LOCATION NOPEMOUNTAIN            MT

Tentative Series
Rev. BDM-KTS-RJS
04/2016

NOPEMOUNTAIN SERIES

The Nopemountain series consists of very shallow, well drained soils that formed in colluvium over residuum derived from shale. These soils are on mountain slopes and escarpments. Slopes are 8 to 50 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 800 mm, and the mean annual air temperature is about 2.0 degrees c.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-Skeletal, mixed Lithic Cryorthents

TYPICAL PEDON:

C--0 to 5 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) very channery loamy sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; single grain; soft; very friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; 45 percent channers; moderately acid (pH 5.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 22 cm thick)

Cr--5 to 15 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) paralithic shale bedrock; moderately acid (pH 6.0). (5 to 15 cm thick)

R--15 cm; hard shale bedrock

TYPE LOCATION: Teton County, Montana Arsenic Mountain topographic quadrangle; 0365151e, 5288821n, NAD83, Zone12

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature - 0.0 to 3.0 degrees C.
Depth to a paralithic contact - 2 to 25 cm
Depth to a lithic contact - 7 to 35 cm

Note: Some pedons may have a thin A horizon.

C horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR; dry or moist
Value: 4 to 6 dry; 2 to 4 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3; dry or moist
Clay content: 3 to 10 percent
Rock fragments: 35 to 70 percent channers
Reaction: pH 5.4 to 6.4

COMPETING SERIES:
Briggsranch (MT) - has an ustic soil moisture regime
Goldflint (MT) - has shallow soil depth class
Granylith (MT) - has shallow soil depth class
Rodell (NV) - has shallow soil depth class
Zonite (MT) - has an ustic soil moisture regime

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform - mountain slopes and escarpment
Elevation - 1,675 to 2,590 meters
Slope - 8 to 50 percent
Parent material - colluvium over residuum derived from shale
Climate - long, cold winters; moist springs; short, warm summers
Mean annual precipitation - 700 to 1,525 mm
Mean annual air temperature - 0.0 to 2.0 degrees C.
Frost-free period - 15 to 40 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: None listed.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; Ksat in the typically ranges from 15 to 150.0 um/sec over nearly impermeable bedrock.

USE AND VEGETATION: Nopemountain soils are used mainly for wildlife and recreation. The vegetation is sparse and consists of drought resistant grasses, forbs, and shrubs. Occasionally these soils support Douglas-fir and Subalpine Fir.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Nopemountain soils are of limited extent in Central and Western Montana. MLRA 43B.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES PROPOSED: Teton County, Montana, 2016. Nopemountain series is named for a peak on the Arsenic Mountain topographic quadrangle.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Paralithic contact - from 5 to 15 cm (Cr horizon)
Lithic contact - at 15 cm (R horizon)
Particle-size control section - 0 to 5 cm (C horizon)

Nopemountain soils have a cryic temperature regime and an udic moisture regime.

Taxonomic version: Twelfth Edition, 2014

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.