LOCATION YELLOWBANK MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Lithic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Yellowbank loam with a slope of 4 percent in a pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A1-- 0 to 7 inches; black (10YR 2/1) loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine granular; friable; many fine roots; 2 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
A2-- 7 to 12 inches; black (10YR 2/1) loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; 3 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizons is 8 to 30 inches)
Bw-- 12 to 16 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) sandy loam; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; 11 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
2R-- 16 inches; granitic gneiss
TYPE LOCATION: Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota. About 5 miles north and 1 mile east of Bellingham; 250 feet north and 120 feet east of the southwest corner of section 11, T. 120 N., R. 45 W.; USGS Bellingham Quadrangle, latitude 45 degrees, 12 minutes, and 44 seconds north and longitude 96 degrees, 16 minutes 2 seconds west.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to a lithic contact is variable, ranging from less than 20 inches in 60 to 80 percent of the area, and from 20 to 30 inches deep in 20 to 40 percent of the area. The thickness of the mollic epipedon and depth to bedrock is 8 to 30 inches. Content of gravel ranges from 0 to 15 percent. The series control section ranges from 5 to 27 percent noncarbonate clay, but typically averages about 20 percent and contains more than 15 percent fine sand and coarser. It typically does not have free calcium carbonate, but a small amount is in the lower part of some pedons. Boulders are on the surface of some pedons.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and 3 or 4 dry, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is loam, silt loam, or sandy loam. The reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is loam, silt loam, or sandy loam. The reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Yellowbank soils are on flats and side slopes on bedrock controlled terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 40 percent. The soil formed in a mantle of alluvial sediments over granite and gneiss bedrock. Mean annual air temperatures range from 42 to 46 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 20 to 27 inches. The frost-free days range from 120 to 172. The elevation above sea level ranges from 990 to 1950 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Arvilla, Barnes, Buse, Fordville, La Prairie, Lamoure, Rauville, Svea, and Vallers. The somewhat excessively drained Arvilla soils are on flats and side slopes. The well drained Barnes and Buse soils are on side slopes and summits. The well drained Fordville soils are on nearly level stream terraces. The moderately well drained Svea soils are on flats and concave foot slopes. The poorly drained Vallers soils are on flats and in drainageways. The moderately well drained La Prairie soils are on nearly level flood plains. The poorly drained Lamoure soils are on nearly level flood plains. The very poorly drained Rauville soils are along stream channels.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained. Runoff is slow to rapid. Permeability is moderate to moderately rapid above the bedrock. The seasonal high water table is greater than 6 feet below the surface.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of this soil is in pasture or used for wildlife. Native vegetation is tall prairie grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West-central Minnesota. The series is of limited extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, 1994. Source of name is from Yellow Bank township and the Yellow Bank River.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface to 12 inches (A1 and A2 horizons); cambic horizon - the zone from 12 to 16 inches (Bw horizon); lithic subgroup - lithic contact at 16 inches; ruptic-lithic subgroup because of lithic contact within 20 inches in part but not all of each pedon. The depth to bedrock is variable due to common fracturing and jointing in the upper part of the bedrock surface
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to Minnesota Soil Survey Laboratory - University of Minnesota CFC number 4607 for results of some laboratory analyses of the typical pedon. Soil Interpretation Record No. MN0730.