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The Amor series consists of well drained, moderately permeable soils that are moderately deep to soft sandstone bedrock. They formed in material weathered from stratified soft sandstone, siltstone and mudstone. These soils are on uplands and have slopes of 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual temperature is 42 degrees F, and mean annual air precipitation is 15 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Typic Haplustolls
Depth to soft sandstone typically is 30 to 40 inches but ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to carbonates ranges from 10 to 40 inches. The 10- to 40-inch control section averages 15 to 40 percent fine sand and coarser. Stony phases are recognized.
USE AND VEGETATION: Commonly cropped to small grains, flax, corn, hay and grass in a crop summer fallow rotation. Native vegetation is mid and short prairie grasses such as green needlegrass, needleandthread, western wheatgrass and blue grama.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern North Dakota, northwestern South Dakota, and eastern Montana. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/north_dakota/N...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/AMOR.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Dothan soils consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in thick beds of unconsolidated, medium to fine-textured marine sediments that contain significant amounts of plinthite in the subsoil.
Plinthite (Gr. plinthos, brick) is an iron-rich, humus-poor mixture of clay with quartz and other highly weathered minerals. It commonly occurs as reddish redox concentrations in a layer that has a polygonal (irregular), platy (lenticular), or reticulate (blocky) pattern. Plinthite irreversibly hardens upon exposure to repeated wetting and drying, especially if exposed to heat from the sun. Other morphologically similar iron-rich materials that do not progressively harden upon repeated wetting and drying are not considered plinthite. The horizon in which plinthite occurs commonly has 2.5 percent (by mass) or more citrate dithionite extractable iron in the fine-earth fraction and a ratio between acid oxalate extractable Fe and citrate-dithionite extractable Fe of less than 0.10.
For a detailed description of the soil, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/D/DOTHAN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution of the soil series, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#dothan
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:
A Salidic Haplogypsid from the interior of the UAE.
Salidic Haplogypsids are the Haplogypsids that have an ECe of more than 8 to less than 30 dS m −1 in a layer 10 cm or more thick, within 100 cm of the soil surface (UAE Keys to Soil Taxonomy). The "salidic" subgroup in Haplogypsids is not currently recognized in Soil Taxonomy.
Haplogypsids are the Gypsids that have a gypsic horizon within 100 cm of the soil surface and 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.
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.
Gypsids are the Aridisols that have a gypsic or petrogypsic horizon within 100 cm of the soil surface. Accumulation of gypsum takes place initially as crystal aggregates in the voids of the soils. These aggregates grow by accretion, displacing the enclosing soil material. When the gypsic horizon occurs as a cemented impermeable layer, it is recognized as the petrogypsic horizon. Each of these forms of gypsum accumulation implies processes in the soils, and each presents a constraint to soil use. One of the largest constraints is dissolution of the gypsum, which plays havoc with structures, roads, and irrigation delivery systems. The presence of one or more of these horizons, with or without other diagnostic horizons, defines the great groups of the Gypsids. Gypsids occur in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia, West Asia, and some of the most arid areas of the western part of the United States. Gypsids are on many segments of the landscape. Some of them have calcic or related horizons that overlie the gypsic horizon.
For more information about describing soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052523...
For additional information about soil classification using Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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For more information about soil classification using the UAE Keys to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Pinncamp series. (Soil Survey of Pinnacles National Monument, California; by Ken Oster, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: The Pinncamp soils are on stream terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. This soil is used for watershed, wildlife habitat and recreation. Vegetation is live oak forest.
The Pinncamp series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from igneous rocks. The Pinncamp soils are on stream terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 17 inches (432 millimeters) and the mean annual air temperature is about 61 degrees F (16 degrees C).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, thermic Psammentic Haploxerolls
Depth to bedrock: over 60 inches (155 centimeters).
Mean annual soil temperature: 60 to 63 degrees F (16 to 17 degrees C).
Soil moisture control section: dry in all parts from about May 15 to November 15 (180 days), and moist in all parts from about January 15 to April 15 (90 days).
Soil reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline throughout the profile.
Particle size control section: Clay: ranges 4 to 10 percent; Coarse fragments: ranges 40 to 55 percent mostly gravel.
Base saturation by ammonium acetate: 86 to 100%
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for watershed, wildlife habitat and recreation. Vegetation is live oak forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: San Benito County, California in MLRA 14 Central California Coastal Valleys. 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/P/PINNCAMP.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Cryaquolls (hydric soils) are the cold Aquolls of high elevations or high latitudes. Because they are both wet and cold, most of these soils are not cultivated. The presence or absence of horizons used to define the great groups of warmer soils has less significance to the use of these soils, although the processes that produced the horizons appear to be similar. Cryaquolls may have an argillic or cambic horizon or a shallow calcic horizon. In the United States, these soils are mostly in high mountain valleys in the West, but they are not extensive. They are used mostly for grazing, or the grasses are cut for hay.
Aquolls are the Mollisols that are wet and that have dominant low chroma, commonly in olive hues, and have high contrast redox depletions in or below the epipedon. These soils commonly develop in low areas where water collects and stands, but some are on broad flats or on seepy hillsides. Most of the soils have had a vegetation of grasses, sedges, and forbs, but a few also have had forest vegetation. 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.
To download the latest version of "Field Indicators of Hydric Soils" and additional technical references, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/ref/?cid=s...
At 1.6 million acres (650,000 ha) the Kaibab National Forest borders both the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon, in north-central Arizona. It is divided into three major sections: the North Kaibab Ranger District (offices in Fredonia) and the South Kaibab and are managed by the United States Forest Service. The North Kaibab stretches over 1,010 square miles (2,600 km2). Elevations vary on the forest from 5,500 feet (1,676 m) in the southwest corner to 10,418 feet (3,175 m) at the summit of Kendrick Peak on the Williams Ranger District. The forest as a whole is headquartered in Williams.
Vegetation in the forest varies by elevation and exposure. Principal tree species are ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce, aspen, blue spruce, oak, pinyon pine, and juniper. Among other things, they enhance the beauty of the landscape, hold soil in place, and provide cover and food for wildlife. As elevation decreases, trees give way to bitterbrush, Gambel oak, sagebrush, and cliffrose. Within the forest, there are irregular areas entirely free of tree growth.
Commonly seen large wild animals include white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, pronghorn, wild turkey and coyote. Cougar, bobcat, and black bear are seen less frequently. Bison that live in the forest and national park are owned by the state of Arizona that issues hunting permits within the national forest. Bison were introduced to northern Arizona in the early 1900s as part of a ranching operation to crossbreed them with cattle.
Common small animals in Kaibab National Forest include chipmunks, ground squirrels and Abert's squirrels. Less common are porcupines, small lizards, and rattlesnakes. Most common birds are bluebirds, robins, Steller's jays, nuthatches, flickers and other woodpeckers, crows, various hummingbirds, ravens, and a variety of hawks. Bats also occupy the park.
For additional information about soil classification using Soil Taxonomy, visit:
sites.google.com/site/dinpuithai/Home
For more information about describing soils using the USDA-Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052523...
Oxisols are typically 75 or more percent clay; however, 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 (or "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.
Oxisols 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 aluminum 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 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:
Soil description from the Roongo site in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. This broad footslope position on a secondary ridge had preserved loess deposits from both the Wisconsin and Illinoian glaciation. Original image and comments 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/49698004781/in/photostr...
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LEFT: The Watson series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils formed in pre-Wisconsin glacial till derived from sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Slopes range from 0 to 20 percent. Permeability is slow. Mean annual precipitation is 34 inches. Mean annual temperature is 52 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Fragiudults
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is medium to slow and permeability is slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the soils are cleared and cultivated for hay, grain and other crops. Wooded areas are in mixed hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Glaciated portion of Ridge and Valley area in east central Pennsylvania. It is of moderate extent, with an estimated 25,000 acres.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WATSON.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#watson
RIGHT: Collegiate Soils Judging Contests. Soil contestants arrive at various soil pits and are expected to correctly identify, evaluate, classify, and describe soil profiles.
Soil profile: The Westlake series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils that formed in alluvium primarily from loess. Permeability is moderately slow.
Landscape: Westlake soils are in flood plains and drainageways, and have slopes of 0 to 3 percent. Westlake soils are used mostly for hay and pasture. The average annual precipitation is about 22 inches and the average annual temperature is about 44 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, frigid Cumulic Ultic Haploxerolls
Mollic epipedon thickness - 20 to 35 inches
Depth to sand, gravel, and cobble - greater than 40 inches
Days dry, soil moisture control section - 45 to 65
Average summer soil temperature - 59 to 62 degrees F
Average annual soil temperature - 45 to 47 degrees F
USE AND VEGETATION: Westlake soils are used mostly for hay and pasture. Some areas are used for cropland, mainly for wheat and barley. Native vegetation is mainly baltic rush, sedge, tufted hairgrass, and common camas.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Idaho. The series is of small extent.
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/97d01af9d4554b9097cb0a477e04...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WESTLAKE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
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.
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 a detailed description, please visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TROUP.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of Tornillo loam in an area of Tornillo loam, 0 to 2 percent slopes, occasionally flooded. Tornillo soils are stratified from depositional events. They are very deep soils. (Soil Survey of Big Bend National Park, Texas; by James Gordon, Soil Scientist, James A. Douglass, Soil Scientist, and Dr. Lynn E. Loomis, Soil Scientist, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: An area of Tornillo loam, 0 to 2 percent slopes, occasionally flooded. Tornillo soils are on alluvial flats and very susceptible to water erosion. Tornillo soils are in the Loamy ecological site, Hot Desert Shrub vegetative zone of MLRA 42—Southern Desertic Basins, Plains, and Mountains. The background is the Rosillos Mountains, located in the northern area of Big Bend National Park.
The Tornillo series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in calcareous loamy alluvial materials. These nearly level to very gently sloping soils are on broad valley floors and flood plain steps. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 11 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 70 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Ustifluventic Haplocambids
Soil moisture: Ustic aridic moisture regime. Intermittently moist in the soil moisture control section during July through September.
Mean annual soil temperature: 72 to 78 degrees F.
Reaction: neutral to slightly alkaline
Texture: fine sandy loam, sandy clay loam, loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 18 to 35 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent igneous and sedimentary gravel
Calcium carbonate equivalent: less than 10 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mostly for livestock grazing. Present vegetation is creosotebush, mesquite, fluffgrass, slim tridens, tobosa, and threeawn.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwest Texas in Major Land Resource Area 42. The series is of minor extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/bigbendT...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TORNILLO.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
This well drained soil is on alluvial plains and in wadis. This soil is used for rangeland and for farming including fruits, vegetables, date palms, and animal fodder. A few previously farmed areas are now idle. The total area being built-up for housing, roads, and business is increasing. Some areas are in natural vegetation. Commonly described vegetation species include Acacia tortilis, Haloxylon salicornicum, Prosopis cineraria, and Prosopis juliflora. Vegetation cover is 1 to 20%.
Taxonomic classification: Typic Torriorthents, coarse-loamy, carbonatic, hyperthermic
For more information about soil classification in the UAE, visit:
vdocument.in/united-arab-emirates-keys-to-soil-taxonomy.h...
The finely stratified nature of the horizons and lack of structure prevents this soil from being classified as having a cambic horizon. Also, the soil was not classified with a contrasting particle-size class due to the diffuse boundary (greater than 12.5 cm) between the loamy and sandy horizons.
The A horizon ranges from about 10 to 20 cm thick. It has hue of 10YR, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is loamy fine sand, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam.
The C horizon commonly extends to depths of between 60 and 100 cm, but may extend to more than 200 cm in some places. Hue is 10YR, value is 5 to 7, and chroma is 2 to 4. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam, including gravelly texture modifiers. Gravel content ranges from 0 to 20%.
The 2C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value 5 or 6, and chroma 2 to 4. It is sand, coarse sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam, including gravelly to extremely gravelly texture modifiers. Gravel content ranges from 5 to 70%. The 2C horizon may be extremely weakly or weakly cemented with carbonates. Horizon boundaries between loamy and sandy materials are gradual to diffuse.
This soil is mostly located on the western half of the alluvial plains, generally closer to the dune/alluvial plain interface than to the mountains. The main distinguishing feature of this soil is the relatively fine texture as compared to most other soils in the survey area. Where quality irrigation water is available, this soil is well adapted to agricultural use for most crops grown in the area.
This group of cliffs and canyons are located near the northern border shared by New Mexico and Arizona. This shot was taken over Arizona airspace, from 32,000 ft.
Sanostee, New Mexico
USA
Typical pedon.—A specific pedon description chosen to represent a map unit component as it occurs in a soil survey area. It is used in the correlation process to classify, name, and interpret the component. The pedon description, along with information about the soil’s overall range in characteristics, landscape setting, and other pertinent information, is included in the soil survey publication and/or database. The typical pedon is not a composite description based on a collection of pedon descriptions, but rather it is a real pedon with a physical location that can be revisited (also called a type location). See correlation, soil.
Figure 118.—The typical pedon of a soil series represents the soil as mapped within a particular soil survey area. Differing typical pedons may be identified in numerous soil survey areas across the series geographic area of extent or they may be shared across soil survey area boundaries. For example, Cecil soil (fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults) has been correlated in many soil surveys from Alabama to Virginia. Each typical pedon may have a slightly different description, but all are within the range of characteristics for the Cecil series unless noted.
Soil profile: The Aimeliik series consists of forest soils characterized by relatively fertile topsoil over infertile subsoil. Reddish subsoil (at a depth of about 15 to 35 centimeters in this profile) overlies subsoil that still retains some characteristics of the parent material. The Aimeliik series is one of the most extensive series in Palau. This profile is in an area of map unit 603, Aimeliik silt loam, 30 to 50 percent slopes, in Melekeok State, Babeldaob Island. (Soil Survey of the Islands of Palau, Republic of Palau; by Jason L. Nemecek and Robert T. Gavenda, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Ancient manmade terraces in areas of Palau soils under grass on the western coast of Babeldaob Island. Fire-resistant pandanus trees remain on the grassland. The forested area consists primarily of Aimeliik soils.
The Aimeliik series consists of; very deep, well drained, soils that is shallow to an abrupt textural change. These soils formed in saprolite derived from basalt, andesite, dacite, volcanic breccias, tuff, or bedded tuff. Aimeliik soils are on all hillslope positions of hills on volcanic islands. Slope is 2 to 75 percent. The mean annual rainfall is about 3685 millimeters (145 inches), and the mean annual temperature is about 27 C (81 F.)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, halloysitic, isohyperthermic Typic Kandiperox
Control section: 25 to 100 centimeters (10 to 39 inches)
Thickness of the solum: 50 to 150 centimeters (20 to 59 inches)
Depth to bottom of diagnostic features:
Ochric epipedon 7 to 29 centimeters (3 to 11 inches)
Fibric soil materials 2 to 8 centimeters (1 to 3 inches)
Depth to diagnostic features:
Kandic horizon: 8 to 40 centimeters (3 to 16 inches)
Abrupt textural change: 8 to 40 centimeters (3 to 16 inches)
Thickness of diagnostic features:
Ochric epipedon: 8 to 40 centimeters (3 to 16 inches)
Kandic horizon: 26 to 125 centimeters (10 to 49 inches)
Fibric soil materials: 1 to 10 centimeters (0 to 4 inches)
Linear extensibility: 4 to 11 percent, weighted average RV is 6 percent
Surface Fragments: Rock fragments are vesicular petroferric fragments, tuff, ironstone and gibbsite concretions; 0 to 15 percent total rock fragments; 0 to 15 percent gravel; 0 to 15 percent cobbles
Saturated hydraulic conductivity: High in the subsoil and moderately high in the underlying material.
These soils are in mixed-upland forests plant communities and are used for native vegetation, watershed, and slash and burn or agroforestry cultivation of subsistence crops. A few areas are used for urban development. Agroforestry ground crops include; beans, cassava, kang kong, melon, peppers, noni, okra, pineapple, piper betle, pumpkin, taro squash, sugar cane, taro, and yams. Agroforestry tree crops include; avocados, bananas, betel nut, breadfruit, football fruit, guava, Inocarpus fagifer, keam, lemons, mango, medicinal plants, mountain apple, ngel, star fruit, titimel, and tropical almond. Most areas are in native tropical rainforest or, to a lesser extent, patches of forest in perennial grassland that is burned by humans almost annually. Native vegetation includes; (canopy) Pinanga insignis, Cyathea sp, Alphitonia carolinensis, Pouteria obovata, Fagraea ksid, Callophyllum inophyllum var. wakamatsui, Rhus taitensis, (understory) Atuna corymbosa, Garcinia matudai, Pleome multiflora, Finschia chloraxantha, Manilkara udoid, Symplocos racemosa, Campnosperma brevipetiolata, Cerbera floribunda.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 193 Volcanic Islands of Western Micronesia, Republic of Palau. These soils of these series are of large extent; about 50,000 acres in size. They are mapped on the islands of island of Babeldaob and to a lesser extent on Koror and Arakabesan.
The A horizon does not become dry for longer than 4 consecutive days and 24 cumulative days per year during the dry season (February, March, and April). Drying only occurs under bare soil conditions. The soil does not meet the definition of an oxic horizon because the clay content increases by more than 8 percent within 15 centimeters (6 inches.) The Ngardok forested series was correlated with Aimeliik, bedded tuff. The Aimeliik, bedded tuff substratum has a platy structure and seems to be more erosive when vegetation is removed. In addition, when Aimeliik occurs near Ollei and Nekken series the rock fragments are likely to be hard basalt and indurated tuff.
Particle-size distribution measurements are usually not reliable for tropical soils; therefore, apparent field textures and the corresponding mid-point values of texture classes were used rather than laboratory analysis for particle sizes. Particle size distribution is difficult to determine in tropical soils because of the tendency to form water-stable aggregates. The poor soil dispersion in laboratory analyses reflects the water-stable aggregates of clay in silt and sand-sized "particles." Therefore, the soils may have large clay content but physically they behave as coarser textures.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/pacific_basin/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/AIMELIIK.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Cerrado was thought challenging for agriculture until researchers at Brazil’s agricultural and livestock research agency, Embrapa, discovered that it could be made fit for industrial crops by appropriate additions of phosphorus and lime. In the late 1990s, between 14 million and 16 million tons of lime were being poured on Brazilian fields each year. The quantity rose to 25 million tons in 2003 and 2004, equalling around five tons of lime per hectare. This manipulation of the soil allowed for industrial agriculture to grow exponentially in the area. Researchers also developed tropical varieties of soybeans, until then a temperate crop, and currently, Brazil is the world's main soyabeans exporter due to the boom in animal feed production caused by the global rise in meat demand. Today the Cerrado region provides more than 70% of the beef cattle production in the country, being also a major production center of grains, mainly soya, beans, maize and rice. Large extensions of the Cerrado are also used for the production of cellulose pulp for the paper industry, with the cultivation of several species of Eucalyptus and Pinus, but as a secondary activity. Coffee produced in the Cerrado is now a major export.
Soils of the cerrado are in the order of Oxisols. Oxisols are an order in USDA soil taxonomy, best known for their occurrence in tropical rain forest, 15-25 degrees north and south of the Equator. They are classified as ferralsols in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources; some oxisols have been previously classified as laterite soils.The main processes of soil formation of oxisols are weathering, humification and pedoturbation due to animals. These processes produce the characteristic soil profile. They are defined as soils containing at all depths no more than 10 percent weatherable minerals, and low cation exchange capacity. Oxisols are always a red or yellowish color, due to the high concentration of iron(III) and aluminium oxides and hydroxides. In addition they also contain quartz and kaolin, plus small amounts of other clay minerals and organic matter.
For more information on Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class/
www.flickr.com/photos/jakelley/10430361345/in/dateposted-...
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A representative soil profile of the Knuckle soil series. (Soil Survey of Pinnacles National Monument, California; by Ken Oster, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Knuckle series consists of shallow to bedrock, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in rhyolite. The Knuckle soils are on hills. Slopes range from 35 to 70 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 17 inches (432 millimeters) and the mean annual air temperature is about 61 degrees F (16 degrees C).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, thermic Lithic Xerorthents
Depth to bedrock: 6 to 20 inches (16 to 50 centimeters).
Mean annual soil temperature: 60 to 63 degrees F (16 to 17 degrees C).
Soil moisture control section: dry in all parts from about May 15 to November 15 (180 days), and moist in all parts from about January 15 to April 15 (90 days).
Particle size control section: 2 to 15 percent clay, 35 to 60 percent rock fragments from rhyolite.
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for watershed, wildlife habitat and recreation. Vegetation is sparse chamise chaparral.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: San Benito County, California in MLRA 15 -- Central California Coast Range. These soils are of small extent. San Benito County, California. Source of name from Knuckle Ridge. This series was established based on limited acreage observed within the National Park Service Pinnacles National Monument boundary.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/CA7...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/K/KNUCKLE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Farmers bring their loose grass to a central location where it is bailed and prepared for shipping and sale. I observed two areas where this occurred. The other was along the Al Ain truck road.
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.
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An important traditional branch of the economy In Liwa is date farming. There is a widespread use of drip irrigation and greenhouses. Besides cultivating these in the date gardens, a number of vegetable and fodder crops have also been raised successfully in sheltered localities. The limit of salinity without too adversely affecting the yield of these crops appears to be total dissolved salts up to 6000 ppm. However, as the sandy desert soils are deficient in organic matter and mineral nutrients they are to be treated with heavy doses of organic manure and chemical fertilizers for their proper development and successful cultivation.
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 amirate 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 amirates 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.
Lack of arable land, intense heat, periodic locust swarms, and limited water supplies are the main obstacles to agriculture. The drive to increase the area under cultivation has resulted in the rapid depletion of underground aquifers, resulting in precipitous drops in water tables and serious increases in soil and water salinity in some areas.
For more information about Liwa Oasis, visit:
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With the production and processing of sugarcane ethanol, Brazil has been able to displace 40% of its petrol consumption for road transportation. In 13 years, this led to a CO2-equivalent emissions saving of 370m tons in Brazil’s flex-fuel fleet alone. That’s an average saving of 28.5m tons of CO2 per year. Sugarcane is also critical in reducing dependence on petroleum-based plastics.
The major production areas of sugarcane in Brazil are located 2,000-2,500 km away from the Amazon, and the sustainable expansion of sugarcane cultivation across Brazil’s territory is strictly controlled by the Agroecological Zoning of Sugarcane national policy. The soils in this region are dominated by Oxisols.
Oxisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy, best known for their occurrence in tropical rain forest within 25 degrees north and south of the Equator. In the World Reference Base for Soil Resources they belong mainly to the Ferralsols, but some are Plinthosols. Some Oxisols have been previously classified as Laterite soils.
The main processes of soil formation of Oisols 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 ten percent weatherable minerals, and low cation exchange capacity. Oxisols are always a red or yellowish color, due to the high concentration of iron and aluminium oxides and hydroxides. They also contain quartz and kaolin, plus small amounts of other clay minerals and organic matter.
New cultivation is allowed only on land that can be cultivated with minimum environmental impact and that requires the least amount of water possible. Its cultivation, for example, is not allowed in the Amazon, Pantanal wetlands, Bacia do Alto Paraguai or in any other area of native vegetation. This policy ensures that any growth in Brazil’s sugarcane production and exports continues to protect Brazil’s sensitive biomes.
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Bighawk series. (Soil Survey of Wupatki National Monument, Arizona; by James M. Harrigan, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: An area of Bighawk gravelly sandy loam, 1 to 5 percent slopes.
The Bighawk series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in alluvium from pyroclastics and cinders. Bighawk soils are on alluvial fans, and plateaus. Slopes range from 1 to 5 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 12 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 52 degrees F. (11.1 degress C.)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy-skeletal, glassy, mesic Vitrandic Haplocambids
Soil moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during July - September and December - February. Driest during May and June. Ustic Aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil Temperature: 52 to 56 degrees Fahrenheit (11.1 to 13.3 degrees Celsius)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 12 to 18 percent
Rock Fragments: 35 to 55 percent cinders
Volcanic Glass: 30 to 40 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation includes galleta, oneseed Juniper, Russian thistle, black grama, needle and thread, and alkali sacaton.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Arizona. Bighawk soils are of moderate extent. This soil is named after the valley at the type location. MLRA 35 Land Resource Unit 35.1.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/arizona/wupatk...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BIGHAWK.html
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Soil profile: Driscoll series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils. (Photo taken during dry conditions.)
Landscape: Driscoll soils formed on structural benches above the Clearwater River drainageway. (Soil Survey of Clearwater Area, Idaho; by Glenn Hoffman, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Driscoll soils are mostly on ridges and hills on plateaus and benches in canyons. They formed in material weathered from loess of two ages and may have basalt residuum in the lower subsoil. Slope ranges from 0 to 40 percent. The mean annual temperature is about 46 degrees F. and the mean annual precipitation is about 23 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, mesic Ultic Palexerolls
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for cropland, some areas are used for timber production, livestock grazing, and wildlife habitat. Potential natural vegetation is mainly ponderosa pine, with an understory of bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, pine reedgrass, lupine, common snowberry, sticky geranium, rose, cinquefoil, and white spirea.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Washington and northern Idaho, MLRA 9. This soil is moderately 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/D/DRISCOLL.html
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Flue-cured tobacco on sloping Bethlehem soils. Flue-cured tobacco is a type of cigarette tobacco. Along with burley tobacco, it accounts for more than 90% of US tobacco production. Flue-cured farming is centered in North Carolina.
The Bethlehem series consists of well drained, moderately deep soils on ridgetops and side slopes in the upper part of the Piedmont. They formed in residuum weathered from the high-grade metamorphic rocks such as sillimanite schist, phyllite schist, and mica schist. Slopes range from 2 to 45 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults
The solum ranges from 20 to 40 inches thick over a Cr horizon of weathered bedrock. Hard bedrock is deeper than 40 inches. Reaction is very strongly acid to moderately acid unless limed. Content of flakes of mica ranges from few to common in the A and upper B horizons, and from few to many in the lower B and C horizons. Rock fragment content ranges from 0 to 60 percent by volume in the A horizon, from 0 to 35 percent in the E, BA, BE, and Bt horizons, and from 15 to 60 percent in the BC and C horizons. Fragments are dominantly gravel or cobbles.
USE AND VEGETATION: Approximately half of the acreage is cleared. Chief crops are hay, corn, and pasture. The remainder is in mixed hardwoods and pines including shortleaf pine, Virginia pine, scarlet oak, chestnut oak, white oak, and black oak. Common understory plants are sourwood, flowering dogwood, greenbrier, sassafras, grape, poison ivy, American holly, and blueberry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. This series is of moderate extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BETHLEHEM.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Scobey series near Glasgow MT; the State Soil of Montana.
Landscape: Productive rangelands provide for livestock grazing and dry land farming produces high-quality wheat. (Photo provided by Janice Hendrickson)
In 1928, the Scobey series was established in the Milk River Area, located in the northern plains of Montana. The series was named for the northeastern Montana town of Scobey and used to represent dark grayish-brown farming soils. The Scobey soil was designated
the official Montana state soil in 2015.
The Scobey series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in till. These soils are on till plains, hills, and moraines. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 12 inches, and the mean annual air temperature is about 43 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, frigid Aridic Argiustolls
Soil temperature - 42 to 47 degrees F.
Moisture control section - between 4 and 12 inches; dry in all parts between four-tenths and five-tenths of the cumulative days per year when the soil temperature at a depth of 20 inches is 41 degrees F or higher.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 7 to 16 inches.
Depth to Bk horizon - 10 to 18 inches.
Depth to Bky or By horizon - 30 to 55 inches.
Btk, By, or BC horizons are allowed.
Phases- stony, shaley substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Scobey soils are used mainly for dryland crops. Some areas are used as rangeland. Potential native vegetation is mainly bluebunch wheatgrass, western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, and needleandthread.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Scobey soils are extensive in the till plains of northern Montana.
For additional information about this state soil, visit:
www.soils4teachers.org/files/s4t/k12outreach/mt-state-soi...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/SCOBEY.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Photo courtesy of EAD-Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi. www.ead.gov.ae/
Saline soils contain enough soluble salts to injure plants. They are characterized by white or light brown crusts on the surface. Saline soils usually have an EC of more than 4 mmho cm-1. Salts generally found in saline soils include NaCl (table salt), CaCl2, gypsum (CaSO4), magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride and sodium sulfate.
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 the Arches series. (Soil Survey of Arches National Park, Utah; by Catherine E. Scott, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Landscape of Arches-Rock outcrop complex, 2 to 15 percent slopes. Rock outcrop is characterized by gently sloping expanses of sandstone dissected by short, steep escarpments at the edges of the rock strata. Vertical relief varies from a few feet to 10 or more feet. Portions of this rock outcrop include potholes in which water may pond for brief periods after rain. Slopes generally range from 8 to 45 percent slopes.
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:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/ARCHES.html
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A representative soil profile of Aberdeen silt loam. This soil is dark to a depth of about 85 centimeters. (Soil Survey of Spink County, South Dakota; by James B. Millar, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Aberdeen series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils formed in glacial lacustrine sediments on lake plains. Permeability is slow in the solum and moderate to slow in the underlying material. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 19 inches, and mean annual air temperature is about 43 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, frigid Glossic Natrudolls
The depth to carbonates ranges from 16 to about 40 inches. Depth to accumulated salts is typically greater than 20 inches.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cropped to small grains, sunflowers, and alfalfa. Native vegetation includes western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, little bluestem, big bluestem, sideoats grama, blue grama, porcupinegrass, needleandthread, sedges, and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern South Dakota and eastern North Dakota. The series is of moderate extent.
A representative soil profile of the Moonville soil series. This pedon of Moonville medial loam is generally in proximity to volcanic vents. The soils formed in volcanic ash and cinders. The darker areas in the Bk horizon are krotovinas, which are animal burrows that have been filled with soil material from the A and Bw horizons. (Soil Survey of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Idaho; by Francis R. Kukachka, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Moonville series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in cinders, and ash. Moonville soils are on lava plains and south-facing mountain sideslopes and have slopes of 0 to 60 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 18 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 42 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Medial, amorphic, frigid Typic Vitrixerands
The soil moisture control section is dry for 90 to 120 consecutive days. The mean annual soil temperature is 42 to 47 degrees and the mean summer soil temperature is 59 to 66 degrees F. Depth to bedrock is over 60 inches. Depth to the calcic horizon is 20 to 35 inches. Phosphate retention is 50 to 80 percent. Acid-oxalate aluminum plus one-half the iron is 1.0 to 2.0. Glass percent is 5 to 30 percent. the 15-bar water on air dried samples is 12 to 15 percent and 20 to 30 percent on moist samples. Field estimated clay content is 12 to 26 percent. The soil profile contains 2 to 10 percent cinder gravels throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for rangeland. Some areas are cultivated. Native vegetation is big sagebrush, three-tip sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, Thurber needlegrass, western yarrow, and prickly gilia.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Idaho; adjacent to Craters of the Moon National Monument. It is inextensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/idaho/cratersN...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MOONVILLE.html
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of Sylco very channery loam. Sylco soils are moderately deep to unweathered, fractured, thinly bedded bedrock and have many rock fragments in the subsoil. They occur on low or intermediate mountains, dominantly in the northwestern, north-central, and eastern parts of the county. (Soil Survey of Cherokee County, North Carolina; by Brian Wood and Southern Blue Ridge Soil Survey Office, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: An area of soil slippage. Low-grade metasedimentary rock underlies soils such as Sylco and Cataska soils. This
bedrock is unstable when lateral support is removed during construction. Soil maps and onsite investigations can be used to effectively evaluate soil and bedrock characteristics which may require engineering complexities and additional expense for construction and maintenance.
The Sylco series consists of moderately deep, somewhat excessively drained soils on mountain ridge summits and side slopes in the Blue Ridge (MLRA 130). They formed in residuum that is affected by soil creep in the upper part, and weathered from metasedimentary rocks such as phyllite, slate, and metsandstone. Slope ranges from 7 to 95 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
Depth to slate, metasandstone, or phyllite bedrock that is not fractured enough to contain some fine material ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Amount of thin, flat fragments of phyllite, metasandstone, or of slate ranges from about 10 to 50 percent in the A horizon, 15 to 45 percent in the B horizon, and from 40 to 70 percent in the C horizon. The average content of these fragments between 10 inches and bedrock ranges from 35 to 50 percent. Fragments are channers, flagstones, or stones. The amount of weatherable minerals, mainly chlorite, sericite, and hydrobiotite, exceeds 30 percent in the silt and sand fractions. The soil is extremely acid to strongly acid. Transition horizons have colors and textures similar to adjacent horizons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Practically all of the acreage is in forest consisting chiefly of chestnut oak, scarlet oak, white oak, Virginia pine, pitch pine, maple, and white pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Blue Ridge (MLRA 130) of Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. The series is of large extent. An estimated 15,000 acres are in Monroe County, Tennessee. In past mapping in Tennessee, Sylco soils have been included in broad mapping units of Ramsey and Ranger soils.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/north_carolina...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/SYLCO.html
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Sogn series. The shallow, clayey Sogn soils formed directly over limestone.
Landscape: In Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Labette and Sogn soils dominate the level uplands. (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 Sogn series consists of shallow and very shallow, somewhat excessively drained, soils that formed in residuum weathered from limestone. Sogn soils are on hillslopes on uplands in Bluestem Hills, MLRA 76. Slopes range from 0 to 45 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 840 millimeters (33 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 13 degrees C (55 degrees F) at the type location.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Haplustolls
Soil moisture regime: Ustic bordering on Udic
Soil temperature regime: mesic
Mollic epipedon thickness: 10 to 49 centimeters (4 to 20 inches)
Depth to lithic contact: 10 to 49 centimeters (4 to 20 inches)
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 35 to 44 percent
Sand content: 2 to 14 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 34 percent limestone gravels and channers
Some pedons do not contain free carbonates above the bedrock.
USE AND VEGETATION: Almost all areas are used for rangeland. Native vegetation is a tall-and mid-grass prairie. Sideoats grama, big bluestem, and little bluestem are dominant.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mostly in eastern Kansas, and widely spaced small areas are in western Missouri, eastern Iowa and Nebraska, northwestern Illinois, southeastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota, and southwestern Wisconsin..The Sogn 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/S/SOGN.html
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Vaucluse series in an area of Vaucluse loamy sand, 10 to 15 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Chesterfield County, South Carolina; by Ronald Morton, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Soil scientist John Kelley preparing soil profile for photographing, describing, and sampling. The budge in the subsoil is from a compact, dense, and brittle layer that when exposed, exhibits a very high excavation difficulty (excavation by pick with over-the-head swing is moderately to markedly difficult; Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils, p.2-69)
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.
A university degree should be in Soil Science, or closely related field (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.
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very deep
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: High, very high
Permeability: Moderately slow, slow (Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high, moderately low
Shrink-swell Potential: Low
Landscape: Middle or upper coastal plain
Landform: Marine terraces, uplands
Geomorphic Component: Interfluves, side slopes
Hillslope Profile Position: Summits, shoulders, back slopes
Parent Material: Fluviomarine deposits, marine deposits
Slope: 2 to 25 percent, mostly 6 to 15 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Fragic Kanhapludults
NOTE: Vaucluse soils have a Bt horizon more than 6 inches thick that is compact, dense, and brittle in 30 to 60 percent of the mass. The brittleness is thought to be due to masses of oxidized iron. This horizon commonly has weak or moderate, medium or coarse subangular blocky structure but in some pedons it appears to be massive. It contains fine roots but medium and coarse roots are not usually present in the brittle part. Since establishment, the series has been classified as: Typic Hapludults, Fragic Paleudults, Typic Fragiudults, Typic Kanhapludults, and (2005) Fragic Kanhapludults. Further study of the soil is needed to accurately determine the dominant diagnostic characteristics.
Thickness of the sandy surface and subsurface layers: 4 to 19 inches
Depth to top of the Argillic horizon: 4 to 19 inches
Depth to the base of the Argillic horizon: 40 to 75 inches
Depth to top of the Kandic horizon: 4 to 19 inches
Depth to fragic soil properties: 15 to 35 inches
Fragic soil properties content: 30 to 60 percent, by volume in the Btx horizon
Depth to densic materials: More than 40 inches
Depth to lithologic discontinuity (contrasting sand sizes or abrupt textural change): 40 inches or more
Soil reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid throughout, unless limed
Depth to bedrock: Greater than 80 inches
Depth to seasonal high water table: Greater than 72 inches
Rock fragment content: 0 to 60 percent in the A and E horizons and 0 to 15 percent in the B and C horizons; mostly quartz or ironstone pebbles
Other features--0 to 10 percent, by volume, fine to coarse pockets or irregularly shaped masses of white or light gray kaolin clay
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Forest, cropland
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--corn, cotton, small grain, soybeans, or pasture. Where wooded--loblolly and longleaf pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina
Extent: Large
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/south_carolina...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/V/VAUCLUSE.html
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Greasiness is the tactile response to a shear force by thumb and forefinger. It is a characteristic that is especially common to soils with significant amounts of platy minerals, generally mica. The property is due to the alignment of plates along the shear plane upon failure. It imparts the feel of a “greasy” residue to the skin.
If the specimen has a high content of mica, a sheen is often observed along the shear planes. The degree of greasiness is estimated by the relative ease with which the material shears. At failure, the specimen does not change suddenly to fluid. Greasiness is not defined by the amount of free water expressed but how a soil material responds to a manual test. It is a field observation assessment that helps to interpret soil behavior.
The Watauga 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). Slope ranges from 2 to 50 percent. 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 gneiss and mica schist. Mean annual air temperature is about 52 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is about 52 inches near the type location.
For more information about these soils, visit;
www.researchgate.net/publication/363254375_Report_of_the_...
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-...
Plinthite is an iron-rich, humus-poor mixture of clay with quartz and other minerals. Plinthite is a redoximorphic feature in highly weathered soil. The product of pedogenesis, it commonly occurs as reddish redox concretions that usually form platy, polygonal, or reticulate patterns in the soil.
As in this profile, plinthite changes irreversibly to an ironstone or to irregular soil aggregates on exposure to repeated wetting and drying, especially if it is exposed to heat from the sun.
The Houk series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils on low terraces and bottomlands. They formed in mixed alluvium weathered from andesite, granite, rhyolite, and basalt. Permeability is slow. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 14 inches and the average annual air temperature is about 41 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, frigid Argiaquic Xeric Argialbolls
Average annual soil temperature - 41 to 45 degrees F
Depth to water table - 30 to 60 inches; April through September
Depth to mottles - 30 to 46 inches
Clay content in control section - 35 to 60 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for pasture, dry cropland, and some irrigated cropland. Crops are small grain and hay. Vegetation is silver sagebrush, foxtail barley, water tolerant grasses, common camas and willows.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern and south-central Idaho. The soils are moderately 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/H/HOUK.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile and landscape of the Tedburn 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, formed above 3 m.0.D. and prominently mottled above 40 cm depth. They have no relatively permeable material starting within and extending below 1 m of the surface.
They have a distinct topsoil and are found mainly in lowland Britain. They formed in clayey material over lithoskeletal mudstone, shale or slate.
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:
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 (115 cm in this pedon) 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:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052523...
For additional information about soil classification using Soil Taxonomy, visit:
sites.google.com/site/dinpuithai/Home
For more information about soil classification using the UAE Keys to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
agrifs.ir/sites/default/files/United%20Arab%20Emirates%20...
The Aura series are moderately deep, 20 to 40 inches (50 to 100 centimeters), to a fragipan and very deep, greater than 60 inches (152 centimeters) to bedrock. They are well drained and formed in coarse-textured loamy eolian deposits over loamy gravelly fluviomarine deposits with slopes of 0 to 15 percent. (Soil Survey of Gloucester County, New Jersey; By Scott C. Keenan; United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/nj/home/
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Fragiudults
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Production of vegetables, flowers, tree fruits, small grains, and some forage.
Dominant Vegetation: Wooded areas are dominantly oaks, pitch pine, Virginia pine, maple, and hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: The Northern Coastal Plain and Northern Tidewater Area of New Jersey; Extent: Large
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Gloucester County, New Jersey, 1960
For more information about the survey area, visit:
archive.org/details/GloucesterNJ2007
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/A/AURA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Nolin series (foreground and in depressions) consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in alluvium derived from limestones, sandstones, siltstones, shales, and loess. These nearly level to sloping are on flood plains, in depressions which receive runoff from surrounding slopes, or on natural levees of major streams and rivers. 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
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, over 500,00 acres.
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/N/NOLIN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#nolin
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/kentucky/chris...
The Pembroke series (background sideslopes) consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in a thin silty mantle of loess underlain by older alluvium or residuum of limestone or both. They are on nearly level uplands and karst areas. Slopes commonly range from 0 to 2 percent, but the range allows slopes from 0 to 12 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Mollic Paleudalfs
USE AND VEGETATION: Nearly all of the soil has been cleared. Chief uses are for growing corn, small grains, tobacco, hay, truck crops, fruits, and pasture. The original forest was mixed hardwoods: chiefly oaks, hickory, maple, ash, elm, hackberry, and poplar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs: 116A, 121, 122. The Pennyroyal and Outer Bluegrass of Kentucky, the Highland Rim of Tennessee, northwest Arkansas, and southwest Missouri. The series is of large extent, about 330,000 acres in size.
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/PEMBROKE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
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)
Landscape: Pantera soils are mapped with Melado soils and occur on floodplains on alluvial flats. This area also shows in the background, small flat-topped erosion remnants of the Geefour soils. Chinati Mountain is in the far background.
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:
Agricultural activities have long been recognised as being a shaper of the rural landscape and environment which exist in Ireland today. Historically, farmers have engaged in protection of the land out of necessity to maintain their production capacity through generations. Our knowledge and appreciation of soils is continually growing however. The role of soils and the key functions they provide is increasingly being recognised and there is a new impetus from all soil users for enchanced protection of a key natural resource.
Critical to the successful management of our soil resource is knowledge on the location of our soils, and their associated properties. The Irish Soil Information System project has gathered together existing information and data from previous soil survey work in Ireland and augmented it with a new field campaign, leading to the production of a new national soil map at a scale of 1:250,000, as well as a collection of tools to access and interact with the data.
An extensive range of soil types (or series) have been identified in Ireland, each of them different in properties, with different environmental and agronomic responses. For each, the properties have been recorded in a database that can now be used to satisfy the information required both for soils management and effective policy implementation. Importantly the database can also be used to provide the public with the means to enquire and learn about the precious soil resources of Ireland. The following website provides a series of tools and descriptive information seeking to help all users engage with the soils information resource now available to us. (Provided by the Irish Soil Information System.)
For more information about the Soils of Ireland, visit;
gis.teagasc.ie/soils/index.php
and the sponsors...
Profile of Lucy soil in an area of Lucy sand, 0 to 5 percent slopes (Soil Survey of Washington County, Florida by Milton Martinez, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Map Unit Composition
Major components
Lucy and similar soils: 70 percent
Contrasting inclusions
Blanton soils: 10 percent
Bonifay soils: 10 percent
Fuquay soils: 10 percent
Component Description
Geomorphic setting: Hills on marine terraces on coastal plains
Geomorphic component: Side slopes
Position on the landform: Shoulders
Slope: 0 to 5 percent
Texture of the surface layer: Sand
Depth to restrictive feature: Very deep (more than 60 inches)
Drainage class: Well drained
Parent material: Sandy and loamy marine deposits
Flooding: None
Ponding: None
Available water capacity to a depth of 60 inches: Low
Content of organic matter in the upper 10 inches: 0.8 percent
Typical profile:
Surface layer—dark yellowish brown sand
Subsurface layer—brownish yellow loamy sand
Subsoil—strong brown sandy loam
Subsoil—red sandy clay loam
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/florida/washin...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/L/LUCY.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Bison at Antelope Flats in an area of Tineman gravelly loam.
The Tineman series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in gravelly alluvium and glacial till. Tineman soils are on nearly level to steep alluvial fans, stream terraces, mountains and moraines. The mean annual precipitation is about 17 inches, and the mean annual air temperature is about 35 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive Ustic Haplocryolls
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Teton County, Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park Area, 1975.
For more information about the Tineman series, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TINEMAN.html
Soil Survey of Teton County, Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park Area:
archive.org/details/tetonWYparkarea1982/mode/1up
The American bison, Bison bison also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds. They became nearly extinct by a combination of commercial hunting and slaughter in the 19th century and introduction of bovine diseases from domestic cattle, and have made a recent resurgence largely restricted to a few national parks and reserves. Their historical range roughly comprised a triangle between the Great Bear Lake in Canada's far northwest, south to the Mexican states of Durango and Nuevo León, and east to the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States (nearly to the Atlantic tidewater in some areas) from New York to Georgia and per some sources down to Florida. Bison were seen in North Carolina near Buffalo Ford on the Catawba River as late as 1750.
The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. A north-south range, it is mostly on the Wyoming side of that state's border with Idaho, just south of Yellowstone National Park. Most of the east slope of the range is in Grand Teton National Park. Between six and nine million years ago, stretching and thinning of the Earth's crust caused movement along the Teton fault. The west block along the fault line rose to form the Teton Range, creating the youngest range of the Rocky Mountains.
World Soil Day (Germany)
Photo and text provided by:
www.iuss.org/meetings-events/world-soil-day/world-soil-da...
In Germany the World Soil Day was used to announce the Soil of the Year 2013: The Plaggic Anthrosol (Plaggenesch). The German name Plaggenesch combines the terms “Plaggen” and “Esch”. “Plaggen”, or sods, are flat blocks of soil material with its above herbal or shrub or grassy vegetation and felted roots, shallowly scraped with a hoe or a spade. “Esch” originated from the Gothic word “astic”, and describes a usually slightly more elevated area of the arable land.
According to German Soil Taxonomy, the diagnostic horizon of a Plaggenesch is the “E” horizon, which is more than 40 cm in thickness, containing at least 0.6 % organic matter and increased phosphate contents. Additionally, artefacts such as charcoal, pieces of bricks and other remnants of daily use are typical findings. Plaggenesch soils can be differentiated into “Brown Plaggenesch” (resulting from loamy meadow sods of a brownish colour and “Grey Plaggenesch” (composed of sandy and greyish heather sods).
Further information and material (posters, flyers, CD’s):
sites.google.com/site/soilsofgermany/home/soil-information
Kuratorium Boden des Jahres, Professor M. Frielinghaus, ZALF Müncheberg, frielinghaus@zalf.de
Prof. Luise Giani, Uni Oldenburg: luise.giani@uni-oldenburg.de
Prof. Klaus Mueller, Dr. Lutz Markowski, HS Osnabrück: k.mueller@hs-osnabrueck.de; l.makowsky@hs-osnabrueck.de
Dr. Wolf Eckelmann, BGR Hannover: w.eckelmann@bgr.de
Bundesverband Boden (BVB), www.bvboden.de
A soil profile of a Haploturbel in Alaska. Involutions of soil material (brown) are mixed into the underlying soil by cryoturbation. (Soil Survey Staff. 2015. Illustrated guide to Soil Taxonomy. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, Nebraska)
Haploturbels have an ochric (typically thin and/or light-colored) epipedon and have sufficient moisture for cryoturbation. Commonly, the cryoturbation is not well expressed. These soils occur in Alaska, Canada, and Siberia.
Turbels are the Gelisols that have one or more horizons with evidence of cryoturbation (intense frost churning) in the form of irregular, broken, or distorted horizon boundaries; involutions; the accumulation of organic matter on top of the permafrost; ice or sand wedges; or oriented rock fragments. Cryoturbation occurs only in soils that have sufficient moisture for the formation of ice crystals. Soils that have cryoturbated horizons and are dry for most of the year were probably moister in the past. Turbels are the dominant suborder of Gelisols. They account for about half of the Gelisols worldwide. These soils are common in the High and Middle Arctic Vegetation Regions of North America and Eurasia, at latitudes of 65 degrees north or more.
For additional information about soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/cla...
Chernozem (from Russian: chernozyom, is a black-colored soil containing a high percentage of humus (4% to 16%) and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus, and ammonia. Chernozem is very fertile and can produce high agricultural yields with its high moisture storage capacity. Chernozems are a Reference Soil Group of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB).
Russian soil scientists rank the deep, central Chernozems among the best soils in the world. With less than half of all Chernozems in Eurasia being used for arable cropping, these soils constitute a formidable resource for the future. Preservation of the favorable soil structure through timely cultivation and careful irrigation at low watering rates prevent wind and water erosion. Application of P fertilizers is required for high yields.
Wheat, barley and maize are the principal crops grown, alongside other food crops and vegetables. Part of the Chernozem area is used for livestock rearing. In the northern temperate belt, the possible growing period is short and the principal crops grown are wheat and barley, in places in rotation with vegetables. Maize and sunflower are widely grown in the warm temperate belt. Maize production tends to stagnate in drier years unless the crop is irrigated adequately (WRB, 2016)
Soil profile: (Photo courtesy of Yakov Kuzyakov, revised.)
For more information about this soil, visit;
wwwuser.gwdg.de/~kuzyakov/soils/WRB-2006_Keys.htm
Landscape: Chernozems are relict soils in Poland, covering only small patches of our country. In recent years, discussions on genesis, transformation and relations of Chernozems with other soil types have been revived. Interdisciplinary research conducted jointly with archaeologists broadened knowledge and verified scenarios of Cherznozems evolution in selected regions of Poland. On the other hand, there are reports of significant degradation or even disappearance of Chernozems due to intensive cultivation and soil erosion. It indicates the great importance to protect these fertile soils. Therefore, despite the fact that Chernozem is “the first among soils”, from recognizing the genesis of which modern soil science has begun, we still see exciting research challenges and practical needs regarding these soils in Poland, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. (Cezary Kabała)
For more information about "Chernozem – Soil of the Year 2019", visit;
Soil profile: A representative profile of Potomac soil, the dominant soil on first-bottom flood plains in western West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. Potomac soils are characterized by a high content of cobbles and gravel throughout and commonly have layers deposited from a series of flood events. (Soil Survey of Pike County, Kentucky; by John A. Kelley, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: A typical landscape of Potomac–Nelse complex, 0 to 5 percent slopes, extremely stony, frequently flooded. (Soil Survey of New River Gorge National River, West Virginia; by Wendy Noll and James Bell, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
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. The mean annual percipitation is about 32 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 51 degrees F.
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.
For additional information about the survey areas, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/kentucky/KY195...
and...
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/west_virginia/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/POTOMAC.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Whipple series in an area of Stormjade-Whipple complex, 8 to 50 percent slopes. (Interim Report for the Soil Survey of Chemehuevi Wash Off-Highway Vehicle Area, California; by Leon Lato, Carrie-Ann Houdeshell, and Heath McAllister, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Whipple series consists of very shallow and shallow, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium from granite. Whipple soils are on backslopes of hills. Slopes range from 8 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 100 millimeters (4 inches) and the mean annual air temperature is about 24 degrees C (75 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Lithic Haplargids
Soil moisture control section: usually dry throughout, rarely moist in some part during summer or winter. The soils have a typic-aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil temperature: 22 to 26.7 degrees C (72 to 80 degrees ).
Depth to argillic horizon: 2 to 4 centimeters.
Depth to bedrock: 13 to 36 centimeters.
Control section - Clay content: averages 12 to 18 percent.
USE AND VEGETATION: Whipple soils are used for recreation and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly burrobush, brittlebush and creosote bush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Colorado Desert of southeastern California, U.S.A.; MLRA 31. These soils are of small extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/CA6...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WHIPPLE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
An Arenic Paleaquult in North Carolina.
Arenic Paleaquults.—These soils have a sandy layer, starting at the mineral soil surface, that is between 50 and 100 cm thick and are permitted to have brownish colors in the matrix below the A or Ap horizon, but they are otherwise like Typic Paleaquults in defined properties.
Most Arenic Paleaquults developed in somewhat sandier materials and have less clay in the argillic horizon than the soils in the Typic subgroup. The natural vegetation consisted of forest plants. The Arenic Paleaquults in the United States are mainly on the coastal plains in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. They are moderately extensive. Most of these soils are used as forest, but some have been cleared and are used as cropland or pasture.
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Whitetop series. (Soil Survey of Bear Lake County Area, Idaho; by Francis R. Kukachka, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Weakly cemented volcanic ash in detailed map unit 40, Burchert-Whitetop complex, 10 to 45 percent slopes
The Whitetop series consists of shallow, well drained soils formed in residuum from weakly consolidated ash. These soils are on shoulders, summits, and upper backslopes of hills. Permeability is moderately rapid. Slopes range from 8 to 45 percent. Average annual precipitation is about 16 inches and the average annual air temperature is about 41 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy, glassy, frigid, shallow Vitrandic Haploxerolls
Soil moisture control section usually moist, dry in all parts for 45 consecutive days or more in the four months following the summer solstice. Xeric moisture regime.
Thickness of mollic epipedon 14 to 20 inches
Depth to paralithic contact 10 to 20 inches
Average annual soil temperature 41 to 44 degrees F. Frigid soil temperature regime.
Particle-size control section
Clay content 8 to 12 percent
Pararock fragments 0 to 20 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for wildlife habitat and rangeland. The dominant native vegetation is mountain big sagebrush, serviceberry, mountain snowberry, buckwheat, bluebunch wheatgrass, Sanberg bluegrass, and prairie junegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Idaho. The series is not extensive. MLRA 43B.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/idaho/bearlake...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WHITETOP.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: These Dystrudepts have some andic soil properties in a layer in the upper part that is 18 cm or more thick. Some of the soils contain a significant amount of volcanic ash. Some have an umbric epipedon. Andic and Vitrandic Dystrudepts are moderately extensive in the Northwestern United States.
Landscape: The native vegetation consists mostly of coniferous forest. Most of these soils support their native vegetation and are used as forest. A few of the less sloping soils have been cleared and are used as cropland or pasture.
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/97d01af9d4554b9097cb0a477e04...
For additional information about soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...
Typical profile of a Latahco soil. The mollic epipedon extends from the surface of the mineral soil material to a depth of about 30 centimeters. (Soil Survey of Clearwater Area, Idaho; by Glenn Hoffman, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Latahco series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils that formed in alluvium from the surrounding loessal uplands. Latahco soils are on low terraces, flood plains and drainageways. Slopes are 0 to 3 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 20 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 44 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, frigid Argiaquic Xeric Argialbolls
Mean annual soil temperature - 41 to 47 degrees F.
Soil moisture control section - usually moist but are dry for 45 to 60 days in late summer and fall.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 11 to 22 inches
Depth to the argillic horizon - 17 to 35 inches
Depth to aquic features with chroma of 2 or less with redox concentrations is 17 to 27 inches
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for cropland. Crops are wheat, barley, hay, pasture, and grass seed. Native vegetation includes perennial forbs and grasses, black hawthorn, common chokecherry, and ponderosa pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Idaho, MLRA 9. The series is of 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/LATAHCO.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit: