LOCATION BONESTEEL NE SD

Tentative Series
MBK, PTC
11/2021

BONESTEEL SERIES

The Bonesteel series consists of very deep, very poorly and poorly drained soils that formed in loess. Bonesteel soils are in closed depressions on upland plains in the Dakota-Nebraska Eroded Tableland, MLRA 66. Slopes range from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 585 millimeters (23 inches) and the mean annual air temperature is about 9 degrees C (48 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Vertic Argiaquolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Bonesteel silt loam, on a concave, less than 1 percent slope in hayland at an elevation of 531 meters (1742 feet). (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.) When described on November 1, 2017, the soil was wet, non-satiated from 0 to 43 centimeters (0 to 17 inches) and wet below.

Ap--0 to 15 centimeters (0 to 6 inches); black (10YR 2/1) silt loam, 24 percent clay; moderate fine granular structure; soft, friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 centimeters (2 to 6 inches) thick)

AB--15 to 43 centimeters (6 to 17 inches); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam, 35 percent clay; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; moderately hard, firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; common hard 2 to 5 mm, spherically shaped iron-manganese concretions; very few faint clay films on faces of most peds; slightly alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 28 centimeters (4 to 11 inches) thick)

Bt--43 to 112 centimeters (17 to 44 inches); black (2.5Y 2.5/1) silty clay, 45 percent clay; moderate medium prismatic structure; hard, firm, very sticky, very plastic; common hard 2 to 5 mm, spherically shaped iron-manganese concretions; few distinct clay films on faces of most peds; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (60 to 80 centimeters (24 to 32 inches) thick)

BC--112 to 155 centimeters (44 to 61 inches); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay, 50 percent clay; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky, very plastic; common fine faint brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) masses of oxidized iron; slightly alkaline. (30 to 50 centimeters (12 to 20 inches) thick)

TYPE LOCATION: Boyd County, Nebraska; 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles) west and 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) north of Butte, Nebraska; 73 meters (240 feet) west and 314 meters (1,030 feet) south of the northeast corner, sec. 14, T. 34 N., R. 14 W. (Public Land Survey Location); Butte NW USGS quadrangle; latitude 42 degrees, 55 minutes, 37.11 seconds N. and longitude 98 degrees, 55 minutes, 13.85 seconds W., NAD83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: The soil moisture control section (10 to 30 cm) is usually wet, in all parts, from March to November.
Depth to episaturation: 0 to 76 centimeters (0 to 30 inches)
Moisture regime: Aquic
Mollic thickness: 50 to 152 centimeters (20 to 60 inches)
Depth to argillic horizon: 10 to 53 centimeters (4 to 22 inches)
Depth to secondary carbonates (when present): 59 to 126 centimeters (23 to 50 inches)
Depth to redoximorphic features: 0 to 50 centimeters (0 to 20 inches)
Redoximorphic features: 2 to 20 mm, black, spherically shaped manganese masses and/or iron masses

Particle size control section:
Clay content: 40 to 60 percent
Sand content: 5 to 10 percent

Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 2 to 4 dry, 2 to 3 moist
Chroma: 1 or 2 dry or moist
Texture: silt loam
Clay content: 20 to 27 percent
Sand content: 5 to 10 percent
Redoximorphic features: 0 to 10 percent concentrations and/or depletions
Reaction: neutral to slightly alkaline
Thickness: 5 to 15 centimeters

AB horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 3 or 4 dry, 2 to 3 moist
Chroma: 1 or 2 dry or moist
Texture: silty clay loam or silty clay
Clay content: 30 to 43 percent
Sand content: 5 to 10 percent
Redoximorphic features: 5 to 15 percent concentrations and/or depletions
Reaction: neutral to slightly alkaline
Thickness: 10 to 28 centimeters
Some pedons do not have an AB horizon.

Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 5 dry, 2 to 4 moist
Chroma: 1 or 2 dry or moist
Texture: silty clay or clay
Clay content: 40 to 60 percent
Sand content: 5 to 10 percent
Redoximorphic features: 5 to 15 percent concentrations and/or depletions
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
Thickness: 60 to 80 centimeters
Some pedons contain secondary carbonates.

BC horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 1 or 2 dry or moist
Texture: silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Clay content: 32 to 60 percent
Sand content: 5 to 10 percent
Redoximorphic features: 5 to 15 percent concentrations and/or depletions
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
Thickness: 30 to 50 centimeters
Some pedons contain secondary carbonates.
Some pedons do not have a BC horizon.

C horizon: When present
Hue: 2.5Y or 5Y
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 1 or 2 dry or moist
Texture: silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Clay content: 35 to 62 percent
Sand content: 5 to 10 percent
Redoximorphic features: 10 to 15 percent concentrations and/or depletions
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Butler, Carbika, Chancellor, Clarinda, Coatsburg, Edinburg, Fosterburg, Haig, Lodgepole, Mazaska, Minnetonka, Olbut, Sacville, Sampsel, Taintor, Terrabella, Virden, Winterset, and Worthing series.

Butler soils are found in swales and have and abrupt textural change.
Carbika soils allow for greater than 20 percent sand in series control section.
Chancellor soils are found in swales and have accumulations of gypsum and other salts in most pedons.
Clarinda and Haig soils are in areas receiving more than 585mm (23 inches) of precipitation.
Coatsburg soils allow for 15 to 35 percent fine sand or coarser material in the PSCS.
Edinburg, Taintor, and Winterset soils have a clay content that averages less than 40 percent in the particle-size control section.
Fosterburg soils have 5 to 15 percent exchangeable sodium in the subsoil.
Lodgepole, Mazaska, and Minnetonka soils allow for greater than 20 percent sand in the series control section.
Olbut soils are somewhat poorly drained and have salt accumulations 25 to 61 centimeters (10 to 24 inches).
Sacville soils have 1 to 60 percent gravels or cobbles in the series control section.
Sampsel soils have a paralithic contact with shale within 200 centimeters, and allow for up to 10 percent gravel in PSCS.
Terrabella soils allow for matrix hues of 5YR or 7.5YR, and allow for up to 5 percent gravel in the PSCS (20 percent in C horizon).
Virden soils only allow for 35 to 40 percent clay in the PSCS, and allow for 1 percent coarse fragments in series control section.
Worthing soils allow for the accumulation of gypsum and greater than 20 percent sand in lower horizons.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: loess
Landform: closed depressions
Slopes: 0 to 1 percent
Elevation: 417 to 722 meters (1368 to 2369 feet)
Mean annual air temperature: 8 to 10 degrees C (46 to 50 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: 490 to 700 millimeters (19 to 28 inches)
Frost-free period: 106 to 149 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Reliance, Onita, and Ree series.
Reliance soils are gently sloping to strongly sloping and occur on convex ridgetops and side slopes. They are well drained.
Ree soils are gently sloping to strongly sloping, occurring in positions similar to Reliance. They have a sandier subsoil and are well drained.
Onita soils are nearly level on slightly higher landform positions or swales. They are moderately well drained.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage: very poorly and poorly
Saturated hydraulic conductivity: low
Saturation: a perched seasonal high water table fluctuates from around 30 cm above (1.0 foot) to 30 cm below the soil surface during the winter and spring in normal years.
Ponding: frequent long

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in pasture or wildlife habitat and used for livestock grazing and waterfowl. Some areas are used for hay. Minor use is cropping of corn and soybeans. The plant community consists mainly of smooth brome, cattails, smartweed, curly dock, and reed canarygrass. The rangeland ecological site is Closed Depression (R066XY065NE).

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Primarily south central South Dakota and north central Nebraska; LRRs G and M; MLRAs 63B, 66, and 102C. The series is of small extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Salina, Kansas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Boyd County, Nebraska 2018. This series was created from soils previously mapped as Scott and Fillmore in SD and northern NE.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section: The zone from 15 to 65 centimeters (6 to 26 inches). (AB and Bt horizons)
Mollic epipedon: 0 to 112 centimeters (0 to 44 inches). (Ap, AB, and Bt horizons)
Argillic horizon: 15 to 112 centimeters (6 to 44 inches). (AB and Bt horizons)
Redoximorphic concentrations: In the zone from 15 to 155 centimeters (6 to 61 inches). (AB, Bt, and BC horizons)
Linear extensibility: Exceeds 6.0 between the surface and 100 centimeters (39 inches).
Episaturation: The zone of saturation at 0 to 43 centimeters (0 to 17 inches). (Ap and AB horizons)
Some pedons contain silty clay loam in the surface.
11/2021 PTC: Added wetland vegetation to ADDITIONAL DATA. Updated SSRO statement. Added Thickness to Range in Characteristics.

Taxonomic Version: Twelfth Edition, 2014.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Pedon ID 2017NE015003 represents the Typical Pedon and is in NASIS.

In Nebraska, the native vegetative cover is an herbaceous wetland community commonly inhabited with: lesser duckweed (Lemna aequinoctialis), turion duckweed (L. turionifera) Herbaceous: river bulrush (Bolboschoenus fluviatilis), largespike spikerush (Eleocharis macrostachya), rice cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides), short-beak arrowhead (Sagittaria brevirostra), duck-potato arrowhead (S. cuneata), swamp smartweed (Persicaria coccinea), large-fruit burred, (Sparganium eurycarpum), narrowleaf cattail (TYPHA ANGUSTIFOLIA), broadleaf cattail (Typha latifolia). Source: Terrestrial Ecological Systems and Natural Communities of Nebraska, Version IV. S.B. Rolfsmeier and G. Steinauer. Nebraska Natural Heritage Program, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, 2010.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.