LOCATION OLPE KS+MO

Established Series
Rev. DWS-LEB-RGC
09/2018

OLPE SERIES

The Olpe series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in old gravelly sediments over residuum from limestone and shale. These soils are on uplands or high terraces. Slope ranges from 1 to 15 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1090 mm (43 inches), and mean annual temperature is about 14 degrees C (57 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey-skeletal, smectitic, thermic Typic Paleudolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Olpe gravelly silt loam, on a west-facing, 4 percent slope in rangeland, at an elevation of 296 meters (971 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A1--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) gravelly silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable; many fine roots; 15 percent rounded chert pebbles; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.

A2--20 to 33 cm (8 to 13 inches); dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) silty clay loam, brown (7.5YR 5/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; slightly hard, friable; many fine roots; about 15 percent by volume of rounded chert gravel; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary. [Combined thickness of the A horizons is 20 to 51 cm (8 to 20 inches)]

BA--33 to 48 cm (13 to 19 inches); dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) very gravelly silty clay loam, brown (7.5YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; common fine roots; about 50 percent by volume of rounded chert gravel; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. [0 to 38 cm (0 to 15 inches) thick]

Bt1--48 cm to 64 cm (19 to 25 inches); dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) extremely gravelly silty clay, brown (7.5YR 5/4) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm; few fine roots; about 80 percent by volume of rounded chert gravel; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt2--64 to 91 cm (25 to 36 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/3) extremely gravelly silty clay, light reddish brown (5YR 6/3) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm; few fine roots; about 80 percent by volume of rounded chert gravel; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt3--91 to 137 cm (36 to 54 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) very gravelly silty clay, light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) dry; weak medium blocky structure; very hard, very firm; few fine roots; common fine faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) iron and manganese masses; about 45 percent by volume of rounded chert gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is (15 to 50 inches)]

2Bt--137 to 152 cm (54 to 60 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; weak medium blocky structure; extremely hard, extremely firm; many coarse prominent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) oxidized iron stains; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Allen County, Kansas; about 4 miles west of Humboldt; about 2500 feet south and 350 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 11, T. 26 S., R. 17 E.; USGS Yates Center SE, Kansas topographic quadrangle; lat. 37.798867 degrees and long. -95.523803 degrees, WGS84.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of solum: more than 152 cm (60 inches)
Thickness of mollic epipedon: 25 to 61 cm (10 to 24 inches)

A horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 2 or 3 (3 to 5 dry)
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: silt loam, gravelly silt loam, loam, gravelly loam, silty clay loam, gravelly silty clay loam
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid

Bt horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR, to 7.5YR
Value: 3 to 5 (4 to 6 dry)
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: silty clay, clay, silty clay loam or clay loam; or the gravelly or extremely gravelly counterparts of these textures
Rock fragment content: 10 to 85 percent (rounded chert gravel)
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral
Redoximorphic features: chroma of 2 or less in some pedons

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series in the same family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Olpe soils are on high terraces or uplands. Slope ranges from 1 to 15 percent. The soils formed in old gravelly and clayey alluvium with some modification of the surface with deposition of loess, over residuum from limestone and shale. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 810 to 1090 mm (32 to 43 inches). Mean annual temperature ranges from 14 to 17 degrees C (57 to 62 degrees F). Elevation is 270 to 430 meters (880 to 1410 feet) above mean sea level. Thornthwaites Annual P-E Index ranges from 60 to 72.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Eram, Dennis, Kenoma, Lula, and Summit soils. Eram soils are on similar topography as Olpe soils but they formed in residuum weathered from shale. Dennis, Eram, and Summit soils are on areas below Olpe soils. Kenoma, and Lula soils are on smoother areas adjacent to and slightly below Olpe soils. All these associated soils have less than 15 percent coarse fragments by volume in their control section.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Potential for surface runoff is medium or rapid. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately low (0.4 to 1.4 micrometers per second). Permeability is slow.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most is used for rangeland. Native vegetation is tall grass prairie. Many areas have been quarried and used as a source of gravel.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 76 84A, and 112 in southeast Kansas, southwest Missouri and possibly adjacent parts of Oklahoma. The type location is in MLRA 112. The series is moderately extensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Butler County, Kansas, 1970.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.