LOCATION KARS NY+VTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Glossic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Kars gravelly sandy loam - hay.
(Colors refer to moist broken soil.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly
sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many
fine roots; 20 percent gravel; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
(5 to 9 inches thick)
A2--7 to 11 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly
sandy loam fading with depth to pale brown (10YR 6/3); very weak
fine granular structure and massive; very friable; common fine
roots; 20 percent gravel; neutral; clear irregular boundary. (0
to 9 inches thick)
B & A--11 to 14 inches; gravelly sandy loam having an
intricate fine pattern of pale brown (10YR 6/3) planes of clean
sand grains within dominant brown (10YR 5/3) matrix; massive;
very friable; common fine roots; 35 percent gravel; clay lines
pores and forms bridges within the brown part; neutral; gradual irregular boundary. (2 to 8 inches)
B2t--14 to 22 inches; brown to dark brown (10YR 4/3)
gravelly sandy loam; very weak fine subangular blocky structure
and massive; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few
fine roots; 40 percent gravel; clay lines common medium and fine pores and forms bridges among primary particles; neutral; clear irregular boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
IIC--22 to 60 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) very gravelly sand; single grain; loose; few fine roots in upper part; 50
percent gravel; calcareous.
TYPE LOCATION: Franklin County, New York; Town of Westville;
1.7 miles northeast of Hamlet of Westville; edge of gravel pit
in southeast corner of "T" road junction.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum ranges from 15 to
35 inches, thicknesses greater than 24 inches being where
tongues of B horizon extend into C horizon. Degree of tonguing ranges from none to amplitudes of 20 inches spaced 2 to 6 feet
apart. Rock fragments range from pebbles to stones in size and
range from 3 to 40 percent of the A horizon, 35 to 50 percent of
the B horizon and 35 to 70 percent of the IIC horizon. The mean annual soil temperature ranges from 47 to 50 degrees F. The
soil is medium acid to neutral in the A horizon, slightly acid
or neutral in the B horizon, and mildly alkaline or moderately alkaline in the C horizon.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, values of 3 or 4, and chroma of
2. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam or loam in the fine earth fraction. It has weak to moderate granular structure and very friable or friable consistence. The A2 horizon is commonly
destroyed by plowing or is present as discontinuous remnants.
It has hue of 10YR, values of 5 or 6, and chromas of 2 to 4.
The A2 horizon is sandy loam, fine sandy loam or loam in the
fine earth fraction. It is massive or it has platy structure.
It is very friable or friable.
The B horizon has hues of 5YR to 10YR, values of 4 or 5, and
chromas of 3 to 6. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam
in the fine earth fraction. The B horizon is massive or it has
very weak or weak subangular blocky structure. It is very
friable or friable. The lower part is calcareous in some
pedons.
The IIC horizon has hues of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, values of 4 or 5,
and chromas of 2 or 3. It is loamy sand or sand in the fine
earth fraction. It is single grain and loose, and is
calcareous.
COMPETING SERIES: The
Howard series is in the same family.
Howard soils have sola thicker than 24 inches in all parts of
the pedon and depth to carbonates is greater than 24 inches.
The
Bonaparte,
Conotton, and
Palmyra series are similar soils in related families. Bonaparte soils lack an argillic horizon. Conotton soils lack interfingering. Palmyra soils have fine-
loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal particle-size control
sections.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Kars soils occur on sorted glacial deposits
of outwash plains, kames, and eskers. It also includes less
well assorted material of beach ridges. Slopes range from 0 to
50 percent. The soil formed in water-sorted coarse material
high in limestone, with or without thin surficial deposits of
sandy to silty material. Mean annual precipitation ranges from
28 to 45 inches; mean annual air temperature, from 44 degrees to
47 degrees F.; and mean frost-free season, from 130 to 165 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing
Bonaparte and
Palmyra series and the
Grenville,
Madrid,
Nellis,
Ontario,
Panton, and
Vergennes soils. Grenville and Nellis
soils have cambic horizons. Madrid and Ontario soils have less
than 35 percent coarse fragments in the argillic horizon.
Panton and Vergennes soils formed in lake and marine clays.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well to excessively drained. Runoff
is slow to medium; internal drainage is medium to rapid;
permeability is moderate or moderately rapid in the A horizon, moderately rapid in the B horizon, and rapid or very rapid in
the C horizon.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas have been cleared and are used
for growing hay, some corn, and pasture. The most stony areas
are mainly in unimproved pasture. Woodlots contain mainly
hardwoods with sugar maple and basswood prominent.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and Central New York, and Vermont. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, New York, 1952.