressions which receive runoff from surrounding slopes, or on natural levees of major streams and rivers. (Soil Survey of Adair County, Kentucky; by Harry S. Evans, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent, but is dominantly 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature is 56 degrees F. and the mean annual precipitation is 43 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Dystric Fluventic Eutrudepts
Solum thickness is 40 or more inches. Thickness of alluvial deposits ranges from 60 inches to many feet. Coarse fragments, mostly rounded pebbles, ranges from none to about 5 percent in the A and Bw horizon and from 0 to 35 percent in the C horizon. Redoximorphic features, if present, are below 72 inches. Reaction is moderately acid to moderately alkaline, but some pedons are strongly acid in the lower part of the Bw and C horizon. Some pedons have buried A or B horizons below a depth of 20 inches.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for growing corn, tobacco, soybeans, and hay. Forested areas are bottomland hardwoods, such as river birch, yellow-poplar, sycamore, elm, willow, boxelder, oak, hickory, and red maple. Many stream banks and narrow flood plains consist of native canebrakes.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: In areas of mixed limestones and siltstones, sandstones, shales, and loess in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia. The series is of large extent. Soils in the Nolin series were formerly included with the Huntington series. Huntington soils have a thicker, dark colored surface layer.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/kentucky/KY001...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/N/NOLIN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Wehadkee series consists of very deep, poorly drained and very poorly drained soils on flood plains along streams that drain from the mountains and piedmont. They are formed in loamy sediments. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, nonacid, thermic Fluvaquentic Endoaquepts
Solum thickness ranges from about 20 to more than 60 inches. The content of mica flakes ranges from few to many. The soil ranges from very strongly acid through neutral, but some part of the 10 to 40 inch control section is moderately acid through neutral. Content of rock fragments ranges from 0 to 5 percent by volume in the A and B horizons, and from 0 to 20 percent by volume in the C horizons. Fragments are dominantly pebbles in size.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the area is in forest; chiefly water tolerant hardwoods such as sweetgum, blackgum, water oak, willow, oak, poplar, hickories, beech, and elm. Drained areas are used for pasture, corn, and hay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The soil is of moderate extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WEHADKEE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Troup series. Troup soils are somewhat excessively drained and are on summits and side slopes in the uplands. They have a kandic horizon of reddish sandy clay loam underlying an epipedon of loamy sand. The epipedon ranges from 100 to 200 centimeters in thickness. (Soil Survey of Crenshaw County, Alabama; by James M. Mason, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Troup series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in unconsolidated sandy and loamy marine sediments. Troup soils are on ridges and hillslopes. Slopes predominantly range from 0 to 15 percent but range to 45 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 17 degrees C (64 degrees F), and the mean annual precipitation is about 1320 millimeters (52 inches).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Grossarenic Kandiudults
USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas of Troup soils are in forests of pine and mixed hardwoods. Cleared areas are used for pastureland and for growing peanuts, watermelons, and vegetables.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Major Land Resource Area (MLRA's): The series occurs primarily in the Southern Coastal Plain (MLRA 133A). It also occurs to a lesser extent in the Carolina and Georgia Sand Hills (MLRA 137), North Central Florida Ridge (MLRA 138), Eastern Gulf Coast Flatwoods (MLRA 152A), and the Atlantic Coast Flatwoods (MLRA 153A).
Extent: large extent
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/alabama/AL041/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TROUP.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of a Typic Calciustoll from Nebraska. (Photo provided by P. Schoeneberger.)
Typic Calciustolls are of moderately large extent in the United States. They are widely distributed. The largest extent is on the Great Plains from Montana to Texas. The soils also are on tropical islands and in some valleys in the mountains of the Western United States. Most Typic Calciustolls supported grasses and shrubs. Most of the soils on plains are now used as cropland. The soils in the mountains are used mostly as rangeland or wildlife habitat.
Calciustolls are the Ustolls that have a gypsic, calcic, or petrocalcic horizon and that are calcareous in all overlying horizons. These soils do not have a duripan or an argillic or natric horizon above the calcic, gypsic, or petrocalcic horizon. Either the parent materials had more carbonates than the limited rainfall could remove from the upper horizons, or there is a continuing external source of carbonates in dust or water. Calciustolls formed mostly in Pleistocene sediments or in older materials on surfaces of comparable age. In the United States, their vegetation was dominantly grass before the soils were cultivated. Calciustolls are most extensive on the Great Plains in the United States, but some are in the intermountain valleys of the Western States.
Ustolls are the more or less freely drained Mollisols of subhumid to semiarid climates. Rainfall occurs mainly during a growing season, often in heavy showers, but is erratic. Drought is frequent and may be severe. During a drought, soil blowing becomes a problem. Without irrigation, the low supply of moisture usually limits crop yields. Most of the Ustolls on the Great Plains in the United States had a grass vegetation when the country was settled. Some of the Ustolls in the mountains of the Western States supported forest vegetation. The Aridic subgroups supported mostly short grasses, and the others supported mixtures of short and tall grasses. Ustolls formed in sediments and on surfaces of varying ages from Holocene to mid Pleistocene or earlier. Those that have a thermic or warmer temperature regime, in particular, may have formed during two or more glacial and interglacial stages. The temperature regimes of Ustolls are warmer than cryic. The moisture regimes are dominantly ustic, but a few of the soils that are marginal to Aridisols have an aridic (torric) regime.
For more information about soils and the Michigan State University-Department of Geography, visit:
project.geo.msu.edu/soilprofiles/
For additional information about soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/cla...
Northeast Regional Soil Collegiate Competition ⛏📋🐾 #HuskyUnleashed #BloomOnward #EGGS #EnvironmentalGeoscience #SoilScience #geology #dirt
Soil profile: A Red Ferrosol from the Red Hill area. The typical surface soil is a dark reddish brown light clay or clay loam with a strong fine crumb structure, grading at about 200 mm depth, into a strong brown or dark reddish brown light or medium clay with some small ironstone concretions. Original notes and photos provided by the State of Victoria (Agriculture Victoria) with revision.
Landscape: Potatoes on Ferrosols. Ferrosols under a suitable climate are unparallelled for growing potatoes. In Thorpdale in West Gippsland, Victoria, potato growers produce top quality potatoes for making chips (French fries). These soils are used for growing potatoes in other cool areas, such as pockets of Northern Tasmania, and some treasured areas near Ballarat, but most frying potatoes come from around Thorpdale. Russet Burbank potatoes are good for frying because of their low moisture content (requiring well drained soils) and high starch content (requiring a long season and plenty of available water). (Photo and text by ABC Rural)
Ferrosols are non texture contrast soils that have a high free iron content in the B horizon (subsoil). They are nearly always found only on basic volcanic material and are nearly always red coloured. Using the Australian Soil Classification, Ferrosols can be grouped further (in to Suborders) based on the colour of the upper 20 cm of the subsoil (i.e. red, brown, yellow, grey and black). These can be further differentiated based on subsoil characteristics such as the nutrient level capacities and ratios and the presence of carbonates.
For more information about these soils, visit;
vro.agriculture.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/portregn.nsf/pages/por...
In soil taxonomy, these soils are commonly . For more information about Soil Taxonomy, visit;
Typical profile of a Larkin soil. The mollic epipedon is between depths of 1.5 and 17.0 inches (A and AB horizons). The argillic horizon is between depths of 17 and 62 inches (Bt and Btc horizons). The particle-size control section is between depths of 17 and 37 inches (Bt horizon). (Soil Survey of Clearwater Area, Idaho; by Glenn Hoffman, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape--Columbia Hills
Landform--loess hills, structural benches, plateaus
Slope--0 to 60 percent
Parent material--typically loess, but in some areas loess over residuum derived from basalt or loess mixed with a small amount of volcanic ash in upper part
Mean annual air temperature--about 8 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--about 585 mm
Depth class--very deep
Drainage class--well drained
Soil moisture regime--xeric
Soil temperature regime--mesic
Soil moisture subclass--typic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Ultic Argixerolls
Thickness of mollic epipedon--25 to 50 cm
Base saturation--50 to 75 percent in some part between depths of 25 and 75 cm
Soil moisture control section--dry 45 to 75 days
Mean annual soil temperature--8 to 12 degrees C
Content of clay in particle-size control section (weighted average)--20 to 35 percent
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--dominantly crop production; some timber production
Potential natural vegetation--dominantly ponderosa pine, mallow ninebark, common snowberry, elk sedge, and bluebunch wheatgrass
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Idaho and eastern Washington; MLRA 9; moderate extent
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/idaho/clearwat...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/L/LARKIN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
www.flickr.com/photos/jakelley/50993778376/in/album-72157...
Soil profile: A soil profile of the Meccapass soil series. (Soil Survey of Joshua Tree National Park, California; by Carrie-Ann Houdeshell, Peter Fahnestock, Stephen Roecker, and Emily Meirik, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Marchel Munnecke and Alice Miller, Pyramid Botanical Consultants)
Landscape: Hyperthermic Steep South Slopes on Meccapass soils. This ecological site occurs on steep, arid side slopes of fan remnants, hillslopes, and mountain slopes. In Joshua Tree National Park, elevations range from 390 to 3,990 feet. Slopes typically range from 30 to 60 percent. This site is associated with hot landscape positions and typically occurs on south-facing aspects. At the lower elevations, however, it may occur on all aspects. The soils are typically skeletal, have gravel surface textures, and range from very shallow to deep. This site is dominated by brittlebush (Encelia farinosa), and creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) is an important secondary shrub.
The Meccapass series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in colluvium and residuum derived from gneiss, granite and/or other granitoid rocks. Meccapass soils are on mountains. Slope ranges from 15 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is 100 millimeters (4 inches) and the mean annual temperature is about 21.5 degrees C (71 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Typic Haplocambids
Soil moisture control section: usually dry, moist in some parts for short periods during winter and early spring and for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and September following summer convection storms. The soils have a typic-aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil temperature: 22 to 25 degrees C (63 to 73 degrees F).
Surface rock fragments: 80 to 100 percent, with 5 to 55 percent fine gravel, 25 to 65 percent medium and coarse gravel, 15 to 50 percent cobbles, 1 to 10 percent stones, and 0 to 10 percent boulders.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is brittlebush, California fagonbush, and creosote bush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Mojave Desert of southeastern California. MLRA 30. These soils are of small extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/Jos...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MECCAPASS.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Highpeaks series. (Soil Survey of Pinnacles National Monument, California; by Ken Oster, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: The Highpeaks soils are on hills. Slopes range from 35 to 70 percent. These soils formed in residuum weathered from rhyolite and andesite. Elevation is 980 to 3300 feet (300 to 1000 meters).
The Highpeaks series consists of shallow to a lithic contact, well drained soils that formed in residuum weathered from igneous rocks. The Highpeaks soils are on hills. The mean annual precipitation is about 17 inches (432 millimeters) and the mean annual air temperature is about 61 degrees F (16 degrees C).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, thermic Lithic Haploxerolls
Depth to bedrock: 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters)
Mean annual soil temperature: 60 to 63 degrees F (16 to 17 degrees C).
Soil moisture: Soil is dry from mid-June through mid-November.
Particle size control section: clay content averages 15 to 25 percent; rock fragments average 35 to 75 percent, mostly gravel
Base saturation by ammonium acetate: 89 to 98 percent.
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for watershed, wildlife habitat and recreation. Vegetation is mixed chaparral.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: San Benito and Monterey Counties, California in MLRA 15, Central California Coast Range. These soils are of small extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/CA7...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HIGHPEAKS.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Watton soil series. (Soil Survey of Ontonagon County, Michigan; by J. Scott Eversoll and Lawrence M. Carey, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Watton series consists of deep, well drained soils formed in loamy deposits on ground moraines and end moraines. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow in the solum and very slow in the substratum. Slopes range from 0 to 40 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 29 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 44 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, frigid Haplic Glossudalfs
Solum thickness ranges from 24 to 60 inches. The upper part of the solum ranges from extremely acid to neutral, with the lower part of the Bt horizons ranging from moderately acid to mildly alkaline. The C horizon ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline. Volume of cobbles ranges from 0 to 5 percent and volume of gravel ranges from 1 to 5 percent throughout the pedon.
USE AND VEGETATION: Less than 10 percent is cleared and is used mainly for hay and pasture. The greater portion is in woodland, with sugar maple, red maple, yellow birch, American basswood, eastern hemlock, white spruce, quaking aspen, and balsam fir being the principal species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan and north- central Wisconsin. The series is a moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/michigan/onton...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WATTON.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A Bori-Udic Cambosol and landscape. These soils mainly distribute in China's northeast areas, including Greater Khingan Mountains, Lesser Khingan Mountains, Wanda Mountains, and Changbai mountains. Besides, they are also found with a certain amount in narrow valleys in southern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Topographically, those areas are mainly middle and low mountains and hills. Parent materials are diversified, including weathered materials derived from granite, gneiss, sandstone, shale and limestone, as well as loess. The vegetation is mixed coniferous and deciduous forests. They have frigid temperature regime and udic soil moisture regime. (Photos and notes courtesy of China Soils Museum, Guangdong Institute of World Soil Resources; with revision.)
In Chinese Soil Taxonomy, Cambosols have low-grade soil development with formation of horizon of alteration or weak expression of other diagnostic horizons. In Soil Taxonomy these soils are commonly Inceptisols, Mollisols, or Gelisols.
For additional information about this soil and the Soils Museum, visit:
www.giwsr.com/en/article/index/246
For additional information about Soil Taxonomy, visit:
Most of the UAE's cultivated land is taken up by date palms, which in the early 1990s numbered about 4 million. They are cultivated in the arc of small oases that constitute the Al Liwa Oasis. Both federal and emirate governments provide incentives to farmers. For example, the government offers a 50 percent subsidy on fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides. It also provides loans for machinery and technical assistance. The emirates have forty-one agricultural extension units as well as several experimental farms and agricultural research stations. The number of farmers rose from about 4,000 in the early 1970s to 18,265 in 1988.
Coarse soil structure with clay films in an Oxisol. 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.
Both the structure and “feel” of Oxisols are deceptive. Upon first examination, they appear structureless and have the feel of a loamy texture. While some are loamy or even coarser textured, many have a fine or very-fine particle-size class, but the clay is aggregated in a strong grade of fine and very fine granular structure. To obtain a true “feel” of the texture, a wet sample must be worked for several minutes in the hands to break down the aggregates. The strong granular structure apparently causes most Oxisols to have a much more rapid permeability than would be predicted, given the particle-size class. Although compaction and reduction in permeability can be caused by cultivation, the soils are extremely resistant to compaction and are so free draining that cultivation can take place soon after rain without puddling.
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:
Note the red pepper dust in the air, but the worker is not wearing a mask!
Korean chili peppers or Korean hot peppers, also known as Korean red, Korean dark green, or Korean long green peppers according to color (ripening stages), are medium-sized chili peppers of the species Capsicum annuum. The chili pepper is long, slim and mild. Green (unripe) chili peppers measure around 1,500 Scoville heat units.
Munsan is a town of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It lies on the south bank of the Imjin River, close to the edge of the Demilitarized Zone and near Panmunjom and the Joint Security Area.
A representative soil profile of Rio Diablo silty clay, 0 to 2 percent slopes, rarely flooded. (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 Rio Diablo series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately slowly permeable soils that formed in calcareous alluvium from limestone hills. The soils are in valleys and on stream terraces and have slopes ranging from 0 to 3 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, thermic Aridic Haplustolls
Solum thickness ranges from 60 to more than 80 inches. Depth to limestone or gravel ranges from 6 to 20 feet. Limestone fragments of pebble size range from 0 to 15 percent by volume. COLE ranges from 0.03 to 0.05. Clay content of the 10 to 40 inch control section ranges from 40 to 55 percent and silicate clay ranges from 35 to 45 percent. Calcium carbonate equivalent of the 10 to 40 inch control section ranges from 20 to 40 percent with 0 to 5 percent in visible secondary forms.
Most of the areas of Rio Diablo soils are used as range. In good and excellent range condition it is dominated by sideoats grama, cane bluestem, Arizona cottontop, plains bristlegrass, Canada wildrye, and Texas wintergrass. As retrogression occurs, perennial threeawn, slim tridens, tobosa, buffalograss and curly mesquite increase along with woody shrubs. As deterioration continues, a large percent of the plants consists of woody shrubs such as mesquite, juniper, agarito, tasajillo, and other cacti with an understory of red grama, hairy tridens, perennial threeawn, and scattered areas of tobosa. Some areas of these soils are irrigated for the production of improved pasture grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Western Edwards Plateau of Texas. The series is of moderate extent. The soils were formerly included in the Knippa 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/R/RIO_DIABLO.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Gwinnett soil series. (Soil Survey of Jasper County, Georgia; by James R. Latham, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Gwinnett series consists of deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in intermingled basic crystalline materials of the Piedmont. Slopes range from 2 to 60 percent. Near the type location, the average annual precipitation is about 49 inches and average annual air temperature is about 61 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Rhodic Kanhapludults
Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 60 inches. Depth to soft bedrock ranges from 40 to 60 inches and depth to hard bedrock ranges from 5 to more than 10 feet. The soil in all horizons ranges from very strongly acid through slightly acid except where the surface has been limed. Small dark accumulations and concretions range from 0 to 5 percent in the solum. Rock fragments, mainly pebbles and some cobbles, are 0 to 20 percent in the A horizon, and 0 to 15 percent in the B horizon and C horizon.
USE AND VEGETATION: Much of the soil was cleared and used for growing cultivated crops, hay, and pasture. Most of the acreage has reverted to forests, chiefly of loblolly and shortleaf pine. The original forest cover type is oak-pine and Virginia pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Piedmont areas of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/georgia/GA159/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GWINNETT.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The part of the Btv horizon with the strongest expression of plinthite was sampled for slaking. Plinthite is considered to be a pedogenically formed (iron cemented) material.
www.flickr.com/photos/jakelley/53410143604/in/dateposted-...
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Plinthic Kandiudults
Slake tests measures the stability of soil when exposed to rapid wetting. You can learn more about slake tests on-line at:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/SSIR51.pdf
Soil Survey Field and Laboratory Methods Manual; Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 51, Version 2; Issued 2014 (pp. 148-157)
3.7 Soil Stability, Dispersion, and Slaking
3.7.5 Slaking (Disaggregation) for Identification and Semiquantification of Cemented Materials
John Kelley and Michael A. Wilson, United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation
Service, Soil Survey Staff
A Paleaquult formed in old alluvial deposits (plinthite starting at about 130 centimeters) from Boluo County in southeastern China.
Plinthic Paleaquults have have 5 to 50 percent (by volume) plinthite in some horizon within 150 cm of the mineral soil surface. They are of small extent in the Southern United States. These soils are used as forest or have been cleared and are used as cropland or pasture.
A moist body of plinthite withstands moderate rolling between the thumb and forefinger, and either moist or air dry it will not slake when submerged in water even with periodic gentle agitation. It is firm when moist and hard to very hard when dry, yet can be broken in the hands.
Boluo County is located in east-central Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Huizhou, and in 2009, had a population of 813,700 residing in an area of 2,795 km2 (1,079 sq mi).
For more information about a plinthic horizon, visit;
www.researchgate.net/publication/242649722_Rationale_for_...
or;
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S00167061220043...
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-...
This soil is on level plains in coastal sabkha. This soil is poorly drained. Median measured saturated hydraulic conductivity class for the surface layer is high.
This soil is mostly used for natural areas. Commonly described vegetation species include Halopeplis perfoliata, Avicennia marina, Suaeda aegyptiaca and Cornulaca monacantha. Vegetation cover is 5 to 50%.
This soil occurs in coastal sabkha, mostly in a narrow band between Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. The main distinguishing feature of this soil is the shallow depth to bedrock, the permanently high water table, and the elevated salinity levels. It is not suited to agriculture or building sites. This soil provides valuable habitat for shorebirds and other coastal plant and animal species.
The Orangeburg series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils on uplands of the Southern Coastal Plain (MLRA 133A). They formed in loamy and clayey marine sediments. Near the type location, the average annual temperature is about 65 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation is about 52 inches. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kandiudults
Solum thickness typically is 72 to 96 inches and ranges from 60 to 120 inches. Ironstone nodules range from 0 to 10 percent, by volume, throughout the solum. Reaction of the A and Bt1 horizons is very strongly acid to moderately acid, and the Bt2 and underlying horizons are very strongly acid or strongly acid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Orangeburg soils are used for growing cotton, corn, tobacco and peanuts. Some areas are in pasture and woodland. Forest species include longleaf pine, shortleaf pine, loblolly pine, various oaks, hickory and dogwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Coastal Plain of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The series is of large extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/O/ORANGEBURG.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Windsor series; the State Soil of Connecticut.
The Windsor soil series was established in the Connecticut Valley Area in 1899. On May 3, 1899 with an appropriation of $16,000, Milton Whitney, the Chief of the Division of Agricultural Soils, began four soil survey field operations. One of surveys was located in Connecticut and concentrated on tobacco lands in the Connecticut Valley. The soils of the Connecticut Valley were classified and mapped according to any condition which might influence the character of the vegetation, especially the character of the tobacco, the kind of crops adapted to the land, as well as the quality and quantity of the crops. Windsor was one of the soils classified and mapped this way. The Windsor sand as it was called, represented the original bottom of the old glacial Lake Hitchcock in its shallowest parts. Initial lab data found the soil to be composed of yellowish-red or brown sand, containing less than 5 percent clay. In favorable seasons, very fine quality thin-leaved silky tobacco was produced on these soils. The Windsor soil was named after the town of Windsor. Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut and was the first English settlement in the state.
The Windsor series consists of very deep, excessively drained soils formed in sandy outwash or eolian deposits. They are nearly level through very steep soils on glaciofluvial landforms. Slope ranges from 0 through 60 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or very high. Mean annual temperature is about 10 degrees C and mean annual precipitation is about 1092 mm.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, mesic Typic Udipsamments
Thickness of the solum ranges from 25 to 92 cm. Rock fragments, dominantly fine gravel, range from 0 through 10 percent by volume in the solum and from 0 to 15 percent in the substratum. Thin strata of gravel or thin subhorizons of coarse sand or loamy coarse sand are present in some pedons. Unless limed, reaction in the solum commonly is extremely acid to moderately acid, but the range includes slightly acid. Unless limed, reaction in the substratum commonly is very strongly acid to slightly acid, but the range includes neutral.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested or in low growing brushy vegetation. Some areas are used for silage corn, hay, and pasture. Small areas, mostly irrigated, are used for shade tobacco, vegetables and nursery stock. Some areas are in community development. Common trees are white, black, and northern red oak, eastern white pine, pitch pine, gray birch, poplar, red maple, and sugar maple.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Late Wisconsin glaciofluvial or eolian landforms in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont; MLRAs 101, 142, 144A, and 145. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about this state soil, visit:
www.soils4teachers.org/files/s4t/k12outreach/ct-state-soi...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WINDSOR.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Morley soil series. (Soil Survey of Delaware County, Indiana; by Gary R. Struben, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Morley series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that are moderately deep to dense till. Morley soils formed in as much as 46 cm (18 inches) of loess and in the underlying clay loam or silty clay loam till. They are on till plains and moraines. Slope ranges from 1 to 18 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 940 mm (37 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 10.6 degrees C (51 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, illitic, mesic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Depth to carbonates: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Depth to densic contact: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Thickness of the loess: 0 to 46 cm (0 to 18 inches)
Particle-size control section: averages 35 to 50 percent clay, 15 to 25 percent sand, and 1 to 5 percent rock fragments
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used to grow corn, soybeans, and small grain. Some areas are used for hay and pasture, and a few areas are used for woodland. Native vegetation is mixed deciduous hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Indiana, southern Michigan, northwestern Ohio, eastern Illinois, and southeastern Wisconsin; mainly in MLRAs 111B, 110, and 99, and less extensively in MLRAs 95A, 95B, 97, 98, 108A, 111A, 111C, 111D, 111E, and 115C. The type location is in MLRA 111B. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/indiana/IN035/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MORLEY.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit: