LOCATION KATHER CO+WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, frigid Ustic Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Kather clay loam - grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 4 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; strong fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; mildly alkaline (pH 7.4); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
B1--4 to 7 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) light clay, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure that parts to fine subangular blocks; slightly hard, very friable, slightly plastic; peds are extremely hard, very firm; few thin glossy patches on faces of peds and discontinuous glossy coatings in some root channels and pores; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
B2t--7 to 28 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate coarse and medium prismatic structure that parts to coarse and medium angular blocks; slightly hard, very friable, sticky, plastic; peds are extremely hard, very firm; there are continuous wax-like coatings on faces of peds and wax-like coatings and fillings in root channels and pores; few wax-like rims around the entrance to some soil pores; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6); gradual smooth boundary. (6 to 37 inches thick)
B3--28 to 32 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak coarse angular blocky structure; hard, firm, sticky, plastic; peds are extremely hard, very firm; few thin wax-like patches on faces of peds and glossy discontinuous coatings in some root channels and pores; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6); gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
C--32 to 40 inches; noncalcareous shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Jackson County, Colorado; approximately 1,180 feet east and 325 feet north of the SW corner of Sec. 3, T. 6 N., R. 81 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Mean annual soil temperature is about 42 degrees F. and mean summer soil temperature is about 57 degrees F. These soils are generally noncalcareous to depths in excess of 40 inches, but thin discontinuous calcareous horizons occur just above the shale in some pedons. Depth to the paralithic contact ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to the base of the argillic horizon ranges from 12 to 40 inches. ESP either remains constant or gradually increases with depth. It is usually less than 3 percent in the solum and C horizon but ranges from 0 to 14 percent in the solum. Rock fragments range from 0 to 15 percent by volume in a major part of the solum and C horizon above the bedrock and are mainly less than 3 inches in diameter but range from 1/4 to 10 inches in diameter.
The A horizon has hue of 5Y through 7.5YR, value of 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 6 moist, and chroma of 1 through 4. It is neutral or mildly alkaline.
The B2t horizon has hue of 5Y through 7.5YR, value of 5 through 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist, and chroma of 1 through 6. It is typically heavy loam or light clay but averages 35 to 50 percent clay, 5 to 45 percent silt, and 15 to 50 percent sand with more than 15 percent fine or coarser sand. This horizon is neutral or mildly alkaline.
The C horizon if present has hue of 5Y through 7.5YR. It is typically heavy clay loam or light clay with clay ranging from 35 to 50 percent. This horizon ranges from neutral to mildly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Boettcher, Creswell, and Pinelli series. Boettcher soils are calcareous in the lower part of the solum and in the C horizon and have continuous horizons of calcium carbonate accumulation. Creswell soils have a lithic contact and have continuous horizons of calcium carbonate accumulation. Pinelli soils lack bedrock within 40 inches, are calcareous in the lower solum and C horizons, and have continuous horizons of carbonate accumulation.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Kather soils are on gently to steeply sloping hills, ridges, and valley sides slopes. Slopes typically range from about 2 to 40 percent. The soil formed in moderately thin moderately fine to fine textured noncalcareous materials weathered from sedimentary bedrock. At the type location the mean annual precipitation is about 10 inches with peak periods of precipitation in the spring and summer. Mean annual temperature is 38 degrees F. and the mean summer air temperature is 57 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Boettcher soils and the Bundyman soils. Bundyman soils lack an argillic horizon, are calcareous above a depth of 40 inches, and have continuous horizons of carbonate accumulation.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; medium to rapid runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are as grazing land or native hay meadow. Native vegetation is sage, western wheat, needlegrass, mutton grass, bluebunch wheatgrass, and rabbitbrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: High mountain valleys of Colorado. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jackson County, Colorado, 1973.
REMARKS: Last updated by the state 10/73.