LOCATION WABEK ND+MT SDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, frigid Entic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Wabek loam - on a west-facing, convex, 10 percent slope in native grass. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. Where described, the soil was dry throughout.)
A--0 to 5 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many roots; about 3 percent coarse fragments; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 11 inches thick)
Bk--5 to 9 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly coarse sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; single grain; common roots; about 25 percent coarse fragments; carbonate crusts coat undersides of coarse fragments; strong effervescence; slightly alkaline; diffuse boundary. (0 to 24 inches thick)
C--9 to 60 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly coarse sand, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; stratified with varying amounts and mixtures of gravel and cobblestones; single grain; few roots in upper 10 inches; about 50 percent coarse fragments; strong effervescence, decreasing to slight effervescence in the lower part; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Burleigh County, North Dakota; 11 miles north, 2 miles west of Sterling; 2,490 feet north of the southeast corner, sec. 1 T. 140 N., R. 77 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to sand and gravel typically ranges from 7 to 14 inches. Depth to carbonates typically ranges from 4 to 9 inches, but some pedons do not have carbonates. Where the soil is cultivated it can be calcareous to the surface. Thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 7 to 14 inches. The 10- to 40- inch control section averages greater than 35 percent gravel. Stony phases are recognized.
The A horizon has 10YR hue, value of 3 to 5 dry and 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is loam, sandy loam, coarse sandy loam or loamy sand containing up to 45 percent gravel. Where texture is loamy sand, the mollic epipedon exceeds 10 inches in thickness. The A horizon is neutral to moderately alkaline. Some pedons have an AC horizon.
The Bk horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 8 and 2 to 6 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is coarse sand, loamy coarse sand, coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy sand or loam containing 5 to 60 percent gravel. Where the horizon is loamy or contains less than 35 percent gravel, it is less than 10 inches thick. The Bk horizon is slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline. Thin crusts of carbonates coat the undersides of pebbles, cobbles and stones. Some pedons have a BCk horizon with colors and textures similar to the Bk horizon.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7 and 3 to 6 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is stratified sand, coarse sand, loamy coarse sand or loamy sand containing 20 to 70 percent gravel, but averaging more than 35 percent gravel. It is slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Holman and Riverside series. Holman soils have hue redder than 10YR, and are typically noncalcareous at depths of 4 to 8 inches, and have rock fragments that are quartz. Riverside soils have between 10 and 60 percent rock fragments greater than 3 inches in diameter.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wabek soils are on level to very steep outwash plains, beach ridges, terraces and terrace escarpments. Slopes are plane or convex and gradients range from 0 to 45 percent. The soil formed in sand and gravel glaciofluvial deposits. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 34 to 45 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 12 to 18 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Farland, Lehr, Lihen, Manning, Parshall, Shambo, Stady and Tally series. Farland, Lihen, Parshall, Shambo and Tally soils are on nearby terraces. These soils do not have sand and gravel within depths of 40 inches. Lehr, Manning and Stady soils are on similar terraces and outwash plains as Wabek soils. Lehr and Manning soils have cambic horizons and are deeper than 14 inches to sand and gravel. Stady soils have cambic horizons and sand and gravel is at depths of 20 to 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Runoff is negligible to low depending on slope. Permeability is rapid and very rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for range and pasture. Native vegetation is blue grama, upland sedges, western wheatgrass, needleandthread and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western North Dakota, northeastern Montana and northwestern South Dakota. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bowman County, North Dakota, 1969.
REMARKS: Revised 2/95.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 7 inches, after mixing (A horizon).