LOCATION SEARING ND+MTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over fragmental, mixed, superactive, frigid Typic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Searing loam - native grassland. (Colors for dry soil unless otherwise stated)
A--0 to 8 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to fine granular; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and medium roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bw--8 to 23 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; strong coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 16 inches thick)
C1--23 to 33 inches; reddish yellow (5YR 6/6) channery loam, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; massive; soft, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; 15 percent porcelanite channers; slight effervescence; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary.
2C2--33 to 60 inches; reddish yellow (5YR 7/6) shattered porcelanite, yellowish red (5YR 5/6) moist; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Dunn County, North Dakota; 1,960 feet east and 970 feet north of the southwest corner, sec. 20, T. 145 N., R. 94 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to carbonates ranges from 10 to 24 inches and depth to shattered reddish clinker or porcelanite ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Porcelanite, as sand grains or channery fragments, is mixed throughout the solum in some pedons. Stony phases are recognized.
The A horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5 and 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is loam, silt loam or clay loam. It is slightly acid to neutral.
The Bw horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6 and 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is a loam, silt loam or clay loam averaging between 18 and 30 percent clay. It is neutral to moderately alkaline. It has weak to strong prismatic structure that parts to moderate or strong blocky structure. Some pedons formed in noncalcareous porcelanite beds and do not have carbonates. Some pedons have a nonargillic Bt horizon or a Bk horizon.
The C horizon is loam or clay loam with 5 to 30 percent porcelanite channers. The 2C horizon is shattered porcelanite with some sandy material on flat surfaces. White carbonate coatings are on channer surfaces in some pedons. The C horizons are slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Searing soils are on level to rolling uplands with slope gradients of 0 to 15 percent. The soil formed in sedimentary material weathered in place on porcelanite or clinkers from burned-out coal veins. The climate is cool, semiarid, with mean annual temperature of 39 to 45 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation of 13 to 18 inches. Three-fourths of the moisture falls in the spring and summer.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Brandenburg, Flasher, Ringling and Wayden soils on the steep slopes and hills; Amor, Morton, Sen, Regent and Vebar soils on nearby sloping areas; and Grail, Arnegard, Shambo and Farland on nearly level swales and terraces. Brandenburg and Ringling soils have porcelanite at a depth of less than 20 inches. None of the other soils have fragmental material at a depth of 20 to 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is negligible to medium depending on slope. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Use for small grains, some row crops, hay and range. Native vegetation is medium and short prairie grasses, such as western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, blue grama and some forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Widely distributed in small tracts in the sedimentary plains of western North Dakota and eastern Montana. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Denver, Colorado
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sheridan County, Wyoming, 1932.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 8 inches (A horizon); cambic horizon - the zone from 8 to 23 inches (Bw horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Type Location - S77ND025-058 (Engineering test data only).