LOCATION REDFIST MTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Calcic Haplustepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Redfist channery loam, in rangeland (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).
A--0 to 4 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/2) channery loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) moist; moderate medium granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and very fine roots; many very fine intserstitial pores; 20 percent channers; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick).
Bk1--4 to 11 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/3) channery loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and very fine roots; many very fine tubular and interstitial pores; 30 percent channers; disseminated lime; common distinct lime coatings on undersides of fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual wavy boundary.
Bk2--11 to 29 inches; reddish gray (5YR 5/2) very channery loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine pores; 50 percent channers; disseminated lime; many distinct lime crusts on undersides of fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bk horizon is 18 to 33 inches.)
R--29 inches; dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) fractured shale bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Jefferson County, Montana; 2,500 feet south and 150 feet west of the NE corner of sec. 34, T. 4 N., R. 2 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil temperature - 38 to 47 degrees F.
Moisture control section - between 4 and 12 inches.
Depth to the Bk horizon - 4 to 7 inches.
Depth to R horizon - 20 to 40 inches.
Surface stones or boulders - 0 to 0.1 percent
The surface horizon, when mixed to a depth of 7 inches, does not meet the requirements for a mollic epipedon. Some pedons have a thin transitional B horizon between the A and Bk horizons. The bedrock material, although fractured and has a mohs hardness of between 3 and 5, does not slake in water or sodium hexametaphosphate.
A horizon - Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 2, 3, or 4
Clay content: 15 to 25 percent
Content of rock fragments: 10 to 25 percent channers
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction: pH 6.1 to 8.4
Bk1 horizon - Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 5, 6, or 7 dry; 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2, 3, 4, or 6
Clay content: 15 to 25 percent
Content of rock fragments: 10 to 40 percent channers
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 15 percent
Reaction: pH 7.4 to 8.4
Bk2 horizon - Hue: 2.5YR, 5YR, or 7.5YR
Value: 5, 6, or 7 dry; 3, 4, or 5 moist
Chroma: 2, 3, or 4 or 6
Clay content: 15 to 25 percent
Content of rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent channers
Calcium Carbonate equivalent: 10 to 25 percent
Reaction: pH 7.9 to 8.4
COMPETING SERIES:
There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform - alluvial fans, knolls and sideslopes of hills.
Elevation - 4,400 to 6,000 feet.
Slope- 2 to 35 percent.
Parent material - residuum, slope alluvium and colluvium derived from red shale bedrock.
Climate - long, cold winters; moist springs; warm summers.
Mean annual precipitation - 15 to 19 inches.
Mean annual air temperature - 36 to 42 degrees F.
Frost-free period - 70 to 105 days.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: The Redfist soils are primarily used for rangeland. Potential native vegetation is mainly bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, slender wheatgrass, green needlegrass, needleandthread, Sandberg bluegrass, fringed sagewort, western yarrow, and big sagebrush. Areas in woodland have an overstory of Douglas fir and limber pine and an understory of Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, Rocky mountain juniper, and big sagebrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Redfist soils are of small extent in southwestern Montana.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jefferson County, Montana, 1998.
REMARKS: Soil Interpretation Record: MT1266. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: an ochric epipedon from the surface to 7 inches, mixed (A, Bk1 horizons); a cambic horizon from 4 to 11 inches (Bk1 horizon); a particle-size control section from 10 to 29 inches (Bk horizons); a horizon of secondary calcium carbonate from 4 to 29 inches (Bk1, Bk2 horizons); red shale bedrock at 29 inches (R horizon). Redfist soils have a frigid temperature regime and an ustic moisture regime.