LOCATION VAEDA MTEstablished Series
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.