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A representative soil profile of a fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Udic Argiustoll from Nebraska. (Photo and comments courtesy of Stan Buol, NCSU.)
This quarry exposure was photographed in Lancaster County, Nebraska. The soil is formed in loess, to a depth of about 150 cm over glacial till. The till is unoxidized, grey color except around oxidized cracks that are filled with white CaCO3 illuviated from the solum. No plow layer is evident at this site but these soils are extensively used for corn and small grains. However, unreliable rainfall during the summer growing season threatens yields in most years unless supplemental irrigation is available.
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Udic Argiustolls are more moist than Typic Argiustolls because they either receive more precipitation or receive runoff from other soils. Most of the Udic Argiustolls in the United States are in areas between Typic Argiustolls and Udolls. Udic Argiustolls are extensive soils in the southeastern part of the Great Plains. The natural vegetation was mostly grasses and shrubs. Slopes generally are gentle. Most of these soils are used as cropland.
Argiustolls are the Ustolls that have an argillic horizon in or below the mollic epipedon. Most Argiustolls have a Bk or calcic horizon below the argillic horizon, and some have a Bz or By horizon below the Bk horizon. Argiustolls formed mostly in late-Pleistocene deposits or on surfaces of comparable age. They occur in relatively stable positions. Slopes generally are moderate to nearly level, and most of the soils are cultivated. Argiustolls are extensive soils on the western Great Plains and also occur in the mountains and valleys of the Western United States.
Ustolls are the more or less freely drained Mollisols of subhumid to semiarid climates. Rainfall occurs mainly during a growing season, often in heavy showers, but is erratic. Drought is frequent and may be severe. During a drought, soil blowing becomes a problem. Without irrigation, the low supply of moisture usually limits crop yields. Ustolls are extensive soils on the western Great Plains in the United States.
For more information about describing soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052523...
For additional information about soil classification using Soil Taxonomy, visit:
A representative soil profile of Andic Durixerepts in California. These Andic Durixerepts consist of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in ash over outwash from volcanic rocks. These soils are on outwash terraces. Slopes range from 3 to 20 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 63 inches (1,600 millimeters), and the mean annual air temperature is about 41 degrees F (5 degrees
C).
Depth to restrictive feature: 20 to 40 inches (51 to 102 centimeters) to duripan
Mean annual soil temperature: 40 to 41 degrees F (4.6 to 5 degrees C)
Period that soil moisture control section is dry: July to October (about 90 days)
Particle-size control section (thickest part): 3 to 4 percent clay and 64 to 70 percent rock fragments
Surface fragments: 5 to 50 percent gravel, 1 to 5 percent cobbles, 0 to 3 percent stones, and 0 to 3 percent boulders
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/las...
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.
A representative soil profile of the Lakewood series. These excessively drained soils formed in sandy fluviomarine sediments. They are on flats and knolls. (Soil Survey of Cumberland County, New Jersey; by Lenore Matula Vasilas, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
DEPTH CLASS: Very deep
DRAINAGE CLASS: Excessively drained
PERMEABILITY: Rapid
SURFACE RUNOFF: Slow to rapid
PARENT MATERIAL: Sandy marine sediments
SLOPE: 0 to 25 percent
MEAN ANNUAL AIR TEMPERATURE (type location): 56 degrees F.
MEAN ANNUAL PRECIPITATION (type location): 44 inches
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mesic, coated Spodic Quartzipsamments
Solum Thickness: 30 to 50 inches
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 60 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Greater than 60 inches
Rock Fragments: 0 to 15 percent, by volume in the A, E, and B horizons and 0 to 30 percent in the C horizon, mostly gravel
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to very strongly acid throughout the profile, unless limed
MAJOR USES: Dominantly woodland
VEGETATION: Wooded areas are dominantly pitch pine, black oak, and white oak. Where wildfires have been severe the trees are dwarfed, growing less than 5 feet tall and consist primarily of pitch pine, scrub oak, and blackjack oak.
DISTRIBUTION: New Jersey and possibly Maryland
EXTENT: Large
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/new_jersey/NJ0...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/L/LAKEWOOD.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Dig It! The Secrets of Soil. Get the dirt on dirt – one of the most valuable resources on Earth. Soils are crucial to our everyday lives, storing carbon, filtering water, growing plants, and so much more. Discover a whole new world beneath your feet. The Secrets of Soil exhibit from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. This exhibit was on display at the Museum from July 18, 2008, through Jan 10, 2010.
For more soil related images, visit:
www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/7/708#:~:text=As%20established%....
Story Range is located south of the Demilitarized Zone. The range has been used for about 30 years. U.S. forces use Story Range about 75 percent of the time, with South Korean soldiers using the balance. The range is used for mortar, grenade, mine, anti-tank missile and artillery practice. Story Range is the smallest impact area used by the US Army. Multiple targets are in a 500m X 500m area less than 1 km from the southern edge of the DMZ.
South Korean farmers see the range as valuable soil, frequently planting crops near the range, despite warnings to stay away. The range is a typical example of how South Korea's population has encroached on once-rural training areas.
In 1996 and 1998, unexploded ordnance killed two Korean civilians who had entered the range to look for scrap metal. We were there in August of 1997 conducting a Natural Resource Survey for 8th Army.
Unexploded munitions and live-fire exercises make the area very dangerous. Unexploded ordnance in that area presents a very real and significant danger to anyone walking in the impact area. This danger is greatly amplified if someone is planting or harvesting crops (or digging excavations to identify soils).
The South Korean Army supervises farming. Farmers must have a pass to cross any of the three bridges, guarded by South Korean soldiers, leading to the range. Normally, range control officials and Army explosive ordnance disposal teams would clear munitions from the impact area annually. But the impact area at Story Range is swampy, and teams can only look for duds on the surface. Additionally, the entire area just south of the DMZ is rife with mines. Many are newer mines laid by the South Korean Army as part of the DMZ defense. But there are unmarked mine fields, and monsoon rains shift mines around. Korean contractors and 8th Army personnel have uncovered about 30 mines while putting in fence posts.
In June 2001, USFK and the South Korean Defense Ministry agreed to put a fence around the range by January 2004. USFK lobbied the South Korean government to allow fencing of the entire range more quickly so no one is hurt. To protect the farmers, USFK has erected a three-strand barbed wire fence with metal gates and posted danger signs, in English and Korean, to clearly mark the impact area. USFK erected a barbed-wire fence after farmers ignored warning signs in English and Korean to stay out of the impact area. The barbed-wire fence angered farmers, but they continued in 2001 to raise crops on other sections of the range.
Descriptions and distribution maps of The 12 Soil Orders of Soil Taxonomy.
Distribution map of the twelve soil orders.
Soil scientists classify soils into groups much as biologists group plants and animals. Individual soils are grouped into series, series into families, and so on until the largest grouping is reached—that of orders.
How many orders does the soil have?
The United States Department of Agriculture recognizes 12 soil orders.
12 Soil Orders
All of the soils in the world can be assigned to one of just 12 soil orders: Gelisols, Histosols, Andisols, Oxisols, Vertisols, Alfisols, Aridisols, Inceptisols, Entisols, Mollisols, Spodosols, Ultisols.
What is the importance of knowing the 12 soil orders?
Soil Taxonomy is a soil classification system developed by the United States Department of Agriculture’s soil survey staff. This system is based on measurable and observable soil properties and was designed to facilitate detailed soil survey.
Soil orders and their characteristics
Gelisols
Soils of very cold climates that contain permafrost within 2 meters of the surface. These soils are limited geographically to the high-latitude polar regions and localized areas at high mountain elevations. Because of the extreme environment in which they are found, Gelisols support only ~0.4% of the world’s population – the lowest percentage of any of the soil orders.
Histosols
Soils that are composed mainly of organic materials. They contain at least 20-30% organic matter by weight and are more than 40 cm thick. Bulk densities are quite low, often less than 0.3 g cm3.
Andisols
Soils that have formed in volcanic ash or other volcanic ejecta. They differ from those of other orders in that they typically are dominated by glass and short-range-order colloidal weathering products such as allophane, imogolite, and ferrihydrite.
Oxisols
Very highly weathered soils that are found primarily in the intertropical regions of the world. These soils contain few weatherable minerals and are often rich in Fe and Al oxide minerals. Oxisols occupy ~7.5% of the global ice-free land area. In the US, they only occupy ~0.02% of the land area and are restricted to Hawaii.
Vertisols
Clay-rich soils that shrink and swell with changes in moisture content. During dry periods, the soil volume shrinks, and deep wide cracks form. The soil volume then expands as it wets up. This shrink/swell action creates serious engineering problems and generally prevents formation of distinct, well-developed horizons in these soils.
Alfisols
These gray to brown soils over clay subsoil are among the most fertile and productive soils in the country. They may require the addition of lime. Fertilizers and irrigation during dry periods will increase yields.
Aridisols
Soils are dry for long periods with only short periods of wetness, which reduces leaching and may allow accumulation of soluble salts. Arid conditions reduce plant growth and therefore also organic content. When irrigated and fertilized, soils may be very productive.
Inceptisols
Usually wet during the growing season, these young soils are greatly variable. They often produce well when amended.
Entisols
Soils of recent origin. The central concept is soils developed in unconsolidated parent material with usually no genetic horizons except an A horizon. All soils that do not fit into one of the other 11 orders are Entisols. Thus, they are characterized by great diversity, both in environmental setting and land use.
Many Entisols are found in steep, rocky settings. However, Entisols of large river valleys and associated shore deposits provide cropland and habitat for millions of people worldwide.
Mollisols
These dark, fertile soils of grasslands and some hardwood forests are relatively high in humus and nitrogen. They are highly productive but may need lime to correct acidity.
Spodosols
With a high sand content, these soils are usually moist and moderately to strongly acidic. Add lime and fertilizers.
Ultisols
Soils of humid warm regions, Ultisols are often acidic and heavily weathered. When managed well, they can be very productive. Fertilizing and liming are needed.
An area of Karnak silty clay, 0 to 2 percent slopes, rarely flooded from Daviess County, Ky. (Photo provided by John Kelley, USDA-NRCS).
Note: The soil profile image was created by artificial intelligence (AI) using the Official Series description as a reference.
The Karnak series consists of very deep, poorly drained soils formed in clayey non-acid alluvium on flood plains. Most areas are cultivated, and corn and soybeans are the principal crops. Native vegetation is Bald Cypress, Green Ash, Overcup Oak, Pin Oak, Silver Maple, Swamp White Oak, Swamp Chestnut Oak, Tupelo, and Willow Oak. Some areas are swamps dominated by Buttonbush and Duckweed.
A representative soil profile of Sinbul soil (loamy-skeletal, Typic Haplumbrept) from the MPRC (Multi-Purpose Range Complex) in South Korea.
MPRC also known as Rodriguez Range at Yeongpyeong-ri, north of Pocheon, South Korea supports units of the 2nd Infantry Division for helicopter, Bradley Fighting Vehicle, M1 Abrams tank, artillery, mortor, and close air support training. The image is illustration 3.25 from the Planning Level Survey, 8th US Army Korea (1998). The primary purpose of planning level surveys are to ensure Army activities and natural resources conservation measures on mission land are integrated and consistent with federal stewardship requirements and host nation agreements.
Sinbul soils are in valleys on stream and river terraces. Elevation ranges from about 0 to 100 meters. The native vegetation consists of mixed deciduous hardwoods. The soils formed in old alluvial from mixed igneous and metamorphic rocks.
Soils classified as Typic Haplumbrepts have been revised to Humic Dystrudepts with the latest revision of Soil Taxonomy. These soils have an umbric or mollic epipedon that is less than 50 cm thick. They are otherwise like the soils of the Typic subgroup. Humic Dystrudepts are moderately extensive in the United States. They are widely distributed but are concentrated in the mountains of the Eastern and Northwestern States. The native vegetation consists mostly of mixed forest. Most of these soils are used as forest. Many of the less sloping soils have been cleared and are used as cropland or pasture.
For more information about Korea soil series, visit:
A soil profile of an Epiaquept used for paddy rice production in South Korea. Compaction of the upper part of the soil facilitates puddling with irrigation water so that areas remain flooded while the crop matures. The gray colors between depths of about 15 and 30 cm are caused by the human-induced wet soil conditions, which in turn result in the chemical reduction of iron in the upper part of the soil. This soil has an ochric epipedon about 15 cm thick underlain by a cambic horizon that extends below the base of the photo. The right side of the profile has been smoothed; the left side retains the natural soil structure.
Epiaquepts have one or more layers in the upper part of the profile that are saturated for part of the year and underlain by unsaturated layers (a perched water table). They have cool to warm soil temperatures. Before cultivation, most Epiaquepts supported forest vegetation. Epiaquepts are generally nearly level or gently sloping, and their parent materials are typically late-Pleistocene or younger sediments
(Soil Survey Staff. 2015. Illustrated guide to Soil Taxonomy. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, Nebraska)
For additional information about soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/cla...
Areas along the fringe of Camp Casey are constantly being challenged by farmers. If they can successfully grow a crop for two consecutive years, the military will most likely not contest. It was a game to keep the roads too narrow for the military style humvees to travel. Consequently, areas used for military training are constantly shrinking.
Less than one-fourth of the republic’s area is cultivated. Along with the decrease in farm population, the proportion of national income derived from agriculture has decreased to a fraction of what it was in the early 1950s. Improvements in farm productivity were long hampered because fields typically are divided into tiny plots that are cultivated largely by manual labor and animal power. In addition, the decrease and aging of the rural population has caused a serious farm-labor shortage. However, more recently productivity has been improving as greater emphasis has been given to mechanization, specialization, and commercialization.
Kaolin clay is derived from the mineral Kaolinite which comes from the Earth’s crust. It is a hydrous aluminum silicate formed by the decomposition of minerals such as feldspar. The mineral Kaolinite, also referred to as Kaolinite clay, is a layered silicate mineral and is soft, earthy, and usually white in color, produced by the chemical weathering of aluminum silicate minerals. Rocks that are rich in Kaolinite are also known as Kaolin or China Clay. This means the terms Kaolin clay and Kaolinite clay can be used interchangeably.
Kaolinite is a common clay that has a variety of uses. Because of its low shrink-swell potential, kaolinite is used for making ceramics, bricks, and tile. It is also the source of white pigment in paper, light bulbs, and paint and an active ingredient in digestive medicines.
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-...
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of an Inceptisol (bordrline Oxisol) from the Cerado physiographic region--a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais and the Federal District of Brazil. (Horizonation is by Brazil soil classification system.)
Landscape: Typical landscape and vegetation (sugarcane and vegetable crops) occurring on upland side-slopes in Brazil.
This pedon has a lithologic discontinuity at a depth of about 50 centimeters (loamy colluvium over heavier-textured residuum).
Inceptisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. They form quickly through alteration of parent material. They are more developed than Entisols. They have no accumulation of clays, iron oxide, aluminium oxide or organic matter. They have an ochric or umbric horizon and a cambic subsurface horizon. The central concept of Inceptisols is that of soils that are of cool to very warm, humid and subhumid regions and that have a cambic horizon and an ochric epipedon. The order of Inceptisols includes a wide variety of soils. In some areas Inceptisols are soils with minimal development, while in other areas they are soils with diagnostic horizons that merely fail the criteria of the other soil orders. Inceptisols have many kinds of diagnostic horizons and epipedons.
Oxisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Oxisols are weathered soils that are low in fertility. They are most common on the gentle slopes of geologically old surfaces in tropical and subtropical regions. Their profiles are distinctive because of a lack of obvious horizons. Their surface horizons are normally somewhat darker than the subsoil, but the transition of subsoil features is gradual. Some oxisols have been previously classified as laterite soils.
Inceptisol (Latossolos) and landscape BRAZIL--In the Brazil soil classification system, these Latossolos are highly weathered soils composed mostly of clay and weathering resistant sand particles. Clay silicates of low activity (kaolinite clays) or iron and aluminum oxide rich (haematite, goethite, gibbsite) are common. There are little noticeable horizonation differences. These are naturally very infertile soils, but, because of the ideal topography and physical conditions, some are being used for agricultural production. These soils do require fertilizers because of the ease of leaching of nutrients through the highly weathered soils.
For additional information about these soils, visit:
sites.google.com/site/soil350brazilsoilsla/soil-formation...
and...
For additional information about U.S. soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...
The Kina series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils that formed in partially decomposed organic material derived from sedges. Kina soils occupy depressional bench-like areas associated with drumlinoid hills and the toeslope, lower backslopes, and floors of valleys. Mean annual temperature is about 45 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation is about 100 inches. Slopes range from 0 to 60 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Dysic Typic Cryohemists
Mean annual soil temperature ranges from 38 to 42 degrees F. The subsurface tier is dominated by hemic material. pH (0.01M CaCl2) is less than 4.5 throughout the control section.
An Oi2 layer up to 8 inches thick may be present and an Oe3 layer up to 20 inches thick may be present. Hue ranges from 10YR to 2.5YR in all horizons. Broken face value and chroma may range as low as 2 for the Oe horizons. Coarse fragment content ranges up to 5 percent.
USE AND VEGETATION: The Kina soils are used for watershed protection and wildlife habitat. The vegetation is dominantly sedges, mosses, and plants of the Ericaceae family.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeast Alaska. The series is of moderate extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#kina
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A typical profile of a Mountview soil. Mountview soils have few limitations affecting crop production. (Soil Survey of Overton County, Tennessee; by Carlie McCowan, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: A field of snap beans on Mountview silt loam, 2 to 5 percent slopes, eroded. This soil is highly productive for most row crops.
Soil profile: A profile of Mountview silt loam. Two different parent materials are evident where loess overlies clayey residuum derived from cherty limestone at a depth of about 95 centimeters. (Soil Survey of Hickman County, Tennessee; By Douglas F. Clendenon, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Mountview series consists of very deep, well drained and moderately well drained, soils that formed in 2 to 3 feet of a silty mantle, presumably loess, and underlying residuum of limestone or old alluvium. Slopes range from 0 to 20 percent. Near the type location, average annual air temperature is about 59 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is about 54 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Oxyaquic Paleudults
Solum thickness and depth to rock exceeds 60 inches. The upper solum formed in a silty mantle, presumably loess, and commonly is about 30 inches thick but ranges from about 22 to 36 inches. This overlies a lower solum developed in residuum of limestone or old alluvium. Coarse fragments, commonly fragments of chert, range from 0 to about 5 percent in the upper 30 inches and from about 5 to 35 percent below that depth. Transition horizons have characteristics similar to adjacent horizons. Reaction of each horizon is very strongly acid or strongly acid, except the surface layer is less acid where limed.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for growing hay, pasture, small grains, cotton, corn, and tobacco. Some areas are in woodland consisting chiefly of oak, hickory, gum, and maple.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Highland Rim of Tennessee, northern Alabama, Pennyroyal of Kentucky, and possibly southern Missouri. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/tennessee/TN08...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MOUNTVIEW.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)
Landscape: Typical area of a Whipple soil. Whipple soils are on backslopes of hills. Slopes range from 8 to 50 percent. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium from granite. Elevations are 390 to 490 meters (1280 to 1600 feet). The climate is arid with hot, dry summers and warm, dry winters.
The Whipple series consists of very shallow and shallow, somewhat excessively drained soils. 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:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of a Mollisol from the Cerado physiographic region--a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais and the Federal District of Brazil. (Horizonation is by Brazil soil classification system.)
Landscape: Typical landscape and vegetation (pastureland) occurring on upland side-slopes in Brazil.
Mollisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Mollisols form in semi-arid to semi-humid areas, typically under a grassland cover. They are most commonly found in the mid-latitudes, namely in North America, mostly east of the Rocky Mountains, in South America in Argentina (Pampas) and Brazil, and in Asia in Mongolia and the Russian Steppes. Their parent material is typically base-rich and calcareous and include limestone, loess, or wind-blown sand. The main processes that lead to the formation of grassland Mollisols are melanisation, decomposition, humification and pedoturbation.
Mollisols have deep, high organic matter, nutrient-enriched surface soil (A horizon), typically more than 25 cm thick. This fertile surface horizon, known as a mollic epipedon, is the defining diagnostic feature of Mollisols. Mollic epipedons result from the long-term addition of organic materials derived from plant roots, and typically have soft, granular soil structure.
Mollisol (Chernossolos) and landscape BRAZIL--In the Brazil soil classification system, these Chernossolos are well structured soils, rich in organic matter, with high content of exchangeable cations. They are typically found in the south and east parts of Brazil.
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
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of Wyick fine sandy loam, 0 to 1 percent slopes. These soils occur on flats on the prairie and sometimes are in complex with the Vidauri soils. (Soil Survey of Goliad County, Texas; by Jonathan K. Wiedenfeld, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Prairie vegetation on an area of Wyick fine sandy loam, 0 to 1 percent slopes. Wyick soils are in the Claypan Prairie ecological site on the Gulf Coast Prairies.
The Wyick series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in fluviomarine deposits of Early Pleistocene age. These nearly level soils are on flats on the coastal plain. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 864 mm (34 in) and the mean annual temperature is about 21.7 degrees C (71 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Typic Haplustalfs
Soil Moisture: An ustic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12 in). These soils remain dry in the soil moisture control section for more than 90 cumulative days. The dry period occurs during the late winter and early spring months. These soils are moist during the late summer and fall months.
Mean annual soil temperature: 22.2 to 23.4 degrees C (72 to 74 degrees F)
Depth to abrupt textural change: 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12 in)
Depth to argillic horizon: 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12 in)
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: 48 to 84 cm (19 to 33 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Total clay content: 27 to 34 percent
CEC/clay ratio: 0.60 to 0.70
USE AND VEGETATION:
Used almost exclusively for livestock grazing. A few areas are used for pasture. Native vegetation for these prairie soils include grasses such as rattail smutgrass, bahiagrass, seacoast bluestem, silver bluestem, bristlegrasses, balsamscale, mouring lovegrass, hairy grama, threeawn, and annuals. Forbs include snoutbean, croton, partridge pea and annuals. A few widely scattered, scrubby live oak and mesquite trees have encroached in some areas.
Ecological site name: Claypan Prairie 28-44" Pz; (R150AY528TX)
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General location: coastal plain of Texas from the tributaries of the San Antonio River to the Mission River
Land Resource Region: T(Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region)
Major Land Resource Area: 150A Gulf Coast Prairies
Extent: moderate
These soils were formerly included in the Edna, Vidauri, and Orelia series. The series was reclassified in 2006 based on lab data and soil moisture monitoring.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
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For a detailed soil description, visit:
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Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Bluegrass series. The upper 50 to 100 centimeters of the solum formed in silty material and the lower part formed in residuum weathered from phosphatic limestone. The phosphatic limestone members include the Lexington and Cynthiana Limestone Formations of the Inner Bluegrass Physiographic Region. (Kentucky Soil Atlas; by Anastasios D. Karathanasis, University of Kentucky)
Landscape: Bluegrass soils are on nearly level to moderately steep uplands. Slopes are commonly 0 to 12 percent, but range up to 20 percent. The underlying limestone is cavernous and some areas have karst topography.
The Bluegrass series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in silty material over residuum weathered from phosphatic limestone. These soils are on uplands.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Typic Paleudalfs
Thickness of the solum ranges from 60 to 120 inches or more. Thickness of the argillic horizon ranges from 50 to 100 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 60 to 200 inches or more. Chert fragments, less than 3 inches in diameter, range from 0 to 5 percent in the 2Bt, 2BC and 2C horizons. The reaction of the Ap, A and Bt horizons range from neutral to strongly acid; the 2Bt, 2BC and 2C horizons range from slightly acid to strongly acid. The phosphate content in the solum is variable but is typically medium or high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for crops; such as burley tobacco, corn, small grains, alfalfa, and for pasture. Bluegrass and white clover are the most common pasture plants. Native vegetation was dominated by oaks, elm, ash, black walnut, black and honey locust, hackberry, black cherry, and Kentucky coffee tree. Glades of native grasses and canes were reported by early settlers.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. The Bluegrass series was previously included with the Maury series or the Sandview series, phosphatic substratum phase.
For additional information about Kentucky soils, visit:
uknowledge.uky.edu/pss_book/4/
For a detailed soil description, visit:
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Soil Profile: Guanajibo gravelly sandy clay loam, 2 to 12 percent slopes. Guanajibo soils are characterized by a surface layer of gravelly sandy clay loam, clayey subsurface layers, and a content of plinthite of 5 percent or more. They are in the udic soil moisture regime.
Landscape: Naturalized pastureland in an area of Guanajibo gravelly sandy clay loam, 2 to 12 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of San Germán Area, Puerto Rico; by Jorge L. Lugo-Camacho, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Setting
Landscape: Coastal plains
Landform: Coastal terraces and alluvial fans
Major uses: Naturalized pastureland
Elevation: 15 to 165 feet
Composition
Guanajibo and similar soils: 90 percent
Dissimilar soils: 10 percent
Typical Profile
Surface layer:
0 to 10 inches—very dark reddish brown gravelly sandy clay loam
Subsoil:
10 to 21 inches—strong brown clay that has red mottles
21 to 37 inches—strong brown clay that has plinthite and red mottles
37 to 63 inches—mottled light olive brown, pale yellow, dark red, strong brown, and brown clay that has plinthite
Minor Components
Dissimilar:
• Delicias soils, which do not have plinthite in the subsoil and are in the higher positions
Soil Properties and Qualities
Depth class: Very deep
Depth to bedrock: More than 80 inches
Parent material: Fine-textured sediments of mixed origin
Surface runoff: Low or medium
Drainage class: Well drained
Permeability: Moderate
Available water capacity: Very high
Seasonal high water table: None within a depth of 80 inches
Flooding: None
Hazard of water erosion: Low or moderate
Rock fragments in the surface layer: 0 to 30 percent, by volume, pebbles
Shrink-swell potential: Low
Natural fertility: Moderate
Content of organic matter in the surface layer: Moderate to high
Reaction: Very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout
Land Use
Dominant uses: Naturalized pastureland
Other uses: Pasture; urban development
Agricultural Development
Cropland
Suitability: Well suited
Commonly grown crops: Sugar cane
Management concerns: Slope
Management measures and considerations:
• Using a resource management system that includes terraces and diversions, stripcropping, contour tillage, no-till planting, and crop residue management reduces the hazard of erosion, helps to control surface runoff, and maximizes rainfall infiltration.
• Applying lime and fertilizer on the basis of soil testing increases the availability of nutrients to plants and maximizes productivity.
Pasture and hayland
Suitability: Well suited
Commonly grown crops: African star grass; guineagrass; pangola grass
Management concerns: Slope
Management measures and considerations:
• Using rotational grazing and implementing a well planned schedule of clipping and harvesting help to maintain the pasture and increase productivity.
• Applying lime and fertilizer on the basis of soil testing increases the availability of nutrients to plants and maximizes productivity during the establishment, maintenance, or renovation of hayland and pasture.
• Overgrazed pastures should be reestablished and then protected from further overgrazing.
Naturalized pastureland
Suitability: Well suited
Commonly grown crops: Guineagrass
Management concerns: Slope
Management measures and considerations:
• Applying lime and fertilizer on the basis of soil testing increases the availability of nutrients to plants and maximizes productivity during the establishment, maintenance, or renovation of pasture.
• Overgrazed areas should be reestablished and then protected from further overgrazing.
Interpretive Group
Land capability classification: IVe
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/puerto_rico/PR...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GUANAJIBO.html
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In the background: Badland
Badland is moderately steep to very steep barren land dissected by many intermittent drainage channels in soft geologic material. Ordinarily, it is not stony and occurs in semiarid and arid areas.
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On the sideslopes: Sheppard fine sand, hummocky
The Sheppard series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in eolian material derived from sandstone. Sheppard soils are on structural benches, alluvial fans, dunes on structural benches, and terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 60 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 9 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 54 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, mesic Typic Torripsamments (No diagnostic features)
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing. Potential vegetation is Mormon-tea, Indian ricegrass, galleta, and Russian thistle.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeast Utah, northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, and southwest Colorado. LRR D, MLRA 35. This series is of large extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/SHEPPARD.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#sheppard
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Moenkopie-Rock outcrop complex
The Moenkopie series (loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Lithic Torriorthents) consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils that formed in alluvium from sandstone and shale. Moenkopie soils are on mesas, plateaus, hills, and structural benches. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 9 inches. Mean annual air temperature is about 52 degrees F.
These soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation is blue grama, galleta, alkali sacaton, threeawn, fourwing saltbush, snakeweed, and sand dropseed, and juniper, algerita, cliffrose, and widely spaced pinyon pine. They are in Northern Arizona and southern Utah. The series is of large extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MOENKOPIE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#moenkopie
Rock outcrop are miscellaneous areas that have little or no identifiable soil and thus supports little or no vegetation without major reclamation. They are exposures of bare bedrock. If needed, map units can be named according to the kind of rock, e.g., “Rock outcrop, limestone.”
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In the floodplain: Aquic Ustifluvents-Typic Fluvaquents association, gently sloping
Aquic Ustifluvents have a shallow water table or one that persists for long periods within a depth of 150 cm. They commonly have some redox depletions with chroma of 2 or less within 50 cm of the mineral soil surface, or they have chroma of 0 or hue bluer than 10Y at some depth between 50 and 150 cm. They are intergrades between Ustifluvents and Aquents. Aquic Ustifluvents may or may not have an Ap horizon or material in the upper 15 cm that would be a mollic epipedon, except that the layer rests on finely stratified sediment. These soils are not extensive in the United States. Most of them are used as cropland, some of which is irrigated.
Typic Fluvaquents are centered almost exclusively on very young water-laid deposits that are mostly in wet areas on flood plains. These soils have fine strata at a shallow depth, or they show too little evidence of alteration to have a cambic horizon. Redoximorphic features in the soils extend downward from a point very close to the surface, and the water table is at or close to the surface most of the year unless artificial drainage has been provided. Typic Fluvaquents are nearly level, and their parent materials are Holocene sediments. Many support forest vegetation, but some support shrub or grassy vegetation. Some areas have been cleared, drained, and protected from flooding and are used as cropland or pasture.
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For additional information about soil classification using Soil Taxonomy, visit:
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For more information about describing soils using the USDA-Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils, visit:
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For more information about describing soils using the USDA-Soil Survey Manual, visit:
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A representative soil profile of a coarse-loamy, mixed, active, frigid Oxyaquic Dystrudept. (Photo and initial observations courtesy of Stan Buol, NCSU.)
For more soil images by Stan Buol, visit:
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This profile was photographed in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The soil is formed in Wisconsin age glacial till from a mixture of igneous and metamorphic material. The site is on a 9 percent slope and vegetated with maple, beech, birch, white pine and hemlock. Organic carbon content is 40 percent in the surface 6 cm and over 2 percent to a depth of 46 cm. pH values range from 3.5 in the surface to 4.7 at and below 46 cm. Al saturation in the surface 6 cm is 64 percent, over 90 percent to 20 cm and 100 percent below 20 cm. Only trace amounts of exchangeable Ca2+, Mg2+ and K+ are present in all horizons below 20 cm. At 46 cm the bulk density is 1.84 gram cm-3 and few if any roots penetrate either because of the density and/or the lack of Ca2+.
Although the gray color of the glacial till below 60 cm may suggest saturation and reduction the ground water table is deep and the soil is considered well drained. Permeability is moderate above the dense till but slow below 46 cm causing short term saturation but no evidence of reduction therefore the Oxyaquic subgroup classification.
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The Lanesboro series consists of well drained soils on glaciated uplands. They are moderately deep to a densic contact and very deep to bedrock. They formed in till derived mainly from dark gray phyllite, shale, slate, or schist. Slope ranges from 0 to 45 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum and low to moderately high in the substratum. The mean annual temperature is about 46 degrees F. and the mean annual precipitation is about 45 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, frigid Oxyaquic Dystrudepts
A--0 to 2 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; 10 percent phyllite channers; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bw1--2 to 8 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) channery silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; 15 percent phyllite channers and 5 percent flagstones; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
Bw2--8 to 15 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine and common medium roots; 15 percent phyllite channers and 5 percent flagstones; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
Bw3--15 to 19 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery silt loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine and few medium roots; 20 percent phyllite channers and 5 percent flagstones; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
Bw4--19 to 29 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very channery loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; 25 percent phyllite channers and 10 percent flagstones; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
Cd--29 to 65 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) very channery loam; weak thin platy structure; firm; 35 percent phyllite channers and 10 percent flagstones; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and common fine distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) redoximorphic concentrations; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Berkshire County, Massachusetts; town of Lanesborough, 10 feet east of trail and 400 feet north of old foundation at a point about mile west of Silver Street on road which is located about mile north of power line. USGS Stephentown Center quadrangle, latitude 42 degrees 31 minutes 59 seconds N. and longitude 73 degrees 16 minutes 11 seconds W., NAD 27.
Dystrudepts are the acid Udepts of humid and perhumid regions. They developed mostly in late-Pleistocene or Holocene deposits. Some developed on older, steeply sloping surfaces. The parent materials generally are acid, moderately or weakly consolidated sedimentary or metamorphic rocks or acid sediments. A few of the soils formed in saprolite derived from igneous rocks. The vegetation was mostly deciduous trees. Most of the Dystrudepts that formed in alluvium are now cultivated, and many of the other Dystrudepts are used as pasture. The normal horizon sequence in Dystrudepts is an ochric epipedon over a cambic horizon. Some of the steeper Dystrudepts have a shallow densic, lithic, or paralithic contact. Dystrudepts are extensive in the United States. They are mostly in the Eastern and Southern States.
For more information about the soil series, visit;
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For more information about the series extent and associated data, visit;
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#lanesboro
For more information about describing soils, visit:
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For additional information about soil classification using Soil Taxonomy, visit:
A representative soil profile of Chemehuevi soil in an area of Chemehuevi-Carrizo-Riverbend complex, 2 to
30 percent slopes. series. (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 Chemehuevi series consists of very deep, well drained soils. Chemehuevi soils are on fan remnants. Slopes range from 2 to 8 percent. These soils formed in alluvium from granite, gneiss, and schist. Elevations range from approximately 145 to 540 meters (about 475 to 1,800 feet). The climate is arid with hot, dry summers and warm, dry winters. The mean annual precipitation is about 100 millimeters (about 4 inches) and the mean annual temperature is about 23 degrees C (about 73 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Typic Haplocalcids
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: 25 to 28 degrees C (about 77 to 83 degrees F).
Depth to calcic horizon: 3 to 25 centimeters.
Organic matter: 0 to 0.5 percent.
Control section -
Rock fragments: averages 35 to 60 percent, mainly fine and medium gravel.
Clay content: averages 8 to 12 percent, ranges from 6 to 12 percent in the upper part and 2 to 8 percent in the lower part.
USE AND VEGETATION: Chemehuevi soils are used for recreation and wildlife habitat. Overland flow for Chemehuevi soils ultimately drains into Lake Havasu. The present vegetation is mainly creosote bush, plantain, spiny turkshead, and burrobush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Lower Colorado Desert of southeastern California, U.S.A.;MLRA 31. These soils are of small extent. The name is derived from Chemehuevi Wash located in the eastern portion of the Mojave Desert, west of the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation and Colorado River.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
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Soil profile: Laidig soil in an area of Laidig channery loam, 3 to 15 percent slopes, rubbly. A fragipan (a dense subsurface horizon that restricts water flow and root penetration) begins at a depth of about 122 centimeters. (Soil Survey of New River Gorge National River, West Virginia by Wendy Noll and James Bell, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Laidig soils are on middle and lower slopes. Slopes are mostly 8 to 55 percent but range from 0 to 55 percent. Laidig soils formed in loamy colluvium, 6 or more feet thick, derived largely from acid gray sandstone with small amounts of siltstone and shale of the adjacent uplands. Most areas are forested. Red, white, and chestnut oaks are the most common trees with some sugar maple, beech, and hemlock. A relatively small acreage of these soils is cleared and used for cropland or pasture.
Map Unit Setting
Major land resource area (MLRA): 127—Eastern Allegheny Plateau and Mountains
Landscape: Mountains
Elevation: 473 to 962 meters
Mean annual precipitation: 1,034 to 1,289 millimeters
Mean annual air temperature: 5 to 17 degrees C
Frost-free period: 141 to 190 days
Map Unit Composition
Laidig and similar soils: 70 percent
Dissimilar minor components: 30 percent
Soil Classification: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Fragiudults
Setting
Landform: Mountain slopes
Landform position (two-dimensional): Footslope
Landform position (three-dimensional): Mountain base
Down-slope shape: Linear and concave
Across-slope shape: Concave and linear
Aspect (representative): Southwest
Aspect range: All aspects
Slope range: 3 to 15 percent
Parent material: Rubbly colluvium derived from interbedded sedimentary rock
Properties and Qualities
Depth to restrictive feature: 76 to 127 centimeters to fragipan
Shrink-swell potential: Low (about 1.2 LEP)
Salinity maximum based on representative value: Nonsaline
Sodicity maximum: Not sodic
Calcium carbonate equivalent percent: No carbonates
Hydrologic Properties
Slowest capacity to transmit water (Ksat ): Moderately low
Natural drainage class: Well drained
Flooding frequency: None
Ponding frequency: None
Seasonal water table (depth, kind): About 76 to 117 centimeters; perched (see
table 24)
Available water capacity (entire profile): Very high (about 23.4 centimeters)
Interpretive Groups
Land capability subclass (nonirrigated areas): 7s
West Virginia grassland suitability group (WVGSG): Very Rocky, Acid Soils (RA3)
Dominant vegetation map class(es):
Oak - Hickory Forest
Disturbed Area
Eastern Hemlock - Sweet Birch - Tuliptree / Great Laurel Forest
Deciduous Tree / Great Laurel Forest
Hydric soil status: No
Hydrologic soil group: C
Representative Profile
Oi—0 to 2 centimeters; stony slightly decomposed plant material
A—2 to 9 centimeters; gravelly highly organic loam
A/B—9 to 19 centimeters; gravelly loam
Bt1—19 to 80 centimeters; gravelly loam
Bt2—80 to 122 centimeters; gravelly loam
Btx—122 to 200 centimeters; gravelly loam
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A soil profile of Acove loamy sand, 1 to 5 percent slopes. These soils are moderately deep, well drained with a sandy loam surface and clayey subsoil. There is a characteristic stone line within the profile at approximately 15 to 19 inches (38 to 48 cm). (Soil Survey of Mason County, Texas; by Julia A. McCormick, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Acove series consists of soils that are moderately deep to paralithic sandstone bedrock. These well drained soils formed in loamy residuum derived from sandstone of Cambrian age. These nearly level to strongly sloping soils are on shoulders and summits of ridges on dissected plateaus of the Central Basin. Slope ranges from 0 to 12 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 19 degrees C (67 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 686 mm (27 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, thermic Typic Haplustalfs
Depth to paralithic contact: 61 to 100 cm (24 to 40 in)
Solum thickness: 61 to 100 cm (24 to 40 in)
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mostly for rangeland. Some areas are used for growing peanuts, small grains, and grain sorghums. Native vegetation is sideoats grama, fall witchgrass, threeawn, sand dropseed, and little bluestem. Scattered trees include post oak, mesquite, prickly ash, and hackberry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwest Plateaus and Plains Range and Cotton Region, LRR-I. MLRA 82A-Texas Central Basin. The series is of moderate extent.
Soils of the Craigsville series are very deep and well drained to somewhat excessively drained. They formed in moderately coarse and coarse textured sediments. Permeability is moderately rapid or rapid. They are nearly level to gently sloping soils on flood plains. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 50 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is about 40 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Fluventic Dystrudepts
Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Average content of rock fragments ranges from 5 to 60 percent in the A horizon and 35 to 70 percent in the B and C horizons. These consist of gravel and cobbles. A lithologic discontinuity is not present in all pedons. The soil is very strongly acid or strongly acid, unless limed.
USE AND VEGETATION: More than one-half of these soils are in forest and the remainder is used for growing pasture and crops. Crops are mixed hay, small grain, and corn. Native vegetation is yellow-poplar, white pine, northern red oak, and white oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia and West Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
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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:
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Story Range is located two miles south of the Demilitarized Zone. The range has been used for about 30 years. U.S. forces use Story Range about 75 percent of the time, with South Korean soldiers using the balance. The range is used for mortar, grenade, mine, anti-tank missile and artillery practice. Story Range is the smallest impact area used by the US Army. Multiple targets are in a 500m X 500m area less than 1 km from the southern edge of the DMZ.
Rice production in South Korea is important for the food supply in the country, with rice being a common part of the Korean diet. In 2009, South Korea produced 3,899,036 metric tonnes (4,297,951 tons) of rice. Camp Casey sits in between the South Korean capital of Seoul and the Demilitarized Zone.
South Korean farmers see the range as valuable soil, frequently planting crops near the range, despite warnings to stay away. The range is a typical example of how South Korea's population has encroached on once-rural training areas.
In 1996 and 1998, unexploded ordnance killed two Korean civilians who had entered the range to look for scrap metal. Unexploded munitions and live-fire exercises make the area dangerous. Unexploded ordnance in that area presents a very real and significant danger to anyone walking in the impact area. This danger is greatly amplified if someone is planting or harvesting crops.
The South Korean Army supervises farming. Farmers must have a pass to cross any of the three bridges, guarded by South Korean soldiers, leading to the range. Normally, range control officials and Army explosive ordnance disposal teams would clear munitions from the impact area annually. But the impact area at Story Range is swampy, and teams can only look for duds on the surface. Additionally, the entire area just south of the DMZ is rife with mines. Many are newer mines laid by the South Korean Army as part of the DMZ defense. But there are unmarked mine fields, and monsoon rains shift mines around. Korean contractors and 8th Army personnel have uncovered about 30 mines while putting in fence posts.
In June 2001, USFK and the South Korean Defense Ministry agreed to put a fence around the range by January 2004. USFK lobbied the South Korean government to allow fencing of the entire range more quickly so no one is hurt. To protect the farmers, USFK has erected a three-strand barbed wire fence with metal gates and posted danger signs, in English and Korean, to clearly mark the impact area. USFK erected a barbed-wire fence after farmers ignored warning signs in English and Korean to stay out of the impact area. The barbed-wire fence angered farmers, but they continued in 2001 to raise crops on other sections of the range.
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of Chemehuevi soil in an area of Chemehuevi-Carrizo-Riverbend complex, 2 to
30 percent slopes. series. (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)
Landscape: Typical area of a Chemehuevi soil. Chemehuevi soils are on fan remnants. Slopes range from 2 to 8 percent. These soils formed in alluvium from granite, gneiss, and schist. Elevations range from approximately 145 to 540 meters (about 475 to 1,800 feet). The climate is arid with hot, dry summers and warm, dry winters.
The Chemehuevi series consists of very deep, well drained soils. The mean annual precipitation is about 100 millimeters (about 4 inches) and the mean annual temperature is about 23 degrees C (about 73 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Typic Haplocalcids
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: 25 to 28 degrees C (about 77 to 83 degrees F).
Depth to calcic horizon: 3 to 25 centimeters.
Organic matter: 0 to 0.5 percent.
Control section -
Rock fragments: averages 35 to 60 percent, mainly fine and medium gravel.
Clay content: averages 8 to 12 percent, ranges from 6 to 12 percent in the upper part and 2 to 8 percent in the lower part.
USE AND VEGETATION: Chemehuevi soils are used for recreation and wildlife habitat. Overland flow for Chemehuevi soils ultimately drains into Lake Havasu. The present vegetation is mainly creosote bush, plantain, spiny turkshead, and burrobush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Lower Colorado Desert of southeastern California, U.S.A.;MLRA 31. These soils are of small extent. The name is derived from Chemehuevi Wash located in the eastern portion of the Mojave Desert, west of the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation and Colorado River.
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/C/CHEMEHUEVI.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Lynchburg soil series; the State Soil of South Carolina.
Landscape: Lynchburg soils are on level to gently sloping areas on marine terraces and flats in the Atlantic Coastal Plain and Flatwoods. (Soil Survey of Sumter County, South Carolina; by Charles M. Ogg, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
These soils comprise more than 865,000 acres in 76 counties from Virginia to Alabama with half of the acreage occurring in South Carolina. Lynchburg soils are well suited to cultivated crops, pasture, hayland, and woodland with most areas used for woodland. Lynchburg soils occupy an important niche in wetland ecosystems. These soils are in the riparian buffers between uplands and wetlands and function as primary filters for sediment and contaminants.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Aeric Paleaquults
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/L/LYNCHBURG.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Paralithic (lithic-like) contact is a contact between soil and paralithic materials (defined below) where the paralithic materials have no cracks or the spacing of cracks that roots can enter is 10 cm or more.
Paralithic materials are relatively unaltered materials that have an extremely weakly cemented to moderately cemented rupture resistance class. Cementation, bulk density, and the organization are such that roots cannot enter, except in cracks. Paralithic materials have, at their upper boundary, a paralithic contact if they have no cracks or if the spacing of cracks that roots can enter is 10 cm or more. Commonly, these materials are partially weathered bedrock or weakly consolidated bedrock, such as sandstone, siltstone, or shale. Fragments of paralithic materials 2.0 mm or more in diameter are referred to as pararock fragments.
The photo is from the Polkton soil series. Polkton soils are moderately deep, moderately well drained, and very slowly permeable, occurring on uplands of the Triassic Basins in the Southern Piedmont. They formed in residuum weathered from Triassic siltstone, mudstone, shale, and sandstone. Slope ranges from 2 to 25 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, thermic Oxyaquic Vertic Hapludalfs
Polkton soil series:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/POLKTON.html
Blocky structure. In this type of soil structure, the structural units are blocklike or polyhedral. They are bounded by flat or slightly rounded surfaces that are casts of the faces of surrounding peds. Typically, blocky structural units are nearly equidimensional but may grade to prisms or plates.
The structure is described as angular blocky if the faces intersect at relatively sharp angles; as subangular blocky if the faces are a mixture of rounded and plane faces and the corners are mostly rounded.
Blocky structures are common in subsoil but also occur in surface soils that have a high clay content. The strongest blocky structure is formed as a result of swelling and shrinking of the clay minerals which produce cracks. Sometimes the surface of dried-up sloughs and ponds shows characteristic cracking and peeling due to clays.
Clayey soils have 35 (more than 30 percent in Vertisols) to less than 60 percent (by weight) clay in the particle-size control section.
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:
Note: The left side of the profile is dry colors; the right side has been moistened.
A representative soil profile of the Southwick series in Washington State. Soil color on the left side of the profile is dry, whereas color on the right side is moist. (Soil Survey of Spokane County, Washington; by Scott H. Bare, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Note: The Southwick soils in this survey area are a taxadjunct to the series because the upper part has properties that meet the criteria for the Vitrandic subgroup. They formed in loess with an influence of volcanic ash in the upper part over older loess. This difference, however, does not significantly affect the use, management, and interpretations of the soils
Landscape: These soil are on loess hills in the Columbia basalt plateau. They are dominantly used as cropland of wheat, barley, peas, hay, pasture, and for timber production.
Slope--3 to 40 percent; dominantly north-facing slopes
Parent material--recent loess over older loess
Mean annual precipitation--about 585 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about 8 degrees C
Depth class--very deep
Drainage class--moderately well drained
Soil moisture regime--xeric
Soil temperature regime--mesic
Soil moisture subclass--oxyaquic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Oxyaquic Argixerolls
Note: The classification of this series was changed from fine-silty, mixed, mesic Boralfic Argixerolls to fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Oxyaquic Argixerolls based on the latest revision to Soil Taxonomy. This pedon does not meet the criteria for the aquic subgroup based on the absence of redoximorphic depletions (zones with chroma less than that of matrix) within a depth of 75 cm of the mineral soil surface. The Btxb horizon is not currently considered to meet the criteria for a fragipan, but further study is needed.
Depth to diagnostic horizons and other features are measured from the top of the first mineral layer.
Thickness of mollic epipedon--40 to 75 cm
Depth to argillic horizon--70 to 100 cm
Moisture control section--dry 45 to 60 consecutive days late in summer and early in fall
Mean annual soil temperature--8 to 12 degrees C
Content of clay in particle-size control section (weighted average)--24 to 35 percent
An Oi horizon is in some pedons.
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--dominantly wheat, barley, peas, hay, pasture, and timber production
Natural vegetation--ponderosa pine, common snowberry, white spirea, rose
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Idaho; MLRA 9; moderate extent
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/washington/spo...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/SOUTHWICK.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soils of the Cullen series are very deep and well drained with moderate permeability. They formed in residuum from mixed mafic and felsic crystalline rocks. These soils are on upland ridgetops and side slopes of the Piedmont Plateau. Slopes range from 0 to 35 percent. The mean annual temperature is above 59 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is about 44 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Hapludults
Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 60 inches or more. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Content of rock fragments is 0 to 35 percent, by volume, in the A, Ap, and BA horizons, and 0 to 15 percent, by volume, in the Bt and BC, and 0 to 50 percent, by volume, in the C horizons. They commonly are from crystalline rocks. The soil is strongly acid to slightly acid except where limed.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are under cultivation and in pasture with the remainder in forest. Crops are small grain, corn, soybeans, cotton, hay, pasture plants and some fruit crops. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods and pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Piedmont areas of Virginia and North Carolina, and possibly South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/virginia/VA011...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CULLEN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Typic Petrogypsids, sandy, gypsic, hyperthermic (Soil AD121) are moderately deep, sandy soils with gypsum occurring from the surface and a petrogypsic horizon within 100cm depth from the surface. They occur in deflation plains throughout the Emirate and often occupy the paleo-terraces or the caps of small mesas. Soils are well drained or somewhat excessively drained, above the hardpan and have moderately rapid or rapid permeability.
These soils remain as barren land or in some places have been leveled for agroforestry or sometimes used for low intensity grazing by camel, sheep or goats. They frequently have less than 5% vegetation cover of Cornulaca aucheri, Cyperus conglomerate, Haloxylon salicornicum and Zygophyllum spp.
Plate 19: Typical soil profile and associated landscape for Typic Petrogypsids, sandy, gypsic, hyperthermic (Soil AD121).
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Hilo series; the State Soil of Hawaii. (Photos provided by Amy Koch, USDA-NRCS)
Landscape: Aerial view of an area dominated by Hilo soils showing a diversity of land uses, including orchards and cultivated crops.
The Hilo series was established in 1949 and was first mapped in Soil Survey of the Territory of Hawaii published in 1955. The Hilo series occurs on the Island of Hawaii, to the north of the town of Hilo. The Hilo soils are derived from volcanic ash and occur on the wet, rainy side of Mauna Kea volcano.
The Hilo series consists of deep, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from volcanic ash. Hilo soils are on ashfields and have slopes of 0 to 35 percent. The mean annual rainfall is about 3683 millimeters (145 inches) and the mean annual temperature is 22 degrees C (72 degrees F) or higher.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Medial over hydrous, ferrihydritic, isohyperthermic Acrudoxic Hydrudands
Depth to bedrock: 112 to over 152 centimeters (44 inches to over 60 inches).
Soil moisture: The soil is typically moist but there may be occasional brief periods of dryness in the surface from 0 to 30 centimeters (0 to 12 inches) during the driest months of the year, usually June thru August.
Rock fragments: 0 to 20 percent cobbles in the first 102 centimeters (40 inches)
Soil temperature: 22 degrees C (72 degrees F) or higher
Surface fragments: 0 to 10 percent
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for forest, wildlife habitat, building site development, recreation, orchard crops, agroforestry, and livestock grazing. Common vegetation is hilograss (Paspalum conjugatum), guinea grass (Urochloa maxima), California grass (Urochloa mutica) and strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: This series is along the Hamakua coast on the island of Hawaii. This series is moderately extensive with a total of about 30,000 acres.
For additional information about this state soil, visit:
www.soils4teachers.org/files/s4t/k12outreach/hi-state-soi...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HILO.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Plank series in an area of Plank silt loam, 0 to 1 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of Hardin County, Texas; by Jonathan K. Wiedenfeld, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Plank series consists of very deep, poorly drained soils. These nearly level to very gently sloping soils formed in loamy fluviomarine deposits of the Lissie Formation of early to mid-Pleistocene age. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 19.4 degrees C (67 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 1295 mm (51 in)..
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, siliceous, active, thermic Natric Vermaqualfs
Soil Moisture: An aquic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 20.6 to 21.7 degrees C (69 to 71 degrees F).
Depth to albic materials: 6 to 28 cm (2 to 71 in)
Depth to argillic horizon: 43 to 140 cm (17 to 55 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 6 to 15 percent
Sand larger than very fine sand content: 5 to 15 percent
CEC/clay ratio: 0.45 to .60
Aluminum saturation percent: 60 to 90
Exchangeable sodium percentage: 7 to 11
Crawfish bioturbation: 30 to 75 percent in the B horizon
USE AND VEGETATION: Used primarily for timber production and wildlife habitat. Some areas are used for pasture. Native vegetation is loblolly pine, slash pine, black gum, red maple, yaupon, wax leaf myrtle, Saint John's Cross, sumpweed, bluestems, threeawns, sedges, rushes, and club moss. Pastures are bahiagrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Western Gulf Coast Flatwoods of southeast Texas and possibly Louisiana; LRR T; MLRA 152B; moderate extent
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/TX199/0/...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/PLANK.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A plinthic horizon contains a significant amount of plinthite. If the horizon constitutes a "continuous phase", zones that roots can enter are more than 10cm apart and plinthite makes up 50 percent or more of the volume of the horizon (proposed). 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.
Plinthite has platy and nodular forms. Platy plinthite bodies are red to yellowish red or strong brown about 1 cm thick and 2 to 4 cm long. They commmonly have a horizontal orientation. Nodular plinthite bodies have a similar color range but have an irregular to spherical shape. A horizon with about 10% platy plinthite will perch water. Horizons with nodular plinthite do not perch water, but the underlying reticulately mottled zone is a restrictive horizon that perches water. It is suggested that platy plinthite forms on level landscapes with a freely fluctuating water table. Nodular plinthite apparently forms on more sloping landscapes where lateral movement of water above a restrictive horizon is a contributing factor.
In plinthic soils of the southeastern US, the underlying layers typically act as an aquitard restricting water movement, facilitating the formation of plinthite (especially platy plinthite) in the overlying horizons. In this pedon, the plinthic B horizon is underlain by a red, dense, compact, non-cemented layer that contains numerous tubes or channels of infilled grayish clayey material. These tubes or channels are thought to be formed by biological activity at a time when the sediments were being deposited. In the current environment, they commonly contain coarse roots within elongated macropores. The macropores may be completed filled with soil material or they be open (areas that once contained live roots, but are currently void of roots due to decomposition), allowing for the transmission of air and water within the channel.
Because of the dark red color and dense characteristics, these layers are referred to by the local soil scientists as the "brick" layer.
For more information about a plinthic horizon, visit;
www.researchgate.net/publication/242649722_Rationale_for_...
or;
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S00167061220043...
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-...
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Still series. (Soil Survey of Pinnacles National Monument, California; by Ken Oster, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Still soils are on flood plains and alluvial fans. They forned in alluvial material from sedimentary rocks. Elevations are 600 to 2,000 feet. The climate is subhumid mesothermal with warm dry summers and cool moist winters. Mean annual precipitation is 12 to 25 inches.
The Still series consists of deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvial material from sedimentary rocks. Still soils are on flood plains and alluvial fans and have slopes of 0 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 18 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 60 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Cumulic Haploxerolls
Note: A Still taxadjunct pedon was sampled in Pinnacles National Monument in 2006 - Pedon No 06N0207. The pedon was a taxadjunct due to silty clay loam textures below 40 inches that was strongly to violently effervescent.
USE AND VEGETATION: The soil is used for cultivated alfalfa, sugar beets and dry farmed grain. Natural vegetation is mainly annual grasses with scattered oaks.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Valleys of the south half of the Coast Range in California. The soils are inextensive.
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/S/STILL.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A soil profile of an Anthroportic Udorthent from the Guangdong Province of China near a burial site.
The soil over time had been disturbed by burial and removal. Bodies are buried in shallow graves and allowed to decompose. After about a year the remaining bones are moved to a pot for keeping. This process was originally done because the residents were not local and stored their family members so they could be eventually moved back home hundreds of miles away. This way of caring for the dead has been ongoing for over 500 years---hope burns eternal!
Anthroportic Udorthents are the Udorthents that have 50 cm or more of human-transported material.
Human-transported material (HTM) is parent material for soil that has been moved horizontally onto a pedon from a source area outside of that pedon by purposeful human activity, usually with the aid of machinery or hand tools. This pedon has been covered with soil material from an adjacent area.
This material often contains a lithologic discontinuity or a buried horizon just below an individual deposit. Note the buried soil and contrasting materials starting at the 55 centimeter depth.
Human-transported material may be composed of either organic or mineral soil material and may contain detached pieces of diagnostic horizons which are derived from excavated soils. It may also contain artifacts (e.g., asphalt) that are not used as agricultural amendments (e.g., biosolids) or are litter discarded by humans (e.g., aluminum cans).
Human-transported material has evidence that it did not originate from the same pedon which it overlies. In some soils, irregular distribution with depth or in proximity away from an anthropogenic landform, feature, or constructed object (e.g., a road or building) of modern products (e.g., radioactive fallout, deicers, or lead-based paint) may mark separate depositions of human-transported materials or mark the boundary within situ soil material below or beside the human-transported material. In other soils, a discontinuity exists between the human-transported material and the parent material (e.g., a 2C horizon) or root-limiting layer (e.g., a 2R layer) beneath it.
Multiple forms of evidence may be required to identify human-transported material where combinations of human actions and natural processes interact. Examples of these combinations include human-transported material deposited by dredging adjacent to active beaches, human- or water-deposited litter on flood plains and beneath water bodies, and deposits from natural geologic events (e.g., airfall volcanic ash) mantling anthropogenic landforms and microfeatures. Therefore, it is often the preponderance of evidence, including published or historical evidence and onsite observations, that allows identification of human-transported material.
For more information about describing soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052523...
To download the latest version of Soil Taxonomy, 2nd Edition, 1999, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
For additional information about soil classification using Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th Edition, 2022, visit:
[www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/Keys-to-Soi...]
To download the latest version of Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th Edition, 2022, visit:
[www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...]
For an Illustrated Guide to Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/Illustrated...
Wedge structure is expressed by elliptical, interlocking lenses that terminate in acute angles, commonly in vertic materials that are dominated by smectitic clay (clays that predominately have montmorillinitic mineralogy).
The face of the wedge is polished and groved by soil movement caused by the shrinking and swelling of the soil as it wets and drys.
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/E/ENON.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#enon
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:
Related site:
Soil Profile: A representative soil profile of the Watauga series. Watauga soils are very deep, but most have minimal profile development as indicated by a relatively thin argillic horizon.
Landscape: Watauga soils are on gently sloping to very steep ridges and side slopes in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Slopes range from 2 to 50 percent. Elevation ranges from 1,400 to 4,000 feet. They formed in residuum that is affected by soil creep in the upper part and are weathered from high-grade metamorphic rocks that are high in mica content such as mica gneiss and mica schist. (Photo from the Upper Mountain Research Station, NCSU)
Mica Research Project
In the summer of 2003, a team of soil scientists was assembled to study and evaluate how mica has historically been described in soil profile descriptions (official soil descriptions and field descriptions) and to determine if a need exists to refine quantification and description techniques as related to soil classification and making and interpreting soil maps. In addition to soil scientists, resource specialists (geologists, engineers, research specialists, and university staff) were asked to provide input, guidance, and historical perspective.
For more information about the Mica Research Project, visit:
[www.researchgate.net/publication/363254375_Report_of_the_...]
Upper Mountain Research Station
The station is located in Ashe County at an elevation of 3,200 feet, making it the highest research station in the state. The 454-acre station is host to a variety of research programs centered around Christmas trees, livestock and agriculture. Crops including tobacco, corn, pumpkins, turfgrass and small fruits — blackberries, raspberries and blueberries — are tested for their suitability for high elevations. The station also has a variety of greenhouses.
For more information about the research farm, visit:
cals.ncsu.edu/research/research-stations/upper-mountain-r...
Watauga Soil
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.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, micaceous, mesic Typic Hapludults
The solum ranges from 20 to 60 inches thick. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Content of coarse fragments ranges from 0 to 35 percent in the A, Ap, AB, or E horizon, and 0 to 15 percent in the B horizon. Reaction is very strongly acid to moderately acid unless limed. Flakes of mica are common or many in the surface layer and upper B horizon and many in the lower B and C horizons.
USE AND VEGETATION: About half of the areas of this series is cleared and used for corn, small grain, tobacco, truck crops, hay, or pasture. Some areas are being used for Christmas tree production. Common trees include scarlet oak, chestnut oak, black oak, white oak, hickory, eastern white pine, Virginia pine, and pitch pine. Yellow poplar and northern red oak are common in the northern portions of MLRA 130B. The dominant understory is flowering dogwood, mountain laurel, rhododendron, and sourwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Blue Ridge (MLRA 130B) of North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The series is extensive.
For more information about the "Soil Survey Report of Ashe County, NC", visit:
archive.org/details/asheNC1985
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WATAUGA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Pembroke soils, with their deep loess surface and fertile subsoil, are among the stronger row-crop soils in western Kentucky. Their good water-holding capacity, friable surface texture, and neutral reaction make them well suited to soybeans. In field trials and on working farms, yields on Pembroke silt loams are consistently solid—commonly in the 50 to 60 bushels per acre range, with higher yields possible under favorable weather and management.
Farmers who maintain soil fertility, manage pH with lime, and use no-till or reduced-till practices to conserve moisture often see Pembroke fields perform at or above county averages. In good years, with timely rains and optimal seed fill conditions, soybeans on Pembroke soils can surpass 65 bushels per acre, matching the best upland soils of the region. Even in more average years, the resilience of these deep, well-drained silt loams helps maintain dependable yields, making Pembroke soils a cornerstone of soybean production in western Kentucky.
Pembroke soils are a well-known soil series of the Inner and Outer Bluegrass regions and the Pennyroyal regions of central and western Kentucky, particularly associated with limestone-derived landscapes. (Photo provided by John Kelley, USDA-NRCS).
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.
The soils in the foreground are dominantly in the Winona series. The Winona series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils that formed in eolian deposits over alluvium from limestone and calcareous sandstone. Winona soils are on plateaus and hills and have slopes of 0 to 70 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 11 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 52 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, mesic Lithic Ustic Haplocalcids
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation is blue grama, black grama, needleandthread, galleta, sand and spike dropseed, hairy grama, muttongrass, bottlebrush, squirreltail, alkali sacaton, winterfat, bigelow sage, fourwing saltbush, cliffrose, juniper and pinyon pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Arizona and west central New Mexico.
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WINONA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#winona
Soils in the mid-ground are typically Lithic Ustic Torriorthents. Lithic Ustic Torriorthents have more available moisture than Lithic Torriorthents during summer or, if located in the Tropics, during the rainy seasons. They are moist in some or all parts of the moisture control section for more than one-fourth of the time (cumulative) when the soil temperature at a depth of 50 cm exceeds 5 oC. They have a shallow or very shallow lithic contact, which limits the moisture-storage capacity. Consequently, the soils commonly are associated with the Ustalfs and Ustolls on more stable surfaces. Lithic Ustic Torriorthents are of moderate extent in the United States. They are used mostly for winter or spring grazing.
Torriorthents are the dry Orthents of cool to hot, arid regions. They have an aridic (or torric) moisture regime and a temperature regime warmer than cryic. Generally, they are neutral or calcareous and are on moderate to very steep slopes. A few are on gentle slopes. Many of the gently sloping soils are on rock pediments, are very shallow, have a sandy-skeletal particle-size class, or are salty. Others are on fans where sediments are recent but have little organic carbon. The vegetation on Torriorthents commonly is sparse and consists mostly of xerophytic shrubs and ephemeral grasses and forbs. They are extensive in the Western United States.
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...
In the background is Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 feet and one of the most scenic viewpoints in the San Francisco Peaks. On clear days hikers can see the Grand Canyon from the summit. The alpine forest trail is located just north of Flagstaff. This is a strenuous rocky trail with over 3,000 feet elevation gain. Humphreys Trail is open year round but snow can make the hike difficult during the winter months. Humphrey's Peak is a 9.2 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Flagstaff, Arizona that features beautiful wild flowers and is only recommended for very experienced adventurers. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round.
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Pacolet series. The surface layer of brown sandy clay loam is about 15 centimeters thick. The subsoil of red clay is at a depth of about 15 to 70 centimeters, and the loamy saprolite extends below a depth of about 150 centimeters. (Soil Survey of Polk County, North Carolina; by Scott C. Keenan, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: An area of upland Piedmont soils, such as Pacolet soils are commonly used as pasture and hayland. Cleared areas are also used for small grain, corn, and tobacco.
The Pacolet series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in residuum weathered mostly from felsic igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont uplands. Slopes commonly are 15 to 25 percent but range from 2 to 60 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults
The Bt horizon is at least 10 to 24 inches thick and extends to a depth of 18 to 30 inches. Depth to a lithic contact is more than 60 inches. The soil is very strongly acid to slightly acid in the A horizon, and very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout the rest of the profile. Content of rock fragments, dominantly gravel, ranges from 0 to 35 percent in the A and E horizons, and 0 to 15 percent in the Bt horizon. Most pedons have few to common flakes of mica in the solum, and few to many in the C horizon.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in forests of pine and mixed hardwoods. Cleared areas are used for small grain, hay, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Piedmont of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of large extent. Pacolet soils were formerly mapped as a thin solum phase of the Cecil series.
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/P/PACOLET.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Elk series. Elk soils have an argillic horizon that extends to a depth of 100 cm or more.
Landscape: Elk soils are on stream terraces or second bottoms and are commonly in cultivated crops such as corn, soybeans, or tobacco. Some lower lying areas adjacent to stream channels are are subject to rare flooding in the spring. (Soil Survey of Christian County, Kentucky, by Ronald D. Froedge, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Elk series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils formed in mixed alluvium from limestone, siltstone, shale, sandstone, and loess. Slopes commonly range from 0 to 12 percent, but the range extends to 40 percent. Near the type location, the average annual temperature is 57 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation is 46.3 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Ultic Hapludalfs
Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 60 inches or more. Depth to bedrock is greater than 5 feet. Fragments range from 0 to 5 percent in the solumn and ranges from 0 to 35 percent in the C horizon. Reaction ranges from slightly acid through very strongly acid in the A and Bt horizons and from slightly acid through strongly acid in the C horizon.
USE AND VEGETATION: Largely in cultivated crops, principally corn, tobacco, small grains, soybeans, and hay or pasture. Native forest has oaks, elms, walnut, hickory, and ash as the dominant species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and possibly Missouri and Tennessee. Extent is moderate, about 200,000 acres.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/kentucky/chris...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/E/ELK.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Macropores are too large to have any significant capillary force. Unless impeded, water will drain from these pores, and they are generally air-filled at field capacity. Macropores can be caused by cracking, division of peds and aggregates, as well as plant roots, and zoological exploration.
Note the accumulation of iron (redox feature) along vertical area surrounding the pore. Redoximorphic features (RMFs) consist of color patterns in a soil that are caused by loss (depletion) or gain (concentration) of pigment compared to the matrix color, formed by oxidation/reduction of iron and/or manganese coupled with their removal, translocation, or accrual.
For more information about describing and sampling soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
or Chapter 3 of the Soil Survey manual:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/The-Soil-Su...
For additional information on "How to Use the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils" (video reference), visit:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_hQaXV7MpM
For more information about Hydric Soils and their Field Indicators, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
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 (130 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...
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.