LOCATION SAGE SD+MTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, nonacid, mesic Typic Fluvaquents
TYPICAL PEDON: Sage silty clay loam-on a plane slope of about 1 percent under native vegetation. When described the soil was wet. (Colors are for dry conditions unless otherwise stated.)
Az--0 to 5 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; thin crust of white (2.5Y 8/1) and light gray (2.5Y 7/2) salts on the surface; few fine nests of salts; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 19 inches)
Cz1--5 to 10 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay loam, olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) moist; few fine distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) mottles; massive; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; fine stratification; common fine roots; common fine nests of salts; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Cz2--10 to 21 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; few fine distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) mottles; massive; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; fine stratification; few fine roots; many fine nests of salts; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
Czg--21 to 31 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; many medium and coarse distinct olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) mottles; massive; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few fine roots, fine stratification; many medium nests of salts; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Cg1--31 to 40 inches; olive gray (5Y 5/2) clay, olive (5Y 4/3) moist; many medium and coarse distinct olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) and dark brown (10YR 4/3) mottles; massive; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; fine stratification; few fine roots; many fine and medium nests of salts; strongly acid; diffuse boundary.
Cg2--40 to 50 inches; olive gray (5Y 5/2) clay, olive (5Y 4/3) moist; many medium and coarse distinct olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) mottles; massive; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; stains (Fe and Mn oxide) on the bedding planes; 30 percent by volume of fragments of shale; many medium nests of gypsum along bedding planes and in the soil matrix; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Cr--50 to 60 inches; olive gray (5Y 5/2) clay shale, olive (5Y 4/3) moist; very few fine mottles along bedding planes; stains (Fe and Mn oxide) on bedding planes; many medium nests of gypsum between the bedding planes; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Harding County, South Dakota, about 2.5 miles west and 1 mile south of the Gustave corner; 1,250 feet south and 50 feet west of the northeast corner, sec. 17, T. 15 N., R. 1 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The control section ranges from 35 to 60 percent clay. Typically, the soil does not have carbonates, but some pedons are calcareous below 20 inches. Conductivity ranges from 10 to 50 mmhos/cm, with the highest conductivity is in the upper horizons. The salt content ranges from 1 to 2 percent above a depth of 30 inches. Some pedons have surface layers up to 19 inches thick consisting of recent stratified alluvium. Clay shale typically is at a depth of 50 to 60 inches but ranges from 40 to 60 inches or more.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, or is neutral; value is 3 to 5, 5 or 6 dry; and chroma is 0 to 2. It is typically silty clay loam, but some are silty clay and clay. Some pedons have an overburden of stratified alluvium that is sandy loam, loam, or silt loam. A thin surface salt crust up to 1/2 inch thick is common on most pedons when dry. It ranges from slightly acid to moderately alkaline.
The C horizon has hue of 2.5Y, 5Y, or is neutral; value is 4 to 7, 5 to 8 dry; and chroma is 0 to 3. It is silty clay, silty clay loam, clay loam, or clay and some pedons have as much as 35 percent fragments of shale in the lower part. Some pedons have thin layers that are less than 35 percent clay. Some pedons have sand and gravel below depths of 40 inches. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to strongly alkaline.
The Cr horizon typically is clay shale but is soft sandstone in some pedons. It ranges from very strongly acid to slightly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Quenzer series. Quenzer soils do not have salts above 30 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sage soils are on bottom lands and fans. Slope gradients range from 0 to 6 percent. The soils formed in clayey alluvium overlying clay shale, soft sandstone or stratified alluvium. The mean annual temperature ranges from 39 to 47 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 14 to 16 inches. These soils have a seasonal high water table at the surface to a depth of about 2 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Absher, Dogiecreek, Gerdrum, Harlem, Hisle, Kyle, Lismas, Pierre, Swanboy, Wasa, Winler, and Twotop soils. Dogiecreek soils are on similar landscapes and have a coarse loamy control section. Absher, Gerdrum, and Hisle soils have a natric horizon and are on slightly higher parts of the landscape. Harlem, Kyle, Lismas, Pierre, Swanboy, Wasa, Winler, and Twotop soils do not have the high percent of salt. Harlem soils are on slightly higher bottom lands and Kyle, Swanboy, and Twotop soils are on the higher parts of upland fans. Lismas soils are shallow to clay shale and are on convex ridgetops. Pierre, Wasa, and Winler soils are moderately deep to clay shale and are on side slopes above and adjacent to the Sage soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Runoff is low to medium. Permeability is slow or very slow. A perched water table rises to the surface in the spring. These soils receive run-in water from adjacent higher areas.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in range and used for grazing. Native vegetation includes a sparse stand of inland saltgrass, western wheatgrass, alkali sacaton, alkali cordgrass, foxtail barley, and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern South Dakota and southeastern Montana. It is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Denver, Colorado
SERIES ESTABLISHED: McKenzie County, North Dakota, 1932.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone is from the surface horizon to about 7 inches (Az horizon); water table - the zone from about 5 to 21 inches; horizon of salt accumulation - the zone from the surface to a depth of about 31 inches (Az, Cz1, Cz2, Czg horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL Data: 79P599-602. Data is for the typical pedon.