LOCATION ROOTEL MT+WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Aridic Calciustepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Rootel channery loam, rangeland (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).
A--0 to 3 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) channery loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak thin platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots and pores; 15 percent channers; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick)
Bk1--3 to 7 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) channery loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common fine roots and pores; 15 percent channers; continuous faint lime casts on underside of channers; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
Bk2--7 to 23 inches; white (10YR 8/2) channery loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots and pores; 15 percent channers; continuous faint lime casts on undersides; disseminated lime; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (15 to 25 inches thick)
R--23 inches; fractured hard calcareous argillite bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Broadwater County, Montana; 2,400 feet east and 300 feet south of the NW corner of sec. 34, T. 3 N., R. 1 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil temperature - 42 to 47 degrees F.
Moisture control section - between 4 and 12 inches, dry in all parts between four-tenths and five-tenths of the cumulative days per year when the soil temperature at a depth of 20 inches is higher than 41 degrees F.
Depth to R horizon - 20 to 40 inches.
A horizon - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry; 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: loam or sandy loam
Clay content: 10 to 25 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 25 percent--0 to 5 percent flagstones, 0 to 20 percent channers
Reaction: pH 7.4 to 7.8
Bk1 or Bw horizon - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 6 dry; 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2, 3, or 4
Texture: loam or silt loam
Clay content: 18 to 27 percent
Rock fragments: 5 to 35 percent--0 to 5 percent flagstones, 5 to 30 percent channers
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 25 percent
Reaction: pH 7.9 to 8.4
Bk2 horizon - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 7 or 8 dry; 5 or 6 moist
Chroma: 2, 3, or 4
Texture: loam or silt loam
Clay content: 18 to 27 percent
Rock fragments: 5 to 35 percent--0 to 5 percent flagstones, 5 to 30 percent channers
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 25 to 35 percent
Reaction: pH 7.9 to 9.0
COMPETING SERIES:
Redrock (CO) - is very deep.
Whitesage (UT) - is very deep.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform - bedrock-floored plains, hills, and mountains.
Elevation - 3,500 to 5,000 feet.
Slope - 0 to 35 percent.
Parent material - materials weathered from calcareous argillite and limestone bedrock.
Climate - long, cold winters; moist springs; warm summers.
Mean annual precipitation - 10 to 14 inches.
Mean annual temperature - 40 to 45 degrees F.
Frost-free period - 90 to 125 days.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Rootel soils are used primarily as rangeland; some areas are used for dryland crops. Potential native vegetation is mainly bluebunch wheatgrass, western wheatgrass, needleandthread, blue grama, Sandberg bluegrass, and fringed sagewort.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Rootel soils are of moderate extent in western and central Montana.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Broadwater County, Montana, 1971.
REMARKS: Soil interpretations record: MT0508. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: an ochric epipedon when mixed to 7 inches (A, Bk1 horizons); a calcic horizon from 3 to 23 inches (Bk horizons); a lithic contact at 23 inches (R horizon). Rootel soils have a frigid temperature regime and an ustic moisture regime that borders on aridic.