LOCATION GERING NE+WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, calcareous, mesic Aquic Ustifluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Gering loam with a slope of less than 2 percent in irrigated cropland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium granular structure; slightly hard, friable; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 9 inches thick)
A--8 to 13 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium prismatic structure; slightly hard, friable; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
C--13 to 29 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) stratified loam and fine sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) moist iron masses in the soil matrix; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; violent effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (10 to 24 inches thick)
2C--29 to 60 inches; light gray (2.5Y 7/2) gravelly coarse sand, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) moist; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) moist iron masses in the soil matrix; single grain, loose; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska; about 1 1/2 miles east and 1 mile south of McGrew; 520 feet west and 50 feet south of the northeast corner, sec. 11, T. 20 N., R. 53 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 10 to 16 inches. The depth to gravelly coarse sand ranges from 20 to 40 inches.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6 and 4 or 5 moist, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is loam, fine sandy loam or very fine sandy loam. Reaction ranges from slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 6 or 7 and 4 through 6 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is typically loam and fine sandy loam, but the range includes very fine sandy loam, silt loam and silty clay loam. Reaction ranges from slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline. An alkali phase is recognized. Reaction in the alkali phase ranges from moderately alkaline to very strongly alkaline.
The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 through 7 and 4 through 6 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4. Reaction ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gering soils are on nearly level bottom lands. Slope gradients range from 0 to 2 percent. They formed in loamy alluvium over sand and gravel. The mean annual temperature is 45 to 51 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation is 14 to 18 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Haverson, Las, Las Animas, McGrew, and McCuligan soils. Haverson, Las, and Las Animas soils lack gravelly coarse sand within depths of 40 inches. McGrew soils are in the coarse-loamy family. McCuligan soils are in the sandy family. Las, Las Animas, McGrew, and McCuligan soils are on similar landscapes. Haverson soils are higher on the landscape. McCuligan soils are lower on the landscape.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate above the 2C horizon and very rapid in the gravelly coarse sand. Depth to the seasonal high water table ranges from about 1.5 to 3 feet. Gering soils flood for brief durations.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage of Gering soils are cultivated and irrigated. The remainder is used for rangeland. The major crops are corn, alfalfa, potatoes, dry edible beans, and sugar beets. Where the soils are in native vegetation the principal grasses are big bluestem, switchgrass, indiangrass, prairie cordgrass, and sedges.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming. The series has a limited extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Denver, Colorado
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, 1968.
REMARKS: Soils in the Gering series were formerly mapped as a moderately deep phase of the Las series. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 13 inches (Ap and A horizons).