LOCATION CABBA MT+ND SD UT
Established Series
Rev. NRS-JAL-CJH
03/2018
CABBA SERIES
The Cabba series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum or colluvium derived from semiconsolidated, loamy sedimentary beds. These soils are on hills, escarpments, and sedimentary plains. Slopes are 2 to 70 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 16 inches, and mean annual air temperature is about 43 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, frigid, shallow Typic Ustorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Cabba loam in rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted)
A--0 to 3 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine roots; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 4 inches thick)
Bk1--3 to 8 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine roots; many very fine pores; common fine masses of lime; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary.
Bk2--8 to 15 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; strong thin platy structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; common very fine pores; common fine masses of lime; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (Combined Bk horizons 7 to 18 inches thick)
Cr--15 to 60 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) semiconsolidated sedimentary beds consisting of interbedded sandstone and shale, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; few very fine and fine roots in vertical cracks in upper part; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2).
TYPE LOCATION: Chouteau County, Montana; 2,100 feet north and 1,000 feet east of the SW corner of sec. 15, T. 21 N., R. 9 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil temperature - 41 to 47 degrees F.
Moisture control section - between 4 to 12 inches or to the paralithic contact.
Rock fragments - 0 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section.
Particle-size control section - 20 to 35 percent clay, 0 to 35 rock fragments.
Individual horizons may have as much as 45 percent rock fragments with less than 15 percent lithic fragments.
Depth to Cr horizon - 10 to 20 inches.
The chromas of 1 are lithochromic.
Soil phases - stony, gravelly; PE greater than 31. The hard rock fragments in the stony and gravelly phases are mainly surficial deposits.
A horizon - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 3, 4, 5, or 6 dry; 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 1, 2, 3, or 4
Texture: fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Clay content: 10 to 35 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 60 percent--0 to 40 percent stones, cobbles, boulders; 0 to 30 percent pebbles or channers
Rock fragments, surface cover: 0.01 to 0.1 percent stones
EC: 0 to 4 mmhos/cm
Effervescence: none to violently
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 10 percent
Reaction: pH 6.6 to 9.0
Bk horizons - Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y
Value: 5, 6, 7, or 8 dry; 4, 5, 6, or 7 moist
Chroma; 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6
Texture: loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Clay content: 18 to 35 percent
Structure: massive thin platy, subangular blocky or prismatic
Rock fragments: 0 to 35 percent--0 to 5 percent cobbles, 0 to 30 percent pebbles or channers
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 2 to 15 percent
EC: 0 to 8 mmhos/cm
Reaction: pH 7.4 to 9.0
Effervescence: slight to violently
Cr horizon: This horizon consists of interbedded layers of silt, sand, and clay or a mixture of the three. They crush to loam, silt loam, very fine sandy loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam. Some layers are harder than others, but all are considered rippable or soft and are readily dug with power tools.
Reaction: pH 7.4 to 8.4
COMPETING SERIES:
Abac (MT) - has hues of 5YR and redder.
Cohagen (ND) - has a coarse-loamy particle-size control section.
Wiggler (UT) - has its precipitation evenly distributed throughout the year; moisture control section is not frozen during winter and is dry in some part for 60 to 75 days in winter; does not have accumulation of secondary carbonates.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform - sedimentary plains; escarpments; hills.
Elevation - 1,600 to 6,800 feet.
Slope - 2 to 70 percent.
Parent material - formed in residuum from semiconsolidated loamy sedimentary beds or in colluvium over the beds.
Climate - cool with long, cold winters; moist springs; warm, dry summers.
Mean annual precipitation - 12 to 19 inches. Some areas receive less than 14 inches of precipitation and have cooler temperatures and lower evaporation.
Mean annual air temperature - 37 to 45 degrees F.
Frost-free period - 70 to 135 days.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Moderate permeability. Runoff is very low to high depending on slope.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used as rangeland. The potential native vegetation is mainly little bluestem, western wheatgrass, needleandthread, prairie sandreed, bluebunch wheatgrass, green needlegrass, plains muhly, forbs, and shrubs.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: SALINA, KANSAS
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Granite County, Montana, 1969.
REMARKS: Soil interpretation records: MT0048, MT0253, MT0254, MT0463, MT0686.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the soil surface of the soil to a depth of 7 inches (A and Bk1 horizons); particle size-control section - the zone from 10 to 15 inches (Bk2 horizon); paralithic contact - at a depth of 15 inches (Cr horizon). Cabba soils have a frigid temperature regime and an ustic moisture regime.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.