LOCATION NORA                    SD+MN NE

Established Series
Rev. EEP-BOK-GJJ-PMW
01/2014

NORA SERIES

The Nora series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loess on uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 30 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 610 millimeters. Mean annual air temperature is about 8 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Udic Haplustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Nora silty clay loam, in a cultivated field, at an elevation of about 463 meters. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

Ap--0 to 23 centimeters (about 9 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine granular; slightly hard, very friable slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; few worm casts; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.

Bw--23 to 56 centimeters (about 9 to 22 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) silty clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium and coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium and coarse subangular blocky; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine to medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; few worm casts; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary.

Bk1--56 to 81 centimeters (about 22 to 32 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium and coarse subangular blocky; soft, very friable slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; 8 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; common fine and medium rounded soft masses of calcium carbonate and few medium rounded carbonate concretions; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

Bk2--81 to 137 centimeters (about 32 to 54 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; 7 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; common fine and medium rounded soft masses of calcium carbonate and few fine and medium rounded carbonate concretions; common fine and medium faint gray (10YR 5/1) moist redoximorphic depletions and common fine and medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) moist redoximorphic concentrations; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.

C--137 centimeters to 203 centimeters (about 54 to 80 inches); light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/3) silt loam, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine tubular pores; 6 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; few calcium carbonate threads; common fine and medium faint gray (10YR 5/1) moist redoximorphic depletions and common fine and medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) moist redoximorphic concentrations; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 102C-Loess Uplands; Minnehaha County, South Dakota; about 3 miles west of Baltic; located about 120 feet west and 1,890 feet south of the northeast corner of section 25, T. 104 N., R. 50 W.; USGS Colton SE topographic quadrangle; lat. 43 degrees 47 minutes 06 seconds N. and long. 96 degrees 46 minutes 18 seconds W., NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture--Ustic moisture regime
Mean annual soil temperature--8 to 12 degrees C (47 to 54 degrees F)
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate--30 to 75 centimeters (12 to 30 inches)
Depth to cambic horizon--10 to 33 centimeters (4 to 13 inches)
Thickness of the mollic epipedon--18 to 50 centimeters (7 to 20 inches)
Clay content of the particle-size control section (weighted average)--18 to 35 percent
Note: The upper part of the control section typically contains 20 to 35 percent clay; the lower part typically contains 20 to 27 percent clay with some pedons containing as little as 18 percent

A horizon:
Hue--10YR
Value--3 to 5 and 2 or 3 moist
Chroma--1 or 2
Texture--silty clay loam or silt loam
Reaction--slightly acid or neutral
Thickness--10 to 33 centimeters (about 4 to 13 inches)

Bw horizon:
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--5 or 6 and 3 or 4 moist
Chroma--3 or 4
Texture--silty clay loam or silt loam
Reaction--slightly acid to slightly alkaline
Thickness--15 to 50 centimeters (about 6 to 20 inches)

Bk horizon:
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--5 to 7 and 4 to 6 moist
Chroma--3 or 4
Texture--silt loam or silty clay loam
Reaction--neutral to moderately alkaline
Thickness--25 to 90 centimeters (about 10 to 35 inches)

C horizon:
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--5 to 7 dry and 4 to 6 moist
Chroma--2 to 4 dry or moist
Texture--silt loam, very fine sandy loam or silty clay loam
Reaction--slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

Some pedons have loamy or sandy materials below a depth of 150 centimeters

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Egan, Ihlen, Moody, Splitrock, and Wentworth series.
Egan--have glacial till at depths between 50 and 100 centimeters
Ihlen--have a lithic contact between depths of 50 and 100 centimeters
Moody--are leached of carbonates to below a depth of 75 centimeters
Splitrock--have glacial till at depths between 50 and 100 centimeters
Wentworth--typically have more than 3 percent fine or coarser sand in the series control section and have stratified substrata

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material--loess
Landform--uplands
Slope--0 to 30 percent
Mean annual air temperature--7 to 11 degrees C (about 45 to 52 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation--483 to 711 millimeters (about 19 to 28 inches)

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alcester, Colo, Crofton, Moody, Muir, Trent, and Whitewood soils.
Alcester--have mollic epipedons more than 50 centimeters thick and are on foot slopes below the Nora soils and in narrow valleys
Colo--are on lower landscape positions and are wetter than Nora soils
Crofton--are on similar or higher parts of the landscape, do not have a cambic horizon and have carbonates at or near the soil surface
Moody--are on less convex or less sloping landscape positions
Muir--have mollic epipedons more than 50 centimeters thick and are on foot slopes below the Nora soils and in narrow valleys
Trent--have mollic epipedons more than 50 centimeters thick and are in shallow swales on level areas
Whitewood--are on lower landscape positions and are wetter than Nora soils

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--well drained--a frequently saturated zone does not occur within a depth of 180 centimeters in normal years; redoximorphic features are believed to reflect extremes in precipitation.
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--1.00 to 10.00 micrometers per second
Surface runoff potential--negligible to very high

USE AND VEGETATION:
More gently sloping areas are cultivated. The principal crops are corn, soybeans, oats, grain sorghum, and alfalfa. The native vegetation is big bluestem, little bluestem, green needlegrass, sideoats grama, blue grama and sedges.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Physiographic Division--Interior Plains
Physiographic Province--Central Lowland, Great Plains
Physiographic Sections--Dissected Till Plains, High Plains, Western Lake
MLRAs--Loess Uplands (102C),
Till Plains, (102B)
Southern Rolling Pierre Shale Plains (63B),
Iowa and Missouri Deep Loess Hills (107B)
LRR M, LRR G, LRR K; Southeastern South Dakota, northeastern Nebraska, southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa
Extent--large

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Minnehaha County, South Dakota, 1958.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
mollic epipedon--the zone from 0 to a depth of 23 centimeters (Ap horizon);
cambic horizon--the zone from a depth of 23 to 56 centimeters (Bw horizon).

During the correlation of Minnehaha county SD, the type location site was moved to better represent the series.

Taxonomic Version: Keys to Soil Taxonomy Eleventh Edition, 2010.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.