LOCATION MURRSTEAD MTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Euic, frigid Fluvaquentic Haplohemists
TYPICAL PEDON: Murrstead mucky peat, on a nearly level, smooth floodplain, wet meadow hayland (Colors are for moist soil).
Oe1--0 to 8 inches; black (10YR 2/1) broken face and rubbed mucky peat (hemic material); about 60 percent fiber and raw herbaceous plant material, about 30 percent rubbed; weak very fine granular structure; nonsticky and nonplastic; herbaceous fiber, mostly residue from Phragmites arundinacea; many very fine and fine roots; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear smooth boundary.
Oe2--8 to 12 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) broken face mucky peat (hemic material); very dark brown (10YR 2/2) rubbed and pressed; about 50 percent fiber, about 20 percent rubbed; strong coarse platy structure parting to weak thin platy; nonsticky and nonplastic; herbaceous fiber; many very fine and fine roots; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Oe1 and Oe2 horizons is 12 to 23 inches).
Oe/C--12 to 21 inches; stratified (1/4 to 3/4 inch) black (10YR 2/1) broken face and rubbed mucky peat (hemic material) (50 percent); about 50 percent fiber, about 20 percent rubbed; and very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) mucky silt loam (40 percent), and dark gray (10YR 4/1) silt loam (10 percent); weak thin platy structure, parting to weak fine granular; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; slightly acid (pH 6.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (8 to 24 inches thick)
Oe3--21 to 46 inches; stratified (1/4 to 3/4 inch) black (10YR 2/1) broken face mucky peat and very dark gray (10YR 3/1) broken face peat (stratified hemic (80 percent) and fibric (20 percent) material); black (10YR 2/1) rubbed and pressed, about 40 percent fiber, about 20 percent rubbed; massive; nonsticky and nonplastic; herbaceous fiber, mostly leaves of Alnus tenuifolia; common very fine and fine roots; moderately acid (pH 5.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (11 to 25 inches thick)
Cg--46 to 54 inches; stratified (1/4 to 1/2 inch) light gray (5Y 6/1) silt and very fine sandy loam; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; moderately acid (pH 5.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
Oe'--54 to 70 inches; stratified (1/4 to 1 inch) very dark brown (10YR 2/2) broken face mucky peat and black (10YR 2/1) broken face muck (stratified hemic (70 percent) and sapric (30 percent) material); black (10YR 2/1) rubbed and pressed, about 40 percent fiber, about 20 percent rubbed; thin strata of very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silt loam; massive; nonsticky and nonplastic; herbaceous fiber; few fine roots; moderately acid (pH 6.0).
TYPE LOCATION: Flathead County, Montana; 500 feet south and 950 feet west of the northeast corner of section 8, T. 25 N., R. 26 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil temperature - 42 to 45 degrees F.
Most pedons contain thin mineral strata of silt loam 1-2mm thick within the organic horizons.
Some pedons have a thin mineral A horizon at the surface.
Some pedons have a C/Oe or a C horizon less than 12 inches thick instead of the Oe/C horizon.
Depth to the Cg horizon - 38 to 50 inches.
Depth to water table - surface to 12 inches.
Oe1 and Oe2 horizons and Oe part of Oe/C horizon - Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Fiber content: 40 to 60 percent unrubbed, 20 to 30 percent rubbed
Reaction: pH 5.6 to 7.3
Oe/C horizon, C part - Value: 2, 3 or 4
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: C part - silt loam or mucky silt loam
Clay content: 5 to 15 percent
Reaction: pH 5.6 to 7.3
Oe3 horizon - Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Fiber content: 40 to 60 percent unrubbed, 20 to 30 percent rubbed
Reaction: pH 5.6 to 6.5
Cg horizon - Hue: 5Y, 5GY, 5G, or N
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma, 5G only: 1 or 2
Texture: stratified silt loam, silt, and very fine sandy loam; averaging less than 15 percent fine sand or coarser.
Clay content: 4 to 12 percent
Reaction: pH 5.6 to 6.5
Oe' horizon - Value: 2 or 3
Fiber content: 40 to 60 percent unrubbed, 20 to 30 percent rubbed
Reaction: pH 5.6 to 6.5
This horizon may be hemic or sapric material.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform - depressions on floodplains in glacial lake basins.
Elevation - 3,200 to 3,800 feet.
Slope - 0 to 2 percent.
Parent material - organic soil materials greater than 51 inches thick which have one or more thin silty alluvial strata.
Climate - long, cold winters; cool, moist springs; warm summers.
Mean annual precipitation - 24 to 30 inches.
Mean annual temperature - 40 to 43 degrees F.
Frost-free period - 70 to 90 days.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Murrstead soils are used for wildlife habitat, livestock grazing, and hayland. Potential native vegetation is mainly reed canarygrass, beaked sedge, rushes, bulrushes, mannagrass, cattail, mosses, water birch, and Bebb's willow.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Murrstead soils are of limited extent in the valleys of northwestern Montana.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Flathead County, Montana, 1997.
REMARKS: Soil Interpretation Record: MT1620. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: a histic epipedon more than 16 inches thick (all Oe horizons and organic portions of the Oe/C horizon); mostly hemic organic materials; stratified mineral layers less than 12 inches thick (mineral portions of the Oe/C horizon and Cg horizons); a water table at or near the surface most of the year; and a particle-size control section from the soil surface to 52 inches. Murrstead soils have a frigid temperature regime and an aquic moisture regime.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Lab data S94MT-029-002.