LOCATION FORMDALE MNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Calcic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Formdale clay loam with a convex slope of 3 percent on a ground moraine in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; black (10YR 2/1) clay loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; weak very fine granular structure; friable; many roots; about 2 percent gravel; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
Bwl--9 to 13 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) clay loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) dry; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; friable; many roots; about 2 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--13 to 16 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; friable; many roots; about 2 percent gravel; mildly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bw horizons is 4 to 14 inches.)
Bk--16 to 34 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; few roots; about 5 percent gravel; many fine soft light gray (10YR 7/1) lime masses; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 24 inches thick)
C--34 to 60 inches; light brown (2.5Y 5/4) clay loam; weak medium and thick platy soil fragments; friable; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) Fe concentrations and many fine prominent gray (5Y 6/1) Fe depletions in lower part; about 5 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Grant County, Minnesota; 1165 feet west and 195 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 33, T. 127 N., R. 42 W.; USGS Patchen Lake quadrangle, Lat 45 degrees 45 minutes 37 seconds N., Lon 95 degrees 56 minutes 53 seconds W., NAD27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to free carbonates ranges from 8 to 20 inches. The mollic epipedon ranges from 8 to 14 inches in thickness. The control section has from 15 to about 25 percent fine sand and coarser. Pedons of this series commonly have 2 to 8 percent coarse fragments which have a dominant size of 10 to 150 mm. Horizons in some pedons have less than 2 percent coarse fragments.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 in the upper part and 1 or 2 in the lower part. Typically it is clay loam but silty clay loam is in the range.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR in the upper part and 10YR or 2.5Y in the lower part. It has value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 3 or 4. Typically it is clay loam but silty clay loam and loam are in the range.
The Bk horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. Typically it is clay loam but loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam are in the range. The calcium carbonate equivalent ranges from 20 to 30 percent. The Bk horizon is lacking in some pedons.
The C horizon has value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. Typically it is clay loam but loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam are in the range. The calcium carbonate equivalent ranges from 12 to 20 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Barnes, Doland, Edgeley, Hibar, Prospect, Vienna, and Yeoman soils. The Barnes soils have more sand and less silt in their sola and C horizons. The Doland soils formed in 18 to 30 inches of a fine-silty sediment over loamy glacial till. The Edgeley soils formed in shaly loam glacial till, have appreciable quantities of shale in their sola, and are deeper to free carbonates. The Hibar soils are moderately deep to hard sandstone. The Prospect and Yeoman soils are deeper to free carbonates, contain more rock fragments in the B and C horizons and are in a different climatic region. The Vienna soils have less than 15 percent fine sand or coarser in the A and upper B horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are typically on undulating ground moraines, but in a few places they are on hilly to steep moraines. Slopes are plane or convex with gradients of 2 to 30 percent. They formed in loamy glacial till. The mean annual temperature ranges from 39 to 44 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 21 to 24 inches. The frost free days range from 90 to 170 days. The elevation above sea level ranges from 1000 to 1900 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Aazdahl, Flom, Hamerly, Langhei, and Parnell soils which are members of a hydrosequence with Formdale soils and which formed in similar or related sediments. The moderately well drained Aazdahl soils have nearly level plane to slightly convex slopes. The poorly drained Flom soils are on flats or low gradient drainageways. The moderately well and somewhat poorly drained calcareous Hamerly soils are on low rises. The well drained Langhei soils have steeper or more convex slopes. The poorly drained very poorly drained Parnell soils are in swales and depressions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderately slow. Surface runoff is moderate to rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are cultivated. Corn, soybeans, and small grains are the principal crops. Native vegetation was tall grass prairie.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Minnesota primarily on the Fergus Falls till plain. Moderately extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: St. Paul, Minnesota
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Grant County, Minnesota, 1974.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 13 inches (Ap and Bw1); cambic horizon - zone from 9 to 16 inches (Bw); calcic horizon - the zone from 16 to 34 inches (Bk).
Competing series have not been updated at this time.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Interpretation Record number MN0003.