LOCATION GERLANE KSEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, thermic Typic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Gerlane fine sandy loam - cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 17 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) fine sandy loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
Bw--17 to 40 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) fine sandy loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; weak medium granular structure; slightly hard, very friable; free carbonates below 21 inches; mildly alkaline; smooth boundary. (15 to 30 inches thick)
C1--40 to 48 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) loamy sand, reddish brown (5YR 4/3) moist; single grain; loose; slight effervescence; mildly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 15 inches thick)
2C2--48 to 60 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) moist; massive; very hard; many small carbonate concretions; slight effervescence; mildly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Harper County, Kansas; about 15 miles west and 1 1/2 miles south of Anthony; 2,600 feet south and 150 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 33, T. 33 S., R. 9 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is 30 to 50 inches. The mollic epipedon is 10 to 20 inches thick. The control section has more than 50 percent fine and coarser sand. Stratification with finer textured material is lacking within depths of 40 inches but usually is within 6 feet of the surface. The A horizon, and usually the upper part of the Bw horizon range from neutral to moderately alkaline. The lower part of the Bw horizon and the C horizon is mildly alkaline or moderately alkaline. Free carbonates are at depths ranging from about 15 to 30 inches.
The A horizon has 7.5YR or 10YR hue, value of 4 or 5 and 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3. It typically is fine sandy loam and less commonly loam or sandy loam.
The Bw horizon has 5YR or 7.5YR hue, value of 5 or 6 and 4 or 5 moist, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is fine sandy loam or sandy loam.
The C horizon has colors like the Bw horizon. It is loamy sand, sand, or sandy loam. The 2C2 horizon has 5YR or 7.5YR hue, value of 4 to 6 and 3 to 5 moist and chroma of 3 to 6. It is loam or clay loam.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Competing series in other families are the Canadian, Crisfield, Reinach, Waldeck, and Zenda series. Canadian soils have yellower hues, especially in the control section. Crisfield soils lack free carbonates in the series control section. Waldeck and Zenda soils have yellower hues and are distinctly mottled at depths of less than 30 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Typically, these soils are on nearly level to weakly undulating low terraces adjacent to streams lacking well entrenched channels. These soils flood only during times of usually heavy rainfall. The soil formed in calcareous, loamy, reddish alluvium that is usually underlain by less permeable strata at depths of 4 to 6 feet. Mean annual precipitation ranges from about 22 to 32 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 57 to 60 degrees F. Thornthwaite Annual P-E Index ranges from 35 to 50.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Crisfield, Zenda, and Waldeck are competing series that are on topography similar to that of Gerlane soils. Shellabarger, Grant, and Nashville soils are common associates on adjacent uplands and lack free carbonates throughout.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained or well drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is moderately rapid. A fluctuating ground-water table rises to within depths of about 2 feet of the surface during wet seasons but is usually below depths of 4 to 6 feet during the growing season and does not adversely affect crop growth.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly in cultivation with wheat and sorghum the principal crops. Native vegetation was tall prairie grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central, Kansas. This series is inextensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Harper County, Kansas, 1970
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of about 17 inches; cambic horizon - the zone from about 17 to 40 inches (Bw).