LOCATION NIOTAZE                 KS+OK

Established Series
Rev. CEW-ELG-JLD
03/2016

NIOTAZE SERIES

The Niotaze series consists of moderately deep, somewhat poorly drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in residuum from weathered shale and colluvium from sandstone of Pennsylvanian age. These gently sloping to steep soils are on hillslopes of hills and cuestas in the Northern Cross Timbers (MLRA 84A). Slope ranges from 3 to 45 percent. At the type location the mean annual temperature is 15 degrees C (59 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is 1067 mm (42 in).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Albaquic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Niotaze cobbly fine sandy loam--on a l2 percent west-facing slope under hardwoods, at an elevation of 284 m (930 ft). (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 8 cm (0 to 3 in); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very cobbly fine sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak very fine and fine granular structure; slightly hard, very friable; many fine roots; 40 percent by volume subangular fragments of sandstone; moderately acid; clear irregular boundary. (Thickness of the A horizon is 5 to 12 cm [2 to 5 in])

E--8 to 25 cm (3 to l0 in); brown (10YR 5/3) cobbly fine sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak very fine granular structure; slightly hard, very friable; few fine roots; 30 percent by volume subangular fragments of sandstone; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Thickness of the E horizon is 5 to 25 cm [2 to l0 in])

2Bt--25 to 46 cm (l0 to 18 in); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silty clay, brown (7.5YR 5/4) dry; weak medium subangular blocky and moderate fine angular blocky structure; very hard, very firm; few fine roots; common clay films on faces of peds, grayish coatings on faces of peds in upper 3 in); strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Thickness of the 2Bt horizon is 15 to 76 cm [6 to 30 in])

2BCt--46 to 71 cm (18 to 28 in); mixed light brown (7.5YR 6/4) and gray (10YR 6/1) silty clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; few fine roots; thin common clay films on faces of peds; common, fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron; common fine, prominent gray (10YR 5/1) redox depletions; lower portion having some laminated shale; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Thickness of the 2BCt horizon is 15 to 50 cm [6 to 20 in])

2Cd--71 to 155 cm (28 to 61 in); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) noncemented shale bedrock, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; massive with angular rock structure; extremely hard, extremely firm; few roots along fractures; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (Thickness of the 2Cd horizon is 50 to 100 cm [20 to 40 in])

2Cr--155 to 203 cm (61 to 80 in); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist, shale bedrock; moderately acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Chautauqua County, Kansas; one mile southeast of the town of Chautauqua; 703 feet west and 392 feet north of the southeast corner, sec.14, T. 35 S., R. 11 E.

USGS topographic quadrangle: Chautauqua, KS
Latitude: 37 degrees, 0 minutes, 9.37 seconds N
Longitude: 96 degrees, 10 minutes, 16.46 seconds W
Datum: NAD83

Decimal Degrees
Latitude: 37.00260
Longitude: -97.17124

UTM Easting: 751711.93 m
UTM Northing: 4098902.68 m
UTM Zone: 14N

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the solum and depth to shale: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 in)

Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: more than 40 percent

A horizon:
Hue: l0YR
Value: 4 to 6, 2 to 4 moist
Chroma: l to 3
Texture: cobbly fine sandy loam or fine sandy loam but includes loam, silt loam, very fine sandy loam and their cobbly or stony counterparts
Other features: some pedons have up to 2.5 cm (l in) of organic litter on top of the mineral horizon
Coarse fragments less than 76 mm (3 in): amount-0 to 35 percent by volume; size-0 to 76 mm; kind-sandstone
Coarse fragments greater than 76 mm (3 in): amount-0 to 35 percent by volume; size-76 to 120 mm; kind-sandstone
Reaction: strongly acid to moderately acid

E horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 to 7, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: cobbly fine sandy loam or fine sandy loam but includes loam, silt loam, very fine sandy loam and their cobbly or stony counterparts
Coarse fragments less than 76 mm (3 in): amount-0 to 35 percent by volume; size-0 to 76 mm; kind-sandstone
Coarse fragments greater than 76 mm (3 in): amount-0 to 35 percent by volume; size-76 to 120 mm; kind-sandstone
Reaction:

2Bt horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: silty clay loam, silty clay or clay
Clay content: 35 to 55 percent clay
Reaction: very strongly acid to slightly acid

2BC horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: l to 6
Texture: silty clay loam or silty clay
Redox concentrations: amount-common; size-fine; distinctness-distinct; colors-shades of brown or red; location-in matrix
Redox depletions: amount-common; size-fine; distinctness-prominent; colors-shades of gray; location-in matrix
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral

2Cd horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: l to 6
Texture and cementation: weakly cemented shale that slakes in water when air dried and submerged at least one hour
Other features: underlain by a Cr or R horizon of hard shale or sandstone.
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Corrigan, Invershiel, and Pilgrims series in the same family.
Corrigan soils: formed in material weathered from volcanic tuff, and are over paralithic volcanic tuff
Invershiel soils: formed in marine sediments over marl on the coastal plain
Pilgrims soils: are moderately deep over limestone bedrock

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: formed in residuum weathered from interbedded shale and sandstone, with a surface mantle of colluvium from sandstone
Landscape: hillslopes
Landform: backslopes of hills and cuestas
Slope: 3 to 45 percent
Mean annual air temperature: 15 to 16.1 degrees C (59 to 61 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: 991 to 1143 mm (39 to 45 in)
Frost-free period: 181-240 days
Elevation: 244 to 320 m (744 to 1050 feet)
Thornthwaite Annual P-E Index: 64 to 75

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bartlesville, Bates, Bigheart, Coweta, Steedman, Prue, and Wewoka series.
Bartlesville soils: are on less sloping summits above Niotaze soils, are fine-loamy and have sandstone at depths of 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 in)
Bates soils: are on higher summits, have mollic epipedons, are fine-loamy, and have sandstone at depths of 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 in)
Bigheart and Coweta soils: are on shoulder slopes adjoining Niotaze soils but have sandstone within a depth of 51 cm (20 in); in addition, Coweta soils have mollic epipedons
Prue soils: are on colluvial footslopes below the Niotaze soils, and are fine-loamy and very deep
Steedman soils: are on similar slopes, but do not have E horizons, are more alkaline in the Bt and BC horizons, and have prairie vegetation
Wewoka soils: are on broad to narrow summits and interfluves and have a sandy-skeletal control section

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage: somewhat poorly drained
Permeability: slow
Runoff: medium on slopes 1 to 3 percent and high on slopes greater than 3 percent.

USE AND VEGETATION: Primarily as native range pasture and woodland. The native vegetation is a savannah consisting of post oak, blackjack oak, red oak, hickory, other udic trees, and an understory of tall grasses. The aspect may range from rangeland or sparse savannah to woodland, depending on management.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeast Kansas, north-central and north-eastern Oklahoma. LRR J; MLRA 84A. These soils are extensive, about 350,000 acres. About 300,000 acres is in Oklahoma with the balance in Kansas.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Chautauqua County, Kansas, March l972.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons recognized in the pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 10 cm (0 to 10 in) (A and E horizon)
Argillic horizon: 25 to 46 cm (10 to 18 in) (2Bt horizon)
Abrupt texture change: clay increase greater than 20 percent absolute within 7.5 cm (3 in) from the E to Bt horizon
Laboratory data by Oklahoma State University and NSSL is available on these soils.

These soils in Chautauqua County, Kansas are on hillslopes of strongly dissected landscapes of shale with lenses and outcrops of sandstone. Surface creep has distributed fragments of sandstone over the surface of the soil in most locations and the loamier A and E horizons have developed in this material while the clayey B horizons have developed in material from the underlying shale. Discontinuous stone lines are common at top of the argillic horizon.

ADDITIONAL DATA: KSSL and Oklahoma State University indicate that the mineralogy is variable across the series and geological range. Both smectitic and mixed pedons have been sampled.

Taxonomic Version: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.