LOCATION VAEDA              MT
Established Series
Rev. REW-LCB-WLF-RER
02/97

VAEDA SERIES


The Vaeda series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived mainly from shale. These soils are on alluvial fans and stream terraces. Slopes are 0 to 8 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 12 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 43 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, nonacid, frigid Aridic Ustorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Vaeda silty clay, in native grassland (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).

E--0 to 3 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; weak thin platy structure with a 1-inch vesicular crust at the surface; very hard, firm, very sticky and plastic; common fine roots; many fine vesicular pores; light gray (2.5Y 7/2) silt and sand on faces of plates; medium acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (1/4 to 3 inches thick)

By1--3 to 10 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; weak medium and thin platy structure parting to moderate fine blocky; hard, firm, very sticky and plastic; many fine roots; many fine tubular pores; common fine masses and seams of gypsum; light gray (2.5Y 7/2) skeletans on faces of peds; strongly acid (pH 5.5); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)

By2--10 to 72 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) silty clay, dark gray (5Y 4/1) moist; weak medium angular blocky structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and plastic; common fine roots to a depth of 25 inches; many fine tubular pores; few fine seams and masses of gypsum; neutral (pH 6.6).

TYPE LOCATION: Valley County, Montana; 200 feet north and 200 feet east of the SW corner of sec. 20, T. 26 N., R. 39 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 41 degrees F or higher.

Rock fragments - 0 to 15 percent.

Control section - 35 to 60 percent clay.

E horizon - Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y

Value: 5, 6, or 7 dry; 4, 5, or 6 moist

Chroma: 2 or 3

Texture: silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay

Clay content: 35 to 60 percent

Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent pebbles

Electrical conductivity: 2 to 4 mmhos/cm

Sodium adsorption ratio: 0 to 5

Reaction: pH 5.6 to 7.8

Some pedons may have an A horizon that is 1/2- to 1-inch thick.

By1 horizon - Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y

Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist

Chroma: 2 or 3

Texture: silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay

Clay content: 35 to 60 percent

Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent pebbles

Electrical conductivity: 4 to 16 mmhos/cm

Sodium adsorption ratio: 10 to 20

Gypsum: 1 to 5 percent

Reaction: pH 5.1 to 7.8

Some pedons have a Bw horizon 3 to 6 inches thick.

By2 horizon - Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y

Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist

Chroma: 1, 2, or 3

Texture: silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay

Clay content: 35 to 60 percent

Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent pebbles

Electrical conductivity: 4 to 16 mmhos/cm

Sodium adsorption ratio: 10 to 20

Gypsum: 1 to 5 percent

Reaction: pH 6.1 to 9.0

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:

Landform - alluvial fans; stream terraces.

Elevation - 2,600 to 4,000 feet.

Slope- 0 to 8 percent.

Parent material - clayey alluvium.

Climate - cool, dry, continental with 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 - 100 to 135 days.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very slow permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Vaeda soils are used mainly for rangeland. Potential native vegetation is mainly western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, and Nuttall saltbush.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Vaeda soils are of moderate extent in northern and eastern Montana.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Valley County, Montana, 1976.

REMARKS: Soil interpretation records: MT0273. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: an ochric epipedon from the soil surface to 7 inches (E, By1 horizons); a thin vesicular surface crust (E horizon); an accumulation of gypsum (By1, By2 horizons); a particle-size control section from 10 to 40 inches (By2 horizon). Vaeda soils have a frigid temperature regime and an ustic moisture regime bordering on aridic.

Additional Information: Laboratory data S74MT-105-4, S74MT-105-3.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.