Alberta Soils Tour Guidebook Central Alberta Region May 30 - 31, 2019 2019 Alberta Soils Tour This guidebook may be cited as: Alberta Soils Tour Subcommittee. 2019. Alberta Soils Tour Guidebook: Central Alberta Region. May 30- 31, 2019. K. Dlusskiy, W.L. Nikiforuk, R.L. McNeil, and E.W. Karpuk (Editors). Alberta Soil Science Workshop. Edmonton, AB. 67 p. Alberta Soils Tour Subcommittee members: K. Dlusskiy (chair), J.A. Brierley, J. Casson, M. Gorzelak, L. Kryzanowski, E.W. Karpuk, O.R. Kulikova, R.L. McNeil, W.L. Nikiforuk, and B.D. Walker. Contents 1 Preface .................................................................................................................................................. 1 2 Tour Itinerary ........................................................................................................................................ 2 3 Points of Interest along the Tour Route ............................................................................................... 7 4 Natural Regions, Subregions, Soil Correlation Areas and Land Systems ............................................ 11 4.1 Central Parkland Natural Subregion ........................................................................................... 11 4.2 Northern Fescue Natural Subregion ........................................................................................... 12 4.3 Mixedgrass Natural Subregion .................................................................................................... 14 5 Bedrock and Surficial Geology ............................................................................................................ 16 5.1 Bedrock Geology ......................................................................................................................... 16 5.2 Surficial Geology ......................................................................................................................... 18 6 Stop #1 – Thick Black Chernozemic Soils at a Tree Nursery East of Red Deer .................................... 20 7 Stop #2 – Chernozemic and Gleysolic Soils in Hummocky Moraine in the Rumsey Area .................. 25 8 Stop #3 – Hamlet of Byemoor, AB ...................................................................................................... 30 9 Stop #4 –Solonetzic and Chernozemic Soils in a Lake Basin ............................................................... 31 10 Stop #5 – Hand Hills Preglacial Gravels ............................................................................................... 36 11 Stop #6 – Drumheller: Coal Geology, Mining History (and Dinosaurs)............................................... 41 12 Stop #7 – Vertisolic Soils and Vertic Intergrades ................................................................................ 42 13 Stop #8 – Surface Evidence of Soil Movement in Vertisolic Soils at Munson Cemetery .................... 47 14 Soil Variability Analysis at Munson (en route discussion) ................................................................... 49 15 Stop #9 – Hamlet of Rowley: Community Kept Alive by Partying ...................................................... 52 16 Stop #10 – Mudspring Lake, Saline Gleysolic Soils ............................................................................. 53 17 Stop #11 – Exposure of Sedimentary Bedrock at Hunting Hills Ridge ................................................ 58 18 References .......................................................................................................................................... 62 May 2019 Page ii 2019 Alberta Soils Tour List of Figures Figure 1. 2019 Alberta Soils Tour overview with Soil Correlation Areas (Refer to legend on Page 6) ......... 4 Figure 2. Natural Subregions and Land Systems (Refer to legend on Page 6) .............................................. 5 Figure 5-1. Bedrock geology of the Tour area ............................................................................................ 16 Figure 5-2. Surficial geology of the Tour area ............................................................................................. 18 Figure 6-1. Elevation profile along Tp Rd 374 from RR 262 to RR 270 (ASIC 2019) .................................... 22 Figure 6-2. Cross-section along Tp Rd 374 from RR 262 to RR 270 ............................................................ 24 Figure 7-1. Grassland Vegetation Inventory of hummocky landscape at Stop #2 ...................................... 28 Figure 9-1. Comparison of Ecodistrict and Land System mapping at Stop #4 ............................................ 32 Figure 10-1. AGRASID Soil Landscape Models and Land Systems at Stop #5 in the Hand Hills .................. 36 Figure 12-1. Gilgai micro-topography at Stop #7 ........................................................................................ 45 Figure 12-2. Grassland Vegetation Inventory at Stop #7 ............................................................................ 46 Figure 16-1. Grassland Vegetation Inventory at the southern end of Mudspring Lake. ............................ 53 Figure 17-1. Thickness of the Paskapoo Formation .................................................................................... 59 Figure 17-2. Sunchild Aquifer ...................................................................................................................... 60 List of Tables Table 1. Soil Correlation Area legend for Figure 1 (adapted from ASIC 2016). ............................................ 6 Table 2. Land Systems legend for Figure 2 (adapted from ASIC 2019). ........................................................ 6 Table 6-1. Selected climate normals (1981-2010) for Red Deer A weather station ................................... 21 Table 6-2. Selected chemical and physical characteristics of the Lonepine pedon .................................... 24 Table 7-1. Hughenden soil series: Profile and analytical data (ASIC 2016, 2019)....................................... 26 Table 7-2. Grassland Vegetation Inventory (GVI) site types at Stop #2 ...................................................... 27 Table 7-3. Soils characterized by Miller et al. (1989) at the St. Denis, SK, study site ................................. 28 Table 9-1. Dark Brown subgroups applicable to the four Solonetzic Great Groups (SCWG 1998)............. 33 Table 9-2. Developmental stages of Solonetzic soils .................................................................................. 34 Table 9-3. Physical properties of the three soils at Stop #4 ....................................................................... 34 Table 9-4. Chemical properties of the three soils at Stop #4 ..................................................................... 35 Table 10-1. Degrees of cementation (ECSS 1982)....................................................................................... 40 Table 10-2. Stages of carbonate accumulation used in USA gravels (Gile et al. 1981) .............................. 40 Table 12-1. Summary of subgroups in Vertisolic and Vertic intergrade soils in the Tour area .................. 44 Table 12-2. Chemical properties of Vertisolic and Vertic intergrade soils (thin Ah phases) at Stop #7 ..... 45 Table 12-3. Physical properties of sampled soils at Stop #7 ....................................................................... 46 Table 13-1. Drumheller soil series profile description at Munson Cemetery (Brierley et al. 1996) ........... 47 Table 13-2. Chemical analysis of Drumheller soil series at Munson Cemetery (Brierley et al. 1996) ........ 48 Table 13-3. Physical analysis of Drumheller soil series at Munson Cemetery (Brierley et al. 1996) .......... 48 Table 13-4. Relative abundance of clay minerals in Drumheller soil series at Munson Cemetery (Brierley et al. 1996) .................................................................................................................................................. 48 May 2019 Page iii 2019 Alberta Soils Tour Table 14-1. Average laboratory results by slope position for topsoil samples (0-15 cm). ......................... 49 Table 14-2. Laboratory results for specific transect locations and slope positions at Site 02-12. ............. 50 Table 16-1. Colour criteria for soils in the Gleysolic Order. Adapted from Bedard-Haughn (2011) ........... 54 Table 16-2. Summary of Great Groups and Subgroups in the Gleysolic Order .......................................... 54 Table 16-3. Correlation of the Grassland Vegetation Inventory (GVI) to prairie wetland classification .... 56 Table 16-4. Chemical analyses of soils applicable to Stop #10 ................................................................... 57 Table 16-5. Physical analyses of sampled soils applicable to Stop #10 ...................................................... 57 Abbreviations and Acronyms Defined AB .................................................................................................................................................... Alberta ASIC ..............................................................................................................Alberta Soil Information Center AEP .............................................................................................................. Alberta Environment and Parks AGRASID ................................................................... Agricultural Region of Alberta Soil Inventory Database AGS ......................................................................................................................