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" , 'l ,,~,' '-... ~ ...
...... -. ." ."
11th
CONGRESS
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF SOIL SCIENCE
EDMONTON, CANADA
JUNE, 1978
GUIDEBOOK
FOR
A SOILS AND LAND USE TOUR IN THE PLAINS, FOOTHILLS, AND MOUNTAIN
REGIONS OF ALBERTA FROM EDMONTON TO RED DEER AND JASPER
TOURS 6 AND 14
A.A. KJEARSGAARD
Agriculture Canada, Soil Survey, Edmonton. Alberta
T.M. MACYK
Soils Division, Alberta Research Council. Edmonton, Alberta
Guides and Contributors: G.L. Lesko, Syncrude Canada Ltd. and
O.K. McBeath, Agriculture Canada
Guidebook Editors
D.P. Acton and &.S. Crosson Saskatchewan Institute of Pedolo~y 8askatoon~ 8askatcheuJan
Contribution of:
!
-i-
PREFACE
This guide book will provide tour participants with rl varIety of
information so that following the tour they will have a better knowledge
of Canada and Alberta, in particular, the area covered by this tour. It
will soon become apparent to the reader that the soil and its environment
has received greater coverage than other aspects, which is in line with
the theme of the 11th Congress. In preparing the guide book, the authors
have included considerable general interest material, especially in the
road log. Broad general information is presented in the first part of
the guide book, followed by site specific material in the final section.
Selection of material partially reflects the interests of the tour leaders,
but is also determined in part by the availability of reliable information.
No profile pictures have been included in this guide book
because of the difficulty in obtaining proper reproductions. However,
35 mm color slides of all soil profiles included In this tour will be
available during the Congress.
-ii-
E OF CONTENTS
PREFACE . . . .
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION . .
CANADA - AN OVERVIEW
The Canadian System of Soil Classification .
ALBERTA - AN OVERVIEW .......... .
Capability for Agriculture Land Capability for Forestry
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF E AREA
Physiography ... Bedrock Geology .. S cial Deposits So; 1 s . . . . . . Vegetation . . . . C1 imate. . . . . . . . . . .
1 Capability and Land Use The Rocky Mountains ..... Banff and Jasper National Parks
DAY 1: EDMONTON TO RED DEER
The Route
DAY 2: RED DEER LOCAL
The ute
DAY 3: RED DEER TO JASPER
The Route
DAY 4: JASPER LOCAL .
Route
DAY 5: JASPER TO HINTON
The Route .
DAY 6: HINTON TO EDMONTON
The Route ..
Page
. vi i i
1
8
9
13
18 19
23
23 26 28 30 33 35 41 43 45
54
54
61
61
69
69
86
86
89
89
96
96
-iii-
THE LACOMBE RESEARCH STATION . . . . . .
Contributions to Agriculture Current Soils Research Cl imate Land Use Setting Soil ..
CHEDDERVILLE SITE
Location ........ . Contributions to Agriculture Setting Cl imate .. . . . . . . . . Land Use . . . . . . . . . . Soi 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . Plant Community Description
JACKFISH ROAD SITE .
Location Setting Climate Land Use Soil . . . . Plant Community Description
COLU~1BIA ICEFIELD AND ATHABASCA GLACIER
PORTAL CREEK SITE
Field Description ..... Plant Community Description
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN SITE . . . . . . . . . .
Field Description ..... Plant Community Description
OVERLANDER SITE
Location Setting Land'Use Climate Soil .......... . Plant Community Description
in Central Alberta
Page
111
111 114 115 117 119
· 119
125
125 · 125
125 126 128 130 136
· 138 · 138 · 139 · 139 · 141 · 147
· 150
· 154
· 154 161
163
163 170
172
172 172 172
· 175 175 186
PEERS SITE
Location Setting Climate Land Use
-iv-
Soi 1 . . . . . . . . . . . Plant Community Description
ANALYTICAL METHODS . . . . . . . . . . .
FORMAT FOR MICROMORPHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTIONS
REFERENCES
Magnifications Used . . . . . . . . .... Guide to Relative Frequencies of Pedological Description of Overall Porosity Types of Banded Fabrics
Page
188
188 188 188
. 188 190 196
. 198
200
. . 200 Features 200
201 201
202
-v-
LIST OF FIGURES
Fig.
1. Location of Tours 6 and 14
2. Major physiographic regions of Canada
3. Vegetation regions of Canada
4. Major soils regions of Canada
5. Physiographic regions of Alberta
6. Agro-climatic areas of Alberta
7. Soil capability for agriculture in Alberta
8. Generalized soils map of Alberta
Page
2
3
4
5
15
16
20
21
9. Physiographic divisions within the tour area 24
10. Some physiographic features in Alberta 25
11. Topographic cross section, Edmonton to Columbia Icefields . 27
12. Surficial deposits within the tour area 31
13. Generalized soils map of the tour area 36
14. Agro-climate of the tour area ...
15. Forest regions within the tour area
16. Some non-agricultural resources within the tour area
17. Regional structure of the Rocky Mountains.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
Route
Route
Route
Route
Route
Route
Route
location
location
location
location
location
location
location
Edmonton to Highway 13
Highway 13 to Red Deer
Red Deer 1 oca 1
Seconda ry Road 922 to Shunda Creek
Shunda Creek to park boundary
park boundary to Columbia Icefield
Columbia Icefield to Jasper
37
38
44
46
55
58
62
70
73
78
83
Fig.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
-vi-
Map of Jasper and vicinity
Route location Jasper to Hinton
Route location Hinton to McLeod River
Route location McLeod River to Pembina River
Route location Pembina River to Edmonton
Page
8]
90
97
102
105
30. Aerial view of the Lacombe Research Station 112
31. Photomicrographs of selected horizons from the Lacombe site 124
32. Vegetative cover at the Chedderville site. . . . . . . .. 127
33. Photomicrographs of selected horizons from the Chedderville site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
34. Vegetative cover at the Jackfish Road site 140
35. Photomicrographs of selected horizons from the Jackfish Road site . . . . . . 146
36. Columbia Icefield . 151
37. Sketch of Athabasca Glacier. . 153
38. Lodgepole pine cover at Portal Creek site 155
39. Stereogram of Portal Creek site . . . 156
40. Photomicrographs of selected horizons from the Portal Creek site .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
41. Vegetative cover at Signal Mountain site 164
42. Stereogram of Signal Mountain site 165
43. Photomicrographs of selected horizons from the Signal Mountain site .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
44. Stereogram of the Overlander site. . 173
45. Setting and vegetative cover at the Overlander site 174
46. Photomicrographs of selected horizons from the Overlander si te .. . . . . . 185
47. Vegetative cover at the Peers site 189
Table
l.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
-vii-
LIST OF TABLES
Percentage of improved lands in various crops in Alberta
Extent of each soil order in Alberta ..... .
Meteorological data for selected points within the tour area
Jasper National Park annual precipitation ..
Meteorological data, Lacombe Research Station
Analytical data, Lacombe site ..
Meteorological data, Chedderville Project Farm
Analytical data, Chedderville site
9. Analytical data, Jackfish Road site
10. Analytical data, Portal Creek site
11. Analytical data, Signal Mountain site
12. Meteorological data, Entrance ...
13. Analytical data. Overlander site
14. Meteorlogical data, Edson.
15. Analytical data, Peers site.
Page
14
19
34-
53
116
123
128
134
. 145
159
168
. 176
184
190
195
-viii-
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors also gratefully acknowledge the many individuals and
organizations who contributed in various ways in the preparation of this
guide book. In particular we want to make mention of the following:
G.M. Coen and L.J. Knapik, co-leaders of Congress tour 8
and 16, who prepared most of the material for Banff and Jasper National
parks.
R.A. MacMillan, Alberta Research Council, who prepared some
of the material describing the tour area.
Charlene Epp, Alberta Soil Survey, who prepared the
preliminary illustrative material.
Cartography Section, Soil Research Institute, who prepared
the illustrative material for publication.
W.C. McKean and A. Schwarzer, Alberta Soil Survey Laboratory,
who per)formed most of the soil analyses.
Soil and Feed Testing Laboratory, Alberta Department of
Agriculture, who determined the available nutrients.
Alberta Environment Laboratory, Lethbridge, who determined
the soluble salts and available moisture.
The Lethbridge Research Station, AgriCUlture Canada, who
determined the organic matter.
The Soil Research Institute, Ottawa, who did the clay
mineralogy and the micromorphological analyses.
Mrs. Cecile Lirette of the Alberta Soil Survey, staff of
the Farm Credit Corporation. and Mrs. Nancy Wasyk of the Saskatchewan
Institute of Pedology for typing the manuscript.
-ix-
W.E. Souster, Saskatchewan Institute of Pedology, for
reviewing the manuscript.
And finally, we are grateful to those of our colleagues,
and the many others, who so generously gave of their time, without whose
help the completion of this guide book would have been more difficult.
INTRODUCTION
Tours 6 and 14 feature the west central part of Alberta (Fig. 1), and
cover three distinctly different physiographic and land use regions,
each with its soils, climate, geology, and vegetative characteristics
(Fig. 2, 3, 4). The eastern portion of the tour area is located in the
Interior Plains physiographic region, the central portion in the Foothills
regions, and the western portion in the Rocky Mountains.
Starting at Edmonton, the tour travels southward through some
of Alberta's best farmland where mixed farming is practiced. In this
area, which lies in the western portion of the Interior Plains Region,
soils are primarily Black Chernozemic, developed on a variety of parent
materials. Annual precipitation is about 450 mm of which about 70% falls
during the growing season. This, coupled with frost-free periods of 90
to 100 days, encourages cereal and forage crop production. Such enter
prises have their limitations, particularly in the Red Deer region which
has the highest incidence of damaging hailstorms in western Canada. The
tour will visit a research facility in this area, established to conduct
hail suppression studies. Also to be toured is the Lacombe Research
Station where research is conducted to assist the agriculture industry
in the parkland and "wooded regions of central Alberta. Elevations
increase from Edmonton (700 m a.s.l. [above sea level]), southward to
Lacombe (850 m a.s.l.) to Red Deer and Penhold at about 900 m a.s.l.
The central portion of the tour is mainly a forested area
covering the Lower and Upper Foothills Forest sections of the Boreal
Forest Region. The incidence of coniferous species increases towards
the west and higher elevations. Although surficial deposits continue to
-2~
120° 1180 1140
60°;-______________ _
I
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
/ I I
I I I
I I I
~I ~I ..... , o U Ft McMurray
Peace River
560~----~--~~~ ______________ -+ ______ +-__________ ~560 I
:r/ ;gl -I
~f I I
Grande. Prairie
\ )
)
I I ~ Lac La Bicheq ~ Athabasca ~
w I::I:
15 IV)
« V)
Lioydrninster ,
I I
I
I I
'-----'MEDIC:INE HATI I I
'?) ~ 49° ---------- 110
0 U.S.A.
FIG. 1 LOCATION OF TOUR 6 AND 14
, h
h
7<;1'00
#
c
/, /,
/,
# /,
\ \
Vancouver \
...... ) .... I
---~-
---, -= I
4 cs , I~ I I
wihniPege --- I ---..... _---
FIG. 2 MAJOR PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS OF CANADA
a 400 BOO Km 1 1 1
.'0.-3
C - Cordilleran
113 -Interior Plains
I - Innuitian
H - Hudson Bay Lowlands
CS- Canadian Shield
S - St Lawrence Lowlands
A - Appalachian
1>.<)
<,;;,0
i W !
/,
# ,t,
'" /,
7s?'Oo /,'
/,
;/
FIG.:3 VEGETATION REGIONS OF CANADA
a 400 800 Km I I I
lIi(t:?l Boreal forest
~ Boreal-barrens (subarctic)
em Boreal grassland (parldo::md)
0
'OCl
n High arctic
12 low arctic
13 Alpine t"undro
W Western mountain forests
E Eastern forests
G Grassland
\><0
<00
~ !
3 \ I'-" \ I /11 - )A- \ r A. ~<; /'
5 Wi~niPeg. ---------.i ___ .
fIG . .4 MAJOR SOIL REGIONS Of CANADA
o , ,400 BOOK 1...--...1. jim
2
3
.4
5
6
7
8
9 0
(QC) 10
11 '\,
12
Podzols, ~rlJnisols
Luvisols, Brunisols, rock
Brunisols, rock
luvisols, Organics
Chernozemic soils
Luvisols
Brunisols, Gleysols
Organics, Cryosols
Podzols, Brunisols, Organics
Brunisols, Cryosols, rock
Cryosols, rock, ice
Mainly rock
!).cS
VjcS
! \Jl I
-·6-
be variable, till materials, which have been deposited as various
morainal landforms, predominate. Westward, from a point about 20 km
west of Rocky Mountain House, the till is of Cordilleran origin, while
that east of there is of Continental origin. The line separating these
two tills parallels the mountain ranges to the west, intersecting the
tour route again at a point a few kilometers west of Edson. Soils are
predominantly Luvisolic, with fairly extensive Organic deposits which
gradually decrease in number and size on the rougher terrain towards the
Foothills physiographic region. It is interesting to note that west of
Edmonton, Luvisolic soils generally occur at elevations greater than
730 m a.s.l., while west of Red Deer they start at approximately the
970 m a.s.l. elevation. In the more westerly physiographic regions,
particularly in the foothills, there is a significant increase in
Brunisolic soils. The two soil pits that will be visited west of Red
Deer arE:;) both located in an area of primarily Luvisolic soils, one near
the western limit of agriculture, the other further west in an area of
limited forest industry. In the northern portion of the tour, a Brunisolic
soil will be examined which displays several paleo hOI'izons in a loess
deposit. At Hinton, the tour will visit a pulp and paper plant which
acquires its raw material from the controlled cut operations in this foot
hills area. On the final day of the tour, an Organic soil will be examined
near the western fringe of cultivation west of Edmonton. This entire area
of Luvisolic soils has a relatively shOI't growing season and frost-free
period which places a limitation on the production of cultivated agri
cultural crops. Thus, settlement in the western regions is limited to
small towns and villages along main transportation routes, where residents
are dependent primarily on the timber and petroleum industries, and in
some locations on coal mining and the tourist industry.
-7-
The western portion of the tour lies within the Rocky
Mountains, which, during the time of the tour, may still be covered with
a significant depth of snow. Mountain peaks, along the tour route within
Banff and Jasper National Parks, rise to elevations of 3 000 to 3 600 m
a.s.l. Both the North Saskatchewan and Athabasca rivers have their origin
in glaciers within the park boundary. Coniferous forests predominate on
Brunisolic and Regosolic soil complexes. In the Jasper area, two soil
pits will be examined. one a Brunisol, the other a Luvisol.
-8-
lEW
Canada is a vast country. o 0 It lies roughly between 42 and 83 north
latitude, and between 530
and 1410 longitude. At its widest point, from
east to west, it stretches some 5 200 km from the Atlantic to the Pacific
oceans. Its most southerly point, near Windsor, Ontario, is about 4 600 km
distant from its most northerly point, the northern tip of Ellesmere
Island. In 1962 the Trans-Canada Highway was completed, thus linking east
and west with a ribbon of pavement 7 800 km long. To further meet Canadian
transportation needs, there is approximately 70 000 km of railway line.
Canada's total land area is about 906 million ha of which most is climati-
cally unsuitable for agriculture. Furthermore, physiographic and soil
characteristics of the Cordilleran Region, the Canadian Shield, and much
of the rocky glacier-scoured Appalachian Region, make these regions
unsuitable for agriculture.
Canada's agricultural land resource, which is less than 10%
of the total area, is confined primarily to the prairies in the southern
par't of the Interior Plains and the St. Lawrence - Great Lakes Lowlands.
Small but significant farming areas are also found in the Maritime
Provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island), as well
as in British Columbia. There are about 63.2 million ha of farmland in
Canada (Shields and Nowland, 1975), of which about 43.8 million ha have
been improved for various agricultural uses.
The people of Canada, numbering about 22.9 million, live
primarily in southern Canada, where the greatest population density 1S
in the St. Lawrence - Great Lakes Region. Canada is divided into
10 provinces, each with its own ; plus the Yukon Territory and
the Northwest Territories, administered from Ottawa, the capital of Canada.
-9-
The following brief resume of the Canadian Soil Classification
system is provided.
The Canadian System of Soil Classification*
Soils are classified in Canada according to a hierarchical system
developed by the Canada Soil Survey Committee. Classes in all of the
five categories: order, great group, subgroup, family, and series, are
based upon observable or measurable soil properties. Diagnostic properties
at high categorical levels reflect soil genesis and hence the environmental
factors that influence soil genesis. The 9 soil orders, arranged alpha
betically, are defined in general terms and the great groups are listed.
Brunisolic Order.
Soils having sufficient horizon development to exclude them from the
'Regosolic Order but lacking the degrees or kinds of development specified
for other orders. They occur dominantly in subhumid to humid forested
regions and they usually have brown B horizons. Great groups are:
Melanic Brunisol - has a mineral-organic surface horizon (Ah) and is not
strongly acid; Eutric Brunisol - has an Ah and is strongly acid; Dystric
Brunisol - lacks a well-developed Ah and is strongly acid.
Chernozemic Order.
Soils of the grasslands. They have a well-developed base-rich, mineral
organic surface horizon (Ah). The four great groups, Brown, Dark Brown,
Black, and Dark Gray, are based upon color of the surface horizon which
reflects differences in the nature and amount of organic matter
*Prepared by J.A. McKeague, Soil Research Institute, Ottawa.
-10-
incorportated into the sUl"face mineral material due to differences in
climate and vegetation.
Cryosolic Order.
Soils of the permafrost zone occur in about 1/3 of Canada. They
may be composed of either mineral 01' organic material having permafrost
near the surface (1 to 2 m). There are three great groups: Turbic
Cryosol - strongly cryoturbated mineral soils as indicated by microrelief
or by mixed horizons; Static Cryosol - mineral soils that are not strongly
cryoturbated; Organic Cryosol - organic soil material having permafrost
within 1 m of the surface.
Gl eyso 1i cOrder.
Soils having drab colors, prominent mottling or other features resulting
from periodic or permanent high water table and reduction. They occur
commonly in depressions and level areas that either receive runoff water
or are groundwater discharge areas. There are three great groups: Humic
Gleysol - well-developed mineral-organic surface horizon (Ah); GleY801 -
lacks a well-developed Ah; Luvic Gleysol - has a B horizon (Btg) of
significant clay accumulation.
Luvisolic Order.
Soils, usually in forested regions, in which leaching has resulted in
significant translocation of clay from the A to the B horizon (Bt).
Usually they have a light gray eluvial horizon (Ae). The great groups
are: Gray Brown Luvisol - mild soil climate and forest mull Ah; Gray
Luvisol - cold to cool soil climate with usually less than 5 cm Ah.
-11-
Organic Order.
Soils composed dominantly of organic materials (more than 17% organic
carbon) of the required thickness (usually 60 em for fibric materials
and 40 cm for others). Great groups are: Fibrisol - mainly fibres that
are not decomposed; Mesisol - more decomposed than Fibrisol, Humisol -
highly decomposed, few fibres; Folisol - composed mainly of thick leaf
litter over rock.
POdzolic Order.
Acid soils developed under forest and heath vegetation. They have a B
horizon enriched in humified organic matter and Al and Fe weathering
products, usually underlying a light gray weathered Ae horizon. Great
groups are: Humic Podzol - B rich in organic matter (Bh) with very little
extractable Fe; FerrO-Humic Podzol - B rich in organic matter combined
with Al and Fe; Humo-Ferric Podzol - B contains less organic matter than
Ferro-Humic Podzol.
Regosolic Order.
Development of genetic horizons is absent or very weakly expressed.
Great groups are: Humic Regosol - has a dark, mineral-organic surface
horizon (Ah); Regosol - either lacks or has a thin Ah.
Solonetzic Order.
Soils associated with saline materials and having prismatic or columnar
structured, Na-rich B horizons that are hard when dry and nearly
impermeable when wet. They occur mainly in the grasslands associated
with Chernozemic soils. Great groups are: Solonetz - lacks a well-
-12-
developed eluvial Ae; Solodized-Solonetz - has a well-developed Ae and
an intact columnar Bnt or Bn; Solod - has an Ae and an AB in I-1hich the
structure of the former Bnt has disintegrated.
Subgroups are formed by subdivisions of great groups according
to kind and arrangement of horizons indicating conformity to the central
concept of the great gr'oup, intergrading to other orders, or additional
special horizons. Families are differentiated from subgroups on the basis
of parent material char'acteristics, soil climate factors, and soil reaction.
Series are differentiated from families on the basis of detailed soil
features.
Canadian
Brunisolic
Chernozemic
Cryosolic
Gleysolic
Luvisolic
Podzolic
Organic
Solonetzic
Classification Correlation
US
Inceptisol
Mollisol
Pergelic subgroups
Aquic suborders
Alfisol
Spodosol
Histosol
Natric great groups
FAO
Cambisol
Kastanozem, Chernozem, Rendzina
Gelic subgroups
Gleysol, Planosol
Luvisol
Podzol
Histosol
Solonetz
-13-
ALBERTA - AN OVERVIEW
Alberta, the fourth largest of Canada's 10 provinces has a total area of
about 66 million ha. The population of Alberta is about 1.8 million,
which is slightly less than 8% of the Canadian total. About 75% of
Alberta's people live in urban centres, the majority in Edmonton the
capital, and in Calgary. Albertans, indeed all Canadians, are mainly of
European origin. The Atlas of Alberta (1969) gives the following break
down of ethnic origin: (Canadian % in brackets); British 46% (44);
French 6% (30); German 14% (2); Ukrainian 8% (1); Scandinavian 7% (1);
Netherlands 4% (2); Polish 3% (1); other European 7% (6); Native 2% (1),
others 3% (11). To meet Alberta's t:ransportation needs, there is about
11 000 km of railway and about 140 000 km of roads, of which 10 500 km
are paved.
In their summary of Canada Land Inventory data, Shields and
Nowland (1975) state that 11.4 million ha of land have been improved for
agriculture in Alberta. They further state that an additional 9.6 million
ha are potentially arable, this being mainly Luvisolic soils in the Peace
River area of northwestern Alberta. About 387 000 ha are being irrigated
in southern Alberta where the main irrigated crops are sugar beets, field
corn, alfalfa, and various vegetable crops. Various agricultural statistic~:;
summarized by Shields and Nowland (1975) indicate that most of Alberta's
improved land produces grain, as shown in Table 1.
-14-
Table i. Percentage of improved lands In various crops in Alberta.
Wheat 23%
Barley 28%
Oats 10%
Forage Crops 22%
Oil Seeds 15%
Other Crops 2%
The varied physiography of Alberta is shown in Fig. 5. Most
of Alberta lies within the Interior Plains Region which is composed of
very gently tilted Mesozoic and Tertiary sediments covered with glacial
drift. Much of the plain is about 750 m a.s.1. with rivers entrenched
50 to 100 m a.s.l. and hills rising to 1 200 m a.s.l. Alberta has a
continental climate with long, cold winters and short, cool to warm
summers. Mean annaul precipitation ranges from a low of about 280 mm
in the treeless grasslands of southeastern Alberta, to greater than
1000 mm in the mountains. Northern Alberta, in the Boreal Forest Region,
has a mean annual precipitation of about 400 mm.
The map shown in Fig. 6 is adapted from the Agro-climatic
map compiled by Bowser (1967) and gives a general indication of the
climatic suitability of various areas to the production of the crops
normally grown in Alberta. These Agro-climatic areas are described as
follows:
1. Areas where the amount of precipitation has usually been
adequate and the frost-free period long enough to permit
the growing of all the dryland crops that are common to
WESTERN CORDILLERA
A 1 Rocky Mountains 2 Rocky Mountain Foothills
INTERIOR PLAINS
ALBERTA HIGH PLAINS
B 1 Porcupine Hills 2 CYpress Hills 3 Swan Hills Upland 4 Milk River Ridge 5 Hand Hills 6 Neutral Hills Upland 7 Clear Hills Upland 8 Ulikuma Upland 9 Pelican Mountain Upland
10 Stoney Mountain Upland 11 Mostoos Hills Upland 12 Buffalo Head Hills Upland 13 Birch Mountains Upland 14 Cameron Hills Upland 15 Caribou Mountams Upland 16 Western Alberta Plains 17 Eastern Alberta Plains 18 Wapiti Plain 19 Lesser Slave LOwland 20 Peace River LOwland 21 Loon River Lowland 22 Algar Plain 23 Far! Vermilion Lowland 24 Fort Nelson Lowland
1200
118 0 600;-____ -
I 814
I I
I
SASKATCHEWAN PLAIN
25 Muskeg Mountain Upland 26 Methy Portage Plain 27 Firebag Plain 28 Clearwater LOwland
GREAT SLAVE PLAIN
29 Athabasca Delta Plain 30 Wood BUffalo Plain 31 Hay River Plain
CANADIAN SHIELD
C 1 Kazan Upland 2 Athabasca Plain
-15-
U.S.A.
FIG,5 PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS OF ALBERTA
Lloydminster 1 I I
I
-16-
N.W.T. 1140
-.. -.-, ,~-:-,-. -.. -...
fITT1TTn RAINFALL ADEOUATE ulJlUJJ FROST-FREE PERIOD OVER 90 DAYS
RAINFALL LIMITING FACTOR 50% OF TIME FOR PLANT GROWTH FROST-FREE PERIOD OVER 90 DAYS
~ RAINFALL LIMITING FACTOR FOR PLANT GROWTH l1t;,j FROST-FREE PERIOD OVER 100 DAYS
~ RAINFALLADEOUATE ~ FROST-FREE PERIOD 75-90 DAYS
~ RAINFALLADEOUATE @j FROST-FREE PERIOD 60-75 DAYS
~ RAINFALLADEOUATE ~ F'iOST-FREE PERIOD LESS THAN 60 DAYS
U.S.A.
100 0 100 200 Km
~~~'~~~'=~~==~~i~====~' 60 0 60 120 Mi
FIG. 6 AGRO-CLIMATIC AREAS OF ALBERTA
-17-
the Prairie Region of western Canada. The frost-free
period in these areas has averaged over 90 days and the
annual precipitation has averaged 400 to 460 mm.
2A. Areas where the amount of precipitation, in approximately
50% of the years, has been a limiting factor to crop
growth. The frost-free period has usually been long
enough for wheat to mature without frost damage. In the
2A(H) area south of Lethbridge there is some frost hazard.
3A. Areas where the amount of precipitation has usually been
a severe limiting factor to crop growth; a wheat-fallow
rotation is practiced to the virtual exclusion of all
other rotations. The annual precipitation has averaged
300 mm. The frost-free period has averaged slightly over
100 days in the northern portion of the area and over
115 days in the south central portion. Wheat is rarely
damaged by frost and sweet corn can be grown, under
irrigation, in the southern portion.
2H. Areas where the amount of precipitation has usually been
adequate but where wheat has suffered some frost damage
in approximately 30% of the years. The frost-free period
has averaged between 75 and 90 days.
3H. Areas where the amount of precipitation has usually been
adequate but where it is not considered practical to grow
wheat because of the frequency of damaging frosts. In
the areas south of Latitude 5SoN, the average annual
precipitation has averaged 430 to 480 mm. Going north
from Latitude 55 0 N, there is a gradual drop in precipi-
-18-
tation, and at Fort Vermilion the annual average is
between 300 and 330 rr~.
SH. Areas where the amount of precipitation has usually been
adequate but where the average frost-free period has
been so short (generally less than 60 days) that it is
not practical to grow cereal crops. Only hay crops are
recommended in 5H areas.
Land 11; for Agriculture
In Canada, a classification system of soil capability for agriculture
was developed which evaluates the capability of a soil for crop production
based on characteristics of the soil. This system, described in Canada
Land Inventory Report No. 2 (1965) has seven interpretive groupings which
are defined as follows:
Class 1 - Soils in this class have no significant limitations for crop use.
Class 2 - Soils in this class have moderate limitations that restrict the range of crops or require moderate conservation practices.
Class 3 - Soils in this class have moderately severe limitations that restrict the range of crops or require special conservation practices.
Class 4 - Soils in this class have severe limitations that restrict the range of crops or require special practices or both.
Class 5 - Soils in this class have very severe limitations that their capability to producing perennial forage crops, and improvement practices are feas
Class 6 - Soils in this class are capable only of producing perennial forage crops, and improvement practices are not feasible.
Class 7 - Soils in class have no capability for arable culture or permanent pasture.
Fig. 7 shows the general distribution of the Agricultural
Capability Classes in Alberta.
Fig. 8 shows the areal distribution of soils in Alberta as
compiled from soil survey information. Translated into numbers, the
total of these various soil areas is shown in Table 2. These figures
are rudimentary totals derived from soil survey data.
Table 2. Extent of each soil order in Alberta.
Chernozemic 15 million ha
Solonetzic 5 million ha
Luvisolic 27.5 million ha
Brunisolic 4 million ha
Organic 12 million ha
Other (including rock & water) 2.5 million ha
Total 66 million ha
land Capability for Forestry
In this classification, all mineral and organic soils are grouped into
one of seven classes based upon their inherent ability to grow commercial
timber. The best lands for commercial tree growth are found in Class 1
and those in Class 7 cannot be expected to yield timber in commercial
quantities. The classes are based on the natural state of the land
without improvements such as fertilization or drainage. The classification
is based on all known or inferred information about the unit including
subsoil, soil profile, depth, moisture, fertility, landform, climate, and
-20-
1<':'1 Class 1
[:::J Classes 2 and 3
[[[]], . Class 4
Classes 5 and 6
110° ____ ,60°
I
\
I I
LIMIT OF ~\ 0;:'
.~ !\ ci: LAND INVENTORY Ii
::>\ 0, Ft McMurray
U-\
D
I \
G \
56°
100 0 100 200 Km
~~~~~~'=I~==~I~'~ 60 0 60 120 Mi
f1G.7 SOIL CAPABIlITY FOR AGRICULTURE IN ALBERTA
-21-
~ Organic
~ ~:.~:~~ luvisolic
~ r........x>v0"' Elrunisolic
[ill] Chernozemic (Brown)
B Chernozemic (Dark Brown)
~ Chernozemic (Black)
~ .0 Salonetzic (Brown)
~ Solanetzic (Dark Brown)
D . " Solonetzic (Black)
E;l Chernozemic - Solonetzic 100 a 100 200 Km
D /1..:" Mountoin Complex ~~~~~~i~~~I====~1
60 a 60 120Mi
FIG_ 8 GENERALIZED SOILS MAP OF ALBERTA
-22-
vegetation. Associated with each capability class is a productivity
range based on the mean annual increment of the best species or group
of species adapted to the site at or near rotation age. Factors not
considered are location, access, distance to market, size of units,
ownership, present state, or special crops.
Because of unsuitable climate, no Class 1 lands will be
found in several regions of Canada. The following is a summary of the
seven classes:
Class 1 - Lands having no important limitations to the growth of commercial forests.
Class 2 - Lands having slight limitations to the growth of commercial forests.
Class 3 - Lands having moderate limitations to the growth of commercial forests.
Class 4 - Lands having moderately severe limitations to the growth of commercial forests.
Class 5 - Lands having severe limitations to the growth of commercial forests.
Class 6 - Lands having severe limitations to the growth of commercial forests.
Class 7 - Lands having severe limitations which preclude the growth of commercial forests.
-23-
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA
Physiography
Two regions, comprising four physiographic divisions (Fig. 10) occur in
the area traversed by this tour (Government of Alberta, 1969). From
east to west they are: the Eastern and Western Plains divisions of the
Interior Plains Region, and the Rocky Mountain Foothills and Rocky
Mountains divisions of the Western Cordillera Region (Fig. 9).
The Interior Plains lie east and northeast of the tightly
folded belt of the Rocky Motmtain Foothills and occupy the region that is
underlain by very gently tilted Mesozoic and Tertiary strata (Douglas,
1970). The Eastern Alberta Plains Division consists of a general lowland
of relatively modest local relief. The landscape varies from level to
gently undulating lacustrine tracts, through gently undulating ground
moraine to moderately rolling areas of hummocky disintegration moraine.
The Western Alberta Plains Division is characterized by the presence of
smooth upland areas separated by wide dissected valleys. Portions of
this division are devoid of plateaux and consist of long sloping dissected
benchlands extending from the foothills to the plains.
The Western Cordillera Region occupies the western portion of
the tour area. It is distinguiShed by the intensely folded and faulted
underlying sedimentary strata, and by altitudes considerably higher than
those of the Interior Plains. The Rocky Mountain Foothills Division
consists of a series of distinct, predominantly 'razor back', subparallel
ridges aligned approximately northwest-southeast (Fig. 9). Highly faulted
Cretaceous and Tertiary bedrock is overlain by a thin till deposit as well
as locally significant amounts of colluvial material. Local relief is
".,' ..... .
-24-
! ii' 'Ii ,I ';' , i I
, i
, , w .... i I ;:)
'! 0 ©<
"" ;:)
0 I-
A Photograph by A. A. Kjearsgaard
C Photograph by T. Macyk
B
D
FIG. 10 SOME PHYSIOGRAPHIC FEATURES IN ALBERTA
A-The Shortgrass Prairie 8-The Parkland. C-The foothills Region D-The Rocky Mountain Regians (Jasper Townsite)
Photograph by T. Macyk
Photograph by T. Macyk
-26-
commonly less than 30 m but may exceed 100 m (Dumanski et al., 1972).
Altitudes are in the range of 1 100 to 1 700 m a.s.l. The Rocky
Mountain Division is composed of intensively faulted sedimentary strata.
Sculpted glacial features such as cirques, aretes, horns, and U-shaped
valleys are prominent. Valley bottoms contain a variety of glaciofluvial
features. Altitudes range from about 1 500 to 2 600 m a.s.l.
Regionally, the terrain rises from northeast to southwest
from about 600 m a.s.l. in the Eastern Alberta Plains to above 2 500 m
a.s.l. in the Rocky Mountains. As illustrated in Fig. 11, the rise in
elevation is gradual across the plains and sharp in the foothills and the
Rocky Mountains. Travellers arriving from the east have the impression
of approaching an impenetrable wall of the Rocky Mountains.
The area is drained by the Athabasca, North Saskatchewan, and
Red Deer rivers, and their tributaries. The North Saskatchewan and Red
Deer rivers are tributary streams to the Saskatchewan River, and beyond
that, the Nelson River. These rivers flow eastward through the provinces
of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, eventually emptying into Hudson Bay, some
1 500 km to the northeast. The Athabasca River forms part of the
MacKenzie River system which empties into the Arctic Ocean about 2 000 km
to the north.
Bedrock Geology
There is a rough correlation between the above described physiographic
regions and bedrock geology in the tour area. The Tertiary and Mesozoic
strata underlying the Interior Plains Region dip gently to the southwest
so that successively younger units are encountered in traversing the
plains from east to west. The Eastern Alberta Plain is underlain
3000
,-.... 2400 E '-"
z o I- 1800
~ LU ...J W 1200
600
Columbia Ice / .. ~'
-27-
North Saskatchewan River
I
ROCKY ROCKY MOUNTAIN WESTERN
MOUNTAINS FOOTHILLS ALBERTA PLAINS
(Vertical Exaggeration 10x)
Cooking lake
Edmonton Moraine Laking Sosin '" ... ..
EASTERN ALBERTA PLAINS
o ~------.---------.--------.---------r-------'.--------'--------'---------'-20 40 60 so 100 120 140 160
DiSTANCE (km)
FIG. 11 TOPOGRAPHIC CROSS SECTION, EDMONTON TO COLUMBiA ICEFIELDS
-28
by the Cretaceous, Horseshoe Canyon, and Wapiti
formations (Green, 1972). They consist of weakly consolidated non-marine
clayey sandstone, bentonitic mudstone, and carbonaceous shale beds with
lesser amounts of bentonite and coaL Overlying these, and occupying
most of the Western Alber'ta Plains area, are the Tertiary non-marine
sediments of the Paskapoo Formation. These are composed mainly of
calcareous cherty sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, and minor amounts of
conglomerate, limestone, coal, and tuff.
Non-marine clastic sediments of late Cretaceous and early
Tertiary age belonging mainly to the Brazeau Formation are the dominant
bedrock
folding in
in the Foothills Division. The intense faulting and
region results in thin exposures of older' formations.
In the Rocky Mountain Division, paleozoic limestones and shales have been
deformed by decollment into subparallel westward dipping thrusts. These
thrusts produce a sel'ies of narrow linear mountain ranges due to the
resistant nature of the carbonates.
s cial Deposits
Two separate ice sheets to the glaciation which has affected
the entire area. The Continental. or Laurentide, ice sheet spread out
from the Canadian Shield and advanced over the area in a southerly
direction, laying dO~l a mantle of till of variable thickness. The till
is derived principally from the underlying, easily weathered sediments
and as such locally reflects the composition of the underlying bedrock.
Also present in this till are stones of Precambrian Shield origin
transpol'ted by the ice, and gravels of Rocky Mountain origin presumably
carried down in streams during preglacial and interglacial times. This
till is usually slowly to very slowly permeable and is quite sticky. A
-29-
high percentage of the clay size fraction is montmorillonite derived
from the local bedrock. Diffused calcium and magnesium carbonate, usually
from one to three percent, is present in the till.
The Cordilleran glaciers flowed down the eastern slopes of
the Rocky Mountains to form piedmonts which coalesced with the Continental
ice sheet. The Cordilleran till is of mixed origin and contains consider
able limestone and dolomite. The erratics are usually quartzitic. It is
distinguished from Continental till its lack of high grade crystalline
metamorphic and igneous pebbles. It has generally been described as being
more coarse, more stony, and more calcareous than the Continental till.
A stratigraphic sequence has been determined for the
Continental tills (Westgate, 1969), and for both the Continental and
Cordilleran tills (Roed, 1968) for portions of the tour area. However,
because of insufficient coverage this has not been correlated
over the entire area and for soil survey purposes the tills have generally
been distinguished on the basis of underlying bedrock type (and presumed
origin). The two landforms most often associated with the Continental
till are, a gently undulating ground moraine and a hummocky disintegration
moraine. The Cordilleran till occurs most often as a veneer or blanket
which covers, but does not mask~ the underlying irregular topography of
the foothills,
Dwcing and after the retreat of the glaciers, considerable
sorting and redeposition of the glacially derived material occurred.
Pro-glacial lakes, such as Lake Edmonton, formed behind the retreating
glaciers. Medium to fine textured silts and clays, which accumulated
under the quiet water conditions, now overlie the till mantle. They are
often varved and may contain ice rafted pebbles and till mud flowS.
Somewhat coarser textured fluvial-lacustrine sediments occur where
currents were present, either dur or subsequent to deposition. A
pitted delta formed to the west of Edmonton in medium to coarse
textured western shore of glacial Lake
Edmonton. The pitted results from the melting of buried ice
and involves essentially the same process as that responsible for the
formation of disintegration moraine (Bayrock and Hughes, 1962).
In some aT'eas, coarser textut'ed deltaic, outwash, OT' alluvial
floodplain deposits, have been ected to resorting by wind, giving
rise to several large areas of dunes and one area of loess. Parabolic
and longitudinal dunes are found in the dune areas while the loess plain
around Hinton occurs as a mantle which reflects the under'lying
topography.
Occasional alluv and coarse textured outwash deposits are
scattered the area as are ic deposit cUl'rently forming
On poorly dra The location and extent of the surficial
its within the tour area is shown in Fig. 12.
Soils
The soils occurring within the tour area reflect the environmental
conditions under which they developed. Climate and vegetation have
exerted control over soil formation at the broadest level. Traversing
the area from east to west the steady increase in elevation results in
cooler summer and rainfall, as well as lower
:trdl t rat a and soil zonation
reflects th 1 ic sequence.
-31-
to 0 Cl 0 "0'" <;I Q O~ Q <0 0 E i QoGo:.CCto Qa°fli'oOoo .... '" O@ 00
0 00°:°0. l- e.. g ~
~ 0 Q Ot)QO:QCoI
O ... "l
1<:l ~ o (} 0> Q g CiI OIJOoOOO o CiI
o 0._ 0 • Q .. ::::;) ::::;) o Q 0- I;) 0 0 0 .. .0 .. I) 0 ... ... :2 '" ••• ·····1 ... * 0 0 . .
o Q I) 0 . '"
" J
..! Q. E
S c
1 u
'" " ·i ~ c
! :2 c '2 "5 'il " ~ ~
c .... ::t C
~ ... " ii .:: :>
.s :3 c! 0 i:i: w .... 0 ~
~wD DrnD~ ..... ,,:, / .
-32-
Beginning in the east. Orthic Black Chernozemic soils have
in areas have been under continuous tall grass
whereas d Black and Dark Chernozems occur on
sites where the cover has been aspen and tall
grass elevations, cooler and more moist conditions
favour the of forest
ment of Luvisolic soils. Dark
forest- ive
ion, pro mot the develop-
Luvisolic soils develop under a mixed
with forest dominant over grassland.
Luvisolic reflect a relat predominantly aspen,
forest cover. Brunisolic
wher'e acid leaching is
abundant coniferous
soils where some
Slope
ill uvial horizons of
parent material may l'etard
Brunisols where Luvisols would
Luvisols and Podzolic Gray Luvisols form
due to more moist conditions and more
in
Brunisols
soils grade into Brunisolic
profile development.
destroying or masking the
(Dumanski et al. 1972). Highly calcareous
, resulting in Orthic and Eluviated
occur. At higher elevations,
cold climate and saturation without may also slow down development
resulting in Brunisolic rather than
are where cold
profiles. Regosolic soils
movement, or accretion maintain
the profile in a very juvenile state, This general cast to west sequence
of soil
for the
area,
within the tour area, is shown in Fig. 13. Information
soils map from il survey reports covering that
Bowser al. 1947, Bowser et al. (1951). Peters and
Bowser (1960), Bowser a1. 1962 et al. (1968), Pettapiece
et a1. (1972). (1971), and L (1 71) and
-33-
Clearwater Ranger Station). Edmonton, because of its greater distance
from the mountains, has the lowest mean January temperature of the
stations recorded in Table 3. The mean July temperatures are probably
more significant in terms of their influence on vegetative cover. It
will be noted that summer temperatures generally decrease with increased
elevation and precipitation generally increases with increased elevation
resulting in cooler and more humid climates towards the west. These
factors are largely responsible for the vegetative zonation that occurs
from east to west.
The eastern portion of the tour area is a relatively good
farming area mainly because of the warm summers, a relatively long frost
free period, and an adequate moisture supply. It will be noted from
Table 3 that about 70% of the annual precipitation falls during the
growing season, May to September, thus increasing the chance of success
in the production of cultivated crops. The tour area covers four
Agro-climatic areas (Bowser, 1967) as shown in Fig. 14.
Vegetation
Most of the area traversed by the tour lies within the Boreal Forest
Region, extending from the prairies to the Rocky Mountains. In the
Rocky Mountains, the Subalpine Forest Region extends to about the
2 000 m a.s.l. where it grades into a discontinuous Alpine Tundra. In
addition a fragment of the Montane Forest Region exists in the Athabasca
River Valley east of Jasper. Fig. 15 outlines the various forest regions
(Rowe, 1969) which are covered by this tour.
3. in the tour area
Table 3 data from some of the points
which this pas not on the tour route is the
Clear'water Station, is located about 50 km southwest of
House, at the Mountain Foothills.
Mean annual variability in the tour
area, with about and lowest temper-
atures. However, the of the chinook winds is reflected
in the higher mean at locations closer to, and
directly in the path of these inds ( Mountain House, Jasper, and
-35~
Locally, considerations such as the nature of the soil
parent material, or the topographic position of the site, may have a
greater influence on the type of soil formed than the zonal controls of
climate and vegetation. The Solonetzic soils in the Leduc area are such
a case. They have developed where the soil parent material has been
influenced by the accumulation of soluble salts. This salinization
resulted either from the discharge of groundwater high in soluble salts
(Pawluk et al.. 1969) or the presence near the surface of saline bedrock
(Bowser et al., 1962). Subsequent leaching and desalinization of variable
degree, resulted in the formation of the different Solonetzic soils
encountered in the area. Their degree of development is influenced by
numerous variables including topographic position and drainage, resulting
in a complex pattern of distribution at the great group level. Low lying
topographic sites, where groundwater discharge or slow recharge is
occurring, tend to produce Gleysolic or Organic soils.
Climate
The regional climate is humid, microthermal, Dfb and Dfc according to
Koppen's classification (Trewartha, 1954). Small areas in the Rocky
Mountains have alpine tundra climate (ET) at higher elevations.
Generally the temperature decreases and the precipitation increases from
east to west. The climate along the Rocky Mountain Foothills is modified
by frequent dry and warm chinooks (a Fohn type wind), which are most
frequent during the winter and spring, crossing the mountains on the
south side of east-west valleys. This wind often causes 20-30 0 C
temperature changes in less than one hours time.
-36-
E ~ w '" 0- Ilb. g ~ :::l 0 0 0-
'" til ~ ~
"" '" :::l :::l 0 0
~ .... .... <b
* 0 0
'"
l:( )I( )( ]I( )( . . . . • RAINFALL ADEQUATE' ••••
FROST .FREE PERIOD LESS THAN 60 DAYS \.
)( )( ;II( .. )( J( )( )( j'(.... )( ).{ )()( )I{
)( )( -.: J>( )(
)!( x )( J( . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .
)J{ II!: )( ..
)( Ji( )( • )( )i( Jl;
Jl. )( :. )0: . . . . . . · . . J( '!II )I( -.: . . . . . . . .
. . . . .
)( JiI J( ;11\ )(
';::l
. . . . . .
UNCLASSIFIED
JASPfR NATIONAL PARI(
If" . 1'",,---) \
J I
0'", \
· . . .. .. )I: ,.
· .
J()I( )( ..)(
IJ '" .- • ;w: .: JI( )( )I II }Ii. )I( ;If Jl. l!I
• ..,~')( .. )( j( Jf. j( )( )( '" )I )I( lI!; •
,X)(x .... :'O:· •• JJl )(·
" .... ~ "" liI • .. )II ;r( .: .. TIll ,II /l£ . . .
T/~ -..:'1/8,
"'1- 1 ~1} ~ ij'~ C'~ ::f
0('<" ilANFF,. "tt~ NATIONAL 3 \" ..,~ PARI(
\. I~ ~ f ,
''\ . .J .....
. . .
:':';:~~~~~i~~~~~~~~;i~:~D~'YS':;: .: ", ".: •••• " •••• »
. . lit • )()( Ill.. X
)( .. ll\ x)(
FIG. 14 AGRO-CUMATE OF THE TOUR AREA
TOUR STOP
w ,j
I
Aspen Grolle Section
D Mixedwood Section
~ W U r:?l L::J
Lower Foothills Section
Upper Foothills Section
Montane Forest Region
Subalpine Forest Region
Alpine Tundra
o ao (} 00
fiG. 15 FOREST REGIONS WITHIN THE TOUR AREA
TOUR ROmE
TOUR STOP
I W Q:J I
-39-
The Boreal Forest Region.
Aspen grove section - is a transition between grassland and continuous
forest vegetation, coinciding with Chernozemic soils and Agro-climatic
area 1.
Native vegetation of the section is grassland alternating
with trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) forest stands. Balsam poplar
(Populus balsamifera) occurs mainly on moist lowlands. Hhite, or paper,
birch (Betula papyrifera) also occurs sporadically on rough terrain.
Mixedwood section - is represented in the tour ar'ea by an isolated area
east of Edmonton known as the Cooking Lake Moraine. On its final day,
the tour traverses another Mixedwood Section west of Edmonton in the
Entwistle area. The associated Agro-climatic area is 2H with dominantly
Luvisolic soils. Organic soils are also found in the area.
Dominant vegetation is a trembling aspen - white spruce
(Picea alauca) forest. Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifoZia)
occurs on the well drained soils of this section, while black spruce
(Picea ma.nana) and tamarack (Larix laricina) occur on the poorly drained
Organic soils. Balsam poplar and white birch are also scattered throughout
this section.
Lower foothills section - occupies most of the tour area and lies between
the 900 and 1 200 m a. s.1. Soils are mainly Gray Luvisols with Gleysolic
and Organic inclusions on poorly drained locations. Brunisolic soils are
restricted to rapidly drained eolian sand deposits.
Forest stands in this section are distinguished from That of
the Mixedwood Section by the occurrence of alpine fir (Abies lasiocar[m).
Upper thills sect on - a narrO\~ the front range
~1oun tains ent thin the SH c imatic area extending
to the 1 500 m a.s.l. Luvisolic and Brunisolic soils dominate
lon with small inclusions of c and Gl soils.
The dominant trc'3S plne and white spruce with
the occurrer:ce of , balsam , black spruce,
whi te bil'ch, and t:amar'ack.
The Subalpine Forest Region.
East slope rockies section - covers the Mountains fl'om about 1 500 m
a.s.l. to the tl'ee line at about the 2 100 m a.s.l. climate of this
mountainous region has not been classified for pUl'poses.
at with this section are Brunisolic, Luvisolic, and
lC,.
The fore s are by spruce ( ) ,
and 1 ine fil' lE', abur:dant in older tanuc3 and limber pine
l ) , k a aIli; tIle larch (LaI'ix
occur close to the line In the southcl'n point of the
section.
The Alpine Tundra Region.
includes all areas between the timber 1 and permanent snow
cover. Due to the ss of the terrain and slow soil development most
soils hie some Brunisol at lower elevations.
Plant l tundra composed of dwarf
t d~~~ JIl .1 uen cecl by 11
In Y a.r"eas .1 communities the
-41-
only plant cover. Exposed ridges are dominated by communities of willow
(8aZ1:x m:ual ), while heath tundra covers ell'ier .i tt;S dt lower eleva tiun
with white mountain hedther (Ca8siope mei'ten87:ana, C. teir'afjona) dnd
purple heather (Phyllodoce empetriformis). Some grassland of wild rye
(Elymus innovatus) and sedge (Carex 8cirpoides) are also found on warmer
exposures. Depressional sites, with longer snow cover, are occupied by
sedge (Carex nifjricans) communities, while marshy areas are covered by
associations of globe-flower (TroUius albiflorus), marsh marigold
(Caltha palustris) , and cotton grass (Eriophroum angustifolium).
The Montane Forest Region.
Douglas fir and lodgepole pine section - is found only as an isolated al'ea
within the tour area in the Athabasca River Valley east of Jasper. Even
within this area diagnostic stands of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
occur only on the warm dry slopes. Cooler and moister locations are
occupied by the species of the Subalpine Forest Region. Dominant soils
are Gray Luvisols and Brunisols.
Soil Capability and Land Use
Using information from soil surveys and the Canada Land Inventory (1965)
system described earlier, the agricultural capability for most of the
tour area has been determined. The Chernozemic soils surrounding, and
immediately south of Edmonton, form the largest concentration of Clas 1
land in the tour area. Rough topography is the main limitation
encountered in areas of Chernozemic soils and may pose moderate to
severe limitations to their use, resulting in capability ratings of
Classes 2 to 5. The limitation is increasingly apparent in the south-
east of the tour area, 3round Red Deer. soils a
bas with "hieh, in scending order of
acreage allotted to grown,
is due both increased demand fOl"
ion within Edmonton- , and abandonment
of summer fallow practices.
Solonetzic ils rated from Class Class 5 depending
principally upon the kind and of solonetzie they
display. Their agricultural use is much the same as that for Chernozemic
soils except that yields are lower and more intcmsi ve management
is
Luvisolic soils are not l'ated hi than Class 3.
Several factors contribute to reduced agricultural
foremost among these c1 Luvlsol soils of marginal
agricultural use and become les lve increases in elevation
and relief. Going "estward, there is a continual decrease in total
amount of land improved for agriculture and a relative increase in land
allotted to forage production. Beyond climatic zone 3H (Fig. 14) climate
effect
use is not
wildl
is almost
precludes sustained agriculture.
West from Mountain House and Edson, agricultural land
and land
become more
forested.
ies for forestry, recreation,
considerations. This "estern region
1 for ranges from
Class 3 to Class 6. scale harvest of trees for both pulp and
lumber is concentrated In northwest around Hinton where a more
favorable c1 increases foY'est Rat for
1 3 to 4 and fall hunting of moose,
-43-
elk and deer is quite popular throughout the area. Recreation
capabilities are moderate to low (Classes 4 and 5) for the tour area
as a whole. However, the mountainous areas offer excellent opportunities
for scenic viewing and upland oriented activities. Although the few
lakes that occur in the area are small and relatively cold, they have a
good potential for camping, fishing, and boating. Excellent skiing
facilities have been developed near Jasper. Fig. 16 illustrates some
non-agricultural resources in the tour area.
The Rocky Mountains*
The Rocky Mountains comprise the southeastern part of the 1 500 000 sq km
Canadian Cordillera and are 100-150 km wide by 1 500 km long. They are
underlain essentially by Precambrian to Mesozoic sedimentary rocks that
were deformed and in places metamorphosed in late Mesozoic and early
Cenozoic time. They grade westwards into metamorphosed terrain and are
bounded to the east by flat lying sedimentary rocks of the Interior
Plains.
The succession of strata exposed in the Rocky Mountains
thickens and becomes more complete southwestward. It consists essentially
of a) Precambrian slates, metasandstones etc., b) Paleozoic carbonates
and shales, and c) Mesozoic sandstones, shales, coal etc. Sediments for
the clastic rocks of units a) and b) were derived from the craton to the
northeast while the source area for the younger rocks of unit c) lay to
the southwest.
The Rocky Mountains are divisible from northeast to southwest
across their trend into the Foothills, Front Ranges, and Main Ranges
*Adapted from material provided by H.A.K. Charlesworth, Dept. of Geology, University of Alberta.
A Photograph by T. Macyk
C Photograph by T. Macyk
B
D
AG. 16 SOME NON-AGRICULTURE RESOURCES WITHIN THE TOUR AREA. A-Development of Petroleum Resources
II-Mountain Sheep-a prized trophy animal
C-Harvesting wood fibre for the pulp and paper industry. D-Strip mining for coal
Photograph by L. Knapik
Photograph by T. Macyk
I .j::> ..(::> I
-45-
(Fig. 17). The low, rounded Foothills are generally composed of Mesozoic
sediments which are folded and cut numerous southwesterly dipping
thrust faults. In the more rugged Front Ranges, cliff forming Paleozoic
carbonates are exposed in a repeating sequence of southwesterly dipp
thrust faults. The slope morphology of these ranges generally reflect
the bedrock configuration, in that northeast slopes are sharp and steep,
while long gentle slopes develop along the southwesterly dipping bedding
planes. The Main Ranges aI'e formed of rocks of Paleozoic and Precambrian
age. The Paleozoic sediments are calcareous in the northeast and become
shaly to the southwest. Rugged castellated topography occurs where the
Paleozoic carbonates are gently dipping and form flat lying erosion
resistant mountain caps. The tightly folded Precambrian strata and
Paleozoic shales have generally given rise to rounded slopes.
The deformed sedimentary and metasedimentary strata which
form the Rocky Mountains rest on a cratonic basement of igneous and
metamorphic rocks which is continuous with the Canadian Shield to the
northeast. The mountains essentially resulted from a period of deforma
tion that saw the sedimentary cover separate from this basement and move
northeastward toward the central craton due to pressure from an expanding
or sliding crystalline mass to the southwest. During this movement the
thin crust of sedimentary rocks was folded and piled up into the varoious
thrust sheets that characterize its structure while the basement r'emained
essentially intact.
Banff and Jasper National Parks
Canada's National Parks system dates back to 1885. In 1887 the Rocky
Mountain National Park was established, which soon after was divided into
ROCKYMTN TRENCH
"" ROCKY MOUNTAIN PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGION )j
WESTERN RANGeS
MAIN RANGES fRONT RANGES FOOTHillS PLAINS
--~--_Sl
16,000'
'" 1801<... 3>
MESOZOIC
PAlEOlOIC I_!.:·~·" -~ .··.,-.-1
~~~ PROTEROZOiC
SHielD BASEMENT L~C'-'-"-..CJ
FIG. 17 REGIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
I .<:--0\ I
-47-
the Banff, Yoho, and Glacier National Parks. Mainly because transportation
routes bypassed Jasper, during those earlier days, it was not established
as a national park until 1907. It was named after Jasper House the fur
trading post tlillt intermittently served the early traders from about 1813
to 1884. The present boundary of these two parks was established by the
National Parks Act passed by Parliament in 1930. This act also introduced
the concepts of park preservation under which present parks are managed,
whereby all animals, plants and fossils are protected by law for the
enjoyment of all who visit the parks. Jasper, the larger of the two
parks, covers an area of just over 1 million ha while Banff National
Park has an area in excess of 600 000 ha.
Soil s.
Soils in the Front and Main ranges of the Canadian Rockies,
within the two parks, are generally formed on calcareous glacial drift,
and frequently at higher elevations, on weathered colluvial debris. High
amounts of Ca and Mg carbonate in the parent materials results in a
shallow profile development «75-100 em). Much of the landscape, where
geologic erosion and deposition is not severe, is mantled with a shallow
(15 to 30 em) silty deposit, thought to be immediate post-pleistocene
loess. Volcanic ash is frequently identified as a component in this
silty surficial material. The above factors, plus rapidly changing
climate and slope, result in a very complex pattern of soil distribution
over the landscape.
On steep unstable slopes, Regosolic soils are dominant and,
in terms of areal extent, comprise a significant portion of the total.
Gleysolic soils are mainly situated along narrow flood plains and
-43-
oeeas occur along valley sides that are affected seepage. The
of these soils is not terms of areal extent but in terms
of use 1 ions.
In the such as the Bow and the Athabasea
l~ain shadow effects result in a relatively dry climate, with
concomitant xeric and sub-xeric vegetation. In these main valleys~
especially along the steep valley walls, Luvisolic soils are prevalent,
interspersed with Brunisolic soils in areas of coarser textured parent
materials. Where there is an appreciable thickness of the silty surficial
deposit, a Bm horizon frequently develops in the Ae portion of the
Luvisolic profile, resulting in a bisequa type profile classified as a
Brunisolic Gray Luvisol. Some of the Brunisolic soils on the very dry
south-facing slopes ar'e developed under a very open forest canopy, or
gr'assland, and are closely l'elated to soils of the Chernozemic Order.
With increasing elevation, either on the valley wallS or
along the valley, the climate becomes moister and the vegetation changes
to Spruce-Subalpine Fir-Vaccinium types. Associated with this vegetative
change is a gradual transition from dominantly Luvisolic soils below
1 700 m a. s.1. in Banff and about 1 500 m a. s.1. in cJasper to dominantly
Podzolic soils (interspersed with Brunisolic soils) above these elevations.
These Podzolic soils are frequently developed in calcareous parent materials,
and in many instances the strong expression of the Bf horizon is in the
ilty surficial mantle which covers much of the landscape.
While most of the parent materials in the Front ranges of the
Rock ~re calcareous, there are some till and colluvi 1 materials derived
from quart :i or schi thdt are nOll-('c1lcdn~ous. In tht::se non-calcareous
materials the solum extends to greater depths (often greater than 1 m)
and horizon development is more evident, both morphologically and chemically.
-49-
Soils in the alpine environments occur frequently in small
patches between the tree line and the barren rock. These soils are almost
always Podzolic, although Brunisolic, Regosolic, and Gleysolic soils are
also identified.
Vegetation.
Within Banff and Jasper National parks there are three or ecological
zones: montane, subalpine, and alpine, reflecting a macroclimate gradation
with increasing elevation. The vegetation of the montane zone is charac-
terized xeric grasslands and savannas in the valley bottoms and
sub-xeric to mesic Douglas fir and white spruce forests on the lower valley
sides. While there are substantial areas of Montane vegetation along the
valley bottoms, they do not constitute a large percentage of the total
parks area, since they are limited to the eastern portions of the major
valleys.
The subalpine forest zone occurs at elevations above the
montane zone (about 1 400 m a. s. L In Banff and 1 380 m a. s.1. In Jaspel'),
and below the treeless alpine zone (about 2 300 m a.s.l. in Banff and
2 200 m a.s.l. in Jasper).
The characteristic tree species of mature subalpine forests
are Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir with lesser amounts of white
spruce. Black spruce occurs as a minor species near the montane boundary
in Jasper Park and alpine larch occurs as a minor species in open forest
stands near the alpine boundary in the southern part of Banff Park. In
areal extent, the subalpine zone covers about 45% of the landscape.
Fire plays a very important role in the development of the
montane and subalpine forests. Lodgepole pine predominates in younger
-50-
forests, and is the most abundant forest acent to
und v all of the area surrounding Jasper'
townsite was burned at least once in the past 300 years ( Roi et al.,
1975) .
In Jasper National Park, at about 52.50 latitude, the lower
limit of the alpine zone occurs at about the 2 200 m a .. 1. on south
facing slopes, and at about the 2 100 rn a.s.l. on north facing slopes.
This compares to lower limits of about 2 300 m a.s.l. and 2 000 m a.s.l.
for south and north facing slopes respectively in Banff National Park
at about 51° latitude. The alpine zone includes, at its lower limits,
occurrences of subalpine fir krummholz and dwarf heath shrub
tundra. As elevation increases, the ion s characterized by
mountain avens tundra and finally by crustose lichen tundra on rock
(Walker et al., 1976; Wells et al., 1976). The alpine zone, including
the barren rock, ice, and snow, covers about 45% of the land area within
the parks. Of this barren rock, ice and snow covers far the major
portion.
Climate*.
The general climate of Banff and Jasper National is determined
chiefly by their geographical location. Located mainly between 51° and
530 latitude and about 500 km inland from the Pacific Ocean, the macro-
climate is essentially continental. Winters, in , are long and
on occasion they can be quite cold. Summers are relatively short and
cool with o6casional hot spells.
*Abstracted from material Environment Services, Edmonton.
Ben Janz. Meteorologist Atmosphere
-51-
Essentially to the SdnHc' d i r' mas
weather sy tems tbat mi (leros:; IH:ste!'Il C,mada dt d.l d t tude TIll'
mountain r'dnEe~;, however', exert d l,rotou11<1 influ<'nc on tho mdcr'o-('ll1ldtl'
and certain mesoclimatic areas can be zed. The mesoclimates dre
generally related to topography and physiographic features particularly
the northwest-southwest direction of the mountains and main valleys.
This direction is almost at right angles to the prevailing winds aloft
giving rise to a rain shadow effect in the main valleys. The generally
low wind speeds in the valleys are also related to this orientation.
The occurrence of minor mountain ranges east of the main valleys is
effective in preventing southward flowing arctic air masses from entering
these valleys. Thus cold outbreaks are usually not as severe or prolonged
as in the es to the east CTable 3). Exceptions are the valleys of
the Athabasca and Bow rivers which pass east-west through the Front ranges,
and frequently provide the channel for the intrusion of arctic air into
the lower ions of the valleys. Topography. thus gives rise to large
climatic variations over distances of a few kilometers. In the vertical
direction there can be fairly large variations in only a hundred meters.
Winter's extreme low temperatures in the main valleys reach
-4SoC to-50°C and temperatures as low as -40°C or lower are reached 2 or
3 years out of 10. Summer temperatures have reached the 3SoC to 38°C
degree range in most of the major valleys, but these maxima do not occur
very far up the valleys because of the lowering of temperature with
increasing elevations. ° Temperatures exceed 27 C at least once in July
and t In most years. Summer lapse rates are probably near the
normal rate of a drop of about O.SoC per 100 m rise in elevation.
It should ized that local variabil fr'om one valley
to , altho ions of
have rela lon rates. W and summer
ion rates • whereas at Banff
townsit , summer However, at h elevations
in both , winter ion
in Table 4 show some tat ion variab that occur's
within per National Park.
-53-
Table 4. Jasper National Park annual itation* (mm of water).
Station Elevat Loeat Time Interval Reading m Lat. Long. (Ave in years) mm
Athabasea Pass 1740 52°23' 118°16' 2 1300
Columbia Icefields 4 1039
Amethyst Lake 1965 52°42 118°16' 3 899
River 1460 53°22' 119°16' 3 803
Marmot Basin 52°47' 118°06' 5 729
Sunwapta 4 643
Pyramid 110untain 52°57' 11 5 605 top of MiC:r'o-wave BId.
West Gate 5 589
Maligne Lake 18 LfO 52°44' 117°39' 5 579
Brazeau Lake 1770 52°24' 117°01 ' 4 566
Rocky Forks 52°50' 117°24' 3 561
Miette Hot Springs 1340 53°07' 117°46' 5 554
Topaz Lake 1760 53°23' 118°48' 3 549
East Gate 8 521
Athabasca Falls 1180 52°1+0 ' 117°53' 4 445
cJasper Town 1060 52°53' 118°04' 30 401
Willow Creek 140C 53°23' 118°21 ! 3 31+8
*Data compiled by J. Powell, Northern Forest Research Centre, Edmonton, Alberta.
Km 01il e
o o
2 1
5 3
1 : o
c e e area once co glacial La
n, is i ma r i1 y B 1 a ck c 5 i 1 s developed
on lacus ine ma also an area onetzic soils on
rock als of tour vels entirely in an
area Black C soi of relatively high ri cu Hura 1 capabili
lowi at Lacombe ea ion, a tour will be made of
Capabili
xture,
K
i
route ocation).
ill a Black
tion 11 be at
c soil will be
to Fi g. 18
C1 1i (Ellersl e corner), Fine clayey texture Black
c soils on a level
ass 1.
C soil on a
aciolacustrine plain. Agricultural
undulating morainal plain. Loam
1i Class 1.
lZED soils on a level to ating soft rock plain.
c tural Capability Class 2 to 4, de ing
6 4 E of so rock ma (Edmonton) formation
in strata of coal. gi on 9 si al creek nk. No
'-55-
) CIJLl , )11' Chernozemic on continental till
Chernozemk on lacustrine
~ Chernozemic on f\uvial·locustrine
~ ~ t" /1 Solonetzic on soft rock , ,
- TOUR ROUTE * TOUR STOP
5 0 5 10Km I I I I 3 0 3 aMi
FIG. 18 ROUTE LOCATION EDMONTON TO HIGHWAY 13
Km 11
16
21
29
45
e 7
13
18
so
1a
a
r 1
plai ,
IS a 1
a
i 1
ain.
aci
eul 1
soils on a to ula ng glae 0 uvial lacus ine
s 1 eu ral ill C ass 1.
imari ly
on a u t' vl SO
0 c
mora ic areas are
C ass 2 on ile
r areas 1 i C ass l. '-
8 • is one s s
was a
a ew n on rua 13,
t vent of inerea loration,
s is one of iea s
areas in of volume of uetion.
C so s on a 1 ul ng glaciofluvi -lacustrine
y loam some inclusions coarse textured
s. 1 i Classes 1 2.
Ie il s on an morainal plain d s
or sp 11 Ple ne or in.
1 sses 1 to 3.
a o k c soils
lat ain. texture. icultural
ses 1 2.
-57-
Km Mile 56 35 JUNCTION Highway 13. (Refer to Fig. 19 for remainder of today's
route).
70 43 BLACK CHERNOZEMIC soils on an undulating and rolling morainal plain.
Loam texture. Agricultural Capability Classes 1, 2, and 3.
88 54 JUNCTION Highway 53 to Ponoka. Sandy and loamy textured Black Chernozemic
soils on an undulating and rolling glaciofluvial plain with frequent
dune-like longitudinal ridges. Agricultural Capability varies from
Class 2 to Class 5.
90 56 BATTLE RIVER. This river rises about 80 km to the northwest and flows
some 700 km eastward before it empties into the North Saskatchewan River
at North Battleford, in Saskatchewan.
106 66 JUNCTION Highway 2A. Follow to Lacombe.
109 68 BLACK CHERNOZEMIC soils on a level to undulating glaciofluvial-lacustrine
and glaciofluvial plain. Loam texture. Agricultural Capability Class 1
and 2.
112 69 LACOMBE, population approximately 3,500. The Lacombe Research Station
where we will make our first stop. adjoins the town to the south (refer
to page III for details on the Research Station and the soil pit).
117 73 BLACK CHERNOZEMIC soils on an undulating and rolling glaciofluvial plain.
Sandy and loam texture. Several gravel pits are evident in this area.
Agricultural Capability varies from Class 2 to Class 5.
Chernozemic on continental
Chernozemic on fluvial<locustrine
Chernozemic on fluvial
-- TOUR ROUTE
* TOUR STOP Km
~-r~-----+----~. Mi
fiG. 19 ROUTE tOeA nON HIGHWAY 1 3 TO RED DEER
-59-
Km le 124 BLACKFALDS, population approximately 1000.
127 79 BLINDMAN RIVER.
129 80 BLACK CHERNOZEMIC soils on a level to undulating glaciofluvial-lacustrine
plain. Loam texture. Agricultural Capability Class 2.
132 82 JUNCTION Highway 11. Continue south to Red Deer.
134 83 RED DEER City limits. Red Deer is ideally located in the heart of some
of Alberta's best farm land. It derives its name from the Cree Indians,
who named the ver "Waskasioo Seepee l' , meaning Red Deer, because of the
abundance of deer. Legend has it. that Napia. the Indian deity and
creator of all beautiful things. decided to form a final resting place
for himself. So he created the beautiful Red Deer valley. and content
with his handiwork. he slept forever.
The first settlers arrived in 1884. Soon after, in 1891,
rail arrived bringing wi it a great influx of settlers. Growth
was steady, and Red Deer became i as a town in 1901,
Alberta s fifth city in 13. In 1905 when Alberta became a province.
Red Deer. because of its central 1 ion, argued that it should become
the provincial capital. Free land for government buildings was offered
by a leading citizen, Edward Mi , whose son was many years later
to become Canada's Governor General. However, the politicians of
day, in their wisdom. decided that Edmonton was a better location.
Despite this setback. Red Deer continued to grow and today has a
population in excess of 30,000.
i t to tour s Red Deer's annual
In ti 1 k val involving ethnic up in central
berta. This cul ra sizes preservation of
onal ues a encou develo t of cultu
to. n
Km Mile
-61-
DAY 2: RED DEER LOCAL
The Route
Travelling westward along Highway 11, (David Thompson Highway) the tour
leaves the area of Black Chernozemic soils around Red Deer, and moves
into an area of Gray Luvisolic soils. Southeast of Rocky Mountain House,
a Brunisolic Gray Luvisolic soil will be examined. After examining this
soil, the tour will move on to Dickson, along Highway 54, where lunch
will be provided. In the afternoon a visit will be made to the Hail
Research Centre at Penhold. (Refer to Fig. 20 for route location.)
o 0 RED DEER City limits. Loamy textured Black Chernozemic soils on a level
to undulating glaciofluvial-lacustrine plain. Agricultural Capability
Class 2. From Red Deer westward for about 50 km, there are similar soil
and climatic conditions to those detailed at Lacombe (Table 5),
consequently farming practices and crop yields are comparable. Since
the area is within Agro-climatic area 2H (Fig. 14), the 75 to 90 day
frost-free period places a moderate limitation on crop production.
2 1 JUNCTION Highway 11. Proceed west.
5 3 HIGHWAY 2 interchange.
6 4 DARK GRAY LUVISOLIC and Dark Gray Chernozemic soils on an undulating to
rolling morainal upland. Loam texture. Agricultural Capability Class 3.
16 10 BLACK CHERNOZEMIC soils on an undulating morainal plain. Loam texture.
Agricultural Capability Class 2.
(hemolemic on contin .. nlol till Chemozemic on fluvial-Iacu,!rine [:] luv'50lic on continental fill
~ ChemOlemic on lacustrine (h"",alem'c on fluvial luvisolic on cordilleran till
* TOUR SlOP - TOUR ROUTE
FIG. 20 ROUTE lOCATION RED DEER LOCAL
luvisalic an fluvIal-lacustrine
Bruni50Iic-luvi,alic on fluvial-eolian
i o~
N ;
-63-
Km Mile 20 12 SYLVAN LAKE. Population 1,600. A popular summer resort area serving
central Alberta.
23 14 DARK GRAY and Orthic Gray Luvisolic soils on an undulating morainal
plain. Loam texture. Agricultural Capability Class 3.
31 19 DARK GRAY and Black Chernozemic soils on an undulating morainal plain.
Loam texture. Agricultural Capability Class 2.
35 22 BLACK CHERNOZEMIC soils on an undulating glaciofluvial-lacustrine plain.
Loam texture. Agricultural Capability Class 2 to 3.
39 24 MEDICINE RIVER.
41 25 BLACK CHERNOZEMIC soils on an undulating morainal plain. Loam texture.
Agricultural Capability Class 2.
53 CONTINUOUS LUVISOLIC soils at an elevation of about 970 m a.s.l.
Brunisolic and Orthic Gray Luvisolic soils on a fine silty textured
veneer and blanket of fluvial-lacustrine material overlying an undulating
morainal plain. Fairly extensive Organic areas. Agricultural Capability
Class 4.
74 46 JUNCTION Secondary road 922. Proceed south.
82 51 CLEARWATER RIVER.
Km ~~ile 89
95
-64-
has operated at its present location since
1, a was a di rent location in the district
since 7, rms are ly owned farms whose owners have
entered into a tive agreement with the rch Branch, Canada
Agricul the land for research purposes. In the
ea y years, they ly to demonstrate to surrounding farmers
some of farm ces known at the time. The work was later
expanded to incl the tes ti crop varieties, comparative studies
of cultural and fertilizer p ices. and the evaluation of cereal and
forage crops for specific soil and climatic zones. More recently.
Project are used mainly as sites with soil and climatic conditions
diffe main Research Station. where more extensive and
vari can conduc (Refer to page 125 for site specific
information.)
PODZOLIC GRAY LUVI Ie soils on undulating and ridged glaciofluvial
and eolian materials. Sandy texture. Agricultural Capability Classes 5
and 6.
96 60 OUTLIER Cordilleran till.
98 61 MIXED TE soils on ing and ridged fluvial and eolian
rna ials. c ili Classes 5 and 6.
100 62 CLEARWATER RIVER Junction th Highway 54. Proceed east through an
area of Brunisolic Orthic Luvisolic soils on a fine silty
textured veneer anket uvial-lacustrine material overlying an
-65-
Km Mile undulating and rolling morainal plain. 11 surfaces at some locations.
Agricultural Capability Classes 4 and 5.
108 67 CAROLINE. Population approximately 400.
119 74 MIXED AREA of sandy textured Brunisolic and Regosolic soils on undulating
and ridged fluvioeolian, and level alluvial materials, associated with
the Raven River and its ibuta Stauffer Creek. Some Organic deposits.
Agricultural Capability Classes 4 and 5.
124 77 STAUFFER CREEK.
126 78 BLACK CHERNOZEMIC soils on an undulating morainal plain. Loam texture.
Some Organic deposits. Agricultural Capability Classes 2 and 3.
136 85 BLACK CHERNOZEMIC soil on a level to undulating glaci uvial-lacustrine
plain. Loam texture. Agricultural Capability ass 2,
138 86 SPRUCEVIEW CORNER. Proceed south two miles to Dickson where lunch will
be served by the ladies of Bethany Lutheran Church Women. This community,
the oldest Danish community in Alberta, was established in 1903 when
seven Danish families from Omaha, Nebraska laid claim to their homesteads.
A Post Office was established in 1905, a school built in 1907, and a
general store added to the community in 1909. Although renovations and
additions have been made to the store, the original structure is still
standing and is being used today. It is located at the main road
intersection west of the church. Through the years 1 point of
Kill
143
151
')
L
1
e commun activ ties centred <- church 1t in ll. almost \.,
rs neces ary to ild a new urch. is ilding,
erec in 1968, is a la striking architectural tures.
a ibute the everence t early settlers.
Across the road urch is a rock cairn marking the location of
original ch i1 d i Many of the ladies serving the tour today
still retain their mother tongue. Enjoy your b ef visit here, an example
of the multicultural nature of Alberta's heritage.
A lunch rn to Spruceview Corner and continue east.
K CHERNOZEMIC soils on a level glaciolacustrine plain. Fine silty
fine clayey Agricultural Capability Class 2.
REGO K CHERNOZEMIC soils on terraced alluvial deposits associated
th Medicine ver. Loam texture. Agricultural Capability Class 3.
MEDICI RIV
K CHERNOZEMIC Glack onetzic soils on a level to gen y
lating glaciolacustrine plain. Fine clay texture. Agricultural
Ca ility Classes 2 and 3.
97 B K CHERNOZEMIC soils on an undula ng morainal plain. Loam texture.
ri cultura 1 pabil i Class 2.
159 99 DISTRICT ROAD. Proceed north.
-67-
Km Mile 166 103 DISTRICT ROAD. Proceed east.
169 105 RED DEER RIVER. Loamy textured Black Chernozemic soils on a fluvial-
lacustrine plain, which becomes smoot from the river. Agricultural
Capability Classes 2 and 3.
175 109 JUNCTION Highway 2A Penhold, population approximately 500. Proceed
north.
179 III HAIL RESEARCH CENTRE, Mynarski Park*. Since hail often causes more than
$50 million in crop losses each year in Alberta, the Alberta Government,
in 1973, established the Interim Weather Modification Board and the
Alberta Hail Project. This project, which incorporates an earlier Alberta
Hail Studies research program, hopes to hasten the development of hail
suppression technology and test it on a de scale in Alberta.
Hailstones normally grow on dust particles in the air. By
c10 seeding billions of silver iodide particles. which act as ice
nuclei, many more hailstone embryos are produced, thus distributing the
moisture supply into more but smaller hailstones. This should result in
a reduced hail 11 energy and sufficient melting for the hailstones to
reach the ground as rain.
Cloud seeding generally starts in mid June and continues to
about mid September. Both cloud top and cloud base seeding with silver
iodide flares is conducted from project headquarters at the Red Deer
Industrial Airport. and extends to a radius of 130 km around the airbase.
*Adapted from material provi by the Interim Weather Modi cation Board.
Km Ie
182 113
115
suri 9
co- ration
Mod cation
ironment
Alberta
BLACK
texture.
C1 OF
evaluati res ts s ve much
eral y
current gram
s very
nsored by
on
Interim Wea r
e h Counci 1 and Atmospheric
ice, scientific support from the Universi of
ill i vers i in Mont rea 1, Q
soils on an undulating to rolling glaciofluvial plain.
cul 1 Ca ility Classes 3 and 4.
Km Mile
DAY 3: RED DEER JASPER
The Route
The first portion of the tour will cover the same route as yes
along Highway II. From Rocky Mountain House westward, the tour traverses
a non-agricultural forested area of primarily luvisolic soils. Proceeding
westward, through increasingly rough terrain, the tour enters the Foothills
Region approximately 70 km west of Rocky Mountain House, where soils
gradually change from Luvisolic to Brunisolic. After reaching the most
easterly of the Rocky Mountain Ranges west of Nordegg, the tour follows
the valley of the North Saskatchewan River, through an area of Brunisolic
and Regosolic soils, into Banff and Jasper National Parks. Within the
parks, there will be opportunities for tour participants to become tourists
and enjoy the scenic beauty before stopping at Jasper. (Refer to Fig. 21,
22, 23, and 24 for route location.)
o 0 FROM RED DEER the tour covers the same route as yesterday for 74 km along
Highway No. 11. This highway, also known as the David Thompson Highway,
derives its name from David Thompson the explorer, geographer, and fur
trader, who in late 1700 established a fur trading post on the North
Saskatchewan River, upstream from Rocky Mountain House (Wood, 1955).
During his explorations he travelled more than 80 000 km by canoe, on
foot and on horseback while exploring and preparing maps of some
30 billion ha of untouched wilderness in Canada and the North Western
United States. From 18 to 1826 he was engaged by the British and
United States vernments to establish the Canada - U.S. boundary from
St. Lawrence River to the Lake of the Woods on t Manitoba Ontario
lUViSOlic all fluvial lacustrine IT?] luvisalic on Cordilleran Till
o luvisalic and Brunisolic on fluvial-eolian Brunisalic and luvisolic on Cordilleran Till
TOUR ROUTE * TOUR STOP
FIG. 21 ROUTE LOCATION SECONDARY ROAD 922 TO SHUNDA CREEK
"-J o
Km Mile
1-
border. Some writers refer to David Thompson as the greatest land
geographer the world has ever known.
74 46 JUNCTION Secondary road 922. (See Fig. 21.) Continue west along
Highway 11 through a fine textured veneer and blanket of glaciofluvial-
lacustrine soils, with Brunisolic Orthic Gray Luvisolic characteristics,
overlying an undulating morainal plain. Fairly extensive Organic areas.
Agricultural Capability Class 4.
82 51 ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE with a population of about 3,200, is located at the
approximate western extreme of cultivated agriculture in central Alberta.
It serves the agricultural industry to the east. the limited forest
industry to the west, as well as the surrounding oil industry. Rocky
Mountain House is Central Alberta's "Gateway to the West" by way of the
David Thompson Highway.
88 55 NORTH SASKATCHEWAN RIVER. Sandy textured Brunisolic and Luvisolic soils
on undulating and rolling dune-like fluvial-eolian materials with
Significant inclusions of Organic deposits. Forest Capability Classes 4
to 6,
105 65 CORDILLERAN TILL starts approximately here, Loamy textured Podzolic
Gray Luvisol and Brunisolic Gray Luvisol soils on a rolling morainal
upland, with significant inclusions of Organic deposits. Forest
Capability Classes 3 to 6.
-72-
Km il 117 73 I D S ild ian erve ut 1 no 1
s s ing 1 e, 0 some notor from
h s wea sti nature 5 a e to let
qui te aeeura y 5e r 5 1L
h s • his son carri on ition, 5 ngly wi ual
ace
132 82 JACKFI SITE. 38 site s ifi c in on),
i 5 5 ite rna irnate inn; of e ill s Regi on. is
ion i5 C highly dissec s ly rolling,
a irna ly rall ri In contrast area to east
a lower ocal reli numerous sma 11 y drai si s n
is ite wes ur traverses
an area of 1 mora nal blan a veneer th Degraded
E ic Bruni s a Brunisolie Luvisols, overly; rolling a
i menta rock. e a lie soils y occur along
streams n cover is mainly lodgepole
pine. rest Capabili Classes 4 5.
137 a is t-southeast
ran rallels rna n moun in ran west. It
ses to a evation ut 2 000 m a.s.l. ~ is abo 7 m ve
s ills. is as cal anticline has a core of
Mississ pian ian ca pis the
s n River ows Brazeau
CREEK. 11 on right a ut 1 to the no t.
r to Fig. 22 for route at on).
/
BANFF
NATIONAL
73~·
~ Regosolic and Brumsolic on ~ Colluvium and Rock
p 0 0 t:I30
, p
luvisolic on
Ilrunisolic on Cordilleran Till
!lrunISolic and luv;solic on Cordilleran Till
1/"9O.oli<: and Elrunisoli<: on Alluvium and Glaciofluvial
-TOUR ROUTE
* TOUR STOP
FIG.22 ROUTE LOCATION SHUNDA CREEK TO PARK BOUNDARY
Km e
3 108
175
ich 11s on ues evations
wes m a. s. l. A morai
b an veneer of n y E ic ic unisolic
so s 0 lie terti tCl. e
of loess overlies much area. y ly s
ri are n y dissec , a rock tcro re common. rest
il Classes 4 5.
NORDEGG access and k, was once a ni of
severa h people. when Brazeau llieries closed in
vi ly a 11 t II several rs
as ni securi vi 1s
serv lesser crimes. 1 in is of low medium
va a e, b nous
FORES K junction. The k
i so
(near irie to eman n southwestern
a t was ilt Al rest
t tec on a rna t services
inaccessible ion. It vi t access
ai~eas of
is sti 11 extens ve y t
s ro lar seeking recreationa
out of places ill
lit es ve been p ic use at
e road. unk tersec tour route at
H nton.
is an all weather
ion Debolt
a distance of
ice prima rily
this ati y
to the coal
ing ir
t ies.
uits in
He
locations
at
ong
5-
Km le 180 112 FRONT RANGES the k es.
184 114 BIGHORN RANGE. The sou may be seen ahead and to the right.
It is another of the several ranges wi in the Foothills Region. The
Bighorn Range is about km long a rises to an elevation of about
2 600 m a.s.l.
3 120 BIGHORN RIVER.
196 122 BIGHORN DAM and Abraham ke access road. Follow to ham Lake
viewpoint where lunch wil be provided. The Bighorn Power and Stora
Development* is a joint eet of rnment of Alberta and 19ary
Power Ltd. Completed in 1 is project was initiated to help meet
Alberta's growing electrical needs, as well as help in the conservation
of water. In addition it guarantees a r ro wa supply to
downstream users, particularly the City of Edmonton, where winter wa
supplies were sometimes critically low.
The Bighorn dam, which contains about 4.6 11ion m3 of ea
fill is 91 m high and 7 m ong. is dam is Abraham La
named after the Abraham family, who were S Indians, and long-time
residents in this area. Abraham La is about km long, covers about
5 500 ha, and has a storage capacity of about 14 370 -m. Water, from
this largest Albertals man-made la , drives two 5 400 kw
generators. recreation s tes are loped this la
become a popular tourist attraction. After lunch re
11 undoubtedly
to Highway 11
and continue west.
*Adapted from material s Ltd.
6-
Km WI s n a T ,
y to s ly
y
nc
s ece. 1 1. 1 i
Classes 4- to 6. s t to
221 eLI R V • note ian
235 on a ans. A s
uv a run s, st ing
s R ve p a n annual
onal avera of ut
tri to is
ar d high
rt is ain is
1 I Plai s.
25 consi e rtion
c
ute lows
s run 0 isolic soils
ve t r s occasionally does
pa s su
Km 1 e
264 164
265 165
273 170
-77-
route traverse areas
Brunisolic soil profiles
ion.)
eolluv um
1
rock
r
ic or
Fig. 23 for rou
JUNeT Hi 93 p towa s is highway joining
two pa
Columbia
Parkway.
e1 to is h
HOWSE VALLEY and Howse Pass lies to
travelled from his North West
rough this area to esta ish a fur-
of Rockies.
a rest fire can
is
west. In
st at
s
t on
seen to west
n
I i e 1
David Thompson
~1ounta in se
western slopes
When a s
or r fares t is bu fire releases lodgepole pine seeds,
and pine domina s 1a sea a considerable before
s and r s is in estab f. Thus, ese
fire scars can last of rs In bottoms along the
hi are areas, f any, that do show evidence of
previous res.
west is ical of ma glacier streams. BRAIDED STREAM BED
These coarse textu calcareous mate als are neral y coloni
1101''1 communities. rm S
howers on
nges in
to create
s
laciers,
ow levels
gravelly bitat on
cause abrupt la
d communities only
next
~
~
JASPER NATIONAl
PARK
AlBERTA
- TOUR ROUTE
* TOUR STOP
/ !cefielcl.
Regosolic and Brunisolic on ColluvIUm and Rock
Brunisoiic and on and (oliuvium
Regosoiic Clnd on and Glaciofluvial
FIG.23 ROUTE LOCATiON PARK BOUNDARY TO COLUMBIA ICEFIElD
9-
Km r~il e 277 172 RAMPART EK. Ca adian tels s as is re situated
throughout the Par viding tion to lists a hikers at
nominal cost.
279 3 BRAIDED STREAM Glac al y s a rivers such as this
have a strong diurnal in ow duri warm summer days A hiker
may wade across a s early morni not able get
back across by 1a a
281 174 NORMAN CREEK Flats. In the ea y 1900's, these broad flats
opposite the mouth of e Al River were used as a campsite for
hunting parties. Animals were packed camp a r bones
discarded here, t site became known as Fl a ts.
287 178 AVALANCHE SLOPES, S s those on west wall of vall ey, are 0 f
common occurrence ut Rockies. Only supple shrubs and small
plants are able to ths crus hi of moving snow.
There is an abrupt change in vegetation communities in of these
avalanches, soils also c nge a 1y. Where considerable
neral debris is carr; now e soils are Regosolic. Where
there a re a t wi 11 ows iduous s ,a aval are
frequent enG prevent a pine fir from regenerating, the
soils often ick, organic rich Ah rizoll. or may not
be an associa B horizon. 11y. above 1 800 m a.s.l., where
in uent aval i ng allows regeneration alpine fir spruce
to at least a krummho z form, so 1s are y Brunisolic or
Podzolic.
Km 1 E
3 EPI is to east. In s , t flow of wa over the
s ne e1 0 C HUS untain S almost continuous, s ining
rk. 1 i s cloaked in sheets
ue ice. From , one f s v ews of Cas e
1 ine can seen no on s r ce of Pa r's
d
297 184 NI K
HI increases i eva on 5 m in next 11 bottom
of hi 11 , tion s ical of lower evation s lpine
zone, m a.s. . ) tation is leal
s 1 pi ne lone, al ne zone can een on r's rid to
west.
PARKER'S RI , an easy cli r a t 2.5 km ta hi
n an alpine p ion of color prov; by rna
plants in to mask tenuous d these
ants ve on 1 i ts a ng wi scan occur a in
n a ve less an 2 or 3 wee campl ir
annual e. In is area mountain can seen a an
excell nt view s n Glacier in its f ma climb
11 S nee snow rem a ns 1 ate in s ng, t h s
S 0 kiers
-81-
Km Mile 301 188 STEEP (60°) sided gullies in the till deposits on either side of the
road are so unstable that, despite fairly well-developed soil profiles
in the vicinity, little horizon differentiation occurs other than an
occasional truncated Bmk horizon.
304 189 SUNWAPTA PASS (2 030 m a.s.l.), and the boundary between Banff and Jasper
National Parks. Waters owing south into the North Saskatchewan drainage
system end up in Hudson Bay, and waters flowing north into the Athabasca
drainage system eventually reach the Arctic Ocean. (Refer to Fig. 24
for remainder of route to Jasper).
306 190 WILCOX CREEK. Note the artificial appearance of this and other stream
channel approaches to culverts or bridges under the highway. Constant
maintenance is required to prevent these aggrading streams from clogging
their passageways under the highways, and damaging the road bed.
309 192 COLUMBIA ICEFIELD CHALET. Built in 1938 (prior to completion of the
Icefields Parkway) by Jack Brewster, to provide an opportunity for
visitors to stop and see an active glacier. We will stop and view the
Athabasca Glacier. (For information on the Columbia Icefield refer
to page 150.)
319 198 STUTFIELO GLACIER VIEWPOINT. Note the fluvial fan created by the
decreasing stream gradient, allowing the deposit of sediments in this
typical form.
-82-
Km 1 e 321 200 ROAD passes through a cut in a steeply sloping fluvial fan. Periodic
deposition of fresh calcareous material results in little profile
development other than spotty accumulation of L-H material. These
re 1 at; ve ly small 1 andforms often exhi bit hi ghly contrasti ng soil
properties from those of the general area.
324 201 SNOW AVALANCHE TRACK with large uprooted broken trees, mute evidence of
the tremendous force of the moving snow.
329 205 SUNWAPTA RIVER to the west. (Sunwapta is the Stony Indian word for
liturbulent riverll). The assymetric chain of mountains east of the
highway is known as the Endless Chain Ridge. These mountains are the
east limb of the Castle Mountain Syncline.
337 209 JONAS CREEK.
339 210 LANDSLIDE of massive quartzite boulders forms the base of the highway.
342 2 WARDEN STATION, Poboktan Creek. (Poboktan is the Stony Indian word for
lIowlll). For the next 14 km the landforms to the east are coalescing
fluvial aprons and fans. The parent materials are derived from the
Cambrian quartzites of the Endless Chain Ridge. The soils have strongly
developed Brunisolic profiles,
346 215 SUNWAPTA FALLS JUNCTION (falls are 0.6 km from the highway). The
Sunwapta River joins the Athabasca River about 3 km from the falls.
83
icefields
Regosolie and Bruni,olie on Colluvium ond Rock
Bruni,olic and luvisolic on Till and Colluvium
~o:: :1 .. Regosolic and Brunisolic on Alluvium and Glaciofluvial
- TOUR ROUTE "* TOUR STOP m
5 0 5 10 Km ~I --+-~I------~I----~I 3 0 3 6 MI
FIG. 24 ROUTE LOCATION COLUMBIA ICEFIElD TO JASPER
2
2
K
typical
in
va es
are no
or
stra
east s
As
r
MT.
to
nk
gate
in
s
SI
115 in
hi
ion ma
11
to lick
r
LIN
uise to
are se
in
i es are
d
s
-84-
eas
slope
lTIounta n
1 e 1 a
s
n s
across
a gull
of
1 n9
surface
Main Ranges.
1 1 m
i1 on these slopes
11; "slopes indicating
rmation.
to east is
assoc
a i ica uv a
Regosolic soils.
are occasi ly assoc a sli y
is of va road cut a the
a s rt distance.
1 s , ts respond di y
silt its ed, as on
view west, mountain y
soil , ly. lenish nera 1 s lost
molt.
t 1 i is nent mountain
tain 1 ne s 5 of
1 i
8h - ~-
Km Mile 372 231 JUNCTION with Highway 93A leading to Athabasca Falls. This is the old
highway to Jasper. (If time permits we will stop briefly at the falls).
375 233 ALLUVIAL AND GLACIOFLUVIAL gravels and cobbles are traversed from
approximately this point to Jasper. This is also where the subalpine
meets the montane vegetative zone. The soils are shallow (about 20 cm
to Ck).
381 237 SKI SLOPES of Marmot Mountain can be seen to the northwest, and farther
north the sky tram to the top of Whistlers Mountain.
386 240 BRIDGE across the Athabasca River.
388 241 JUNCTION with Highway 93A.
392 244 ROAD to sky tram and Youth Hostel.
394 245 JUNCTION Highway 16, proceed to Jasper.
-86-
DAY 4: JASPER LOCAL
The Route
Today will be spent in Jasper area. Tour participants will have an
opportunity to examine a . \ isolic soil 1n a mountain environment at
the Portal Creek site. No planned activity been arranged, thus
allowing tour cipants to fill the day with activi es of their own
choosing. Fig. 25 shows t location of the Portal Creek site (No.5 on
map) in relation to Jasper townsite and other major features in the
immediate vicinity.
Km Mile
o
2
7
o JUNCTION of Highways 16 and west of Jasper. Our route will follow
the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93) southward for about 7 km and then
follow 93A for a short distance.
1 ROAD to Youth Hostel and sky tram. lower terminal of sky tram
at 1 790 m a.s.l. provides an in sting view of the Athabasca Valley.
The top terminal. at 2 285 m a.s.l. offers an impressive panorama of
Jasper Townsite and area, and also provides access to a first hand look
at an pine environment. The ls on the glaciofluvial landform, over
which we will be travelling for the next 5 km, exhibit either Regosolic
or Brunisolic type profiles.
4 LEAVE Ie IELOS Pa via Highway 93A. As we climb above va 11 ey
bottom the steep road cuts
those at the Portal Creek si
glacial de which are similar to
(No.5 on Fig. 25). These till materials
are quite heterogeneous having gravelly pockets and slightly stratified
* TOUR STOP
I I
~
BRITISH
COLUMBIA \
(..1 )
/-) I
ALBERTA
-87-
PYRAMID ... MTN -
THE WHISTLERS'"
MARMOT ...
":t ... MOUNT EDITH
CAVElL
To Edmonton
MOUNT "'TEKARRA
fiG. 25 MAP Of JASPER AND VICINITY
To Banff
Km le
9 6
-88-
zones. As we leave vall oor is a good view of
ca River a its vall
K S1 r site s ific i
ni the soil we 11 return
on to page 154.
Es is of present townsite of Jasper did not occur
until 1911 th the arrival of k ific Rail A
second rail ,the ian • was completed in 1915 paralleling
the
railways
k gh Jas
lly canso 1 i
Over the interveni
today the i
peri
a res i
The elevation of
over the lowhead Pass. These two
into the Canadian National Railway.
has a popular resort area and
lation of 3 000.
site is about 1 060 m a.s.l.
the s t of Yell ss to west is 1 130 m a.s.l .• one of the
lowest passes the Great Di This. a ination of 0
factors, res t in one driest climates in the Canadian Rockies
be; along the 11 ey. Mean annual precipitation at
Jasper site is ut mm (less n at Edmonton) and ons of
the valley to the east are 1i
years in the I ian Vall
ve 1 ess mm.
frequen y snow free ring
bution. sublimation are
moisture from snow probably
moisture available for ant 9
ly i er. precipitation in some
35 km to , is 1 i y to
of the lower Athabasca Valley is
Low snowfall. redistri-
significa cause,
not contribute greatly to the total
Km Mile
-89-
DAY 5: JASPER TO HINTON
The Route
The tour schedule for today will involve a relatively short travel time
with most of the day spent in studying two soil pits and associated
features. The first stop will be at a Luvisolic soil site within the
Park boundary. The second stop will be at a loess soil site just outside
and east of the park boundary. Between the two the route will follow
along the braided channel of the Athabasca River which has provided,
and continues to provide, the loessial material for the formation of the
soils in the Hinton area. These soils are unique because the presence
of carbonates in the surface horizons of well differentiated soils is
contrary to current theories of soil formation. In addition forest cover
and the effects of climate on pedogenesis, will be studied at the two
sites. (Refer to Fig. 26 for route location.)
o 0 JUNCTION of east entrance to Jasper townsite with Highway 16. To the
left can be seen the steep faces of the glaciofluvial benches upon which
Jasper sits. Kettle lakes on these benches can be seen on either side
of the Athabasca River. There are occasional local silty deposits
exposed on the steep faces. Most of the route within the park follows
along the Athabasca River where Regosolic and Brunisolic soils have
developed on alluvial, glaciofluvial, and eolian deposits.
2 1 JUNCTION with Maligne Lake Road. Proceed about 9 km (5.5 mi) along this
road to the Signal Mountain site. (For specific information on this
site refer to page 163). After examining the soil pit return to Highway 16
and proceed east.
[~f,j luvisalic and Bruni,alic on Cordilleron Till
[<·:.:1 Regesolic and Brunisolie on loess
~ Regosalic and Brunisolic on Colluvium and Rock
o Brunisolic and luvisolic on Till and Colluvium
o Rage,olie and Bruni,olie on Alluvium and Glaciofluvial
- TOUR ROUTE * TOUR STOP
5 0 5 lOKm 1~-r~Ir---~I~--~1 3 0 3 6 Mi
FIG. 26 ROUTE lOCATION JASPER TO HINTON
-91-
Km ~lile 7 4 PALISADE. The long, steadily sing cliff to the left (north-west) is
known as the Palisade. This cliff of Mississippian-aged (350 million
years) limestones marks the beginning of the Front Ranges of the Rocky
Mountains. A major thrust fault separates the Palisades from Pyramid
Mountain (to the west with the telecommunication tower on top). The
reddish-orange quartzites of Cambrian age (600 million years) identify
Pyramid Mountain as belonging to the Main Ranges west of the thrust
fault.
9 5 JUNCTION with the road leading to the Palisades Warden Training Center.
11 7
The training center has a long and interesting history, but not as park
property. It was the only piece of land to which private title (through
homesteading) was held when Jasper Park was established. Negotiations
for the purchase of this property were finally completed in 1962.
The open canopied forest and grassland areas in this part of the
Athabasca Valley are characterized by Brunisolic and Regosolic soils
developed on sandy loam to silt loam textured materials. The relatively
frequent occurrence of windblown, calcareous dust apparently interrupts
the development of a thick Ah horizon, preventing the formation of a
diagnostic Chernozemic Ah horizon.
12 7 JASPER AIRFIELD.
14 9 SNARING RIVER BRIDGE. The river is named after a small tribe of Indians
who used to frequent the area, snaring small animals for food. Just
before the bridge, on the left, can be seen the overhanging calcareous
-92-
Km Mil e
18
19
23
26
loess cap, evi
acent to s r
t consi
B H?
e calcareous dust is
in basca vall
11 ATHABASCA RI Note aci ly polis rock
the highway on the east si of the bridge.
ited
sou of
12 COLD SULPHUR SPRI from rain snow melt owing rough
14
Devonian-aged limestones and shales dissolve nerals. some of ich
are high in sul The hydrogen sulfide smell is indicative
of i conversion of neral forms of sul to
LA In the 11,
la consi e
becomes the source enishi
ing wa
sho
levels in
loose
in
s llow
silt
area.
16 CALCAREOUS SAND are ially stabilized by grasses some spruce.
Regosolic soils characterize area.
28 17 UVIAL outline can be seen the southeast across Talbot ke.
ling aspen against the darker green sketched by 1i green of
of the conifers. Rapidly aggradi fluvial s, as indica by
Regosolic soils, i aspen as a pioneer species. is
clue is a useful mapping tool.
32 20 JAS E histo c int of i t. Loca across river,
use was one of earliest 0 of the mountain trade.
Jas IS House t its name r Hawes first set up No
Km ~li 1 e
-93-
West Company Post in 1812 about 25 km downstream at BrOl~ Lake. After
1820, the post was taken over by the Hudson's Bay Company and moved to
thi s poi nt.
33 21 ROCKY RIVER BRIDGE.
37 23 ANIMAL LICK. Mountain sheep often come to lick the mineral-rich mud.
41 26 ROAD to Miette Hot Springs. Located about 17 km from Highway 16, these
springs are the warmest (54oC) of several such springs in the Canadian
Rockies. A pool and bathing facilities are maintained for use by visitors.
The settlement of Pocahontas, located at the junction about 1911, was
named after a Virginia (USA) coal field. in hopes that the coal mine
established here would be as productive. However. poor quality coal
caused the mine to close after 10 years of operation.
44 27 LOESSIAL BLANKET overlying calcareous till starts approximately here.
The soils show both Brunisolic and Luvisolic morphologies with calcium
carbonate present in the entire solum (Dumanski and Pawluk, 1971).
These loessial soils extend beyond Hinton.
47 29 FIDDLE RIVER BRIDGE. Note the road cut just past the bridge showing
the loess IIcap" typical of the area.
48.6 30 EAST GATE of Jasper National Park. The approximate boundary between
the Rocky Mountains and the Rocky ~1ountain Foothills.
-94-
Km ~~i1 e 51 32 OVERLANDER LODGE SITE. Following 1 break a soil pit will ned
just east of (for information on ander site refer to
page 172).
70 44 JUNCTION Highway 40 North. Highway 40 north is a segment of the Fares
Trunk Road leading to the city of Grande Prairie and the town of Grande
Cache. Grande Cache, which is about 145 km north of the junction, is a
coal mining area. McIntyre nes Ltd., which operates both underground
and surface mines, produced 1 698 068 metric tons of clean coking coal
(Edmonton Journal, 1976) for markets in Japan in 19 The
Resources ilway links the agricultural area surrounding Prairie
the mining area of Grande Cache with the Canadian National main line
near BrOle Lake. Construction of this railroad was completed in 1969.
72 52 JUNCTION Highway 40 south to the Coal Branch area which is about 65 km
to the southeast. The region was initially developed because of the
need for coal for the railways. Commercial exploration of coal began
about 1911, with peak production reached during the Second World War,
when about 1.5 to 2 million tons per year were produced. The deterior-
ation of the coal industry followed World War II when diesel oil became
the source of power for the railway. IIGhost li towns with their slag
pil es the only reminder of the former, prosperous mining communities.
However. in the late 1960 l s a strip mine operation began at Luscar to
extract coking coal for export to Japan. Other mining companies are
ted to further develop the coal resources in the area.
-95-
Km Mile 74 53 HINTON corporate limits. Population 6,000. Hinton originated as a
small hamlet associated with the coal industry. In 1957, North Western
Pulp and Power Ltd. went into production bringing an economic boom to
the area. The mill directly employs a large number of people and a
considerable number are also employed by suppliers of contracted services
to the mill. The pulpwood lease surrounding Hinton is about 1.7 million
ha in size. A stud mill also capable of producing railroad ties went
into production in the mid 1970 1 s. A further economic boom to the town
occurred in the late 1960·s when the coal industry was reactivated.
Hinton was established as the hub of the service industries supplying
the mining operations at Luscar and Grande Cache. With its ideal
location on the Yellowhead Highway adjacent to Jasper National Park.
Hinton derives considerable revenue from tourism and long distance heavy
transport. In addition, a forestry training school is located at Hinton.
Km Mile
-96-
6: HINTON TO EDMONTON
Route
Approximately 300 km wlll be led today in this the last day of
the tour. The trip will feature examination of an Organic soil and
travel through areas having various types of soil parent materials and
landform features. Lunch will be provided at the Nojack campsite. The
tour will terminate at Congress headquarters in Edmonton. (Refer to
Fig. 27, 28, and 29 for route location.)
o 0 JUNCTION with Forestry Trunk road leading south to Nordegg.
12 8 EASTERN EXTREMITY of the loessial soils. For approximately the next
50 km three major types of soils occur independently or in complexes.
One association is comprised a collection of Gray Luvisols developed
on medium to coarse textured, moderate to highly calcareous till; the
same material underlies the loess soils to west. Another association
consists of Luvisolic and Brunisolic soils that are distinguished from
soils of the former association by the presence of a thin deposit of
fluvial and/or eolian sand occurring unconformably on the till material.
Numerous areas of Organic and Gleysolic soils are also recognized. The
landform is imarilya rolling morainal upland. Agricultural Capability
Classes 5 6. Forest Land bili Classes 4 and 5.
35 22 OBED at an elevation of 1 086 m a.s.l. is the highest point on the
Canadian National Railway in
~ er ,',
, ,
. ·~~/>;})!/\}i· .. ~' ~~~
luvisalic and Bruni.alk an lacustrine LB.
·•··· .. · .~', ~ .... ~ , '-:'"
Luvisalic and Brunisalic an Cordilleran Till
W Ilrun;salic on Sond
r·: :';':jluv;soliC on Continental Till
TOUR ROUTE
~ ~ Organic
P::::l Regasolic Gnd Brunisolic on loess
'* TOUR STOP
5 0 5 10 Km , I I I 3 0 3 5 Mi
FIG. 27 ROUTE LOCATION HiNTON TO MclEOD RIVER
I \D --.j
-98-
Km Mile 39 24 BLANKET BOG area th inclusions soils.
44 27 ISOLIC Brunisolic so 1 on an ulating y rolling
morainal ain. Medium to coarse ricul ili
Classes 5 and 6. Forest ili Classes 4 a 5.
46 29 MEDICINE The flowing well is a lar s poi for
lers. A nimum sec tion center is located
Inmates from is institu on work in area clean ng inning
forested areas, co 11 ect i ng seed cones, East of Medicine Lodge
the hi parallels the k McLeod River.
ows i ca no tour route.
61 38 LUV I SOLI C Brunisolic soils on a y rolling uvial blan
Coarse texture. rent material s an olive to ish brmJn
sand occasionally containing orthoquartzite He 1 es
up to 5 cm in diameter. s materials in this area represent
deposi on from meltwater ow; from boro glacier into the
glacial 1a in what is as Edson Lowl (surro ing
the town of Edson east of here), during initial stages of glacier
retreat (Roed, 1968). Agric pabil i C 1 ass 6. Fore s t
11; Class 5.
62 39 MARLBORO. The et is underlain by a deposit of rna In
1912, boro es ished a cement ant to util ize
1 aca 1 marl depos its. These pro unsatis and 1917 the cement
plant was receivi mestone a q near Jasper ) .
One of the stacks s till sta at the edge communi
Km Mil e
66 41
73 45
-99-
The marl is a t 1.5 m ick and can be seen to the
east of the hamlet re it is ain by Organic material and underlain
by sand and gravel of the Marl bora lta. It is very foss il iferous
containing gastropods, pelecypods. and ostracods. The rna has been
by radiocarbon method at 8,830 :! 150 years B.P. A chemical analysis
the marl indica a total of 92.24% calcium carbonate, 3.63% magnesium
carbonate, 4. organic, and other materials. The low calcium carbonate
content is probably main reason marl was not developed
for the manufacture of cement (Roed, 1968).
SUNDANCE CREEK. About one km north of the highway a rather spectac ar
mel channel is located along course of Creek. This
ter channel was formed at the ea edge of t Ma ro glacier
was even lly eroded at least 120 m into the bedrock in places.
of the s material deposited in the resulting delta was
istributed by winds to form the dune eld sou east of the delta.
The d is comprised of ped dunes consisting dominantly of
fine to ne
Some s 110w b 1
ined sand and Organic soils in the inter- areas.
and small sand s
Brunisolic soils occur on the dunes whi
use of a thick vegetative cover.
are also present (Roed, 1968).
are relatively stable at present
FIRST major ication of agricultural practice since Day 3. Climate is
a major limitation to agricul
mainly to fora
1 production in is area lim; n9 crops
-100-
Km Mile 75 47 LUVISOLIC soils on a rolling mora nal upland. Medium to fine texture.
Till is of illeran origin. Agricultural Ca ility Class 5. Forest
Land Capability Class 4.
78 49 JUNCTION Highway 47 to Robb and the Coal Branch area mentioned previously.
81 51 lUVISOLIC soils on a rolling morainal and. Medium to fine texture.
83 52
Till is of Continental (provenance in Canadian shield area) origin and
is dense, plastic, and brown to yellowish brown in color. Agricultural
Capability Classes 5 and 6. Forest Land Capability Class 4.
ISOLIC soils on a level to undulating lacustrine blanket. i um to
fine texture. The parent materials of t soils are olive brown to dark
yellowish brown silts a clays at are moderately to strongly calcareous.
The glacial lake in which the lacustrine clays and silts were deposited
probably was transgressive in nature (Roed, 1968). Initially water was
trapped in the vicinity by Keewatin ice on one side and the Foothills and
the Cordilleran ice on the other side. The retreat of the Continental
ice sheet allowed a progressive retreat of the lake levels. The final
lake position was in the Alberta Plains Region to north and south of
Edson. Deposits collected in lakes of this type are generally hetero-
geneous. consequently the lacustrine materials found in the central
portions of the lacustrine sin are icker. of finer texture, and are
more calcareous than e found along the edges.
Extensive areas of Organic soils are und in association
with the mineral soils. Agricultural Capability Classes 4 and 5.
-101-
Km ~lil e 84 53 POINT OF INTEREST sign relating to The Edson - Grande Prairie Trailli.
The old Grande Prairie Trail between Edson and the Peace River country
came into use as soon as Edson became the end of steel on the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway in 1910. The trail was cut through timber and
over muskegs 320 km to Sturgeon lake the west, leading the hardy
settlers to "The Grande Prairie" where they dispersed and took up their
homesteads .. The tortuous mud-choked trail was used until the railway
reached Grande Prairie in 1916.
87 54 EDSON corporate limits. Population 3,500. Edson, originally established
as Heatherwood, was incorporated as a town in 1911. Soon after, it
became a starting point to the north as mail and settlers travelled along
the Edson - Grande Prairie trail by stagecoach and horseback. Present
day Edson is supported by a number of industries rather than one major
type. The oil and gas industry and forest products industry including
pulp and paper, fence post, and railroad tie production are important to
the economy of the area. Regional government offices and maintenance
shops of the Alberta Forest Service, Alberta Government Telephones, and
Alberta Highways and Transportation are located in Edson. A significant
amount of revenue comes from t tourist industry since Highway 16 passes
through the town. Edson also serves the small farming population which
is located primarily northeast of town.
92 57 ORGANIC SOIL area. Depth of peat varies from 1 to 3 m.
98 61 MCLEOD RIVER (refer to Fig. 28 for route location).
i -:"4" ." : : : : ~
. ' ...
luv;solic onO G",n;solic on Lacustrine \:::: : !luvisoliC on Continental Til!
t : j Ilrunisolic on Sand ~J Organic
c:::J luv;solic on lacustrine *' TOUR STOP - TOUR ROUTE
5 0 10Km f--- I I I 3 0 6 Mi
FIG.28 ROUTE lOCATION MclEOD RIVER TO PEMBINA RIVER
. . . . .
,.... o N I
-103-
Km Mile 101 63 WOLF CREEK.
105 65 LUVISOLIC soils on an undulating morainal plain. Medium to fine texture.
The till is of Continental origin. Extensive areas of associated
G1eyso1ic and Organic soils occur. Agricultural Capability Classes 4
and 5.
124 77 JUNCTION with Highway 32. Proceed 8 km north to the Peers site. This
area is characterized by sand dunes and muskeg. Rapidly drained
Bruniso1ic soils have developed on coarse textured, stone-free. eolian
materials. The dunes which are U-shaped or longitudinal are well
stabilized by tree cover. Organic soils are common in the inter-dune
areas. A portion of the area was scarred by fire in 1968. Agricultural
Capability Class 6. The soil pit is located approximately 1 km north
of Peers. See page 188 for site information. Following examination of
this site. return to Highway 16 and proceed east.
132 82 CARROT CREEK.
135 84 ORGANIC soils dominate with lesser amounts of Gleysolic and Luviso1ic
soils.
143 89 FARMSTEAD located in area of Organic and G1eysolic soils. Depth of peat
varies from 15 cm to 1.5 m (A. Twardy. personal communication). The
land is used for grazing and hay production.
145 90 LUVISOLIC and G1eysolic soils on undulating ground moraine. Medium to
fine texture. Agricultural Capability Class 4.
-104-
Km Mil e 148 92 NOJACK campgrou Lu 11 ded.
156 97 I PLAKE. st tip 1a visible on left (no 5i of highviay.
The lake is about 70 in is ati y s llow. Presently
there is no recreat anal t on the 1a res.
164 102 GRAY LUVISOLIC soils on a level at; lacustrine plain.
ne texture. Fora se major crop in the area.
Agricultural Capabil; Class 4.
171 106 WILDWOOD. Population 300. Hi an Agro climatic areas 3H
and 2H occurs in is vicini
180 112 PEAT MOSS processing plants are oea on He sides of hi ghvJay .
Peat is ha in vicini prima ly
use as a soil amendment r es home gardens.
188 117 PEMBINA RIVER (refer to Fig. 29 route location).
190 118 ENTWISTLE. Population 365.
192 119 LUVISOLIC soils on a lacustrine veneer an yi an lating
and rolling morainal plain. ium to ne texture. ic tural
Capability Classes 4 5.
200 124 LUVISOLIC soils on a gently roll; to rolli morainal a in. Medium
to fine texture. Agric bili Classes 3 and 4.
-l05~
z 0 I-Z 0 ~ 0 w 0 l-e.::: w >-ii2 « Z iii ~
I! w !l..
Z 'Ii i 0
~ U 0 -'
~ ::> 0 e.:::
0-N
ci ;:;::
1 1:1
V)
~ c: 0
~ ~ III
0
" .~ 'c 0
2 UJ
u ... 0-
-0 ;:l "-
!5 !i 0 0 0-
'" IJ')
,~
E '0
,~ ,~ '" '" '" :Ii ,l:!
'0 c: ;:l ;:l
~ ,. ,:a ~
0 e :l
,. 0-
-' :l -' 0
D [@ ~ t * .....
'" .,
III
y .~ j :l III y
c .5l c: c: 0 0
" u
c:
'0 ~ .:!: ::l .. U
c .5l ~ .... g c:
0
--$-_ .... _-
-106-
Km Mil e 204 127 GAINFORD. ation
222 138 WABAMUN LAKE (sou si of hig ) . lake 11 el s
the route a at some ints northern is only
about 1 km from the hi I mi to popul on centers
has resulted in i ve ion development r summer and
winter activities. rge sits or user centres an
ample water supply cooli steam s, make ke Wabamun
an ideal location for tion. Wabamun thermal
plant, si on the lake, has a capacity of
582 000 kw. On the side of the highway, ur draglines work at
the Whitewood ne more two million tons per of coal
are mined for use in the The S steam plant is
located across la si Wabamun plant. Presently
the capacity is abo 1 350 000 kw wi nsion expected. The
Wabamun and Sundance plants are operated by Calgary Power Ltd. (Power
for Progress, Calgary Power Ltd.).
243 151 JUNCTION Highway to medium textured Luvisolic soils on a
pitted glaciofluvial
Pitted deltas are
it commonly referred to as a pitted delta.
He Has streams flowed on the
surface of the glacier ice in a lake. The pitted deltas
were deposited partly over ice y around 1 ice blocks s ing
in the water of, in is case, As of the 91 ad er
receded. the deltas were ilt at di localities close to the ice
edge. Later melting of the ice bloc or surrounded sediments.
produced the istic pi and es. Although tas have a
Km Mile
-107-
rough topography resembling that of a hummocky dead-ice moraine in
general appearance, the material differs markedly from that of the
moraine. The pitted deltas are composed mainly of fine sand and silt,
clay and clayey beds. The sands and silts are well bedded with good
cross-bedding developed in coarser materials. In some places the
pitted deltas contain many pebbles and cobbles, coarse materials that
have been either ice rafted into place or have come from the surrounding
or covered residual ice blocks.
The soils developed on the deltaic material have bands in
the lower sola which have presented difficulties in classification
(Coen et al., 1966). The bands were shown to contain more organic matter,
free iron, and clay than the interbands which resulted in a darker, redder
color and finer texture as observed in the field. The bands were often
coincidental with stratified layers, but their occasional transgression
across geologic stratification and their development in profiles without
stratification suggested a pedogenic origin.
Soils with thick, well developed bands are most prevalent in
deep, generally coarse textured parent materials. The upper band generally
occurs at depth varying from 50 to 112 cm below the soil surface. Band
thickness varies from a fraction of 1 cm to about 20 cm, and bands
generally conform to the contour of the soil surface. The coarser
textured materials are generally associated with sharp, fairly prominent
knolls. Agricultural Capability Classes 4 and 5.
256 159 CHERNOZEMIC soils on a pitted glaciofluvial landform. Coarse to medium
texture. Agricultural Capability Classes 1 and 2.
-108-
Km r~n e 259 161 STONY PLAIN. Population 2,500. This community lies just east of the
boundary between Agro-climatic areas 2H and 1.
266 165 SPRUCE GROVE. Population 5,500. The size and population of centers
such as Spruce Grove and Stony Plain along with others near Edmonton
have increased dramatically in the past ten years. The expansion of
urban environments has been at the expense of good agricultural land.
283 175 WINTERBURN. Population 100. Medium to fine textured Chernozemic and
Gleysolic soils on a level to gently undulating lacustrine plain. This
large area of lacustrine deposits was formed by what is referred to as
Glacial Lake Edmonton. This lake, which covered most of the Edmonton
district bordered against the ice in many places and its level was
rapidly lowered in response to new outlet levels and to the melting rate
of the glacier. Lacustrine conditions persisted longest in the center
of the basin and the thickest Lake Edmonton sediments are generally
found there. Because of the rapid lowering of the lake level no beaches
are found on Lake Edmonton. The development of Lake Edmonton could have
been caused by two things: 1) blockage of normal drainage to the east
by an ice advance in that area - possibly the Lloydminister lobe of
Ellwood (Bayrock and Hughes. 1962); 2) delevelling of the land due to
the removal of the ice load or orogenic readjustment of the Canadian
Rocky ~1ountains. In mechanical composition the Lake Edmonton sediments
range from sand to clay. In thickness they range from about 30 m to less
than one meter. Ti 11 underl i es most of the Lake Edmonton depos its except
in very small areas where it was eroded away before deposition of lake
sediments. Ice rafted till and pebbles, found throughout the section of
Km Mile
-109-
Lake Edmonton, signify that the lake was in contact with the retreating
glacier for the greater part of its existence (Bayrock and Hughes, 1962).
Agricultural Capability Classes 1 and 2.
285 177 CITY OF EDMONTON corporate limits. Proceed to University of Alberta
and Congress headquarters.
-110-
SITE SPECIFIC INFORMATION
-111-
THE LACOMBE RESEARCH STATION
The Lacombe Research Station (Fig. 30) was founded in B07, the seventh
in a network of experimental farms then being established across the
country by the Canada Department of Agriculture. Its original objective
was to assist the increasing population of settlers in developing their
farms in the newly settled areas of central Alberta. Its responsibilities
extended from Calgary north to Lesser Slave Lake, and from the Saskatchewau
border to the Rocky Mountains. In the early days emphasis was placed on
the testing and demonstration of farm practices, livestock breeds, grain,
forage, vegetable, and fruit varieties, which had been developed in other
parts of Canada and the United States. As the years passed, it was
recognized that varieties and practices developed elsewhere were not
always suitable for the soil and climatic conditions of this region, :;0
new programs of research, breeding, and development were initiated to
develop crop varieties and farming practices to meet the specific needs
of the short growing season in central Alberta. The primary objective
of the station today is to conduct research for the solution of problems
related to the production of crops and livestock in central Alberta.
Contributions to Agriculture in Central Alberta
Long term crop rotation and soil management studies demonstrated that thr,
inclusion of grass-legume mixtures in crop rotation resulted in higher
yields, maintenance of soil fertility, better weed control, and more
equal distribution of labor throughout the year. These studies also
showed that summerfallowing In central Alberta was necessary only once
ln 7 or 8 years, and then only to assist in weed control. More recent
-1
FIG.30 AERIAL VIEW OF THE LACOMBE RESEARCH STATION
-113-
investigations of moisture storage in the soil, and the development of
selective herbicides for weed control, have proven summerfallow to be
unnecessary in this region.
Early experiments with chemical fertilizers showed that
fertilizers drilled into the moist seed bed along with the seed promoted
faster growth and higher yields. It was also demonstrated that crops
seeded on fallow responded only to phosphorus while those on stubble
responded to both nitrogen and phosphorus. The Luvisolic soils were
discovered to be sulfur deficient, especially for legume production.
Subsequently it was established that a combination of sulfur fertilization
with suitable crop rotations, including legumes, was necessary for
increased production and the maintenace of soil fertility.
Newly developed weed control chemicals have been continuously
evaluated and recommendations for their effective use on crops in centra1
Alberta have been formulated. Surveys of weed infestations throughout
Alberta have been conducted and the economic losses in crop production
have been established for certain weeds in competition with growing crops.
Efforts to develop varieties of grain and other crops which
are more productive and better adapted to the short, cool growing season
of central Alberta have culminated in the release of several varieties of
different crops: Larain, Random, and Cavelle oats, Wolfe barley, Park
wheat, Norlac red clover, Canus potato, and Rocket and Booster tomatoes.
Small fruits and apples were evaluated for their adaptabiJity
and productivity in the climate of centra1 Alberta. A nursery of
ornamental shrubs and trees was established in 1908 and in subsequent
years many of the trees, shrubs, and other plants that now decorate the
station grounds, were set out. This resulted in the transformation of
-114-
a treeless piece of prairie land into a park which lS an excellent
of the beauty that can be added to the countryside and has served to
inspire many fal'mers in the region to beautify their own farmsteads.
Herds of swine. dairy and beef cattle were established for
comparisons of breeds and fOl' studies of feeding and management. From
these herds large numbers of good breeding stock were distributed to
farmers in the early days. Horses wel'e a vi tal source of power in the
early farming operations, so a stud of Clydesdale was established in
1912. Thousands of foals sired by these stallions provided the power
on sever'al farms in the region for many year's.
Intensive breeding work with swine was initiated in 1947
and culminated in the development and l'elease of the "Lacombe Breed" in
1957. This new breed, the first to be developed in Canada, has achieved
wide acceptance within Canada and has also been exported to numerous
foreign countries.
In recent years, a number of for~ign breeds of cattle were
imported from Europe and evaluation of their relative merits under western
Canadian conditions has begun. The foreign bl'eeds presently being
utilized in this program are Simmental, Limousin, Charolais, and Chianina.
The development and Canada-wide introduction in 1968 of a new
grading system for marketed swine was the direct result of swine carcass
composition studies which began earlier at Lacombe.
Current Soils Research
Soil fertility l'eseal'ch currently underway at the Lacombe Research
Station is aimed at mor'e effective use of N, P, and K fertilizers for
the economic I-Jl'oduction of barley, rapeseed, and forage crops.
-115-
Fertilizer responses of these crops are being correlated with the results
of soil analyses as a means of improving fertilizer recommendations and
increasing the efficiency of fertilizer use.
The responses of grasses and legumes to fertilizers are being
studied in pure stands, rather than in mixtures, the objective being a
better understanding of the growth requirements of the individual species
for higher yields.
Relationships between soil fertility and the effectiveness of
certain herbicides in controlling weeds are being investigated, with most
of this work being done on wild oats, the most troublesome and costly weed
ln Western Canada. Work is also being done on the use of urea fertilizer
as a carrier for the soil-applied herbicides triallate and trifluralin.
Climate
A summary of meteorological data collected at the Lacombe Research Station
during a period of 68 years is presented in the Table 5. These data show
that the major limitation to crop production is the short growing season.
On an average, there are only 90 frost-free days, and only 120 days
between spring and fall killing frosts. In addition, the mean minimum
temperature throughout the growing season is less than gOC. Unlike most
of the rest of western Canada, Lacombe does not have a climate suitable
for the production of wheat. The growing season is sufficiently long for
the production of barley. but short-duration varieties are necessary to
escape the risk of frost.
The amount of precipitation is the next limitation to crop
production, although the distribution of precipitation during the growing
season is very favorable with the largest amounts falling during the
months of June, July, and August.
Table 5. Meteorological data, Lacombe Research Station.
0 TemEeratures~ C, 68 year means Prec itation Maximum Minimum Mean
January -7.9 -20.7 -14.3 19 February -3.9 -17.7 -10.8 18 March 1.3 -12.3 -5.5 20 April 10.3 -3.5 3.4 30 May 17.3 2.2 9.8 48 June 20.6 6.1 13.4 84 July 23.9 8.7 16.3 74 August 22.7 7.0 14.8 61 September 17.7 2.3 9.9 38 October 12.1 -3.1 4.5 20 November 2.1 -10.5 -4.2 16 December -4.6 -16.9 -10.7 17
Total 111.6 -58.4 26.6 445
Mean 9.3 -4.9 2.2
Mean growing season precipitation (April-July inclusive) mm Mean growing season evaporation (April-July inclusive) mm
Last Spring frost OOC First fall frost OOC Number of frost-free days OOC
Last killing spring frost -2.2oC First killing fall frost -2.2oC Number of killing frost-free days -2.2oC
Sunshine
84.4 118.4 161. 9 201.7 243.4 251.4 296.7 251. 7 183.2 150.9
98.8 77 .6
2130.1
Wind No. of years -KID
29 6801 30 6236 30 7228 30 8296 30 9166 32 7472 30 6761 28 6703 29 7208 30 7710 30 6811 30 6771
87 164
236 302
June 5 September 3 90
May 18 September 15 120
ion mm
14 8 28 86 42 88 44 100 30 86 30 52
I I-' I-' O"l I
-117-
In addition to these major limitations to production, there
is the risk of partial or complete loss of crops, especially grain crops,
due to hail. Lacombe is situated in the hail belt of central Alberta
and risk of hail damage is prevalent during the months of June, July,
and part of August.
Land Use
Because of the short growing season, farming systems based on wheat
production have not developed in the Lacombe area, as has been the case
in much of the rest of western Canada. Barley, with a shorter growing
season requirement, has been the main grain crop and considerable amounts
of forage crops are also produced. This has resulted in the development
of "mixed farming" systems with large populations of livestock (especially
beef cattle and swine) on most farms to utilize the feed grains and
forage produced. Approximately 45% of the cultivated land in the region
is seeded to barley and 25% to cultivated forage crops. Only about 12%
of the land is fallowed in any year. Wheat occupies less than 3% of the
cultivated land, oats slightly more than 5%, and rapeseed cropping has
recently developed to the extent that it occupies almost 10%.
Typical yields of the various crops grown in the region are
as follows:
Barley 2.5 tonnes/hectare
Oats 2.2 tonnes/hectare
Wheat 2.2 tonnes/hectare
Rapeseed 1.0 tonnes/hectare
Forage 3.7 tonnes/hectare
-118-
Continuous cropping to barley for several years in a row is
a COmT:lOn practice in the region, although some rotation among barley,
, and oats is done also. The major' forage species grown are
bromegrass and alfalfa, usually growL as a mixture. Seedings of forage
crops usually have a lifetime of from 1+ to 7 years before being plowed
up and seeded to grain. This usually occurs when the percentage of
alfalfa in the mixture has been seriously reduced.
Barley, oats, and rapeseed are generally responsive to
application of both Nand P fertilizers. Typically, about 40 to 50 kg
Nand 10 to 20 kg P are applied per hectare. These crops do not generally
respond to K, although isolated responses to K have been observed in some
experiments in the region. Manganese deficiency occurs in oats (Grey
speck disease) in most years but is not considered to be a serious problem.
Boron deficiency has been noted on alfalfa, but only during very dry years
and in extremely rare instances. Alfalfa is not grown for seed in the
region so boron deficiency is not considered a major problem.
Forage crops, especially the brame-alfalfa mixture commonly
grown in the region, do not appear to be as responsive to fertilization
as is barley, hence farmers are reluctant to apply much fertilizer.
Typical fertilizer applications, if made, would be 20 to 30 kg Nand
10 to 15 kg P per hectare.
The N fertilizer' applied to barley, oats, and rapeseed is
applied in the form of anhydrous ammonia, urea, or ammonium nitrate.
The availability of ammonium nitrate is decreasing while more and more
urea is becoming available and will soon be the dominant source of N
fertiliZer'. These fertilizers are applied either in the fall after the
harvest of a cr'op and during the fall cul ti vat ion of fields, or in the
-119-
early spring prior to the seeding of a new crop. Phosphorus is placed
in the drill row along with the seed.
Setting
The Lacombe Research Station property lies at the edge of an old preglacial
channel connecting the Battle River to the north, and the Red Deer River
to the south (Fig. 30). This channel has been partly filled with both
fine and coarse textured glacial and postglacial sediments. The eastern
portion of the Research Station property lies within this channel, while
the western portion is on the rough topography and steep ridges which are
in part the relic banks of the channel.
The soil pit (UTM location 12U UP1314) located on land
belonging to the Research Station lies on fluvial sediments within the
preglacial valley. A number of characteristics specific to this site
should be mentioned such as:
- non stony
- level to very gently undulating topography
- well drained
- non saline
- soil capability for Agriculture 2c
- present land use, pasture and hay
Soil
Although considerable variability in soils occur on the Lacombe Research
Station, they can all be classified as Black Chernozems. Topsoil (Ah)
depths range from 20 to 50 cm. Specifically, at the soil pit site, -the
soil has been classified as follows:
-120-
Canadian System - Eluviated Black Chernozem
FAa/UNESCO - Luvic Chernozem
U.S.A. System - Agriaquic Cryoboroll
Because of their location in the preglacial valley, soils at
this site, and elsewhere in the valley. show evidence of gleying,
particularly in the lower horizons. This gleying is probably the result
of groundwater movement and discharge in valley locations. The weak and
intermittent eluviation that is present is probably due to a fluctuating
water table, rather than past degradation or modification from the
accumulation and decomposition of forest vegetation. It is suggested
that this and other nearby profiles with deep A horizons, are perhaps
the result of a "cumulic" process, whereby deposits have been added to
the surface from past erosion.
The soil at this site has a good depth of black sandy loam
Ah, which is rather weakly structured. Below this horizon there is a
brown colored, weakly eluviated horizon, which is also sandy loam. The
B horizon, with a gray brown color, has been enriched by illuvial clays
from above, as evidenced by the loam texture. Structure in this horizon
is significantly more pronounced than in horizons above and below.
Mottling, evidence of gleyed conditions, is present in both the Band
BC horizons and becomes more marked in the Cca horizon at about 235 cm.
In both the BC and Cca horizons, dark grayish brown colors persist in
sandy loam materials which have a weaker structure. The weak to moderate
effervescence in the Cca horizon is indicative of a relatively low lime
carbonate accumulation. In the Cca horizon there is some evidence of
differential deposition of fluvial deposits. A slightly acid to neutral
reaction persists throughout the profile, except for the Cca horizon which
is mildly alkaline.
-121-
Mineralogical analysis indicates that smectite dominates in
the Ae to II Ccag horizons, particularly in the Btjgj horizon.
Weathering to chlorite and chloritized vermiculite is evident in the
surface horizons.
Pedon Description.
Horizon
Ap
Ah
Ahe
Ae
Btjgj
Depth (cm)
0-15 Black (10 YR 2/2 d) sandy loam; weak, medium granular
to single grain; slightly hard; abundant, medium and
fine, random roots; abrupt, smooth boundary; 10 to
15-35
35-40
35-40
40-75
20 cm thick; slightly acid.
Black (10YR 2/2 d) sandy loam; weak, medium granular
to single grain; very friable; plentiful, fine,
oblique roots; numerous crotovina; clear wavy
boundary; 15 to 30 cm thick; slightly acid.
Brown to dark brown (10YR 4/3 d) sandy loam; weak,
coarse subangular blocky to single grain; soft; few
to plentiful, fine and coarse, vertical roots; clear,
broken boundary; 0 to 5 cm thick; slightly acid.
Yellowish brown to brown (10YR 5/4 - 5/3 d) sandy
loam; weak, fine platy to granular; soft; few to
plentiful, fine and coarse, vertical roots; clear,
broken boundary; 0 to 5 cm thick; slightly acid.
Dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2 m) loam; many, coarse,
distinct, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2 m) mottles;
weak, medium to fine subangular blocky; friable;
few, very fine and medium, vertical roots; gradual,
smooth boundary, 30 to 40 cm thick; neutral.
Hor,izon
BCgj
Ccag
-122-
Depth (ern)
75-235 Dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2 m) sandy loam; many,
coarse, distinct, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2 m)
mottles; very weak, medium subangular blocky to
blocky; friable; few, medium, vertical roots;
gradual, smoo·th boundary; 120 to 200 ern thick;
slightly acid.
235+ Dark grayish brown to olive brown (2.5Y 4/2 - 4/4 m)
sandy loam; many, coarse, distinct, gray (5Y 5/1 m)
mottles; weakly laminated; firm; very fine, medium
roots; weakly to moderately effervescent; mildly
alkaline.
Analytical Data.
Some chemical, physical and mineralogical properties for
the Gleycd Eluviated Black Chernozem at the Lacombe site are presented
in Table 6.
123
ri Ie 6. Analytical data for the Gleyed Eluviated Black Chernozem at the Lacombe site.
Total CaC03 Total ~ori zon CaC1 2 C% Equi.% N% C/N Total
.. ,l An 6.3 5.6 2.9 0.26 11 13.3 12.5 2.4 0.2 O.i
IIfJe 6.3 5.7 1.0 0.09 9 6.9 6.4 1.7 0.4 0.: 6.4 5.7 0.5 0.05 11 5.9 5.3 1.7 0.2 0.:
:jgj 6.6 6.1 0.3 0.03 11 8.5 8.5 2.9 0.3 0 .. BCgj 6.1 5.6 0.4 0.02 12 12.8 12.2 3.7 0.3 O.!
Ccag 7.5 7.1 6.2 20.1 43.7 6.7 0.3 O.
Water Soluble Salts (me/1) Conductivity
SAR Horizon mmhos/cm Ca+Mg Na K
Ap Ah Ahe Btjgj BCgj
0.5 Ccag 0.3 2.8 0.6 0.12
Available Organic Matter Mineralogy <2 H clayl Nutrients (ppm) Extracted FA HA
Horizon N P-Bray K S %C %N Cha/Cfa E4/E6 E4/E6 Mica Chlor. Kaolln Smect. Verm. Quar
Ah 14 7 78 4 51.8 46.1 2.10 12.5 4.5 tr tr tr 1 tr
Ahe 3 5 79 2 71.6 55.0 1. 21 11.0 4.7 tr tr tr 2
jgj 3 2 107 9 53.3 55.7 0.70 8.5 5.4 tr tr tr 4 1 o\.ogj tr tr tr 3 1
Ccag tr tr tr 3
Ph,r:s;cal
Part Size Dist - % <2 mm Moisture % Classification
Horizon Sand Silt Clay F-Clay 1/3 atm 15 atm Unified USDA
.. .1 Ah 77 16 7 5 16.0 9.0 SL III-Je 80 15 5 4 7.7 3.6 Sl
83 10 7 4 12.0 5.8 SL :jgj 67 20 13 8 SL
BCgj 63 14 23 11 Sl Ccag
-124-
Fi 31. of a Gleyed Eluviated Black Chernozemic soil at the
a. x b.plane light c.plane light d.plane light
c consists of almost equal amounts of loosely packed sand grains «0.5 ~m) to black, organic rich material that occurs as
aggregates (10-1 ~m) part; ly filling intergranular spaces, as discontin-coati ( ~m) on ns, and as bridges between grains (Figure a). The
Ae
occas; -1- s 1
~m) gefuric
our
size. -1- c
organic inorganic material. isotic intergranular material
complex fabric: phyto-mull-orthogranic-matr;chlamydi
moderately packed sand grains uncoated (30%) and etely (20%) coated, with few dark aggregates in
( re), The thin coatings (5-20 ~m) are anisotropic. sometimes link grains.
grain matrans c: mullgranoidic//matrichlamydic
c consi of sand grains and abundant fine matrix material. This occurs as sepic matrans (10-40 ~m) commonly linking grains
ie.
se i ranular material (Figure c). Porosity is modvoids. Manganiferous and sesquioxidie nodules are
lic
lie th intertextie areas and thin matrans (10-40
se, fine silty, calcareous material (Figure d) occurring as clusters and isolated grains. The
wi the gray areas apparently reduced. Some gray are common with vughs and joint and skew planes.
its, and mixtures of the two are very common and d), nodules that range up to 2 ~m in
common nodules.
-125-
CHEDDERVILLE SITE
Location
This site is located on the Howard Willinmc; farm about 2J+ km sou tiled:, t
of Rocky Mountain House. Its legal location is SE 24, T37, R7, WS
(UTM 11U PH4684).
Contributions to Agriculture
One of the earliest contributions of the Chedderville Project Farm to
the agriculture of Central Alberta was the discovery of sulfur deficiency
of Luvisolic soils for the growth of legumes. It was subsequently
established that the combined use of legumes, suitable crop rotations,
and sulfur-containing fertilizers was essential to good productivity and
the maintenance of fertility on these soils. The necessity of nitrogen
and phosphorus fertilizers for both cereal and forage crops was also
demonstrated. The yield levels of most crops produced in the region
have increased through the introduction of improved varieties of cereal
and forage crops and the adoption by farmers of suitable crop rotations,
legumes, and proper fertilizers.
Setting
The landform at this site is a fluvial-lacustrine veneer and blanket on
an undulating to rolling undifferentiated bedrock and/or morainal plain.
Although underlying materials at depth are bedrock, much of this area is
in fact underlain by till. It is, however, suspected that the till layer
is relatively thin (one to two meters) and surface topographic features
are bedrock controlled. Regionally, this site lies in the Lower
-126-
Foothills Section of the Boreal Forest Region (Rowe, 1959) and has a
humid microthermal climate. As Fig. 32 indicates, the site has a forest
background of trembling aspen and a few lodgepole pine (a plant community
description follows later in the text). Bowser (1967) places this site
within Agro-climatic Area 3H. In addition there are a number of other
char'acteristics specific to this site, such as:
- non stony
- elevation about 1 000 m a.s.l.
- 1 to 3% slope, eastern aspect
- moderately well drained
- non saline
Climate
A summary of meteorological data for the 35 year period 1941-1975 is
presented in Table 7. Both total precipitation and precipitation during
the growing season are higher than at Lacombe. Growing season
precipitation (May to September inclusive) averages 372 mm. Mean monthly
temperatures are slightly lower than at Lacombe during the growing season
and slightly higher during the winter. The number of frost-free days is
about 80 days, considerably less than at Lacombe. The most serious
production limitation is the shortness of the growing season, especially
for the production of cereal crops, but this factor is much less
important for forage crop production. This region also experiences
considerable risk of hail during the growing season and the consequent
damage to crops.
-127-
FIG. 32 VEGETATIVE COVER ATTHE CHEDDERVILlE SITE
Photograph by A. A. Kjearsgaard Photograph by A. A. Kjearsgaard
-128-
Table 7. Meteorological data, Chedderville Project Farm (35 year means).
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Annual Total
Mean monthly precipitation
mm
23
22
28
30
60
106
90
71
45
26
21
21
543
Land Use
Annual mean
Me,111 monthly tenll)cr'at ure
°c
-12
- 7
- 4
3
9
12
16
14
9
5
- 4
- 9
3
Soil and climatic conditions combine to give this site a capability
rating of 4d for agriculture. Because of the short growing season and
the risks of frost and hail in an area of adequate rainfall, a system
of agriculture based on forage crops and livestock production has
developed in this region. It is estimated that about 60% of the
-129-
cultivated land is seeded to forage crops, 20% to oats, and 15% to barley.
Fallowing is not an extensive practice. In addition, much of the
uncleared land that remains covered by trees and shrubs is used as
"bush" pasture.
Typical yields of the crops grown in the region are as
follows:
Barley
Oats
Forage
2.2 tonnes/ha
2.5 tonnes/ha
4.5 tonnes/ha
Forage yields are considerably higher than those on the more fertile
Chernozemic soils in the Lacombe area because of the greater precipitation
and cooler temperatures.
Crop rotations generally consist of two to four years of
forage followed by one or two years of oats or barley. Continuous cropping
to cereals is not practiced. The Luvisolic soils in the region are
extremely deficient in nitrogen and phosphorus for the growth of all crops,
and deficient in sulfur for legume crops. Fertilizer use has traditionallY
been only moderate, but has increased considerably in recent years.
Leguminous forage crops contribute large amounts of fixed nitrogen for
the maintenance of soil fertility.
Most of the soils of this region are acid, with pH values of
6.0 or less. Consequently there is very little alfalfa grown. The major
forage species are Alsike clover, red clover, timothy, and bromegrass. The
productivity of Alsike and red clovers is not affected by the degree of
acidity in the soils of the region, although alfalfa and barley have both
shown responses to lime. The use of lime has not become a common practice
although interest in lime has been shown by some farmers. A market infra-
-130-
structure for lime has not developed in the region and is not expected
to de for some time in the future because of the level of productivity
obtained from the currently used forage crops.
Soil
The soil described and sampled at this soil pit is clas ified by three
classification systems as follows:
Canadian system - Brunisolic Gray Luvisol
FAO/UNESCO - Albic Luvisol
U.S.A. system - Eutrochreptic Cryoboralf
Elsewhere on the Project Farm, as well as in the general
area, the main associated soils are Podzolic Gray Luvisols (Caroline
series), and gleyed members of both the Brunisolic and Podzolic Gray
Luvisol. At the research plots, located about 0.5 km to the west, the
soils ar'e primarily the Brunisolic and Podzolic Gray Luv isols.
At this soil pit, the Brunisolic Gray Luvisol has 2 to 3 em
of partly decomposed plant litter. The upper horizon sequence consists
of a dark brown Bm horizon and a yellowish brown Ae horizon in a very
friable silt loam material. Underlying this, at about 20 em, the Bt
horizon is dark brown in color, friable, and has a clay loam texture.
The lower Bt is firm, has a darker brown color, and a higher silt
content than the horizon above. A moderately calcareous Cca horizon
occurs at about 70 em, in a grayish brown silt loam mater'ial which is
very friable. Underlying this profile, at about 1 m depth, is a
yel1owi:;h In'own bedrock mat which has a loam xture.
In this area, the Brunisollc Luvisol and Podzolic
Cray Luvisols are closely associated. In fact, at this site there are
-131-
pedons which have a very thin horizon of Ae above the Bm. Some soils In
the vicinity, which have several centimeters of upper Ae, are also
classified as Brunisolic Gray Luvisols by the Canadian Classification
System (Canada Soil Survey Committee, 1977), primarily because the Bm
horizon does not meet the color, thickness and chemical criteria of a
Bf horizon. However, these soils all have a Bt horizon. The soil survey
report for this area (Peters and Bowser, 1960) classified these soils in
the Podzol Gray Wooded Subgroup (present equivalent is the Podzolic Gray
Luvisol). It is difficult to predict with any degree of certainty, where
in the landscape one might expect to find the two subgroups.
Possibly 10 to 15% of the soils in the vicinity will be gleyed
as evidenced by mottles and duller colors throughout the profile. Micro
topographic variations are responsible for periodic wetness which produce
reducing conditions and the associated gleyed colors. Although not evident
in the immediate vicinity of the site, a significant portion of this
general area has a surface organic deposit. Such deposits are usually
associated with areas of lower relief, where Gleysolic soils also occur.
A mineralogical analysis indicates that from the Bm horizon
to the eca horizon inherited smectite is decomposed to low intensity and
x-ray amorphous material.
Pedon Description.
Horizon Depth (cm)
LFH 4-0 Moderately well decomposed organic matter; abundJot,
medium and coarse, horizontal roots; clear, smooth
boundary; 1 to 5 cm thick.
Horizon (em)
Bm 0-13
Ae 13-20
Btl 20-48
Bt2 48-71
Cea 71-99
llCk 99-132
-132-
(10YR 3/3 to 3/4 m, 4/2 d) silt loam;
very fine very friable;
urn, and coarse, horizontal
and roots; clear', wavy ; 5 to 13 em
thick; slightly acid.
Yellowish brown (10YR 5/4 m, 7/ d) silt loam;
moderate coarse platy; very friable; plentiful,
fine, medium and coarse, vertical, and horizontal
roots; gradual, wavy ; 2 to 10 cm thick;
slightly acid.
Dark brown to br'own (10YR 4/3 m, d) clay loam,
blocky; moderate, fine, to medium,
friable; few, fine, medium and coarse, vertical
roots; diffuse, smooth boundary; 20 to 30 cm thick;
medium acid.
Dark brown (10YR 3/3 m, 5/4 d) silty clay loam;
moderate. medium to coarse. subangular' blocky,
few fine sand medium, vertical roots; gradual, wavy
boundary; 20 to 36 em thick; neutral.
Dark grayish brown to grayish brown (10YR 4/2 to
3/2 m, 7/3 d) silt loam; very weak, massive; very
friable; few, fine and medium, vertical roots;
, wavy boundary;
15 to 5 em alkaline.
low brown to dark yellowish brown (10YR 5/4
to 4/4 m, 6/3 d) loam; ver'Y weak, massive; friable;
Horizon Depth (cm)
Analytical Data.
-133-
very few, medium, vertical roots; weakly
effervescent; cobbly and stony; moderately
alkaline.
Some chemical, physical and mineralogical properties
of the Brunisolic Gray Luvisol at the Chedderville site are presented
in Table 8.
134
-able B. Analytical data for the Brunisolfe Luvisol at the Cheddervil1e site.
Total CaC03 Total orizon H2O CaC1 2 e% .% N% elN
Buffered NH"OAe {~h, 1 K Ca M9 Al Total Total Ca M9 Ha K
LFH 6.7 6.3 25.9 1.56 17 Bm 6.4 5.4 2.0 0.13 15 Ae 6.2 5.3 0.3 0.04 8 Btl 5.9 5.5 0.4 0.05 8 Bt2 7.0 6.6 0.6 0.9 0.06 8 eca 7.9 7.4 24.6
77 .3 66.1 9.7 tr .J.E 1.6 7.6 1.0 0.0 10.2 14.5 7.3 1.5 tr l.~ 0.5 5.5 1.1 0.0 7.1 11.3 5.8 1.3 tr " ~ ~ OA 15.5 2.9 0.0 18.8 20.1 15.4 3.6 tr ~
29.0 27.2 4.1 tr c
lICk 8.1 7.4 8.5
Sesguioxides (%) Water Soluble Salts {me/l)
Dithionite Oxalate P.};roQhos. Conductivity orizon Fe Al Mn Fe Al Fe Al mmhos/cm Ca+Mg Na K SAR
LFH Bm 0.73 0.10 0.49 0.04 0.20 0.09 fie 0.67 0.03 0.27 0.02 0.07 0.05 Btl 1. 17 0.07 0.44 0.13 0.17 0.06 Bt2 1. 27 0.06 0.56 0.10 0.13 0.12 Cca 0.74 0.03 0.26 0.03 0.03 0.03 lICk 0.59 0.05 0.20 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.3 3.5 0.4 tr 0.3
Available Organic Matter Mineralo9~ <2 ~ cla~1 Nutr i ents {12F!!!I) Extracted FA HA
orizon N P-Bray K S %C %N Cha/Cfa E4/Eo E4/E6 Mica Chlor. Kaolin Smect. Verm. Quartz Felds.
LFH 1 38 264 19 27 .8 39.1 1.04 11.7 3.3 8m <1 18 422 5 39.7 46.9 0.89 12.0 5.3 1 0 tr tr 0 2 tr Ae <1 18 422 3 52.5 32.5 0.35 15.0 5.3 1 0 tr 1 0 2 t-Btl <1 7 118 2 48.0 24.S 0.40 13.0 5.2 1 . tr tr 4 0 1 Bt2 Cea 1 tr tr 4 0 1 0 lICk
Part Size Dist - % <2 mm Moisture % Classification Horizon Sand Silt Clay F-Clay 1/3 atm 15 atm Unified USDA
LFH Bm 20 65 15 5 Sil Ae 21 69 10 3 22 II SiL Btl 32 39 29 16 22 10 Cl Bt2 10 57 33 16 SiCl Cca <'I 74 22 8 40 16 SiL lICk 48 42 10 2 L
--.~-------------------.---------------------------------
Amount estimated fl'om x-ray diffradograms: tr" trace, 1 2-20%, 2 = 20-40%, 3 = 40-60%, <'I 60-80%, 5 " 80-100%.
-135-
Figure 33. Micromorphology of the Brunisolic Gray Luvisol at Cheddervil1e site.
a, partly X b.plane light c, partly X d.plane light
Ae This horizon is moderately packed grayish material with (F) channels, (0) vughs, and (0) horizontal planar voids. The channels give this otherwise
dense material an appearance of partially to accommodated and fused peds «5mm) in many areas (Fig. 33a). Organic material is (F) and most is moderately humified brown to black material (c8mm) with the more humified material embedded in the s-matrix. Sesquioxidic nodules «lmm) are (VR), generally diffuse, and some contain birefringent clay. Volcanic ash is (0) and well mixed with the s-matrix. -1- silasepic porphyroskelic -2- matrifragmoidic//matrigranoidic porphyroskelic
Bm This horizon is moderately packed grayish brown material with (e-F) hori-zontal joint planes, (e) vughs, and (0) channels. Banded fabric type A
is prominent (Fig 33b) and it is darker and denser at the top of each band. Sesquioxidic nodules «400~ml are (VR) and weakly oriented silty argillans are (VR) on planes and vughs. -1- silasepic porphyroskelic with banded fabric type A -2- banded metamatrigranoidic
Btl This horizon is dense brown material with (e) skew planes, (O-C) vughs, and (R) channels. There are large areas of partially accommodated to fused
peds separated incompletely by skew planes. Weakly oriented very silty argillans are (R). There are common small nodules in the s-matrix of moderately oriented clay. There are a few clusters of sand and silt in the voids. -1- mosepic porphyroskelic -2- matrigranoidicl/matrigranoidic porphyroskelic
Bt2 This horizon is pale to medium brown moderately packed material with (e-F) round to irregular metavughs, (e) skew planes and a few channels. Most
of this horizon has a dense vughy appearance (Fig. 33c) that probably results from strong fusion of the fine grained peds. Areas of partially to accommondated and fused peds are (0) and contain (0) sand clusters. Most of the vughs are in the peds. Moderately oriented argillans «lOO~m with most 25jJm) (1 in Fig. 33c) are (O-C), occur mainly on void surfaces, and are more common with stronger orientation in the fine grained areas. Dark brown humified organic material is (R-O). Moderately oriented clay stringers (nodules) are (0) within the peds. -1- argillasepic porphyroskelic -2- matrifragmoidic/lmatrigranoidicl/matrigranoidic porphyroskelic
Cca This horizon is moderately packed grayish brown material with (C) skew planes, (e) rounded to irregular metavughs. and (O-C) channels. As a re
sult of all the voids this horizon takes on a fused appearance (Fig. 33d) with many areas of partially to accommodated peds «5mm with most 1-2mm). The peds are very fine grained, dominantly carbonate and the rest is medium silt size quartz. Dark brown humified organic material is (0). -1- silasepic porphyroskelic -2- matrifragmoidic//matrigranoidic//matrigranoidic porphyroskelic
-136-
Plant Community Description*
Ai Upper crown layer - 40%
A2 Lower
B2 Lower
Populus tremuZoides (Trembling aspen)
Pinus contorta (Lodgepole pine)
crown layer - 15%
Populus tremuZoides (Trembling aspen)
Betu Za pwni Za (Swamp birch)
Salix sp. (Willow)
shrub layer (up to 1.5 m) - 20%
Shepherdia canadensis (Canadian buffalo-berry)
Rosa acicuZaris (Prickly rose)
Salix sp. (Willow)
C Herbs and grasses - 9
Oy'yzopsis asperifoZia (Rice grass)
Rubus pubescens (Dewberry)
Vacciniwn myrtiZZoides (Blueberry)
Lathyrus ochroZeucus (Cream-colored vetchling)
Aster consp~cuus (Showy aster)
Aster ciliolatus (Lindley's aster)
Petasites paZmatus (Palmate-leaved coltsfoot)
Achillea llefoZiwn (Common yarrow)
FY'agaY'ia virginiana (Strawberry)
Comus canadensis (Bunchberry)
americana (Wild vetch)
Anemone sp. (Anemone)
*Recorded by G.L. Lesko.
C
-137-
Geraniwn sp. (Ger'anium)
Galiwn boreale (Northern bedstrdw)
Vac)(]1:niwn vitis-,:daea (Bog cranberry)
Maianthemwn canaden8e (Wild lily-of-the-vCl
LiUwn phiZadelphicwn (Western wood lily)
Mitella nuda (Bishop's-cap)
Linnaea borealis (Twinflower)
Pyrola asarifolia (Common pink wintergreen)
Lonicera utahensis (Red twin-berry)
ThaUctrwn venuloswn (Veiny meadow rue)
'l'araxacwn officina le (Common dandelion)
Tl'ifoUwn pratense (Red clover)
Calamagrostis canaden8~is (Marsh reed grass)
Picea glauca (White spruce)
Elymus innovatus (Hairy wild rye)
Castilleja miniata (Cornman red paint-brush)
-138
JACKFI ROAD SITE
Location
This site is located on the David about 50 km west of
Rocky Mountain House. Its legal location is NW 3 , TLI-O, Rl1, W5 (UTM
llU NJ9816).
Setting
This site is situated at the approximate juncture of the Western Alberta
Plains with the Rocky Mountain Foothills. Landform characteristics can
be described as a morainal blanket overlying a rolling undifferentiated
bedrDck. This morainal blanket. composed of fine silty
till, is of variable thickness. but is of insufficient
thickness to mask the steep of the underlying bedrock. As Fig. 34
indicates, there is a fairly dense stand of lodgepole pine with lesser
amow1ts of trembling aspen (a descr ion of the
later the the text), The site lies at the western
community follows
of the Lower
Foothills Section of the Boreal Forest Region (Rowe, 1959). In addition
to the above there are a number of other characteristics specific to this
site, such as:
- slightly stony
- elevation about 1 200 m a.s.l.
- moderately rolling topography
- 9 to 15% east facing slope
- well dr'a ined
- non saline
-139-
Climate
Although no meteorological data is available for this location, its
general characteristics can be inferred from its position relative to
that of the recording stations in the region. Climatic conditions here
probably closely approximate those at the Clearwater Ranger Station aboet
50 km to the southeast (see Table 3). Furthermore, a frost-free period
of less than 60 days (Chapman and Brown, 1966) makes this area undesirable
for cereal crop production, even though precipitation is adequate. These
factors place this site in the 5H Agro-climatic area (Bowser, 1967).
land Use
The location of this site within Alberta's "green area" limits its use to
activities compatible with forest vegetation, such as timber production,
water shed management, wildlife, and recreation.
The site has a forestry capability of class 3 according to
3 the Canadian Land Inventory System, producing about 2.5 m wood per year,
per hectare. Possible commercial species of the area are lodgepole pine,
white spruce, and black spruce. The first two species are suitable for
saw timber or pulp wood, while black spruce is limited to fibre production.
Site productivity at this location is:
Species: Pinus contorta var. latifolia
Stand Age: 72 years
Stand Height: 20.5 m
Site Index: 20 m at age 70 years
Basal Area: 25 2 m Iha
Volume: 212 3 m Iha (merchantable)
300 3
m Iha total
-140-
FIG. 34 VEGETATIVE COVER AT THE JACKFISH ROAD SITE
Photograph by A. A. Kjearsgaard Photograph by A. A. Kjearsgaard
-141-
Grazing is the possible agricultural act at
site. However, the herbaceous vegetation of this forest community has
a low value for grazing and the animals probably would cause more
to other uses than the value gained grazing.
Soil
The soil described and sampled at this site has been classifi
three classification as follows:
Canadian system - Podzolic Gray Luvisol
FAO/UNESCO - Albic Luvisol
U.S.A. system - Orthodic Cryoboralf
The soil at this site is quite similar to the Lobley soil
series by Peters and Bowser (1960) in their soil survey report for
the area immediately to the east and southeast. Similarly, unpublished
soil survey maps in Alber'ta Soil files, indicate that soils n the
area immecl north of the site are the seY'
The Lobley soil has developed on till of Cordilleran origin. This t J.
has a variable texture ranging from sandy loam to clay loam.
the material at this sit has a rather low stone content, this is not
characterist of the till in this region. Normally it has a
content of smooth waterworn quartzites and fragmented chunks of dolomite
and sandstone.
Regionally, the Lobley series predominates in most
areas of rough topography where a coniferous forest cover
Areas of mixed forest cover tend to occur on either the Orthic or the
Brunisolic Luvisol soils. Infrequent and smaller areas of fluvial
deposits associated with some of the larger stream channels usually have
-142-
Podzolic or Brunisolic Luvisol soils. On the more coarse textUl'ed
fluvial sits, a Brunisolic Ie usually develOps. In poorly
drained areas associated with stream channels, Organic soils usually
• most of which would be classified as Typic Mesisols. The less
poOY'ly drained of these channels will have a Humic Gleysol soil developing.
The soil at this site has a few centimeters of partly decomposed
t lit er covering the sequence of the upper horizons. This
sequence, totalling 18 cm, includes a grayish colored upper Ae, and brown
Bf, and and yellowish broilll lower Ae horizon. These horizons generally
have a silt loam to loam texture. The illuviated B horizons are dark
brown to br'own in color, with textures varying from silt loam to clay loam.
They also have a friable subangular blocky structure. Below the 60 em
, loam textures prevail through the BC horizon and into the C horizon
at about 96 cm. At these lowc~r depths, the brown colors continue. but the
blocky structure becomes less pronounced. No horizon of CaC0 3 accumulation
was encountered wi thin the sampling of 125 cm, even though it occurs
at about the 1 m depth elsewhere in the vicinity. The medium to
acid conditions of the upper horizons gradually change to a slightly acid
condition at the 1 m depth.
A mineralogical analysis indicates that smectite is abundant
In the lower solum, but much less common in the surface horizons.
Pedon Description.
Horizon (em)
LFH 5-0 well decomposed matter; abundant,
coarse and medium, horizontal root , wavy
; 1 to 8 cm thick; acid.
Horizon Depth (cm)
Ael 0-4
Bf 4-10
Ae2 10-18
Btl 18-41
Bt2 41-61
-143-
Gray (10YR 5/1 m, 6/2 d) silt loam weak, fine platy;
very friable; plentiful, medium and fine, oblique
roots; few, vesicular pores; abrupt, wavy boundary;
2 to 5 cm thick; very strongly acid.
Dark brown to brown (7.5YR 4/4 m, 6/4 d) silt loam;
weak, medium granular; very friable; plentiful,
medium and fine, oblique roots; few, interstitial
pores; clear, wavy boundary; 2 to 10 cm thick;
medium acid.
Yellowish brown (10YR 5/4 m, 7/3 d) loam; weak,
medium platy; very friable; plentiful, fine and
very fine, oblique roots; feVl, vesicular pores;
clear, wavy boundary; 5 to 10 cm thick; medium acid.
Dark brown to brown (10YR 4/3 to 5/3 m, 6/3 d) silt
loam; moderate, medium, subangular blocky; friable;
few, fine and very fine, vertical, exped roots;
common, micro, interstitial pores; contains sand
stone bedrock fragments of variable size up to
30 cm; gradual, waVy boundary; 18 to 30 cm thick;
strongly acid.
Dark bro~1 (10YR 3/3, 5/3 d) clay loam; moderate,
medium, subangular blocky; friable; few, fine and
very fine, vertical, exped roots; common, micro,
interstitial pores; contains sandstone bedrock
fragments of variable size; gradual, wavy boundary;
15 to 25 cm thick; strongly acid.
Horizon Depth (em)
Be 61-97
c 97-127
81-117
Analytical Data.
-144-
Dark brown (10YR 3 m, 5/2 d) loam; weak, medium,
subangular blocky; friable, very few, fine and very
fine. vertical, exped roots; common, micro, inter
stitial pores, contains sandstone fragments of
variable size; diffuse. wavy boundary; 20 to 40 em
thick; slightly acid.
Dark brown (10YR 3/3 m, 5/2 d) loam; weak, amorphous;
friable to firm; contains sandstone fragments of
variable size; neutral.
Discontinuous bedrock inClusion; dark grayish brown
and grayish brown (2/5Y 4/2 and 5/2 m, 6/3 d, mixed)
sandy loam; weakly cemented; neutral.
Note: All horizons contain quartzites varying in
size from 2 to 15 em.
Some chemical, physical and mineralogical properties of
the Podzolic Gray Luvisol at the Jackfish Road site are presented in
Table 9.
145
iL ,e 9. Analytical data for the Podzolic Gray Luvisol at the Jackfish Road site.
Exchangeable Cations {meOOOg}
2H Total Total Neutra 1 Salt Extraction Buffered NH~OAc {eH1 } 10"'; zon H2O CaC1 2 C% N% C/N K Ca Mg Al Total Total Ca Mg Na K
LFH 5.5 5.0 35.9 1.15 31 3.8 27.3 6.5 0.0 37.6 Ae1 5.0 4.0 0.9 0.05 19 0.3 2.7 0.7 1.8 5.5 9.9 2.7 0.8 tr 0.2 B 6.0 4.9 1.3 0.08 17 0.7 4.4 0.9 0.2 6.2 19.2 4.8 1.1 tr 0.6 J!< • 5.7 4.B 0.3 0.02 16 0.3 4.4 1.4 0.1 6.2 9.5 4.B 1.4 tr 0.2 Bl.i 5.3 4.9 0.5 0.05 10 0.3 13.1 4.0 0.0 17.4 25.7 14.0 4.7 tr 0.6 Bt2 5.5 5.1 0.4 0.04 11 0.2 16.4 4.9 21.5 29.2 16.9 5.4 tr 0.5 8" 6.3 5.6 0.1 20.4 5.9 26.4 30.2 21.0 5.4 tr 0.3 ( 6.6 5.9 0.1 19.4 6.0 25.5
Sesguioxides {%l DHhionite Oxalate PjTOQhos.
Horizon Fe Al Mn Fe Al Fe Al
LFH AeJ 0.12 0.14 0.00 0.05 0.02 0.03 0.05 Bf 1. 45 0.47 0.02 1. 39 0.82 0.37 0.41 Ae2 0.73 O.OB 0.00 0.31 0.04 0.08 0.06 Btl 1. 31 0.09 0.02 0.47 0.05 0.17 0.17 [;t2 1.27 0.13 0.04 0.58 0.12 0.14 0.08 Be 0.84 0.09 0.04 0.48 0.03 0.08 0.06 C 0.84 0.06 0.05 0.40 0.04 0.05 0.03
Available Organic Matter Mineralo~ <2 ~ clal 1
Nutri ents (PEm} Extracted FA HA Horizon N P-Bray K S %C %N Cha/Cfa E4/E6 E4/E6 Mica Chlor. Kaolin Smect. Verm. Quartz Felds
LFH <1 60 2 '.3 11 25.0 39.4 1.27 12.8 3.6 Ael <1 24 uo 3 43.2 46.0 0.44 13.8 5.3 tr 0 tr 1 2 2 tr
<1 10 163 2 60.1 50.9 0.24 16.5 4.9 0 0 0 tr 1 1 0 2 <1 8 88 2 58.7 48.3 0.26 12.0 5.0 tr 0 tr 2 tr 2 0
bel <1 7 129 1 41.5 22.7 0.52 BtZ
16.0 5.9 1 tr 0 3 tr 2 0
PI' ( tr tr 0 3 0
., < 0
Ph;ts1cal
Part Size Dist - % <2 mm Moisture % Classification
Horizon Sand Silt Clay F-Clay 1/3 atm 15 atm USDA
LFH Ae1 35 59 6 2 24 5,1 SiL Bf 33 56 11 3 29 8.5 SiL Ae2 44 45 11 3 17 3.7 L Btl 24 57 19 15 23 10.0 SiL Bt2 32 38 30 15 CL BC 34 44 22 8 L C 34 46 20 6 L
'Amount estimated from x-ray diffractograms: tr = trace, 1 ~ 2-20%, 2 = 20-40%, 3 = 40-60%, 4 = 60-80%, 5 ~ 80-100%.
-146-
c the Bisequa Gray Luvisol at the Jackfish Lake site.
a, y X b.partly X c.partly X
Ae1 This horizon grayish material with a particle size range from fine silt to medium sand
along with banded (i
abundant.
x s well packed or dense but the abundance of channels and jOint planes a mcderate porosity. The Joint planes occur in series and give a weak
Brown to black organic material (20-4000umJ. whole or fragmented. is
as bubbly, porphyroskel
metamatrigranoidic
of humification, and occurs in the channels. Volcanic ash s very common and/or fibrous grains.
Bf This horizon consists of moderately to loosely packed medium brown aggregates (bO-3000wm) of s-matrix material that vary in colour depending on the amount of included clay and iron oxides.
Most of the are 250-2000um in size and dense, with the darker ones being more equant and sharp. The larger , most of which are channels, have a general horizontal alignment. Complete ) matrans «SOum) occur on most free gra ns and are commonly sepic. Volcanic ash is present and a lot s probably masked by the iron oxides. Brown to black moderately humified organic material is co~non Ferrug nous nOdules are (VR), some are large (250-1S00um) and sharp while others are small (IOO-250um) and less sharp. -1- skelsepic c aggregates -2- matri granic
Ae2 horizon moderately packed pale grayiSh brown material with a particle size distribution t medium sand. The s-matrix is well packed or dense but the abundance of joint
planes and channels give a moderate poros ty. Banded fabric is more pronounced than in the the accumulation of s It and clay along the top of each band (250-1000 um) with most about 1 Within the bands the vughs have a silty clay accumulation along their bottoms and sides. Volcanic ash is noticeable but not nearly as common as n the Ael. Brown to black moderately humified organic mated ( is occasional. Partial matrans «60um) occur on the void side of Illany grains.
nous nodules are (VR). asepic th banded fabric (type A)
banded
Btl This horizon s dense to mcderately packed medium to dark brown material with (el sandstone and s ltstone (200-60DOwlll). Skew planes and vughs are (e) and channelS (R-OJ. Cutans
(20-1S0iJm) are D-e consist of moderately oriented ferriargillans and silty (ferri) argillans and with some strongly oriented argillans They occur on vughs, skew planes, channels, and embedded grains and fill the smal er vughs and skew planes. Compound cutans «300wm) are occasional. Nodules «30Dwm) of apparently translocated material occur n the s-matrix. Other pedological features are (VR) papules, and (R) clay nodules (IOO-1500ulll) -1- mosepic porphyroskel c
Bt2 This horizon is imilar to the Btl with the following exceptions: a) the overal porosity is lower
b) there are less s argi 1ans c) most of the cutans are strongly oriented d) amount of translocated clay is greater (e) -1- mosepi
Be This horizon is dense packed medium to dark brown material with (e) skew planes s. Argillans (1 in Fig. 35c) and ferriargillans and 1 I 5-1mm) vughs
cal y all voids and are generally strongly oriented. There is almost no (20- 80~m) are ( translocated cl Fig 35c) ( as sand and gravel.
matr n comparison to the Btl and Bt2. Irregular manganiferous nOdules (2 in ilre (R) and (VR) mangans are present. Sandstone and siltstone fragments are common
nodules (200-1 are sharp and (R). -1- sepic porphyroskel c
-147-
Pla Communi Oesc ptions*
A1 Upper crown layer - 60%
A2 Lower
B1 High
contorta (Lodgepole pine)
Populus tremuloides (Aspen poplar)
crown layer
mar'&ana (Black spruce)
shrub layer (1. 5 to 6 m) - 30 96
Alnus cr1:spa (Green alder)
(White spruce)
B2 Lower shrub layer - 20%
(Canadian buffalo-berry)
Rosa acicularis (Prickly rose)
groenZandicum (Common Labrador tea)
glauca (White spruce)
A crispa (Green alder)
LZoides (Blueberry)
(Aspen poplar)
mariana (Black spruce)
(Alpine fir)
contorta (Lodgepole pine)
Amelanchier
Spi:t'aea
Viburnum
Zia (Saskatoon-berry)
(White meadowsweet)
(Low-bush cranberry)
lucrata (Bracted honeysuckle)
Sa sp. (Willow)
*Recorded by C.L. Lesko.
C Herbs and grasses -
Comus
Lycopodiu.m
Aster'
-148-
(fireweed)
(Wild -of-the-
(Palmate-leaved colt foot)
(Western wood lily)
(Tall mertensia)
(Ground cedar)
(Strawberry)
aster)
(Wood horsetail)
Areta (Kinnikinnick)
Rubu8 (Dewberry)
Lathy1'U8 (Wild sweetpea)
Streptopus amp (Twisted-stalk)
la virens (Greenish-flowered wintergreen)
Pyrola
Arnica
MiteZZa
(One-sided wintergreen)
(Heart-leaved arnica)
(Bishop's-cap)
( club-moss)
sp. (Reed grass)
sp. (Coral-root)
Viola sp. (Violet)
D Mosses and lichens - 60%
Plew'oziwn (Schreber's moss)
po
-149-
c liurn crista-cast.r'ensis (Plume moss)
splendens
Polytrichurn Juniperinurn
-150-
COLUMBIA ICEFIELD AND ATHABASCA GLACIER
The Columb Icefield, straddles the continental divide, has an
average elevation of about 3 000 m a .. 1. and an area. including outlet
2 , of approximately 325 km. Although ice thickness has not been
measured, estimates based upon measurements of surface slope suggest that
it averages no more than 100 m. As viewed from the highway, the Icefield
stretches to the skyline at the head of Athabasca Glacier and includes
the ice cliffs on Snow Dome, Mt. Kitchener and Mt. Stutfield (Fig. 36).
The Athabasca Glacier as a major outlet glacier from the
2 Columbia Icefield encompasses an area of about 18.5 km • a length of
7.3 km, and a width of 1. km. It descends over three bedrock steps
marked by icefalls where transverse crevasses occur'. The boundary
between accumulation and ablation zones usually is positioned in the
highest icefall at about 2 600 m a.s.l. Most of the glacier is parabolic
in cross-section, except for two bedrock shelves inclining upwards towards
the terminus in the last 0.7 km, with ice thickness on the centerline
ranging between 250 and 325 m. Below the bedrock shelves the ice thins
r'apidly towards the terminus. Ice movement along the centerline is
approximately 130 m/yr over the lowest icefall and decreases from 70 m/yr
just below the falls to a mere 5 to 10 m/yr at the terminus. Meltwaters
from Athabasca Glacier and small glaciers on its southeast side drain to
Sunwapta Lake (1 920 m a.s.l.) and eventually through the Mackenzie River
system to the Arctic Ocean.
Fluctuations in the ice front have been recorded since 1897;
studies of moraines and tree rings (dendrochronology) provide information
prior to that. An ice advance ended about 1715 which was further forward
117°55' 116'45' 52 031 ' rs;:::; _ '/ ,,<,S\ 'C~C I 1 52 °31'
52000,1 -~ \\\1 "0;,,';\'''--==2 '52°00'
117'55' 5 0 5 10 15 20 km 116'45'
FIG. 36
CI-'S H -:"=-1=====E :"::::.- _~r=::::===--I
The Columbia Icefield situated along the Continental Divide is a large snow and ice field with several outlet glaciers. There are several other icefields in the area
....... U1 ....... I
-152-
than at any time for at least 350 years previously, a position
corresponding approximately to the highway (Fig. 37). A readvance
reached another maximum about 1840 followed by a recession underway by
1870 which has continued with minor interruptions. Recession since 1870
totals 1.4 km 01' about 13 m pel' year. Recessional rates during the
period 1960 to 1970 averaged 3.5 metres pel' year. An average of 3.8 m
of ice melts annually from the glacier surface between the lowest icefall
and the terminus. An estimate of the amount of thinning dUT'ing the last
100 years is indicated by the crest of the lateral moraine being 250 m
higher than the present terminus. However, the thinning is considerably
less fur'ther up the glacier.
Numerous recessional moraines are crossed by the r'oad leading
to the glacier terminus. These arcuate steep-sided ridges of unsorted
rock debris are 3 to 6 m high, and the most recent ones represent winter
ice front advances of 7 to 10 m. The glacier front retreats 15 to 27 m
during the summer.
Furthel' details on glaciology, geomorphology and chronology
for the Athabasca Glacier and its environs are d and
illustrated in the bulletin "Probing the Athabasca Glac ert! by Richard C.
Kucera. The bulletin is available upon request.
FIG.37 Athabasca Glacier, located beside the Banff·Jasper highway, drops approximately 670m over its 7.3km length. The glacier front has a net retreat of 13m per year
I I-' (J1
W I
-154-
PORTAL EK SITE
The reader will note that the characteristics of this site (as well as
those at the Signal Mountain Site) are not discussed in the detail
the sites outside the park. Such a discussion seemed unnecessary, and
would be repetitious, especially since site related information can be
inferred from the general information presented previously in the sections
dealing with the Rocky Mountains, and Banff and Jasper National
Field Description
Classification: Eluviated Eutric Brunisol.
Elevation of site: 1030 m a.s.1.
Location: UTM llU MJ 2390 5040.
About 300 m along an abandoned roadway to the north of the
picnic area on Portal Creek.
Climate: Continental, with fairly long cold winters and cool summers.
Annual precipitation is in the range 400 to 500 mm.
Vegetation: Representative include lodgepole pine ( • 38),
buffalo-berry and grass (see plant community descrption).
Parent material: Calcareous; dense, coarse loamy till.
Landform: Hummocky mor'aine (Fig. 39).
Slope, position, aspect: 35% complex slopes, crest of narrow ridge
northeast.
Estimated drainage: Well drained.
Surface runoff: Rapid.
Notes: The tills in this part of the valley are modified by ice contact
phenomena pockets of stratified gravels. Thin section evidence
-155-
FIG.38 LODGEPOLE PINE COVER AT PORTAL CREEK SITE
-156-
FIG. 39 Stereogram of the Portal Creek area. Soil pit location marked with * (Alberta Govt. Photos AS147, 156·157)
-157-
indicates that the cross sectional area of clay films is
probably close to the required to identify a Bt.
Pedon Description.
Horizon (cm)
F-H 2-0
Ae 0-14
Bm 14-20
Cca 0-25
Very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2 m) weI de
organic litter; plentiful fine and medium random
roots; abrupt, wavy boundary; 2 to 5 cm thick;
strongly acid.
Pale brown (10YR 6/3 m) and very pale brown (10YR
7/3 m) sandy loam; weak, medium platy; very friable;
few fine, random roots; many fine, random pores; no
effervescence; estimated coarse fragments
clear wavy boundary; 12 to 20 em thick.
gravels;
Strong brown (7.5YR 5/6 m) loam; weak to moderate
medium, subangular blocky; friable, plentiful finc,
random roots; cornman fine,random pores; no
effervescence; no clay films; estimated coarse
fragments 5% gravels; clear wavy boundary; 8 to 17 cm
thick; neutral.
L yellowish brown (1. 5Y 6/4 m) sandy loam;
structureless with fine, subnangular blocky
structur'e; friable; abundant fine and medium,
vertical roots; very few fine pores; ctrong
effervescence with common fine irre white
(10YR 8/2 m) spots of secondary carbonates;
Horizon Depth (ern)
Ckl 35 50
Ck2 50-75
Ck3 75-100
Ck4 100-150+
Analytical Data.
-158-
timated eoars s 1 ; clear,
wavy boundary; 9 to 18 em thick; mildly alkaline.
L5 brown to light 01 brown (2.5Y
5.5/4 m) sandy loam; structureless; firm; few fine
random roots; very few fine, random pores; strong
effervescence; estimated coarse fragments 10% gravels
and 10% cobbles; diffuse wavy boundary; 13 to 17 cm
thick; moderately alkaline.
Light olive brown (2. 5Y 5/4 m) sandy loam; strueture-
less; firm; few fine, random exped roots; very few
pores; strong effervescence; estimated coarse
fragments 10% gravels and 10% cobble; diffuse, wavy
boundary; 45 to 55 cm thick; moderately alkaline.
Light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4 m) sandy loam; structure-
less; firm; strong effervescence; estimated coarse
fragments 10% gravels and 10% cobbles; diffuse wavy
boundary; 45 to 55 cm thick; moderately alkaline.
Light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4 m) sandy loam; structure
less; firm; strong effervescence; estimated coarse
fragments 10% gravels and 10% cobbles; moderately
alkaline.
Some chemical, physical and mineralogical properties of the
Eluviated Eutric Brunisol at the Portal Creek site are presented in
Table 10.
159
a e 10. Analytical data for the Eluviated Eutric Brunisol at the Portal Creek site.
:=
0
FH A> BI C. Ck1 Ck? C C
:=============================================-~~~~<'.-~--~~~'" --"'''-
zan H2O
5.5 6.4 7.2 7.8 8.3 8.4 8.4 8.4
Horizon
FH Ae Bm Cca Ckl Ck2 Ck3 Ck4
Horizon
FH Ae Bm Cea Ckl Ck2 Ck3 Ck4
Horizon
FH Ae Bm Cea Ckl Ck2 Ck3 Ck4
Total CaC1 2 C%
5.1 29.1 5.7 0.56 6.7 1.41 7.4 7.6 7.7 7.7 7.7
Dithionite
Fe Al
1. 73 0.12
Available
CaC03 Equ.%
2.90 24.1 17.5 15.4 14.1 14.6
Total N%
0.99 0.03 0.06
Sesguioxides (%) Oxalate
Mn Fe Al
0.03 0.36 o 06
Nutrients (PEm} Extracted
N P-Bray K S 'XC %N
26.7 41.8 0 23 2 45.9 36.6
<1 0 75 2 36.4 37.4
Part Size Dist - % <2 mm
Sand Silt Clay F-Clay
7 1 58 35 49 30 21 10 60 31 9 2 59 32 9 1 60 31 9 1 54 36 10 2 60 31 9 1
C/N
29 19 24
Pyrophos.
Fe Al
0.12 0.05
Buffered NH.OAc (pfiU~_
Tota 1 CIl Mg Na K
58.5 5.0
12.8
37.2 6.15 5.09 0.92
15.8 2.25
0.01 1.25 0.00 0.07 0.04 0.20
Organic Matter
FA HA Cha/Cfa E4/E6 E4/E6
0.92 8.8 6.1 0.41 11.2 6.7 0.27 13.3 7.8
Classification
USDA
SL L
SL SL SL SL Sl
-160-
Figure cromo ogy Eluviated Eutric Brunisol at the Portal Creek site,
a. ane light b. plane light c.plane light d, X pola zers
Ae This horizon is moderately to loosely packed medium to grayish brown mat-erial in which most grains have matrans «lOOum) and the matrix material
forms some aggregates «3mm) but mainly occurs as thick bridges between grains (Fig. 40a). The overall appearance is a porous mass with (C) sand and gravel-sized rock fragments (sandstone siltstone, shale, schist). There are some areas that are enriched with ferruginous clay and diffuse sesquioxidic nodules «2.5mm) are (R) and oecas ona 11y contain some mangani ferous mated a 1. Moderate 1y ori ented ferri argi 11 ans are (R-O usually are thin «1 ) vugh cutans to fillings, but occasionally are thick «2S0um) coatings on sand and g Large moderately humified organic mat-erial «8mm) is (0). -1- intertextic -2- matriplectic
Bm This horizon is moderately to loosely packed orange-brown material with some () sh brown areas. The former is enriched with ferruginous
clay and contains ( sesquioxidic nodules ( 300wm) that occasionally in-clude some manganiferous material. grains have matrans «lOOwm) which extend to form bridges and then to aggregates but most areas appear to consist of aggregates «3mm) and fused aggregates (Fig. 40b). There are (0) sand and gravel-sized rock fragments, carbonates are (R) as sand and gravel, and calcans «350wm) capping gravel are (VR). Weakly to moderately oriented ferriargillans are (R-O) and occur on free and embedded i s and occasionally on aggregate surfaces. Moderately humified
c material ( ) is (R-O). -1- i ntertexti c -2- matriplectic//matrigranic//matriganoidic
Cca This horizon is very dense grayish calcareous material with (C) thick (<3mm) zontal 1s and skew planes which give an overall moderate porosity
and a banded fabric. In the channels and skew planes are clusters of aggregates (50-300um) t are occasionally fused (Fig. 40c). Carbonates are very abundant oc-curing as ravel. sand. coarse silt. a few calcans «250wm) capping gravel and sand. and very ne matrix material. Ferruginous nodules «400wm) are (VR) and there is (0) non-calcareous 1 (sandstone, siltstone. shale). -1- silasepic parp roskelic with weak banded fabric
This zon is 1y packed gray calcareous material (Fig. 40d) with (R) vughs and (C) skew anes, most of which are aligned subparallel to the
surface. This material is quite se but the abundant planar voids increase the overall porosity. rbonates are very abundant occuring as gravel, sand, coarse silt. a ealeans «500wm) capp ng gravel, (R-O) skew plane calcans «120um) and very fine matrix material. Sand and gravel-sized rock fragments (schist, quartzite, shale) are (0) and irregular ferruginous nodules «200um) are (VR). -1- si1asepic lie
-161-
Plant Community Description
Tree Layer: A Cover Class;':
Ai: Pinus contorta (Lodgepole pine)
A2: Pinus contorta 2
Shrub Layer: B
B 1 : Pinus con torta '2
B2: Rosa acicularis (Prickly rose) 1
Shepherdia canadensis (Canadian buffalo-berry) +
Herb Layer: C
Calamagrostis ruhsecens (Pine grass) 2
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick) 2
Vacciniwn vitis-idaea (Bog cranberry) 2
Elymus innovatus (Hairy wild rye) 2
Linnaea borealis (Twinflower) 2
Aster conspicuus (Showy aster) :1
Pyro la secunda (One-sided wintergreen) 1
Pyrola asarij'olia (Common pink wintergreen) 1
AquiZegia sp. (prob. j'lavescens)(Yellow cOlumbia) +
Moss and Lichen Layer: D
Db: Hylocomium splendens 2
Pleurozium schreberi 2
Barbilophozia hatcheri 1
Dicranum polysetum 1
Dicranum sp. 1
Aulacomnium palustre +
;':Cover class according to Braun - Blanquet! s system as follows: 5 = 100-75%; 4 = 74-50%; 3 = 49-25%; 2 = 24-5%; 1 = 4-1%; + = less than 1%. (Recorded by R. Moyse on October 8, 1976).
Tortu"la princeps
Dl: PeltigeY'a
sp.
sp.
Pe Z- tigera oaflina
-162-
Cover Class
+
1
1
1
i
-163-
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN SITE
Field Description
Classification: Orthic Gray Luvisol.
Elevation of Site: 1~60 m a.s.l.
Location: UTM 11U MJ ~290 6390.
Near the start of the Signal Mountain fire road, Jasper
National Park.
Climate: Continental with fairly long cold winters and cool summers.
Annual precipitation is in the 1+00 to 500 mm range.
Vegetation: Representative species include lodgepole pine, buffalo-berry
and pinegrass (see plant community description and Fig. 1+1).
Parent material: Calcareous, dense coarse loamy till.
Landform: Rolling moraine (Fig. 42).
Slope, position, aspect: complex slope, mid slope, northwest.
Estimated Well
Surface runoff: Moderate.
Notes: Soil temperature at 50 em was 6oC. This site and peden is typical
of much of the montane areas In Jasper National Park.
Pedon Description.
Horizon
L-H
Depth (cm)
4-0 Very dark gray (10YR 3/1 m) and dark grayish brown
(10YR 4/2 m) well decomposed organic litter; abundant
medium and coarse, horizontal roots; abrupt, wavy
boundary; 3 to 5 em thick; neutral.
-164-
FIG.41 VEGETATIVE COVER AT SIGNAL MOUNTAIN SITE
FIG.42 Stereogram of the Signal Mountain area. Soil pit location marked with ~'. (Alberta Govt. Photos AS145, 51·53)
I-' O'l (j1
I
Horizon Depth (em)
Ae 0-3
Ae2 3-11
Bt 11-22
Bek 2 -34
-166-
Light gray (10YR 2 m) loam; weak moderate,
medium platy; very fr'iable; plentiful fine root
very fine, random pores; estimated coarse fragment
5% gravels; abrupt, broken boundary; 0 to 5 em
thick; neutral.
Pale brown (10YR 6/3 m) fine sandy loam; weak,
medium platy; friable; plentiful fine roots; common
very fine and fine pores; no clay films; no
effervescence; estimated coarse fragments 5% gravels;
clear wavy boundary; 6 to 9 cm thick.
Yellowish brown to dark yellowish brown (10YR 4. 5 m)
ped surfaces and light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4 m)
ped interiors; clay loam; moderate, medium to coarse,
subangular blocky; firm; few fine and medium, oblique
roots; common, fine, random pores; many model'ately
thick clay films in many voids and on some horizontal
and vertical ped faces; estimated coarse fragment
gravels and 15% cobbles; clear, wavy boundary;
8 to 12 em thick; mildly alkaline.
Yellowish brown (10YR 5/5 m) ped surfaces and light
yellowish brown (10YR 6/4 m) ped interiors; loam;
moderate, medium, subangular blocky; friable; few
fine and medium roots; common, fine, random, inped
pores; few clay films in voids and on some vertical
and horizontal ped faces; moderate effervescence;
estimated coarse fragments 5% gravels and 15%
-167-
Horizon Depth (cm)
cobbles; clear way boundary; 10 to 13 cm thick;
moderately alkaline.
Cca 34-75 Light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2 m) and dark brown
(lOY 4/3 m) loam to sandy loam; structureless;
friable; few fine, random roots; few fine, random
pores; few very thin films in voids or channels;
strong effervescence; estimated coarse fragments
5% gravels and 15% cobbles; clear wavy boundary;
32 to 41 cm thick; moderately alkaline.
Ck 75-102+ Grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2 m) sandy loam; structure-
less; firm; very few roots; few fine, random
pores; few very thin clay films in voids or
channels; strong effervescence; estimated coarse
fragments 5% gravels and 15% cobbles, moderately
alkaline.
Analytical Data.
Some chemical, physical and mineralogical properties of
1
the Orthic Gray LvuSiol at the Signal Mountain site are presented
in Table 11.
168
fable 11. Analytical data for the Orthic Gray luvisol at the Signal Mountain site.
= Exchangeable Cations {me/lOOg)
lorizon H2O _ ~ __ ~_~0 ____ "
LH 6.8 Ael 7.2 Ae2 6.7 Bt 7.5 l3Ck 7.9 Cca 8.1 Ck 8.1
Available Nutrients (22m)
orizon N P-Bray K
_H <1 8 130 ~el ~e2 <1 1 78 3t <1 0 148 3Ck :ca ;k
Horizon
lH Ae1 Ae2 Bt BCk Cea Ck
Total CaC1 2 C%
6.1 35.4 6.4 1.43 6.0 1.62 6.8 1.01 7.2 7.4 7.5
Extracted S %C %N
6 27.8 51.3
2 39.1 54.8 2 34.0 37.6
CaC03 Equ.%
2.10 17 .0 2.65
16.6
Organic Matter
Total %N
1.16 0.06 0.05 0.06
FA Cha/Cfa E4/£6
0.60 10.3
0.45 9.6 0.27 10.7
Part Size Dist - % <2 Im1
Sand Silt Clay
45 46 9 2 52 40 8 1 36 34 30 13 40 33 27 10 53 34 13 4 55 33 12 3
Buffered NH,OAc ([!H7)
C/N Total Ca Mg Na
31 107. 95.6 11.0 0.00 24 11.7 9.66 1. 79 0.02 32 9.5 8.38 1.49 0.01 17 10.4 19.4 2.51 0.00
Mineralo9~ <2 H clax!
HA £4/£6 Mica Chlor. KilO] n Smect. Verm. Quartz
6.B 1 tr 0 1 1 1
5.4 2 tr 0 tr 1 1 6.7 3 tr 0 0 0 1
1 tr 0 0 0 1
Moisture % Classification
1/3 atm 15 atm USDA
20 7.1 l 16 6.2 l-Sl 17 II. CL
l l-SL
Sl
mount estimated from x-ray dlffractograms: tr· trace, 1 • 2-20%, 2 ~ 20-40%, 3 • 40-50%, 4 • 50-80%, 5 • 80-1001.
2 :4 0 :4 O.ll 0.56
Fel!
tr tr tr
tr
-169-
Figure Orthic Gray luvisol at the Signal Mountain site.
a.plane 1i b. ane 1 i ght c.plane 1ig d. plane light
Ae2 This horizon is moderately packed grayish brown material with (C) channels (Fig. 55a), (O-C) vughs, and a few skew planes. The particle size is quite
variable and includes a little gravel (sandstones and shales). The vughs and skew planes occasionally have smoothed surfaces and sometimes these surfaces are silty neoargillans (20-80~m). Some areas (10-20%) contain a high amount of birefringent clay with fine sand silt. Di e ferruginous nodules (100-400~m) is (O-C), -1- insepic porphyroskelic
Bt This horizon consists of moderately packed brown material with (C) vughs (250-l000~m), (0) skew planes, and (0) channels. The particle size is
again quite vari le and in some areas there is clustering of grains with sparse matrix material. It is in these loose areas that translocated clay partly to completely fills the intergranular spaces (Fig. 55b), Moderately oriented argillans (20-l00~m) are (C) and occur on almost all void and free grain surfaces. There are some areas containing a high amount of birefringent clay with fine sand and silt. Diffuse ferruginous nodules (50-300~m) are (VR) and irregular manganiferous nodules are (R). Black organic material (300-2000~m) is (R-O). Carbonates are (C) occuring mainly as gravel and coarse sand but with some fine sand and silty. Channel cal cans (50-200pm) are (VR). -1- mosepic porphyroskelic -2- matri ecticllmatri dic porphyroskelic
BCk This horizon is grayish brown material in which two fabrics are prominent. The first is large dense matrix aggregates (1-5mm). partially accommodated,
being separated by channels and skew planes (Fig. 55c). These aggregates contain a few vughs (200-350pm). The second consists of smaller aggregates (50-l000~m) moderately to strongl fused and the resulting vughs are irregular, often interconnected and lined with (0 moderate oriented argillans «80 with most 20~m). Carbonates are fairly abundant and occur as sand and coarse silt but mainly as fine material in the matrix and its content is quite variable from one area to another. Dark brown moderately humified organic material is (0). Gravel is (VR) and consists of shale and carbonates. -1- insepic porphyroskelic and intertextic areas -2- matrifragmic-matrigranoidic
Ck This horizon is dense brownish gray material with a wide range in particle size including (a-C) gravel (Fig. 55d). Irregular vughs are (C) and skew
planes are (0). Silty and skew plane weakly oriented argillans (20-120~m) are (R). rbonates are not as abundant as in the BCk but are still plentiful and occur as gravel. sand. coarse silt and fine matrix material. -1- silasepic porphyroskelic
-170-
Plant Community Description
Tree Layer: A
A1: Pinus contorta (Lodgepole pine)
Populus tpemuloides (Aspen poplar)
A2: Pinus contorta
Shrub Layer: B
B1: Picea glauca (White spruce)
Pinus contoy'ta (Lodgepole pine)
B2: Juniperus co"munis (Ground juniper)
Cover Class":
3
1
" L
2
2
2
Shepherdia canadensis (Canadian buffalo-berry) 2
Picea glauca 1
Rosa aciculapis (Prickly rose) 1
Spiraea Lucida (White meadowsweet) 1
Herb Layer: C
Calamagpostis rubescens (Pine grass) 2
Vaccinium vitis-idaea (Bog cranberry) 2
Linnaea borealis (Twinflower) 2
Arctostaphylos uva-upsi (Kinnikinnick) 1
Elymus innovatus (Hairy wild rye) 1
Pyrola secunda (One-sided wintergreen) 1
Aster conspicuus (Showy aster) 1
Comus canadensis (Bunchberry) 1
Aster ciliolatuB (Lindley's aster) 1
Pyrola sp. (Wintergreen) 1
Pyrola sp. 1
*Cover class according to Braun - Blanquet's system as follows: 5 = 100-75%; 4 - 74-50%; 3 - 49-25%; 2 = 24-5%; 1 = 4-1%, + = less than 1%. (Recorded by R. Moyse on October 8, 1976).
-171-
Moss and Lichen Layer: D
Db: Hylocomium sp
Pleurozium
Dicranum sp.
Mn.ium sp.
Barbilophozia hatcheri
Other mosses
Tortula princeps
Dl: Peltigera aphthosa
CladowDa sp.
Cladonia sp.
Peltigera
Epiphyte Layer: E
Usnea sp.
Hypogymnia sp.
Letharia sp.
Cover Class
2
<) L
1
1
1
1
+
1
1
1
1
1
+
+
-172-
OVERLAtlDER SHE
Location
This site is located in the SE 24, T49, R27, W5 (UTM - 11U MJ 461 991).
Setting
This site is located at an elevation of 1 060 m a.s.l. in an area of
eolian blanket overlying till (Fig. 44). The topography is undulating
with slopes of 3 to 5% and the site is located on a crown position.
Regionally, this site is located in the Montane Forest Region (Rowe,
1959) and the forest cover consists primarily of a relatively old white
spruce stand (Fig. 4·5). Bowser (1967) places this site within Agro-
climatic area SH. The site is well drained.
Land Use
This site, located within the North Western Pulp and Power Ltd. lease
area, is used mainly for fiber production. Forest capability of the
area is Class 4 according to the Canada Land Inventory System, producing
3 about 2.0 m wood per ha per year. White spruce and lodgepole pine are
the possible commercial species at the site, both suitable for either
sawlog or pulpwood production. Site productivity at this location is:
Species: Picea gZauca
Stand Age: 200 years
Stand Height: 21 m
Site Index: 12 m at age 70 years
Basal Area: 48.5 2 m Iha
Volume: 247 3 m Iha (merchantable)
349 3 m Iha total
FIG.44 Stereogram of the Brule Lake area. Overlander site is marked with ..... (Alberta Govt. Photos AS2872, 9·11)
I-' -.....J W I
-174-
Photographs by A. A. Kjearsgaard
FIG.45 SETTING AND VEGETATIVE COVER ATTHE OVERLANDER SITE
-175
Climate
The area has a subhumid, continental climate with moderate precipitation.
Long term meteorological data is presented in Table 12 for Entrance which
is about 17 km northeast of the site.
So;ls
The unique soils (Dumanski, 1970, and Dumanski and Pawluk, 1971)
discussed in this section are confined by 53°10' and 530
20' north
latitude and by 1170
25' and 1170 55' west longitude. They lie within
the borders of the Athabasca River Valley, which is a broad, regional
depression ranging from 15 to 20 km in width, with a local relief
ranging from about 300 to 525 m.
In this area the Brazeau Formation is commonly overlain by
moderately calcareous Obed till (Roed, 1968) which is a Cordilleran till
derived mainly from the Front and Main Ranges of the Rocky Mountains.
The Obed till is very cobbly, olive brown to olive gray in color, medium
to coarse textured, and contains about 18 to 30% carbonates. It has an
average thickness of about 15 feet. Outwash terraces and deposits of
lacustrine silts and clays overlie Obed till in local areas.
Superimposed on all the previously mentioned deposits is an
extensive blanket of calcareous eolian material. This material is
generally grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) in color, friable to loos in
consistence, and strongly calcareous. It commonly consists of a mixtur'e
of fine and very fine sand, with varying amounts of both finer and
coarser particles. It is up to 60 m thick in the vicinity of Brule
Lake (Roed, 1968) but thins rapidly toward the east. The source regions
of the eolian material are the floodplains of the Athabasca River in
-176-
Table 12. Meterological data, Entrance (1941-1970).
January
February
Marcb
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Annual total
Winter snow
Mean monthly precipitation (mm)
26.4
24.3
24.8
33.7
55.1
84.8
75.1
79.2
40.6
22.3
24.3
24.3
513.5 Annual mean
161.10
Mean monthly temperature (Oe)
-13.3
- 7.8
- 3.3
2.8
8.3
12.2
14.4
13.3
8.9
4.4
- 3.3
- 8.9
2.2
-177-
Jasper National Park and the shores of BrGl~ Lake. The loess is
transported by southwesterly winds channelled through the Athabasca
River Gorge. There are no wind data appropriate to this area nor is
there a long term local observer record.
In this area soil development is a function of former c1 imatic
conditions with some modification from modern climates. Results of field
and laboratory studies indicate these soils have had a polygenetic origin.
The presence of humified, surficial horizons whose physical make--up differs
from that of the "paleo!! B horizon suggests a hiatus in deposition of
sufficient time to allow for the formation of the "paleo" B horizon. The
soils possess well developed Ahk horizons regardless of the fact that
soils ln surrounding areas are of the Gray Luvisolic type. The follow
sequence of events is postulated:
1. Deposition of calcareous eolian material following with
drawal of the Obed glacier.
2. Colonization of this material by plants. This would
result in the release of iron present in the primary
carbonates, the dissemination of which would form the
"paleo" B horizon.
3. Subsequent resumption of loessial deposition, coupled
with litter comminution by various soil fauna,
the formation of Ahk material in which there were
considerable quantities of primary carbonates. In
western portions of the region, rapid excessive burial
then preserved the "paleo" B horizon in place.
4. In regions where the "paleo ll B remained within the zone
of active pedogenic weathering. internal transformations
took place.
-178-
The dissemination of calcareous eolian material from the
source eastward appears to result in a geographic zonation of decreasing
carbonate content, sand content, and soil reaction. A mean rate of loess
accumulation can be calculated for a var'iety of sites in the area. For
the last 8,000 years at Brule Lake (3 km west of this site) an area of
active accretion, the rate is 0.7 mm per year. At other less actively
accreting sites a rate as low as 0.2 mm per year' has been calculated.
The major periods of loess hiatus and soil formation can be determined
from the paleosol record. For the period from 8,000 years B.P. to
4,300 years B.P. a maximum five episodes of accumulation and four
episodes of soil formation may be recognized.
The alkaline reaction throughout the soil profile and the
very high percentage of the cation exchange complex occupied by calcium
appear to adversely affect spr'uce growth in the region. Trees commonly
appear to be rather stunted, possess a dense branching habit, and show a
characteristic reddening at the tips of the needles. These calcareous
soil areas are also difficult to reforest by use of seedlings.
The soils occurring in the area surrounding the site are
dominantly Cumulic Regosols in combination with significant amounts of
Orthic Brunisols, Degraded Brunisols, and possible minor inclusions of
gleyed soils. The major difference between most of these soils is the
lhicknes of the Ahk horizon.
Classifications: Canadian System - Orthic Melanic Brunisol
(calcareous cumulic)
FAO/UNESCO System - Eutric Cambisol
U.S.A. System - (Mollic) Eutrochrept
-179-
The profile development or horizon sequence indicates the
depositional nature of the soil. A thin L-F or litter layer occurs on
the surface overlying a black Ahk horizon which has weak fine granuJat'
to single grain structure. Beneath the topmost Ahk horizon a sequence
of A, B, and C horizons display the addition of materials over time.
These horizons vary in thickness from 2 to 8 cm, usually being about
2 cm thick. They tend to be discontinuous and take on a stratified
appearance.
Below this sequence of A, B, and C horizons is a relatively
thick (25+ cm), distinct yellowish red to strong brown "paleo" B horizon
which is weakly structured and friable. This "paleo" B horizon can be
split into two separate horizons based primarily on color. Below is the
parent material (Obed till) which is sandy, olive brown to grayish brown
in color, and slightly plastic when moist. It has a large proportion of
pebbles and cobbles which are well rounded and generally less than
fi ve em in diameter. It is important to note that the horizons above the
"paleo" B have a silt loam texture throughout with very similar pH values.
Pedon Description.
Horizon
L-F
Ahk1
Depth (cm)
2-0 Partially decomposed leaf and needle remains;
moderately effervescent.
0-20 Black (lQYR 2.5/1 m), very dark gray (10YR 3/1 d)
silt loam; weak, fine, granular; very friable;
abundant micro and very fine, oblique roots; many
micro, continuous interstitial pores; clear, wavy
boundary; 15 to 24 cm thick; mildly alkaline.
Hopizon Depth (em)
Bmk1 20-23
Alikbl 23-2S
Ckb1 25-43
Ahkb2 43-45
Ckb2 45-48
-180-
Brown to dark brow'Il (7. 5YR 4/4 m), bl"own (7. 5YR 4/2 d)
silt loam; weak, fine sub angular blocky; very friable;
abundant micro and very fine, oblique roots; many
micro, continuous, interstitial pores; clear, wavy
; 1 to 4 em thick; moderately alkaline.
Black (10YR 2.5/1 m), very dark gray (10YR 3/1 d)
silt loam; weak, fine granular'; very friable;
abundant micro and very fine, oblique roots; many
micro, continuous, interstitial pores; abrupt, wavy
boundary; 0 to 3 em thick; moderately alkaline.
Very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2 m), brown (7.5YR
4/2 d) silt loam; weak, fine subangular blocky;
very friable; plentiful very fine and fine, oblique
roots; many micro, continuous, interstitial pores;
abrupt, wavy boundary; 12 to 26 em thick; mOclCl"ately
alkaline.
Black (10YR 2.5/1 m), very dark gray (10YR 3/1 d)
silt loam; weak, fine granular; vepy friable;
plentiful very fine and fine, oblique roots; many
micro, continuous, interstitial pores; abrupt, wavy
boundapy; 0 to 3 em thick; moderately alkaline.
Dark brown (10YR 3/3 m), grayish brown (10YR 5/2 d)
silt loam; weak, fine subangular blocky; very
fr'iable; plentiful very fine and fine, oblique roots;
common micro and ver'y fine, continuous, intel'sti tia1
pores; 1, wavy boundary; 8 to 16 cm thick;
moderately alkaline.
Horizon
Ckb3
Bmkb1
Ahkb3
Ckb4
Bmkb2
-181-
Depth (cm)
58-63 Dark brown (10YR 3/3 m), grayish brown (10YR 5/2 d).
silt loam; weak, fine ,;ubangular blocky; very
friable; plentiful very fine and fine, oblique roots;
common micro and very fine, continuous, interstitial
pores; abrupt, wavy boundary; 3 to 8 cm thick;
moderately alkaline.
63-68
68-73
73-81
81-86
Dark brown (7.5YR 4/4 m), brown (7.5YR 5/4 d) silt
loam; weak, fine subangular blocky; very friable;
plentiful very fine and fine, oblique roots; common
micro and very fine, continuous, interstitial pores;
clear, wavy boundary; 2 to 7 cm thick; moderately
alkaline.
Dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2 d) silt loam weak, fine
granular; very friable; plentiful very fine and fine,
oblique roots; many micro, continuous. interstitial
pores; clear, wavy boundary; 2 to 6 cm thick;
moderately alkaline.
Dark brown (10YR 3/3 m), grayish brown (10YR 5/2 d)
silt loam; weak, fine subangular blocky; plentiful
very fine and fine, oblique roots; common micro and
very fine, continuous, interstitial pores; clear,
wavy boundary; 4 to 10 cm thick; moderately
calcareous.
Dark brown (7.5YR 4/4 m), brown (7.5YR 5/2 d) silt
loam; weak, fine subangular blocky; very friable;
plentiful very fine and fine, oblique roots; many
Horizon Depth (cm)
Ahkblj 86-88
Ahkb5 88-93
Bmkb3 93-100
IIBmk 100-110
-182-
rr:lcro • cont , interstitial pores;
; 3 to 6 cm thick; moderately
brm.Jn ( m), dark grayish brown (10YR
d) s fine • fI'iable; few
very fine and roots; common micro,
continuous, itial pores; , wavy
9 to 3 moderately alkaline.
Dark brown (7.5YR 2 , dark brown (10YR 4/3 d)
silt loam; weak, fine granular; friable; few ver'y
fine and fine,
interstitial
tb
(7 • YR 11
loam; weak,
very fine and
roots; common micro continuous,
clear, wavy ; 3 to 6 cm
alkaline.
m), 1 brown (7.5YR 6/4 d) silt
blocky; friable; few
• oblique roots; many micro and
very fine, discontinuous, oblique, dendritic, tubular
pores; clear, wavy boundary; 4 to 9 cm thick;
alkaline.
Yellowish red (5YR 8 m), reddish yellow (7.5YR
6/6 d) loam; weak, fine subangular blocky; friable;
few very
and veI'y
fine, oblique roots; many micro
, dendritic, tubular
; 6 to 12 eil, thlck;
Horizon
IIBCk
-183-
Depth (cm)
110-122 Strong brown (7.5YR 5/6 m), reddish yellow (7.5YR
6/6 d) loam; weak, fine subangular blocky; friabl
very few very fine and fine, oblique roots; mdny
micro and very fine, discontinuous, dendritic,
tubular pores; few pebbles and cobbles; clear, wavy
boundary; 8 to 20 cm thick; moderately alkaline.
I IICK1 122-132 Yellowish brmffi (10YR 5/4 m), pale brown (10YR 6/3 d)
sandy loam; single grain; friable; very few very
fine, oblique roots; numerous pebbles and cobbles;
clear, wavy boundary; 7 to 15 cm thick; strongly
alkaline.
IIICK2 132-150+ Grayish brown (2.5YR 5/2 m), pale yellow (2.5YR
Analytical Data.
7/4 d) loam to sandy loam; friable; numerous pebbles
and cobbles; moderately alkaline.
Some chemical and physical properties of the Orthic
Melanic Brunisol at tDe Overlander site are presented in Table 13.
-.1U"1'-Tab1e 13. A11dlyUcal data for the Drthlc MelJllic Brunisol (ca1rdrt'uus cur,ul ic) at the Overldl,dcr s1te~.
---- ---~- ~-----~ - - --- -~." -- --.------~-----~----- --~-.--- ' - - -- -.--~-~-----~-- -- - " - .-~-----____ PI1
Total CaCO) Total Horizon ex Equ.l, Nt C/N
Ahkl 7.7 7.0 10.4 23.7 0.35 22 BmU 8.0 1. 6.1 31. 5 0.17 13 Ubi 8.0 8.7 22.6 0.24 25 CkhZ 8.2 7.6 6.3 7 0.14 19 Ckb3 8.2 7.7 6.5 38.2 0.13 15 Bmkbl 8.3 7.7 4.9 17.2 0.08 36 Ahkb3 8.3 1.7 S. 9.2 0.13 32 CkM 8.3 7.7 5.6 18.9 0.13 26 Bmbk2 8.3 7.7 5.0 31.9 0.11 11 AhkM 8.4 7.7 .2 23.5 0.18 13 AhkbS 8.4 1.7 3.7 10.0 0.16 16
8.4 1.6 1.6 5.9 0.08 11 1 8.3 7.7 0.3 0.9 0.08 2 1 8.2 7.6 0.4 1.6 0.04 5 IllCkl 8.5 1.7 19.1 lllCk2 8.4 7.8 35.2
Sesguio.ides m_ OltMonHe Oxalate PJ'ro~hos .
Horizon Fe A1 ~.!1 Fe Al Fe A1
Ahld 0.82 0.03 0.02 0.37 0.06 0.07 0.01 BmU 0.98 0.03 0.02 0.38 0.05 0.06 0.01 COCbl 0.711 0.02 0.32 0.06 0.06 0.02 Ckb2 0.92 0.03 0.50 0.08 0.09 0.02 Ckb3 0.82 0.02 0.01 0.42 0.05 0.08 0.02 I3mkbl 1.03 0.03 0.03 0.53 0.07 0.08 0.03 Allkb3 1.03 0.02 0.02 0.64 0.04 0.08 0.01 Ckb4 0.89 0.01 0.02 0.50 0.03 0.11 0.02 Blllbk2 1.05 0.04 0.03 0.56 0.05 0.10 0.02 1\111<.04 1.11 0.04 0.04 0.62 0.06 0.11 0.01 Ahl<.b5 1.33 0.08 0.06 0.91 0.12 0.12 0.03 Blllkb:l 1.27 0.09 0.04 0.77 0.15 0.05 0.01 UBmk 1.46 0.07 0.03 0.24 0.02 0.05 0
1.50 0.08 0.03 0.23 0.04 0.06 0.02 0.84 0.03 0.02 0.21 0.02 0.05 0.02
lllCk2 0.76 0.03 O.Ol O. 0.01 0.02 0.01
organic Matter Extracted FA HA
Horizon N ?·(ll'"ay K S :u: iN Cilli/efa E4/£6 E4/£6 -------. Ahkl 3 0 53 I) 4l.0 38.3 0.92 5.6 1.8 Bmkl Cit!! 1 2 a 25 4 Ckb2 Ckb3 Bmkbl 45.1 28.4 0.46 21.0 5.5 AIlkb3 53.3 45.3 2.08 28.5 1.6 Ckb4 Blllbk2 Ahkb4 Ahkb5 51.1 40.8 1.19 18.7 2.8 Bmkb3 58.9 40.1 0.14 22.0 5.2 HElmI: IIBCk II JCkl I1ICk2
Ph,ls lea 1
Part Size Dist - %. <2 mm £Iassificatlon
Horizon Sand Silt Clay F-ClIlY USDA
22 66 12 2 SiL 21 68 11 2 S1I.. 24 66 10 Sit 21 68 11 3 Sil 25 62 13 4 Sll 29 63 !l 2 27 63 10 2:
CkM 20 70 10 3 Bmbk2 14 76 10 1
10 79 11 2 SIl 13 75 12 2
Bmltb3 19 64 17 7 nBmk 40 43 17 6 l 1!8Ck S1 33 16 8 L
65 28 7 J Sl 53 36 II <\ Sl
~The l-F. Ahkbl ~nd Ahkb2 horilons were not sampled.
* TOURSTOP
I I
~
BRITISH
COlUMBIA I /
(.-1 )
r-) ALBERTA
PYRAMID .. MTN -
THE ~~.~ .. WHISTlERS"
MARMOT ..
'::l .",
\ \ AS t 0
-185-
.. MOUNT EDITH CAVEll
To Edmonton
FIG. 25 MAP OF JASPER AND VICINITY
-186-
Plant Community Description
A Crown layer - 50%
Picea glauca (White spruce)
B Shrub layer' - 10%
Betula papyrifera (Paper birch)
Rosa acicularis (Prickly rose)
Shepherdia canadensis (Canadian buffalo-ber'ry)
Amelanchier alnifolia (Saskatoon-berry)
Lonicera dioica (Twining honeysuckle)
Viburnum edule (Low-bush cranberry)
Juniperus communis (Ground juniper)
Rosa sp. (Rose)
C Herbs and grasses - 85%
Elymus innovatus (Hairy wild rye)
Geocaulon livid~1Jn (Bastard toad-flax)
Linnaea borealis (Twinflower)
PyroZa secunda (One-sided wintergreen)
HedysQY'um alpinum (Alpine hedysarum)
Mertensia paniculata (Tall mertensia)
Mitella nuda (Bishop's cap)
Galium boreale (Northern bedstraw)
streptopus amplexifolius (Twisted stalk)
Zygadenus elegans (White camas)
Cypripedium calceoluB (Yellow Lady's-slipped
Arctostaphylos uva-UI'si (Kinnikinnick)
Rubus puhescens (Dewberry)
Carex sp. (Sedge)
D - 60%
-187-
pyrola sp. (Wintergreen)
Luzula sp. (Woodrush)
Viola. sp. (Violet)
Disporum sp. (Fairy-bells)
AbietinelZa abietina
Hypnum sp.
-188-
SITE
Location
This site (Site 7) is located in the SE 21, T54, R14. W5 CUTM 11U NK670
480). The elevation is 907 m a.s.l.
ing
This site is situated in the Eastern Alberta Plains. The landform can
be described as a bowl bog having very poor drainage. The soil is derived
from the decomposition of mosses and the vegetative cover is typical of
Organic sites in the general area (Fig. 47). This site is located in the
Lower Foothills Section of the Boreal Forest Region (Rowe, 1959). Bowser
(1967) places the site within Agro-climatic area 3H.
C1 imate
The climate of the area is continental, characterized by relatively warm
summers and cold winters. The nearest long term meteorological data
available is for Edson which is approximately 30 km west of the site
(Table 14).
Land Use
Presently, the soils at this site are of no agricultural value and are
non-productive from a forestry standpoint. They do, however, provide an
excellent reservoir for water, thereby controlling spring flooding to
some extent. Wildlife habitat is one of their major uses.
-189-
Photograph by A. A. Kjearsgaard
FIG.47 VEGETATIVE COVER AT THE PEERS SITE
-190-
Table 14. Meteorological data, Edson (1941-1970).
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Annual Total
Winter Snow
Mean Monthly Precipitation (mm)
30.9
25.9
23.3
26.9
59.6
84.3
104.1
77.4
45.4
24.1
25.6
25.9
533.9 Annual Mean
167.80
Soil s
Mean Monthly Temperature (oC)
-13.9
- 8.9
- 4.4
2.8
8.3
12.2
15.0
13.3
8.9
3.9
- 5.0
-11.1
1.7
Organic soils, as defined and classified in the Canadian taxonomic
system include al~ soils that have developed largely from organic deposits.
A commonly used name for such soils within the forested regions of north-
central United States, Canada, and Alaska is "muskeg ft , an indigeous term
-191-
of Algonquian and Cree origin meaning a moss-covered musk or peat bog
(Soils of Canada, 1977). Organic soils occur in all physiographic regions
of the tour area.
Organic soils are generally found in concave or level
topographic positions. Sometimes they occur along the peripheries of
sloughs and small lakes and in some cases they have completely overgrown
free water areas. They are commonly associated with muskeg vegetation
which includes black spruce, tamarack, and an undergrowth of feathermosses,
sphagnum moss, horsetails, various sedges, and Labrador tea. These soils
are commonly saturated to within a few centimetres of the surface.
Often associated with Organic soils are Gleysolic soils which
show intense mottling and restricted soil drainage. These soils are found
generally on lower sideslope positions in areas intermediate between well
drained upland soils and Organic soils in the depression. These soils
usually have accumulations of unconsolidated, semi-decomposed peat on the
surface of the mineral soil.
Organic soils in Alberta are generally divided into two
different types determined by the source material, whether sedge or moss.
Sedge bogs are more useful for agricultural purposes than the moss type.
Some sedge bogs can be used for pasture and production of grasses for hay.
Those Organic areas with a thick accumulat ion of moss generally al'e
excellent reservoirs for surface water. They help control spring flooding
and provide for a steady stream discharge throughout the summer. Small
areas associated with cultivated fields can be used for the production of
hay, pasture, and other crops if adequate drainage can be provided.
Drainage allows a more rapid rate of decomposition and greater subsid nee
and compaction of peat resulting in a shallower peat layer and thus better
-192-
ions for cultivation. A combination of pasturing, , and
tilling can result in the eventual incorporation of the organic with the
subsurface mineral layers to form a cultivated humic mineral soil.
problems in cultivated areas of Organic soils involve the
maintenanc of controlled drainage, adequate fertilization, and tillage
lces necessary to maintain a firm bed for seed ion and root
Other problems characteristic of cultivated Organic soils are
frost and fire hazards. Frozen conditions persist longer in the spring
while in the fall such areas are subject to earlier frosts than are the
better drained mineral soils. Drained Organic soils are subject to
serious ground fire. Uncontrolled burning can result in complete loss
of the organic layer, unevenness of land surface, aggravation of drainage
problems, and l"xposure of poorly structured mineral soils.
In some areas, thicker Fibrisols have been developed for
commercial peat moss pr'oduction and used as a soil amendment for nurseries
and home gardens. A number of enterprises of this kind have been developed
in Alberta and throughout Canada, particularly where a source of supply is
located within marketable access to urban areas.
The soil at this site is comprised of the remains of
feathermosses and sphagnum moss. There is little variation in the
composition of the material to depth. The first tier is mesic with a
thin layer of humic material near the surface. The second or middle
tier is also mesic and has a fibric layer at its base. Beneath the
fibric layer is a thin ash layer. The bottom tiep is also predominantly
mesic. There ape some thin horizons that ape too difficult to sample and
describe. This ular site has a very low woody content compared to
other Organic soil sites in the area.
-193-
The soil described and sampled at this site has been
classified as follows:
Canadian System - Typic Mesisol
U.S.A. System - Typic Hemist
FAO/UNESCO System - Histosol
Pedan Description.
Horizon
Of
Ohl
Oml
Om2
Om3
Om4
Of2
Depth (cm)
0-2 Brown (7.5YR 5/4 wet) fibric sphagnum moss; coarse
fibred; fine and coarse, oblique roots; abrupt, wavy
boundary; slightly acid.
2-5
5-40
40-55
55-75
75-108
108-127
Dark brown (7.5YR 3/2 wet) well decomposed moss peat;
few medium, horizontal, and abundant very fine,
random roots; medium acid.
Brown to dark brown (7.5YR 4/2 to 3/2 wet), moderately
decomposed moss peat; few fine, vertical roots; medium
acid.
Strong brown (7.5YR 5/6 wet) moderately decomposed
moss peat; very few medium, vertical roots; strongly
acid.
Dark brown (7.5YR 3/2 wet) moderately decomposed
moss peat; very few medium, vertical roots; medium
acid.
Brown to dark brown (7.5YR 4/2 wet) moderately
decomposed moss peat; medium acid.
Broh~ (7.5YR 5/4 wet) partially decomposed moss
peat; medium acid. Ash layer at base of this
horizon.
OmS
Om6
1 i ca 1
l~esj sol
-194-
Depth (em)
127-160 BpOWTl to dark brown (7.5YR 4/2 wet)
160+
Some chemical and
Peers ite are
mos ; medium acid.
brown (7.5YR 4/4 wet) modepately
moss ; medium acid.
properties of the Typic
in Table 15.
195
, )le 15. Analytical data for the Typic Mesisol at the Peers site.
~H Total f dzon H2O CaC1 2 C%
on 6.4 6.0 29.1 ~'1 5.8 5.6 39.5
n1 5.7 5.1 45.3 __ 02 5.5 5.2 48.2 Om3 5.6 5.4 44.9 nm4 5.6 5.1 46.8
f2 5.7 5.1 47.1 TIS 5.8 5.2 45.6
Om6 5.8 5.2 47.4 ASH 5.8 5.3 38.3
Available Nutrients (p~m}
Horizon N P-Bray K
on 34 12 181 Oh 51 6 73 Oml 4 1 2 Om2 Om3 Om4 Of2 OmS Om6 ASH
S
31 18 2
Total N%
2.06 4.29 3.75 2.15 3.09 2.60 2.31 2.72 2.97 1.98
Extracted
%C
24.9 28.0 1B.7
12.7 15.6
17.8
Horizon
on Oh Om1 Om2 Om3 0m4 Of2 OmS Om6 ASH
%N
37.7 34.7 21.4
19.0 22.8
24.8
C/N Total
14 9 156.8
12 170.5 22 155.8 15 176.4 18 185.2 20 155.8 17 92.1 16 45.1 15 50.0
Organic Matter
Cha/Cfa
0.79 0.96 O.Bl
1.73 2.43
2.33
Physical
Fibre Content
Unrub % Rub %
84 78 86 80 80 98 78 70 40
10 30 40 22 22 46 30 22 12
Buffered NH,OAc (pH?)
Ca Mg Nil. K
68.8 13.8 0.2 0.8 68.0 11.6 0.1 tr 67.0 11.8 0 tr 77 .3 12.6 0 0.1 76.9 12.6 0 tr 71.3 -12.3 0.1 0.1 40.9 7.2 0 tr 69.6 12.1 0.1 0.1 16.5 2.6 0 tr
FA HA E4/E6 E4/E6
15.0 9.5 13.8 9.9 14.2 8.8
12.8 7.8 12.8 7.9
12.0 7.7
-1
Plant i cri ion
A1 - 25%
( T alLar'ack )
A2 L01der crown 5%
(Black spr'uce)
B2 Lower shrub layer - 60%
la var,
(Bracted
Salix sp. (Willow)
triste (Wild red cUl'rant)
birch)
uckle)
Ledwn (Common Labrador tea)
C Herbs and grasses - 40%
Ca !o:mnnYI/)
l
(Marsh reed
(fireweed)
(Common yarrow)
Carex (Sedge)
(Kinnikinnick)
(Bog cranberry)
Pyrola asarifolia (Common pink wintergreen)
Viola sp. (Violet)
(
Po (Marsh cinquefoil)
D Mosses and lichens - 80%
Po
Dicranum sp.
Peltigera aphthosa
-197-
-198-
Soil description - follow the standard conventions oUTlined by Canada
Soil Committee (1977).
Analytical methods - as described by Canada Soil
General pl'ocedures are as follows:
Committee (1976).
pH: saturated paste (H20) and neutral salt (0.01 M CaC1 2 )
Total C: induction furnace method
CaC0 3 equiv: calcimeter method
Total N: semi-micro Kjeldahl
Exchangeable cations:
a. neutral salt - extracting with 2N NaCl
b. pH7 buffered ammonium acetate
Iron and aluminum:
a. dithionite - citrate - bicarbonate
b. acid ammonium oxalate (pH3)
c. sodium pyrophosphate (O.lM)
Water soluble salts: ions were determined on saturated
extracts.
Available nutrients:
a. N - modified PI Bray (NH4
F-H2
S04
) extract
b. P - modified PI Bray (NH4
F-H2
S04
) extract
c. K - ammonium acetate (iN)
d. S - 0.1 M CaC12
Organic matter: classical NaOH/Na4
P2
07
extractions
Mineralogy: x-ray diffraction of the <2 flm soil fraction
Fibre content: syringe method for fibres retained on 100 mesh
sieve.
-199-
Bulk density: saran coated clod method
Water holding capacity: pressure plate method
Atterberg limits: standard procedure
M
The a brief
the main features of the microfabric in The
relative • sizes or areal extent of features such as voids
and nodules are indicated in brackets follm-ling the feature descl' iLee.
The technical of the fabric in (1) Brewer's (1964) and (2) Brewer s
and Pawluk I s (1975) tel~minology is given following the general
On some occaS1ons only the that is best suited or most
descriptive is used. Analyses were conducted on thin sections
from polyester;-styrene samples.
nif cations Used
1. for script ions a) 25X - for color and of large peds
aggregates
b) 63X - for al'rangement of smaller units and more
detailed description
c) 125X - for examination of specific features
2. for photography - the size of the photographs at different
magnifications are listed. The size at a) 24X 1S 3.2 x 2.1 mm
to Relative
- after Stace et al. (1968)
ies of
a) cutans fre (F) >5% of the area
COEUTIOn (C) 5-2%
b) 60X 1S 1.2 x 0.8 mm
c) 120X is 0.6 x 0.4 mm
ical
b) nodules
-201-
occasional (0) 2-0.5%
rare (R) but easily located and identified
very rare (VR) section must be searched to positively ident
them.
(F) >20% of the area
(C) 10-20%
(0) 5-10%
(R) 2-5%
(VR) <2%
Description of Overall Porosity
Using only those voids greater than 25 ~m in diameter
< - very dense
5-10% - dense
10-25% - moderately porous or moderately packed
25-40% - highly porous or loosely packed
>40% - highly porous or very loosely packed
Note: a horizon that consists of well packed fine sand and silt at 25X
or 63X magnification is silasepic porphyroskelic while at higher
magnification it is granular. On some occasions, both fabrics
will be stated along with the applicable magnification.
Types of Banded Fabrics
- after Dumanski and St. Arnaud (1966)
1. isoband
2. banded fabric type A
3. banded fabric type B
4. banded fabric type C
, L.A a G.M. s cial
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ian 5 tic
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-204-
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r
I l
I [