LOCATION HOLDINGFORD MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Mollic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Holdingford sandy loam with a west-facing slope of 4 percent in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) sandy loam; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; about 3 percent coarse fragments; medium acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 8 inches thick)
E--8 to 12 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) sandy loam; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak, medium platy structure; friable; about 3 percent coarse fragments; medium acid; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--12 to 21 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; moderate, medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few thin and moderately thick dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds and voids; about 5 percent coarse fragments; medium acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--21 to 29 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common thin and moderately thick dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) clay films on faces of peds and voids; about 10 percent coarse fragments; medium acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--29 to 37 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) sandy loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common thin and moderately thick dark brown (7.5YR 3/2 and 4/2) clay films on faces of peds and voids; about 10 percent coarse fragments; medium acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 19 to 42 inches.)
C--37 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam; massive; friable; about 10 percent coarse fragments; few soft masses of lime; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Stearns County, Minnesota, about 1 mile west and 3/4 of a mile north of Opole; 580 feet west and 1230 feet south of the northeast corner of sec. 1, T. 126 N., R. 30 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to free carbonates typically is 36 to 48 inches, and ranges from 26 to 60 inches. Coarse fragments range from 5 to 20 percent by volume in most parts of the solum. Most of the fragments are gravel size with some cobblestones and occasional boulders present. They are of mixed lithology but mostly igneous. A horizons in some pedons contain as little as 2 percent coarse fragments.
The A or Ap horizon has value of 2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry, and chroma of 1 through 3. It is commonly sandy loam or fine sandy loam. It has weak or moderate granular, crumb, or subangular blocky structure and is friable or very friable. Reaction ranges from neutral to medium acid.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is sandy loam or fine sandy loam, and less commonly loamy sand or loamy fine sand. It has weak or moderate, very fine to medium crumb, platy or subangular blocky structure. It is friable or very friable and ranges from slightly to strongly acid. Some pedons have thin BE horizons as expressed by ped coatings and interfingering.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam or loam. It has moderate or weak blocky or platy structure. It is friable or firm, and slightly hard or hard when dry. Clay content ranges from 10 to 18 percent. It has few to many thin or moderately thick dark brown clay films on faces of peds and voids. It ranges from strongly acid to neutral in reaction. Some pedons have BC horizons.
The C horizon has value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam or loam, with thin coarser textured strata common. It has weak platy structure or is massive displaying horizontal fracture. It is friable or very friable and slightly hard or hard. It is mildly to moderately alkaline. Most pedons have fine soft lime threads and masses.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family. Dorset, Flak, Growton, Heyder, Nebish, and Waukon soils are closely related. Dorset soils have sandy or sandy skeletal textures within depths of less than 24 inches. Flak soils have firm or very firm consistence in the lower part of the B horizon and C horizon. Growton soils have mottles with chroma of 2 in the upper 10 inches of the Bt horizon. Heyder soils lack Ap horizons 7 inches thick with color value of 3 or less. Nebish and Waukon soils are fine-loamy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Holdingford soils are on glacial ground moraines and drumlins with convex simple slopes. The slope gradients range from 2 to 18 percent. The soils formed in calcareous sandy loam or loam glacial till. The mean annual temperature ranges from 40 to 45 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 23 to 32 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Flak, Growton, Nebish, and Waukon soils and the Prebish series. The moderately well drained and somewhat poorly drained Growton soils and the very poorly drained Prebish soils are in a hydrosequence with Holdingford soils. The well drained Flak, Nebish and Waukon soils occupy similar landscape positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of this soil is in cropland with corn, hay, and small grains grown. The remainder is in forest or wooded pasture. Dominant species are elm, ash, oak, and basswood. Native vegetation was grass prairie which later were succeeded by mixed hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Holdingford soils are of minor extent in central Minnesota.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Stearns County, Minnesota, 1981.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to MAES Central File Code No. 1841 for laboratory analysis of a representative pedon.