LOCATION DARNEN MN+ND SD
Established Series
Rev. TLP-JMK-SDW-AGG
03/2014
DARNEN SERIES
The Darnen series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loamy colluvial-alluvial sediments from glacial drift on glacial moraines. They have slopes of 0 to 15 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 6 degrees C (43 degrees F). Mean annual precipitation is about 559 millimeters (22 inches).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Cumulic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Darnen loam on a 3 percent concave footslope at the base of the bluffs of a small river valley on a ground moraine in cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 20 centimeters (0 to 8 inches); black (10YR 2/1) loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [15 to 25 centimeters (6 to 10 inches) thick]
A--20 to 61 centimeters (8 to 24 inches); black (10YR 2/1) loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine pores; neutral; clear smooth boundary. [15 to 71 centimeters (6 to 28 inches) thick]
AB--61 to 74 centimeters (24 to 29 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine pores; neutral; clear smooth boundary. [0 to 25 centimeters (0 to 10 inches) thick]
Bw1--74 to 86 centimeters (29 to 34 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. [0 to 64 centimeters (0 to 25 inches) thick]
Bw2--86 to 203 centimeters (34 to 80 inches); dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Swift County, about 6 miles north northwest of Holloway; about 579 meters (1,900 feet) west and 46 meters (150 feet) north of the southeast corner, sec. 29, T. 122 N., R. 42 W., USGS Hancock SW Minnesota quadrangle, latitude 45 degrees 20 minutes 26 seconds N., longitude 95 degrees 57 minutes 37 seconds W., NAD 27
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mollic epipedon ranges from 61 to 122 centimeters (24 to 48 inches) in thickness. Depth to free carbonates is 51 to 152 centimeters (20 to 60 inches). The control section has 18 to 30 percent clay and from 15 to about 35 percent fine sand and coarser. Pedons have fine strata from downslope soil movement. Pedons commonly do not have rock fragments, but some have as much as 5 percent of the volume, mostly below 76 centimeters (30 inches). In some pedons thin lenses, less than 15 centimeters (6 inches) thick, of sand or loamy sand are in the lower part of the control section. The soil moisture control section is dry for 20 to 35 consecutive days at some time during the 120 days following the summer solstice. Some pedons have strata of loam to loamy sand and their gravelly modifiers below a depth of 152 centimeters (60 inches).
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 or 2. It is loam, silt loam, sandy loam, or clay loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. The lower value and/or chroma are mostly in the upper part of the B horizon. It is loam or clay loam. It is slightly acid to slightly alkaline. Redoximorphic features are in some pedons below depths of 91 centimeters (36 inches).
Some pedons have a Bk horizon, BCk horizon, and/or a C horizon
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Everts,
Frolic,
La Prairie and
Southhaven series. Everts soils have coarse textured material above depths of 152 centimeters (60 inches). Frolic and Southhaven soils do not have carbonates above a depth of 152 centimeters (60 inches). La Prairie soils have free carbonates throughout the control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on nearly level to gently sloping foot slopes or toe slopes on glacial moraines. Slope gradients range from 0 to 15 percent. The soil formed in loamy, colluvial-alluvial sediments derived from loamy glacial till or drift. The mean annual temperature ranges from 4 to 7 degrees C (38 to 45 degrees F). The mean annual precipitation is 485 to 735 millimeters (19 to 29 inches). The frost-free days range from 90 to 150 days. Elevation above sea level is 204 to 427 meters (670 to 1400 feet).
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the well drained
Buse,
Langhei and
Barnes soils. The Barnes, Langhei and Buse soils are upland soils formed in glacial till, and they are on slopes above the Darnen soils. In some places they are associated with moderately well drained
Svea, poorly drained
Flom and very poorly drained
Quam soils.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is 1.5 to 5.1 cm per hour (.6 to 2 inches). Surface runoff is low to medium. Depth to seasonal high saturation is 1.2 to 1.8 meters (4 to 6 feet) at some time during the months of March to June and October through November in normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are cultivated. Corn, soybeans and small grains are the principal crops. Native vegetation is tall grass prairie.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA's 55A, 55B, 56, 57 and 102A. Western Minnesota, eastern North Dakota and eastern South Dakota. Moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Norman County, Minnesota, 1970.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 74 centimeters (29 inches) (Ap, A, and AB horizons); Cumulic based on colluvium having fine strata from periodic sediment moving downslope with rainfall events. Often the color of the upper sediment is lighter than the original surface due to deposition; udic moisture regime.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.