LOCATION GRYGLA MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy over loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid, frigid Mollic Endoaquents
TYPICAL PEDON: Grygla loamy fine sand (Percy till phase) with a level slope on a glacial lake plain under a mixed aspen forest.(Colors are moist soil unless otherwise stated)
A--0 to 6 inches; black (10YR 2/1) loamy fine sand, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure parting to weak very fine subangular blocky; very friable; many fine and very fine roots; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bg--6 to 26 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) fine sand; single grain; loose; few fine and very fine roots; common fine prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) Fe concentrations; 2 percent cobbles; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of Bg horizons is 10 to 38 inches)
2Bkg--26 to 42 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine distinct white (10YR 8/1) soft masses of lime on faces of peds; many fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) Fe concentrations; 5 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 16 inches thick)
2Cg--42 to 80 inches; light grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) loam; few fine distinct black (N 2/0) Mn nodules; massive; firm; many fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) Fe concentrations; 10 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Roseau County, Minnesota; about 8 miles west and 7 miles south of Wannaska; about and 1,700 feet south and 100 feet east of northwest corner of sec. 34, T. 159 N., R. 41 W; USGS Thief Lake quadrangle, lat. 48 degrees 33 minutes 05 seconds N. and long. 95 degrees 55 minutes 38 seconds W., NAD27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the sandy lacustrine mantle and depth to free carbonates ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The upper sediment averages less than 5 percent rock fragments, but the lower few inches in some pedons has as much as 35 percent rock fragments as a lag line. The glacial till has 1 to 15 percent rock fragments. The rock fragments are mixed in lithology.
The A and Ap horizons have hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2, value of 4 or 5 dry. The A horizon typically is loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam or fine sandy loam. The epipedon is less than 6 inches thick where the texture is sandy loam or fine sandy loam. In some pedons the A horizon may contain sufficient organic matter for a mucky modifier.The A horizon is slightly acid or neutral. A stony surface phase is also recognized.
The Bg horizons have hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. It has redoximorphic features in all parts. Texture is sand, fine sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand. Reaction is neutral or slightly alkaline.
The 2Bkg, 2BCkg, 2CBkg or 2Cg horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. It has has redoximorphic features in all parts. It is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
The 2Bkg, 2BCkg, 2CBkg or 2Cg horizon in the Percy till phase has textures of sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam or silt loam. It has 12 to 18 percent clay and more than 15 percent fine sand and coarser sand. Calcium carbonate equivalent ranges from 20 to 40 percent. Moist bulk density ranges from 1.75 to 2.00 g/cc.
The 2Bkg, 2BCkg, 2CBkg or 2Cg horizon in the Des Moines till phase has textures of loam, clay loam or silty clay loam. It has 18 to 35 percent clay and more than 15 percent fine sand and coarser sand. Calcium carbonate equivalent ranges from 10 to 25 percent. Moist bulk density ranges from 1.35 to 1.60 g/cc.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Grygla soils have plane or slightly concave slopes with gradient of less than 2 percent on glacial lake plains. They formed in 20 to 40 inches of mostly sandy glaciolacustrine sediments over loamy, calcareous, glacial till. The lacustrine sediments are of Glacial Lake Agassiz origin and the till is Late Wisconsinan in age. Mean annual temperature ranges from 36 to 40 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 24 to 28 inches. Frost-free days range from 88to135. Elevation above sea level ranges from 1200 to 1350 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Berner, Chilgren, Eckvoll, Enstrom and Northwood soils. The very poorly drained Berner and Northwood soils are formed in organic over mineral material and sit slightly lower on the landscape. Chilgren soils are found in similar landscape positions and are formed entirely in glacial till. The moderately well drained Eckvoll and Enstrom soils formed in similar sediments and are on slightly higher landscape positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained and very poorly drained. Surface runoff is very low or ponded. Permeability is rapid in the upper sediment and moderate or moderately slow in the lower sediment. Depth to seasonal high saturation is as high as 0.5 foot for the poorly drained phase and at the surface for the very poorly drained phase during the months of April to July in normal years. In addtion, the very poorly drained phase will have ponding during periods of heavy rain or snowmelt.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are forested. Some are used for pasture and some are cropped to small grain and hay. Native vegetation is mixed or alternating prairie and forest. Major species of trees are quaking aspen, balsam poplar, willow , alder, black spruce and black ash.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA-56 and 88, mostly in Northwestern Minnesota on the Glacial Lake Agassiz Plain. Moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kittson County, Minnesota, 1975.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizon and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - from the surface of the soil to 6 inches (A horizon); too thin for mollic but dark enough for a mollic subgroup; aquic moisture regime,low chroma and redox features below the A horizon.
A lacustrine substratum phase of the Grygla series has also been correlated which will be separated as a different series at a later date.
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Refer to MAES Central File Code numbers 1596 to 1361 for for results of some laboratory analyses of additional pedons.