LOCATION FAIRDALE ND+MN MT SD WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, frigid Mollic Udifluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Fairdale silt loam - on a plane slope of less than 1 percent under cropland. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated. When described the soil was moist throughout.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; many fine pores; slight effervescence; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined A horizons 6 to 15 inches thick)
C1--7 to 10 inches; fine strata of dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) and very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; common fine pores; few large root channels; few worm casts; few fragments of snail shells; slight effervescence; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary.
C2--10 to 16 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate very fine, fine, and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; few large root channels; many fine pores; few worm casts; few snail shells; slight effervescence; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
C3--16 to 48 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) and brown (10YR 5/3) stratified loam, silt loam and very fine sandy loam, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; few fine prominent brown (7.5YR 5/4) redoximorphic concentrations in the lower part; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots, common fine pores; few fine white (10YR 8/1) irregularly shaped masses of carbonates; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Ab1--48 to 60 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) and very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; few fine prominent brown (7.5YR 5/4) redoximorphic concentrations; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few roots and fine pores; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Ab2--60 to 67 inches; black (10YR 2/1) and olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) silty clay loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; massive; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; many fine white (10YR 8/1) irregularly shaped masses of carbonates; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (Combined Ab horizons 0 to 20 inches thick)
C'1--67 to 80 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) and grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam, light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/3) dry; massive; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; many fine white (10YR 8/1) irregularly shaped masses of carbonates; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Walsh County, North Dakota; about 1/2 mile west and 1 mile south of Minto; 1850 feet south and 250 feet east of the northwest corner, sec. 6, T. 155 N., R. 52 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The 10- to 40-inch particle size control section averages between 18 and 30 percent clay and 15 to 50 percent fine sand or coarser.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 and 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, silty clay loam, silty clay or clay loam. It is slightly alkaline. Ab horizons, where present, are at depths of more than 12 inches.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7 and 3 to 5 moist, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is stratified with average texture of loam or silt loam. It may contain thin layers of fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, clay loam or silty clay loam. It is slightly or strongly effervescent, and contains few accumulations of carbonates. It is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline. Some pedons have sand below a depth of 40 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Fairdale soils are on low terraces and flood plains. Slope gradients are mainly less than 1 percent, but range to 15 percent along channels and edges of terraces. The soils formed in stratified, loamy recent alluvium. The mean annual air temperature ranges from 36 to 48 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation from 15 to 25 inches, most of which falls in the spring and summer. Frost-free period ranges from 90 to 140 days. Elevation above sea level ranges from 650 to 2350 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cashel, LaDelle, Lamoure, La Prairie, Ludden, Neche and Wahpeton soils. All of these soils except Wahpeton soils are on low terraces and floodplains. Wahpeton soils are on higher levees. Cashel soils are fine and somewhat poorly drained. LaDelle and Neche soils are fine-silty. In addition, LaDelle soils have a mollic epipedon more than 20 inches thick and Neche soils have redoximorphic concentrations within depths of 20 inches. Lamoure soils are fine-silty. Ludden and Wahpeton soils are fine. In addition, Lamoure and Ludden soils are poorly drained. In addition, Wahpeton have a mollic epipedon more than 16 inches thick. La Prairie soils have mollic epipedons more than 30 inches thick.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff ranges from negligible to medium depending on slope. Permeability is moderate. These soils have rare or common flooding early in the spring when the snow melts, and during severe summer storms. A seasonal high water table is at a depth of 3 to 5 feet at some time during the period of April through June.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the soils are used for cropland, hay and pasture. Native vegetative is mid and tall prairie grasses such as big bluestem, green needlegrass, porcupinegrass, western wheatgrass, a variety of forbs, shrubs, and trees such as boxelder, chokecherry, cottonwood, elm and prairie rose.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota, mainly along the Red River of the North and its tributaries. The soil is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sargent County, North Dakota, Tri-County Soil Survey, 1961.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: criteria for Mollic Udifluvents - Ap horizon with moist value of less than 4 and dry value less than 6.