LOCATION NITER ID
Established Series
Rev. FRK/CLM-JVC/CBR
04/2018
NITER SERIES
The Niter series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in lacustrine deposits derived from limestone, quartzite, sandstone, and tuff. Niter soils are on hillslopes, lake terraces, fan remnants, and valley floors. Slopes are 1 to 35 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 380 mm and the mean annual air temperature is about 5.6 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, frigid Typic Calcixererts
TYPICAL PEDON: Niter silty clay loam--on a 12 percent slope at 1,585 meters elevation--irrigated cropland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted)
Ap1--0 to 10 cm; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam, very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) moist; weak thick and very thick platy structure parting to strong very fine and fine granular; soft, very friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine and common medium roots; many very fine and fine irregular pores; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); abrupt smooth boundary (10 to 30 cm thick)
Ap2--10 to 20 cm; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam, very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) moist; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; slightly hard, very friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine and common medium roots; common very fine and few fine tubular pores; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); abrupt smooth boundary (0 to 20 cm thick)
Bk--20 to 30 cm; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam, very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) moist; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure parting to moderate very fine and fine angular blocky; slightly hard, very friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine and common medium roots; common very fine and few fine tubular pores; cracks 1 to 4 cm wide and about 46 cm apart; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); abrupt smooth boundary (10 to 18 cm thick)
Bkss1--30 to 48 cm; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure parting to moderate very fine and fine angular blocky; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine and fine and common medium roots; few very fine tubular pores; cracks 1 to 4 cm wide and about 46 cm apart; few intersecting slickensides; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); clear smooth boundary (10 to 25 cm thick)
Bkss2--48 to 76 cm; light gray (2.5Y 7/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; few intersecting slickensides; common wedge-shaped peds inclined at 20 to 40 degrees; cracks 1 to 4 cm wide and about 46 cm apart; 10 percent hard, friable when moist cicada nodules; common fine irregularly shaped carbonate filaments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary (20 to 46 cm thick)
Bkss3--76 to 100 cm; pale yellow (5Y 8/2) silty clay, olive (5Y 5/3) moist; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine and medium angular blocky; slightly hard, very friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine and fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; common intersecting slickensides; few wedge-shaped peds inclined at 20 to 40 degrees; 10 percent hard, friable when moist cicada nodules; many fine and medium irregularly shaped carbonate filaments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual smooth boundary (18 to 64 cm thick)
Bkss4--100 to 150 cm; pale yellow (5Y 7/3) silty clay, olive (5Y 5/3) moist; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium angular blocky; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; few intersecting slickensides; few wedge-shaped peds inclined at 20 to 40 degrees; few fine irregularly shaped carbonate filaments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4)
TYPE LOCATION: Caribou County, Idaho; about 1.6 km northeast of Thatcher; approximately 310 meters west and 200 meters north of the southeast corner of section 31, T. 11 S., R. 41 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--4.4 to 8.3 degrees C
Mollic epipedon thickness--25 to 50 cm
Reaction--Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
Particle-size control section
Clay content--35 to 60 percent
A horizons
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Chroma--1 through 3, dry or moist
Bk horizon
Hue--10YR through 5Y
Value--5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma--1 through 4, dry or moist
Texture--Silty clay loam or silty clay
Bkss horizons
Hue--10YR through 5Y
Value--6 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma--2 through 4, dry or moist
Texture--Silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Calcium carbonate equivalent--20 to 25 percent
COMPETING SERIES: none
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Niter soils are on hillslopes,lake terraces, fan remnants, and valley floors. These soils formed in lacustrine deposits derived from limestone, quartzite, sandstone, and tuff. Slopes are 1 to 35 percent. Elevations range from 1,490 to 2,180 meters. The mean annual precipitation is 300 to 500 mm, the mean annual air temperature is 2.2 to 7.2 degrees C., and the frost-free period is 60 to 110 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Brifox,
Iphil,
Kucera,
Lanoak,
Rexburg,
Ririe, and
Watercanyon soils. Kucera, Lanoak, Rexburg and Ririe soils have noncalcareous mollic epipedons. Also, Kucera and Lanoak soils are pachic and Lanoak has a fine-silty textural section. Watercanyon and Brifox soils lack mollic epipedons. Iphil, Kucera, Rexburg, Ririe and Watercanyon soils have coarse-silty particle-size control sections. Brifox, Iphil, Ririe and Watercanyon soils are on convex positions on hillslopes. Kucera and Lanoak soils are on concave positions on hillslopes. Rexburg soils are on less sloping areas on hilltops and footslopes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to very high surface runoff; very slow permeability (low or moderately low saturated hydraulic conductivity)
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses--nonirrigated and irrigated cropland
Potential natural vegetation--basin big sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass; sod-forming grasses
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Idaho; small extent; MLRA 13
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Idaho, 1997
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are
Mollic epipedon--the zone from the soil surface to 30 cm (Ap1, Ap2, and Bk horizons)
Cambic horizon--the zone from 30 to 48 cm (Bss horizon)
Calcic horizon--the zone from 48 to 150 cm (Bkss2, Bkss3, and Bkss4 horizons)
Slickensides--the zone from 30 to 150 cm (Bkss1, Bkss2, Bkss3, and Bkss4 horizons)
Particle-size control section--the zone from 25 to 100 cm (Bkss1, Bkss2, and the Bkss3 horizons and part of the Bk horizon)
4/22/2018--Drainage class moved from moderately well to well drained based on field documentation. It was previously assumed that stratified lacustrine sediments seasonally perched water. However, no redoximorphic features, nor high water table has been documented in the field. Ksat and Hydrologic Soil Group remain unchanged.
Taxonomic version: Twelfth Edition, 2014
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.