LOCATION SANDBERG MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, frigid Calcic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Sandberg loamy sand with a 4 percent convex northeast facing slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; black (10YR 2/1) loamy sand, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; about 4 percent gravel; common fine and medium roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--8 to 12 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) gravelly loamy coarse sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; about 20 percent gravel; common fine and medium roots; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of A horizons is 7 to 16 inches thick.)
Bw--12 to 19 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) gravelly loamy coarse sand; single grain; loose; about 17 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. ( 0 to 24 inches thick.)
Bk--19 to 29 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; common carbonate coats on underside of pebbles; about 25 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; diffuse wavy boundary. (6 to 20 inches thick)
C--29 to 80 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; about 30 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Otter Tail County, Minnesota; about 5 miles North of Fergus Falls; 1380 feet North and 800 feet West of the Southeast corner of Section 33, T.134 N., R.43 W.; USGS Fergus Falls quadrangle; lat. 46 degrees 22 minutes 24 seconds N. and long. 96 degrees 05 minutes 42 seconds W., NAD27
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to free carbonates is typically 10 to 40 inches but ranges to the surface in some pedons. The mollic epipedon ranges from 7 to 16 inches thick. Those less than 10 inches thick are sandy loam or coarse sandy loam. The series control section average has 2 to 35 percent rock fragments (by volume). The rock fragments are of mixed lithology and typically 2 to 60 mm in size. However, they may range up to 250 mm in size. The series control section has more than 30 percent medium sand or coarser.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, sand, coarse sand or their gravelly analogues. Some pedons have an AB horizon. Reaction is moderately acid to slightly alkaline.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, sand or their gravelly analogues. Reaction is slightly acid to slightly alkaline.
The Bk horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture is coarse sand or sand or their gravelly analogues. Reaction is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline. Carbonate coats are commonly on the bottom side of rock fragments.
Some pedons have a BC horizon.
The C or 2C horizons have hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, or 2.5Y value of 4 to 7 and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture is coarse sand, sand, or their gravelly analogues. Some pedons have very gravelly textures below 40 inches. Reaction is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Hubbard, Kost, Lohnes, and Maddock series. Hubbard soils are leached of carbonates to depths of more than 40 inches. Kost, Lohnes, and Maddock soils have less than 5 percent rock fragments (by volume) in the series control section. In addition, Kost and Maddock soils contain less than 30 percent medium sand and coarser in the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sandberg soils are on outwash plains, glacial beach ridges, valley trains, stream terraces and glacial moraines. Slopes range from 0 to 45 percent. They formed in sandy and gravelly outwash sediments or glacial beach deposits with or without a thin loamy upper mantle. These sediments are late Wisconsin in age. The mean annual temperature ranges from 37 to 45 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 19 to 28 inches. About 80 percent of the precipitation falls during the growing season. The frost-free days range from 90 to 145. The elevation ranges from 800 to 2000 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Arvilla, Clontarf, Dorset, Flaming, Forada, Fordville, Mavie, Osakis, Radium, Sverdrup, and Syrene soils. Forada, Mavie, and Syrene soils are poorly and very poorly drained and in lower lying positions. Clontarf, Flaming, Osakis, and Radium soils are moderately well drained and in nearby deeply set concave swales and on lower lying flats. Arvilla, Dorset, and Sverdrup soils are on slightly lower landscape positions and have thicker loamy mantles. The well drained Fordville soils are in nearby shallow swales and have a thicker loamy mantle. Sandberg soils are occasionally associated with glacial till soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Surface runoff is low to high. Permeability is moderately rapid or rapid in the upper part and very rapid in the lower part.
USE AND VEGETATION: Areas of these soils are used for cultivated crops, hay or pasture. A few areas are in woodland. Native vegetation is mixed prairie grasses with scattered oak hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western, Central and Northwestern Minnesota. It is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sherburne County, Minnesota, 1994.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: Mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 12 inches; udic moisture regime; frigid temperature regime.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to MAES Central File Code number 4439 for lab results of the typical pedon. Soil Interpretation Number MN0619.