LOCATION APPAM NDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, frigid Typic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Appam sandy loam in native grass. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated)
A--0 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) sandy loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common fine and very fine roots; about 3 percent gravel; neutral; clear boundary. (5 to 11 inches thick)
Bw--6 to 15 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and fine subangular; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common fine and very fine roots; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) organic stains on faces of peds; about 5 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
Bk--15 to 19 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak medium and coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium and fine subangular blocky; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; about 12 percent gravel; many coarse irregularly shaped masses of carboantes; violent effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 11 inches thick)
2C--19 to 60 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly coarse sand, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; about 30 percent gravel: strong effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Burke County, North Dakota; 2,600 feet north and 700 feet east of the southwest corner, sec. 36, T. 160 N., R. 93 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to sand and gravel ranges from 14 to 24 inches. The control section is sandy averaging less than 35 percent coarse fragments. Depth to carbonates ranges from 12 to more than 60 inches. Thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 7 to 15 inches.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5 and 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sandy loam or coarse sandy loam. It is slightly acid or neutral.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6 and 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is sandy loam or coarse sandy loam. It is neutral or slightly alkaline.
The Bk horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 to 8 and 4 to 6 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sandy loam or coarse sandy loam. It is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline. Some pedons have a 2Bk horizon.
The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7 and 3 to 6 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is sand, loamy sand, coarse sand or loamy coarse sand containing up to 70 percent gravel. It is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family. Other series are the Lihen, Manning, Ruso, Schaller, Tally, Telfer and Wabek soils. Lihen, Schaller, Telfer and Wabek soils do not have cambic horizons. Manning soils are coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy skeletal. Ruso and Tally soils are coarse-loamy. In addition, Ruso and Manning soils have sand and gravel at depths of 24 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Appam soils are on smooth and plane, level to strongly sloping outwash plains and terraces. Slope gradients typically are less than 5 percent but range to 15 percent. These soils formed in glaciofluvial deposits. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 38 to 45 degrees F and mean annual precipitation from 12 to 16 inches. Most of the moisture falls in the spring and summer.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Lihen, Schaller, Telfer and Wabek soils and the Bowdle, Divide, Korchea and Lehr soils. All of these soils are on nearby terraces, commonly at different levels. Bowdle, Divide and Lehr soils are fine-loamy over sandy or sandy skeletal. Korchea soils are fine-loamy and have an irregular decrease in organic matter with depth.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained. Surface runoff is very slow or slow. Permeability is moderately rapid in the upper part and very rapid in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Soils are cropped to small grains, corn and tame grass for hay and pasture. Native vegetation is needleandthread, prairie sandreed, prairie junegrass, sand sedge, threadleaf sedge and a wide variety of forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western North Dakota and possibly Central South Dakota and Eastern Montana. The soil is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Burke County, North Dakota, 1991.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 15 inches (A and Bw horizon).
Soils previously correlated as Manning in MLRA's 53A and 53B (McLean, Mountrail and Ward Counties, North Dakota) would most probably be placed with the Appam series.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory sample S88ND-105-164 (NSSL)