LOCATION CASHEL ND+MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, calcareous, frigid Aquertic Udifluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Cashel silty clay - on a level plane slope of less than 1 percent under cropland. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; black (10YR 2/1) silty clay, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; strong fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; slight effervescence; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary.
C--7 to 29 inches; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) and olive (5Y 4/3) silty clay, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) and pale olive (5Y 6/3) dry; common fine prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) redoximorphic concentrations; weak medium platy structure parting to moderate fine granular; hard, friable, sticky and very plastic; few fine roots; strata of silty clay loam and silty clay 1/2 to 1 inch thick; few fine masses of carbonates in the lower part; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary.
Ab--29 to 35 inches; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) silty clay, gray (5Y 5/1) dry; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) redoximorphic concentrations; moderate medium granular structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine masses of carbonates; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
C'--35 to 47 inches; olive gray (5Y 4/2) silty clay loam, light olive gray (5Y 6/2) dry; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) redoximorphic concentrations; massive; hard, firm, sticky and very plastic; few fine masses of carbonates; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
A'b--47 to 60 inches; black (N 2/0) silty clay, dark gray (N 4/0) dry; few fine prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) redoximorphic concentrations; massive; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine masses of carbonates; strong effervescence; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Cavalier County, North Dakota; about 6 miles east and 4 miles north of Vang; 750 feet east and 400 feet north of the southwest corner, sec. 2, T. 163 N., R. 57 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The 10- to 40-inch control section typically is silty clay or clay in the major part averaging between 50 and 60 percent clay, but ranges from 35 to 60 percent clay including silty clay loam with or without thin strata of silt loam. The upper horizons are laminated or finely stratified. The soil is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline throughout. One or more Ab horizons are within depths of 60 inches in most pedons.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3 and 3 to 5 dry, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silty clay loam, silty clay or clay. It is finely stratified in uncultivated areas. Some pedons have a thin A horizon below the Ap horizon.
The C horizon has hue of 2.5Y, 5Y, 10YR or is neutral, value of 2 to 5 and 4 to 7 dry, and chroma of 3 or less. It is laminated silty clay or silty clay loam but includes clay with or without thin strata of silt loam. It contains 1 to 10 percent carbonates diffused throughout the soil; and some accumulations as threads or masses. Some pedons have fragments of snail shells. It does not have redoximorphic features in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cashel soils are on flood plains. Slope gradients range from 0 to 25 percent. Stream meanders and channels cut up the soil areas in places. The soil formed in recent alluvium washed from fine-textured soils high in organic matter. The mean annual air temperature ranges from 38 to 45 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 18 to 22 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bearden, Colvin, Fairdale, Fargo, Hegne, La Prairie, Ludden, Nutley, Overly and Wahpeton soils. Bearden, Colvin and Overly soils are on nearby lake plains higher on the landscape above the flood plain. These soils are fine-silty and have regular decrease in organic matter. Fairdale, La Prairie and Ludden soils are on the same flood plain as Cashel soils. Fairdale and La Prairie soils are fine-loamy. Ludden soils have mollic epipedon more than 24 inches thick and are poorly drained. Fargo, Hegne and Nutley soils are on adjacent lake plains higher on the landscape. Fargo soils have a regular decrease in organic matter and Bw horizons. Hegne soils have calcic horizons within depths of 16 inches. Nutley soils have a mollic epipedon and a regular decrease of organic carbon with depth. Wahpeton soils are on levees and less frequently flooded areas on the flood plains. They have a mollic epipedon more than 16 inches thick.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Moderately slow or slow permeability. Runoff is negligible to very high depending on slope. These soils are flooded early in the spring following snow melt and after severe summer storms. They have a seasonal high water table at depths of 2 to 4 feet during and immediately after periods of flooding.
USE AND VEGETATION: Some areas are cropped to spring seeded small grains. Native vegetation is tall prairie grasses, mixed hardwoods and shrubs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota, mainly along the Red River. The soil is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Richland County, North Dakota, June 1970.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: criteria for Aquertic subgroup - saturated with water between a depth of 50 cm and 1 m at some period during the year and an LE of 6 cm or more in the top 1 m.
Where the series was mapped in some older surveys and on slumping areas of 6 to 25 percent slopes the series has a deep water table and may consist dominantly of Vertic or Mollic Udifluvents.