LOCATION NISSLER MTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy, glassy Vitrandic Argicryolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Nissler gravelly ashy loam, in rangeland on a 17 percent slope at 1,768 meters elevation (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise indicated).
A--0 to 23 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly ashy loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure; very friable, soft, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine, few medium roots; many fine interstitial and irregular pores; 20 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.8); clear smooth boundary. (18 to 30 cm thick)
Bt--23 to 71 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly ashy sandy clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, hard, moderately sticky and very plastic; common fine roots; common fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 20 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.8); clear wavy boundary. (15 to 70 cm thick)
BC--71 to 153 cm; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/3) very gravelly ashy sandy clay loam, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly hard, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; common fine irregular pores; 30 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt smooth boundary.
R--153 cm; indurated tuffaceous rhyolite.
TYPE LOCATION: Ramsay topographic quadrangle, Silver Bow County, Montana; 55 meters south and 80 meters west of the NE corner of section 1, T. 3 N., R. 9 W. UTM Zone 12: 372048e, 5100594n, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil temperature - 2 to 6 degrees C
Moisture control section - 10 to 30 cm
Thickness of the mollic epipedon - 18 to 30 centimeters
Depth to bedrock - 152 to 180 cm
Volcanic glass - 30 to 50 percent in the coarse silt and sand fraction.
Acid oxalate Al + 1/2 Fe - .12 to .20 percent
A horizon
Value: 3 to 5 dry; 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Texture: ashy loam or ashy sandy loam
Clay content: 10 to 24 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 30 percent--5 to 25 percent gravel, 0 to 10 percent cobbles, 0 to 2 percent stones
Reaction: pH 5.8 to 7.2
Bt horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry; 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: ashy sandy clay loam or ashy clay loam
Clay content: 20 to 34 percent
Rock fragments: 5 to 25 percent--5 to 25 percent gravel, 0 to 5 percent cobbles, 0 to 2 percent stones
Reaction: pH 6.0 to 7.3
BC horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 to 7 dry; 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: ashy coarse sandy loam, ashy sandy loam or ashy loam
Clay content: 8 to 20 percent
Rock fragments: 15 to 60 percent--15 to 45 percent gravel, 0 to 10 percent cobbles, 0 to 2 percent stones
Reaction: pH 6.3 to 7.6
COMPETING SERIES:
Hashwoods (NV) - is deep to a paralithic contact.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform - mountain slopes, hills and ridges
Elevation - 1,585 to 2,220 meters
Slope - 4 to 30 percent
Parent material - alluvium and or colluvium derived from rhyolite, rhyodacite, or rhyolitic tuff
Climate - long, cold winters; cold, moist springs; short, cool summers
Mean annual precipitation - 305 to 508 millimeters, much of which falls as snow and as spring rain
Mean annual air temperature - 1 to 6 degrees centigrade
Frost-free period - 30 to 70 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Chinaspring, Euell and Brownsgulch soil series which occur on similar landforms. Chinaspring soils have horizons of secondary carbonate accumulation.. Euell soils are deep to a lithic contact. Brownsgulch soils are coarse-loamy and have a mollic epipedon that is greater than 40 cm thick.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Nissler soils are used mainly for timber production and understory grazing. Potential native vegetation is Douglas-fir, Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, rough fescue, prairie junegrass, big sagebrush and common juniper.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Nissler soils are of small extent in the intermontane basins of central Montana. MLRA 43B.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Silver Bow County, Montana, 2006.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - from 0 to 23 cm (A horizon)
Argillic horizon - from 23 to 71 cm (Bt horizon)
Particle-size control section - from 23 to 71 cm (Bt horizon)
Nissler soils have a cryic temperature regime and an ustic moisture regime.