LOCATION LITIMBER MTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, frigid Typic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Litimber clay loam - native grass. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 2 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; moderate very fine crumb structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many very fine roots; noncalcareous; abrupt irregular boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
A2--2 to 4 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular and moderate very fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine tubular pores and many fine interstitial pores; many very fine roots; noneffervescent; clear broken boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
Bw1--4 to 9 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; moderate medium prisms that separate to moderate medium and fine angular blocky structure; hard, friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; many fine and very fine vertical and horizontal tubular pores; many very fine roots; noneffervescent; clear irregular boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Bw2--9 to 17 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure; hard, friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; many fine and medium vertical tubular pores; common very fine roots; moderate effervescence; gradual boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
Bk--17 to 40 inches; pink (5YR 7/3) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 5/3) moist; weak coarse prisms that separate to weak medium platy structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine vertical tubular pores; common very fine roots; strong effervescence with many films and threads of soft segregated lime; gradual boundary. (10 to 30 inches thick)
BCk--40 to 66 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/3) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 5/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; moderate efferescence with less than 5 percent films of segregated lime.
TYPE LOCATION: Glacier County, Montana; 700 feet north and 800 feet west of SE corner of section 8, T.35N., R.10W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Hue below the A horizon is 5YR or 2.5YR. Depth to the Bk horizon ranges from 15 to 30 inches with horizons above the Bk horizon being calcareous or noncalcareous. Mean annual soil temperature ranges from 43 to 47 degrees F. Average summer soil temperature ranges from 59 to 64 degrees F. Average winter soil temperature ranges from 20 to 30 degrees F. The soils are usually moist, and they are dry in the upper part of the pedon for more than 90 cumulative days. The moist soil is frozen to depths as great as 60 inches for more than 90 consecutive days each year.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR through 5YR, value of 4 or 5 dry and chroma of 2 or 3.
The Bw horizon has dry value of 4 or 5 in the upper part and 5 or 6 in the lower part, and chroma of 3 or 4. It has 35 to 50 percent clay. It has moderate fine to medium prismatic or blocky structure with ped coats being one unit of value less than the interior in the lower part of the horizon.
The Bk and BCk horizons have 5 to 14 percent CaC03 equivalent with an estimated 1 to 3 percent more CaC03 accumulated in the Bk horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Timberg series. Timberg soils have a paralithic contact at 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Litimber soils occur on undulating uplands underlain by clay shale "red beds" and on the associated stream terraces and in swales. The clay of their parent materials is a low expanding type. The climate is cold semiarid with mean annual air temperature ranging from 40 to 45 degrees F., mean summer temperature ranging from 60 to 65 degrees F. and mean winter temperature ranging from 15 to 30 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Kuro and the competing Timberg soils. Kuro soils are shallow over red clay shales.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; medium to slow runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for growing small grain crops and for range. Native vegetation is western wheatgrass, prairie junegrass, Sandberg bluegrass, needle-and-thread, rough fescue, silver sage, threadleaf sedge and fringed sagewort.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Litimber soils are inextensive but occur throughout the unglaciated parts of northern Montana east of the Rocky Mountains, comprising an estimated 50,000 acres in Montana.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Glacier County (Blackfeet Reservation-Cut Bank Area), Montana, 1969.