LOCATION LOUSCOT MTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, acid, frigid Aridic Ustorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Louscot silt loam, grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted)
A11--0- to 1-inch; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silt loam, darkk gray (10YR 4/1) moist; vesicular crust; slightly hard, very friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; many very fine vesicular pores; medium acid (pH 6.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (1/2- to 1-inches thick)
A12--1 to 4 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1 moist; weak fine platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, sticky and plastic; many fine roots; few fine tubular pores; medium arid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick)
C1--4 to 14 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) moist; moderate fine platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, sticky and plastic; many fine roots; few fine tubular pores; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); clear smooth boundary. (6 to 13 inches thick)
C2--14 to 22 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); clear smooth boundary. (8 to 16 inches thick)
C3--22 to 34 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); clear smooth boundary. (12 to 18 inches thick)
C4--34 to 60 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, sticky and plastic; strongly acid (pH 5.2).
TYPE LOCATION: Rosebud County, Montana; 790 feet south and 595 feet east of the NW corner of sec. 29, T. 11 N., R. 39 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil temperature - 45 to 47 degrees F.
Moisture control section -
Mollic epipedon thickness -
Control section - 20 to 35 percent clay and less than 15 percent fine sand an coarser.
Rock fragments -
Depth to bedrock -
Depth to calcic horizon -
Soil phases -
NOTES-
A2 horizon - Hue: 10YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry; 4 moist
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture, less than 2 mm: silt loam
Clay content: 20 to 27 percent
Rock fragments:
EC: 2 to 8 mmhos/cm
Reaction: pH 4.5 to 6.5
C horizon - hue: 10YR
Value: 5 dry; 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture, less than 2 mm: silt loam or silty clay loam
Clay content: 20 to 35 percent
Rock fragments:
EC: 4 to 16 mmhos/cm
Reaction: pH 3.6 to 5.5
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Louscot soils are on fans below sedimentary uplands. Elevations are 2,800 to 3,000 feet. Slopes are 0 to 4 percent. These soils formed in acid alluvium. The climate is characterized by cold, dry winters; moist springs; and hot, dry summers. Mean annual precipitation is 8 to 11 inches. Mean annual temperature is 45 to 46 degrees F. The frost-free period is 115 to 135 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Louscot soils are used mainly for range. Potential native vegetation is mainly western wheatgrass, Montana wheatgrass, Nuttail saltbush, fourwing saltbush, rubber rabbitbrush, slenderbush eriogonum, low sagebrush, and plains pricklypear.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Louscot soils are not extensive in southeastern Montana in Porcupine Dome area of Rosebud County.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Denver, Colorado.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rosebud County, Montana, 1978.
REMARKS: Soil Interpretations Record: MT0413. Available aluminum in this soil may be at levels high enough to be toxic to some plants. This at present is the theory why there is limited plant production. Laboratory data from National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, Nebraska. Laboratory sample number: 78PO487-489 (S-77MT-087-451).