LOCATION NECHE NDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, frigid Fluvaquentic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Neche silty clay loam - on a 1 percent plane south- facing slope in a cultivated field. When described, the soil was moist throughout. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 5 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; moderate fine granular structure; very hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common roots; many fine pores; mildly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--5 to 10 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; moderate medium, fine, and very fine angular blocky structure; very hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common roots; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (Combined A horizons 6 to 10 inches thick.)
C1--10 to 15 inches; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) dry; moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure parting to moderate very fine granular; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; common fine pores; few large root channels; few very thin strata; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.
C2--15 to 23 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silty clay loam, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; many fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and many medium faint dark gray (10YR 4/1) and dark olive (5Y 3/3) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate very fine granular; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; many fine pores; few root channels; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; few very thin strata; clear smooth boundary.
Ab--23 to 33 inches; black (10YR 2/1) clay loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate very fine granular; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; few fine masses of carbonates; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
C3--33 to 42 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) dry; many fine distinct pale olive (5Y 6/3) mottles; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine granular; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common fine pores; few fine masses of carbonates; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
A'b--42 to 53 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine granular; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine masses of carbonates; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
2C4--53 to 60 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) loam, gray (2.5Y 6/1) dry; many medium faint light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and few fine prominent pale olive (5Y 6/3) mottles; massive; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Pembina County, North Dakota; about 1 mile east and 1 mile north of Cavalier; 2,150 feet south and 90 feet west of the northeast corner, sec. 34, T. 162 N., R. 54 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The 10- to 40-inch control section averages between 27 and 35 percent clay and less than 15 percent fine and coarser sand. Some pedons have very thin strata of coarser materials in the C horizon.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3 and 3 to 5 dry, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay loam.
The C horizon typically has hue of 2.5Y, less commonly 5Y or 10YR; value of 3 to 5 and 5 to 7 dry; and chroma of 1 to 3. It is stratified alluvium ranging from silty clay loam to loam. One or more Ab horizons are in most pedons. Clayey, loamy, or sandy strata are below depths of 40 inches in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family. Other competing series are the Cashel, Fairdale, Ladelle, Lamoure, La Prairie, Perella, Playmoor, and Rauville series. Cashel soils have fine texture. Fairdale soils do not have mollic epipedons. Ladelle, Lamoure, La Prairie, Playmoor, and Rauville soils have thicker mollic epipedons. Perella soils have a regular decrease in organic matter with depth.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Neche soils are on nearly level fans, natural levees, splays, and stream terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. The soils formed in recent alluvium deposited on older lake sediments of glacial Lake Agassiz. The mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 45 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is from 18 to 20 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Cashel, Fairdale, La Prairie, and Lamoure soils on flood plains and the Bearden, Fargo, Gardena, Glyndon, Hegne, and Overly soils on the nearby lake plains. Bearden, Glyndon, and Hegne soils have calcic horizons within depths of 16 inches. Fargo soils have a fine texture and have a Bw horizon. Overly and Gardena soils have a mollic epipedon greater than 16 inches thick. In addition, Gardena soils are coarse-silty.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Slow or medium runoff. Permeability is moderately slow. These soils are occasionally flooded for short periods early in the spring. Stream channels and drains remove surface water.
USE AND VEGETATION: Soils are cropped to small grains and row crops. Native vegetation was tall prairie grasses, oak, American elm, basswood, and shrubs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern North Dakota where streams cross the Agassiz Lake Plain east of the Pembina escarpment. The soil is inextensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pembina County, North Dakota, 1972.
REMARKS: The mottles in the upper part of the profile are relict. This soil does not have the aquic moisture regime. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 10 inches (Ap and A horizons); irregular decrease in organic carbon with depth - fine stratifications below mollic epipedon (C1 horizon) and burried A horizons (Ab and A'b horizons); aquic subgroup extends April through June high water table at 3 to 6 feet.