LOCATION NUNEMAKER MTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, frigid Torrertic Haplustepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Nunemaker silty clay loam, cultivated (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).
Ap--0 to 6 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; cloddy parting to moderate fine granular structure; clods are hard and granules slightly hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; 5 percent pebbles; slightly effervescent; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 7 inches thick)
Bw--6 to 16 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and fine subangular blocky; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; many fine pores; strongly effervescent; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
Bk--16 to 33 inches; brown (2.5Y 5/3) silty clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; very hard, firm, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; many fine and very fine pores; few pebbles; common fine masses of lime; strongly effervescent; mildly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (6 to 22 inches thick)
2Bky--33 to 42 inches; pale brown (2.5Y 6/3) clay loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; massive; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine pores; few pebbles; common fine masses of lime; few threads and masses of gypsum crystals; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 18 inches thick)
2By--42 to 60 inches; pale brown (2.5Y 6/3) clay loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; massive; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few pebbles; common threads and masses of gypsum crystals; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2).
TYPE LOCATION: Teton County, Montana; 300 feet west and 1,600 feet north of the SE corner of sec. 7, T. 25 N., R. 3 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil temperature - 41 to 47 degrees F.
Moisture control section - between 4 to 12 inches; dry in all parts between four-tenths and five-tenths of the cumulative days when the soil temperature at 20 inches is 41 degrees F or above.
Thickness surficial material - glaciofluvial material ranges from 13 to 26 inches, but is mainly 16 to 20 inches thick over glacial till.
Depth to Bk horizon - 10 to 16 inches.
Soil phases - silty clay loam; loamy substratum; calcareous surface.
The estimated bulk density of the till is 1.65 to 1.80 grams/cc. The thin dark colored surface horizons in rangeland will not meet the requirements for a mollic epipedon when mixed to 7 inches.
Ap horizon - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 or 5 dry; 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silty clay loam, clay, or silty clay
Clay content: 35 to 50 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent pebbles
Effervescence: slightly to strongly
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 10 percent
Reaction: pH 6.6 to 8.4
Bw horizon - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4, 5, or 6 dry; 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silty clay loam, clay, or silty clay
Clay content: 35 to 55 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent pebbles
Effervescence: slightly to strongly
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 10 percent
Reaction: pH 6.6 to 8.4
The Bw horizon is formed in glaciofluvial material, the Bk horizon is either glaciofluvial material or glacial till.
Bk horizon - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4, 5, or 6 dry; 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: clay loam, silty clay loam, clay, or silty clay
Clay content: 35 to 55 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 10 percent pebbles
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 15 percent
EC: 2 to 4 mmhos/cm
Reaction: pH 7.4 to 8.4
2Bky or 2By horizons - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry; 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2, 3, or 4
Texture: clay or clay loam (below 40 inches textures include sandy clay loam and loam)
Clay content: 35 to 50 percent (clay content is 25 to 45 percent below 40 inches)
Rock fragments: 0 to 20 percent pebbles
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 10 percent
EC: 2 to 4 mmhos/cm
Gypsum: 1 to 3 percent
Reaction: pH 7.4 to 8.4
COMPETING SERIES:
Brunelda (MT) - has a gypsic horizon, has EC greater than 4 mmhos/cc at depths of 1 to 10 inches.
Kobase (MT) - does not have a discontinuity of till at depths of 13 to 26 inches.
Megonot (MT) - is 20 to 40 inches deep to a paralithic contact of shale.
Teigen (MT) - does not have horizons of secondary calcium carbonates and gypsum accumulations; has a very strongly acid particle-size control section.
Welter (MT) - is 20 to 40 inches deep to a paralithic contact of shale; has O and E horizons.
Zatoville (MT) - has a gypsic horizon, has a paralithic contact at depths between 20 and 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform - till plains. (In Colorado, on alluvial fans and toe slopes)
Elevations - 3,200 to 4,000 feet. (In Colorado, up to 6,800 feet)
Slopes- 0 to 15 percent. (In Colorado, up to 45 percent)
Parent material - glaciofluvial deposits underlain by till at depths of 13 to 26 inches. (In Colorado, developed in alluvium from reworked shale)
Climate - long, cold winters; cool, moist springs; short, warm, dry summers.
Mean annual precipitation - 10 to 15 inches.
Mean annual air temperature - 39 to 45 degrees F.
Frost-free period - 100 to 125 days. (In Colorado, 70 to 130 days)
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Nunemaker soils are used mainly for dryland cropland; some areas are used for rangeland and irrigated cropland. Potential native vegetation is mainly western wheatgrass, bluebunch wheatgrass, green needlegrass, prairie junegrass, forbs, and shrubs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Nunemaker soils are of moderate extent in the glaciated parts of Teton and Pondera Counties in the north-central plains of Montana; they are also in parts of southwest Colorado.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: San Miguel Area, Colorado, 1987. Series proposed in Choteau-Conrad soil survey area, 1980.
REMARKS: Soil interpretation record: MT0595, MT1233. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: an ochric epipedon from 0 to 5 inches (Ap horizon), and the thin dark colored surface horizons in rangeland will not meet the requirements for a mollic epipedon when mixed to 7 inches; cambic horizon from 5 to 12 inches (Bw horizon); masses of segregated lime (Bk horizon); and a particle-size control section from 10 to 40 inches (Bw and Bk horizons). Nunemaker soils have a frigid temperature regime and an ustic moisture regime that borders on aridic.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Bulk density. S85MT-073-399