LOCATION HARMONY SDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, frigid Pachic Argiudolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Harmony silt loam - on a plane slope of less than 1 percent in cropland. When described the soil was dry to 53 inches and moist below. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) silt loam, black (10YR 2/1) moist; weak medium and fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable; many fine roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--8 to 15 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) silt loam, black (10YR 2/1) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate medium and fine granular; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Combined A horizons 8 to 16 inches thick)
Bt1--15 to 19 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) silty clay loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; weak coarse and medium prismatic structure parting to strong fine and very fine subangular blocky; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--19 to 28 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and fine blocky; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
Bt3--28 to 35 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; moderate coarse and medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and fine blocky; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few dark gray (10YR 4/1) coatings on faces of peds, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; shiny film on faces of peds; few fine roots; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Combined Bt horizons 8 to 28 inches thick)
Bk--35 to 40 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; common fine accumulations of carbonate; strong effervescence; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 20 inches thick)
C--40 to 60 inches; light gray (2.5Y 7/2) loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) redox concentrations and few fine distinct grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) redox depletions; massive; laminated; slightly hard, very friable; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Brown County, South Dakota; about 2 miles east and 4 miles south of Aberdeen; 2385 feet south and 1240 feet west of the northeast corner of Sec. 4, T. 122 N., R. 63 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 16 to 30 inches and extends into the Bt horizon. Depth to carbonates ranges from 16 to 38 inches.
The A horizon has 10YR hue, value of 3 or 4 and 2 or 3 moist, and a chroma of 1. It is silt loam or silty clay loam and is slightly acid or neutral.
The Bt1 horizon has 10YR hue, value of 4 or 5 and 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 1 or 2. Clean silt and sand grains coat surfaces of peds in some pedons. It typically is silty clay loam but is silty clay in some pedons averaging 35 to 50 percent clay. It is neutral or slightly alkaline. Some pedons have a BA horizon.
The Bt2 and Bt3 horizons have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6 and 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 1 to 3. They are silty clay loam or silty clay averaging 35 to 50 percent clay. They are from neutral to moderately alkaline. Clean silt and sand grains coat surfaces of peds in the upper inch of the Bt horizon in some pedons.
The Bk horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 5 to 8 and 4 to 6 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is clay loam, silty clay loam, silt loam or loam. It is neutral to moderately alkaline.
The C horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 6 to 8 and 4 to 6 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is silt loam, loam, or silty clay loam and typically is varved with very thin strata of very fine sand to clay. Varves range from less than 1 mm to 10 mm thick. Few to many fine nests and striations of salt and gypsum are in some pedons. It is slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline. Loamy glacial till is below a depth of 40 inches in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Burnel, Gwinner, Hetland, LaPlatta and Sieche series in the same family. The Burnel soils typically have a thinner A horizon and formed in alluvium. The lower part of the Gwinner soils formed in glacial till having 2 to 10 percent coarse fragments. The Hetland soils have 35 to 45 percent clay in the surface horizon. The LaPlatta soils have drier summers, contain ash and vermiculite, and formed in residuum weathered from tuff, conglomerate, tuffaceous sandstone, and limestone. Sieche soils contain more sand and formed in glacial till having 2 to 10 percent coarse fragments.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Harmony soils are on level and nearly level lake plains. Slope gradients are less than 2 percent. The soils formed in calcareous lacustrine deposits of stratified silt, fine sand, and clay. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 34 to 45 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 14 to 24 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Aberdeen, Beotia, Exline, Great Bend, Nahon and Zell soils. The Aberdeen, Exline and Nahon soils are on the broad smooth flats in close association with the Harmony soils. They have natric horizons. In addition, the Exline soils have salt accumulation within 16 inches of the surface. The Beotia soils are on slightly higher plane to concave surfaces, and the Great Bend and Zell soils are on the slightly higher convex surfaces than the Harmony soils. The Beotia and Great Bend soils do not have argillic horizons and are fine-silty. The Zell soils are coarse-silty.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is negligible or low depending on slope. Permeability is moderately slow in the solum and slow to moderate in the underlying material.
USE AND VEGETATION: The majority of the Harmony soils are cropped to small grain, corn, and alfalfa. Native vegetation is western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, big bluestem, blue grama, sideoats grama, sedges, and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern South Dakota. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Spink County, South Dakota, 1955.
REMARKS: Some pedons mapped and correlated prior to 1968 as Harmony would now be included in the Aberdeen series (fine, smectitic Glossic Udic Natriborolls).
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 28 inches (Ap, A, Bt1 and Bt2 horizons); argillic horizon - the zone from 19 to 35 inches (Bt2 and Bt3 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL, type location sample 74L1043-50.