LOCATION BUHL MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, frigid Aquic Glossudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Buhl loam on a 4 percent concave footslope on a till plain under mixed deciduous and coniferous forest. Elevation of about 445 meters. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A-- 0 to 8 centimeters; black (10YR 2/1) loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak medium granular structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; 2 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 centimeters thick; if an Ap, as thick as 23 centimeters)
E1-- 8 to 20 centimeters; brown (10YR 4/3) loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine to coarse roots; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) Fe concentrations; 2 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
E2-- 20 to 33 centimeters; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) loam, light gray (10YR 7/2) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine to coarse roots; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) Fe concentrations; 2 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the E horizons is 5 to 30 centimeters)
2B/E-- 33 to 46 centimeters; brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay (Bt horizon - about 80 percent); brown (10YR 5/3) loam (E horizon - about 20 percent); moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine to coarse roots; few prominent patchy olive gray (5Y 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; common fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) Fe concentrations; 2 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 23 centimeters thick)
2Bt1-- 46 to 81 centimeters; brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine to coarse roots; common discontinuous brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; few medium prominent gray (10YR 5/1) Fe depletions in root channels; few coarse prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) Fe concentrations throughout; 2 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
2Bt2-- 81 to 147 centimeters; brown (7.5YR 4/3) clay; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common faint discontinuous brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; common medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) Fe concentrations; 5 percent gravel and 1 percent cobbles; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 25 to 89 centimeters)
2BCd-- 147 to 203 centimeters; brown (7.5YR 4/3) clay; moderate very coarse and extremely coarse prismatic structure; very firm; few distinct reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; carbonates segregated in few pinkish white (7.5YR 8/2) irregular fine threads and soft masses; 5 percent gravel, 2 percent cobbles and 1 percent stones; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 88-Northern Minnesota Glacial Lake Basins, St. Louis County (Embarrass Part), Minnesota; about 2 miles west of Aurora; located about 2,075 feet north and 1,500 feet west of southeast corner of sec. 7, T. 58 N., R. 15 W. USGS Biwabik, Minnesota Quadrangle; latitude 47 degrees 31 minutes 19 seconds N. and longitude 92 degrees 17 minutes 23 seconds W., NAD27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to free carbonates--greater than 125 centimeters
Rock fragment content--1 to 8 percent by volume throughout the profile
Depth to the densic till contact--100 to 150 centimeters
Some pedons have a thin O horizon (duff layer).
A or Ap horizon:
Hue--7.5 YR or 10YR
Value--2 or 3
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture--loam, fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam or silt loam
Reaction--very strongly acid or strongly acid
E horizon:
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--4 to 6
Chroma--2 or 3
Texture--loam, fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, silt loam or clay loam
Reaction--very strongly acid or strongly acid
The 2B/E and/or 2E/B horizons have characteristics similar to the E horizon described above and the Bt horizon described below.
Some pedons have a Bw horizon.
2Bt horizon:
Hue--5YR or 7.5YR
Value--3 or 4
Chroma--3 or 4
Texture--clay or clay loam
Reaction--strongly acid to slightly acid
2BCd horizon:
Hue--5YR or 7.5YR
Value--3 or 4
Chroma--3 or 4
Texture--clay or clay loam
Reaction--slightly acid to slightly alkaline
Calcium carbonate content is less than 15 percent
. It typically has 1 to 3 millimeter oblique fractures spaced 10 centimeters to 3 meters apart.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the
Mooseline series.
Mooseline--have sandy textures in the middle and lower portion of the upper series control section (the eolian deposits)
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--loamy eolian deposits and underlying dense clayey or loamy till
Landform--slightly concave to slightly convex slopes on flats, low convex rises, level summits, and footslopes on till plains and moraines
Slope--1 to 5 percent
Mean annual air temperature--3 to 5 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--635 to 711 millimeters
Annual frost-free period--95 to 125 days
Elevation above sea level--350 to 490 meters
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Near the type location, these are the
Fayal,
Hibbing, and
McQuade soils. They form a hydrosequence with the Buhl soils
Fayal--are in drainagways or depressions and are in the Mollic Epiaqualfs subgroup
Hibbing--are on higher lying or more sloping positions on the landscape and are in the Oxyaquic Glossudalfs subgroup
McQuade--are on lower lying flats and in drainageways and are in the Aeric Glossaqualfs subgroup
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--somewhat poorly drained--these soils have perched seasonal high saturation as shallow as a depth 15 centimeters below the surface during the spring in normal years
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--1.00 to 10.00 micrometers per second (moderately high) in the loamy mantle, 0.10 to 10.00 micrometers per second (moderately low or moderately high) in the argillic horizons and 0.10 to 1.00 micrometers per second (moderately low) in the underlying dense till
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested. Principal trees are aspen, balsam fir, white spruce, jack pine, white pine and red pine. Some areas are used for cropland, hayland or pastureland. Native vegetation is mixed deciduous and coniferous forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains or Laurentian Upland
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland or Superior Upland
Physiographic sections--Western Lake Section (if in the Central Lowland Province) or undefined (if in the Superior Upland Province)
MLRAs--Northern Minnesota Glacial Lake Basins (88)
LRR K; northeast Minnesota
Extent--moderate
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: St. Louis County, 2005.
REMARKS:
Particle size control section--the zone from a depth of 33 to 83 centimeters
series control section--the zone from the surface to a depth of 147 centimeters
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
ochric epipedon--the zone from the surface to a depth of 33 centimeters (A, E1 and E2 horizons);
albic horizon--the zone from 8 to 33 centimeters (E1 and E2 horizons);
glossic horizon--the zone from 33 to 46 centimeters (2B/E horizon);
argillic horizon--the zone from 33 to 147 centimeters (2B/E, 2Bt1 and 2Bt2 horizons);
densic materials--the zone from 147 to 203 centimeters (2BCd horizon).
The classification was changed from Aeric Glossaqualfs with an earlier Official Series Descrition revision dated 09/2006. The landscape position is such that the alpha,alpha-dipyridyl test is not deemed conclusive for the Aqualfs suborder.
Taxonomy version--Keys to Soil Taxonomy, tenth edition, 2006.
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Laboratory data--refer to Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station Central File Code numbers 2641, 2570 and 2988 and National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, Nebraska-user pedon id 95MN137052 or user pedon id 95MN137069 (http://ssldata.sc.egov.usda.gov/) for results of some lab analyses.