LOCATION GARBER COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Pachic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Garber very gravelly coarse sandy loam - grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 8 inches; reddish gray (5YR 5/2) very gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable; 60 percent fine and very fine angular pebbles; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
A2--8 to 20 inches; reddish gray (5YR 5/2) extremely gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure parting to fine granular; slightly hard, very friable; peds are very hard, very friable; 70 percent fine and very fine angular pebbles; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
A3--20 to 30 inches; reddish gray (5YR 5/2) very gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure parting to fine granular; very hard, very friable, peds are extremely hard, very friable; 60 percent fine and very fine angular pebbles; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
C--30 to 60 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) very gravelly coarse sandy loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/3) moist; massive; extremely hard, very friable; 70 percent fine and very fine angular pebbles; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Douglas County, Colorado; 800 feet south and 100 feet east of the northwest corner of Sec. 4. T. 9 S., R. 68 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mollic epipedon ranges from 16 to 40 inches thick. The soils typically are noncalcareous to depths of more than 60 inches but depth to uniformly calcareous material ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Base saturation typically is more than 80 percent but ranges from 60 to 100 percent. The control section is usually very gravelly coarse sandy loam and the fine earth fraction has 5 to 18 percent clay and more than 50 percent sand. A high percentage of the sand fraction is angular and has a large proportion of flat bearing surfaces between sand grains. Rock fragments range from 35 to 80 percent and are mainly less than 3 inches in diameter, but ranges from 1/8 to 10 inches in diameter. The mean annual soil temperature ranges from 44 to 47 degrees F., and the mean summer soil temperature ranges from 60 to 64 degrees F.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR through 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5, 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 1 through 3. Reaction is slightly acid through mildly alkaline.
The C horizon usually has hue of 5YR through 10R. Subhorizons yellower than 5YR occur in some pedons. Reaction is medium acid through mildly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Hidatsa, Lolo, and Mascalero series. Hidatsa and Lolo soils have hue of 10YR or yellower. In addition, Lolo soils have medium to moderately fine textured matrix materials with small amounts of medium, coarse, and very coarse angular sand. Mescalero soils have hard bedrock at depths of less than 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Garber soils are on alluvial fans, valley side, and on small stream bottoms. These soils formed in alluvial materials weathered primarily from reddish arkosic beds of the Fountain and Lyons formation. Slope gradients range from 0 to 40 percent. The average annual precipitation is 17 inches, with peak periods of precipitation occurring in the spring and early summer.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cheeseman and Perrypark soils. Cheeseman soils have an argillic horizon and have a paralithic contact above a depth of 40 inches. Perrypark soils have an argillic horizon with more than 18 percent clay.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; slow runoff; rapid to moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used principally as native pastureland, and are tilled in some local areas. Native vegetation is mainly western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, junegrass, bluegrass, and some blue grama.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The foothill areas of Colorado. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Douglas County, Colorado, 1974.