LOCATION WERNER ND+MT SDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid, shallow Entic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Werner loam - on an east northeast-facing convex slope of 18 percent in native grass. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. When described, the soil was moist throughout.)
A--0 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate very fine subangular blocky; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many roots; many fine pores; few small stones; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
ABk--6 to 13 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) loam, very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) moist; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak medium and fine subangular blocky; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many roots; common fine pores; few small pebbles; few fine soft masses of carbonates; slight effervescence; mildly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
Bk--13 to 17 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) loam, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) moist; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common roots; few fine pores; few pebbles; common fine soft masses of carbonates; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Cr1--17 to 30 inches; pale yellow (2.5Y 7/4) soft argillaceous sandstone; massive but fractures to plates; few roots in cracks; carbonate accumulations in cracks; slight effervescence; gradual boundary.
Cr2--30 to 60 inches; light gray (5Y 7/2) soft shale and sandstone strata; light yellowish brown and yellow (10Y 6/4 and 2.5Y 7/6) on faces of plates and blocks; slight effervescence.
TYPE LOCATION: Burleigh County, North Dakota; about 4 1/2 miles north and 1 mile west of Bismarck; 1,585 feet north and 150 feet west of the southeast corner, sec. 31, T. 140 N., R. 80 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to soft bedrock ranges from 7 to 20 inches. The soil contains as much as 5 percent coarse fragments.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3. It typically is loam but some is silt loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, very fine sandy loam, or sandy loam. It typically does not have carbonates except where mixed by tillage.
The ABk horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, 3 or 4 moist; and chroma of 2 to 4. It is very fine sandy loam, silt loam, loam, or clay loam and contains 1 to 10 percent calcium carbonate equivalent. Some of the carbonates are in soft masses on the faces of peds and around pores.
The Bk horizon has hue of 2.5Y, value of 5 to 7, 4 or 5 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4.
The Cr horizon is soft massive or platy fine grained sandstone or interbedded sandstone, siltstone, and shale.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the family. Other competing series are the Abac, Barvon, Cabba, Cohagen, Kloten, and Wayden series. Abac, Cabba, Cohagen, and Wayden soils do not have mollic epipedons. In addition, Cohagen soils are coarse-loamy. The Barvon soils have bedrock at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Wayden soils are clayey. Kloten soils have a lithic contact within 20 inches of the surface.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Werner soils are on gently sloping to very steep convex ridge crests and side slopes of upland plains and sides of valleys. Slope gradients range from 3 to 50 percent. The soils formed in residuum weathered from soft sandstone and shale. The climate is cool, semiarid. Mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 45 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation from 14 to 17 inches. Most of the precipitation comes in the spring and summer.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Cabba, Cohagen, and Wayden soils and the Amor, Max, Morton, Sen, Vebar, Williams, and Zahl soils. Cabba, Cohagen, and Wayden soils are on similar landscapes as Werner. Amor, Morton, Sen, and Vebar soils are on smoother and typically less sloping parts of the landscape. Max, Williams, and Zahl soils are on nearby glaciated plains. All of the noncompeting soils are deeper.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium or rapid. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for range and pasture. A few areas are cultivated. Native vegetation is blue grama, little bluestem, needleandthread, western wheatgrass, and a variety of forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western North Dakota, northwestern South Dakota, and possibly eastern Montana. The soil is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Denver, Colorado
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Burleigh County, North Dakota, 1971.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 13 inches (A and ABk horizons).