LOCATION NIELSVILLE MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, frigid Typic Calciaquolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Nielsville silty clay loam, on a plane, 1 percent slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; black (10YR 2/1) silty clay loam; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; few fine irregular shaped masses of carbonate; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 16 inches thick)
Bkg1--9 to 17 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) redox concentrations; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; common fine irregular shaped masses of carbonate; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Bkg2--17 to 28 inches; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) silty clay loam; many fine and medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) redox concentrations; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; common fine irregular shaped masses of carbonate; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (Combined Bkg horizons 8 to 24 inches thick)
Cg1--28 to 45 inches; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) silty clay loam; common fine and medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) redox concentrations; massive-platy soil fragments; firm; few fine irregular shaped masses of carbonate; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (12 to 20 inches thick)
2Cg2--45 to 63 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay; common fine prominent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) redox concentrations; massive-angular blocky soil fragments; very firm; few fine threads and masses of carbonate; 5 percent gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
2Cg3--63 to 80 inches; olive gray (5Y 4/2) clay; common fine and medium prominent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) redox concentrations; massive-angular blocky soil fragments; very firm; common medium irregular shaped masses of carbonate; 5 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Polk County, Minnesota, about 2.1 miles east of Nielsville; 800' E. and 450' S. of the northwest corner of sec. 27, T. 147 N., R. 48 W; USGS Climax, Minn.-N. topographic quadrangle; latitude 47 degrees, 31 minutes and 37 seconds N.; longitude 96 degrees, 46 minutes and 9 seconds W..
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the silty mantle ranges from 40 to 60 inches. The mollic epipedon ranges from 7 to 24 inches thick. The upper sediment does not have rock fragments. The clayey lower part of the control section contains from 0 to 9 percent gravel and cobbles of mixed lithology. The soil is slightly or moderately alkaline. The salinity ranges from 0 to 4 mmhos/cm throughout the series control section.
The A horizon has a hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y or is neutral, value of 2 or 3 moist and 3 to 5 dry, and chroma of 0 or 1. It typically is silty clay loam but some are silt loam or silty clay with 18 to 45 percent clay and 1 to 10 percent fine sand or coarser. The A horizon contains 1 to 10 percent calcium carbonate. Some pedons have tongues of A horizon extending into the Bk horizon. Some pedons have an Ak horizon.
The Bk horizon has a hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y or neutral, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is a silt loam or silty clay loam, averaging 18 to 34 percent clay and 1 to 10 percent fine sand or coarser. It contains 15 to more than 30 percent calcium carbonate. Most of this is disseminated or occurs as masses or threads. Some pedons contain few or common, faint to prominent Fe concentrations in this horizon.
A Bky or BC horizon is present in some pedons.
The Cg horizon has a hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4. In some pedons below 30 inches the hue is neutral and the chroma is 1 or less. The texture of the C horizon is typically silty clay loam or silt loam or in some pedons stratified thin layers of very fine sandy loam, silt loam and silty clay loam, averaging 18 to 34 percent clay and 2 to 15 percent fine sand or coarser.
In some pedons a thin layer of sand and gravel occurs between the Cg horizon and the 2Cg horizon.
The 2Cg horizon has a hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 3. The texture of the 2Cg horizon is typically clay, or silty clay averaging 40 to 70 percent clay, 2 to 15 percent fine sand or coarser, 0 to 8 percent gravel and 0 to 1 percent cobble.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bear Lake, Colake, Colvin, Ojata, Regan and Winger series. The Bear Lake, Colake, Colvin, Regan, and Winger soils have less than 40 percent clay in the lower part of the series control section. Ojata soils have more than 4 mmhos/cm salinity within the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nielsville soils are on level lake plains. Slopes are 0 to 1 percent. These soils are formed in calcareous silty lacustrine sediments over clayey till. The climate is cool and subhumid. The mean annual air temperature ranges from 38 to 44 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 20 to 24 inches. The number of frost-free days ranges from 90 to 145 days. Elevation above sea level ranges from 800 to 1050 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bearden, Colvin, Gunclub, Perella and Wheatville soils. Bearden and Colvin soils do not have a clayey 2C horizon below 40 inches. Perella soils do not have calcic horizons within 16 inches of the surface. Gunclub soils are somewhat poorly drained. Wheatville soils are coarse-silty
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Runoff is very negligible. Permeability is moderately slow in the surface and subsoil and very slow in the underlying material. Depth to an apparent seasonal high water table is at depths of 0.5 to 1.5 feet at some time during the period April through June in most years
USE AND VEGETATION: Nearly all areas of this soil are used to grow small grains and row crops such as sugar beets. Native vegetation was big bluestem, switchgrass and a variety of forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Red River Valley in northwestern Minnesota.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Polk County, Minnesota, 1996.
REMARKS: Diagnostic features recognized in this pedon are: Mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 9 inches (Ap horizon); Calcic horizon - the zone from 9 to 28 inches (Bk1 and Bk2 horizons); characteristics (redox concentrations) associated with wetness (Bk1 and Bk2 horizons); Lithologic discontinuity- the zone from 45 to 80 inches (2Cg1 and 2Cg2 horizons).
This soil was previously mapped as a clayey substratum phase of the Colvin series.