LOCATION ULYSSES                 KS+CO NE SD WY

Established Series
Rev. LEB-ELF-TDC
01/2017

ULYSSES SERIES

The Ulysses series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loess. Ulysses soils are on plains, rises, and hillslopes on tableland in the Central High Tableland (MLRA 72). Slopes range from 0 to 20 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 480 millimeters (19 inches) and the mean annual temperature is 11 degrees C (52 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Torriorthentic Haplustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Ulysses silt loam, on an east-facing, linear, 0.5 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 1,029 meters (3,376 feet). (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described on August 26, 2013, the soil was slightly moist to a depth of 47 cm and dry below. KSSL lab pedon ID 14N0264)

Ap1--0 to 11 cm; (0 to 4 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; 21 percent sand; 24 percent clay; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots throughout; noneffervescent (1 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); abrupt smooth boundary. (Lab horizon ID 14N00841)

Ap2--11 to 22 cm; (4 to 9 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; 19 percent sand; 24 percent clay; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; common fine and common very fine roots throughout; 10% distinct pressure faces; noneffervescent (1 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); slightly alkaline (pH 7.6 by 1:1 water); clear smooth boundary;(Lab horizon ID 14N00842). (The combined thickness of the A horizon is 18 to 32 cm (7 to 13 inches).)

Bw--22 to 47 cm; (9 to 19 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; 15 percent sand; 27 percent clay; weak medium prismatic structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; common fine roots throughout; common fine low-continuity tubular pores; strong effervescence (8 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 7.9 by 1:1 water); clear wavy boundary; (Lab horizon ID 14N00843). (The combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 12 to 41 cm (5 to 16 inches).)

Bk1--47 to 79 cm; (19 to 28 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; 13 percent sand; 25 percent clay; weak fine prismatic parting to moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots throughout; common fine low continuity tubular pores; 2 percent fine irregular carbonate masses and 2 percent fine irregular carbonate nodules in the matrix; violent effervescence (11 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 8.0 by 1:1 water); clear smooth boundary; (Lab horizon ID 14N00844).

Bk2--79 to 114 cm; (28 to 45 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; 13 percent sand; 23 percent clay; moderate medium prismatic structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine and few very fine roots throughout; common fine low continuity tubular pores; 3 percent fine irregular carbonate masses in the matrix; violent effervescence (10 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 8.3 by 1:1 water); clear smooth boundary; (Lab horizon ID 14N00845).

Bk3--114 to 154 cm; (45 to 61 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; 14 percent sand; 22 percent clay; moderate medium prismatic structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; few fine and few very fine roots throughout; few very fine and common fine low continuity tubular pores; 2 percent fine irregular carbonate masses and 1 percent fine irregular carbonate nodules in the matrix; violent effervescence (9 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 8.3 by 1:1 water); clear smooth boundary; (Lab horizon ID 14N00846).

Bk4--154 to 200 cm; (61 to 79 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; 13 percent sand; 21 percent clay; weak coarse prismatic structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; few fine roots throughout; common fine low continuity tubular pores; 3 percent fine threadlike carbonate masses in the matrix; strong effervescence (9 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 8.3 by 1:1 water); (Lab horizon ID 14N00847). (The combined thickness of the Bk horizon is 127 to 170 cm (50 to 67 inches)).

TYPE LOCATION: Wichita County, Kansas; about 7.4 kilometers (4.6 miles) west and 10.5 kilometers (6.5 miles) north of Leoti; located about 684 meters (2,244 feet) north and 240 meters (787 feet) west of the southeast corner of section 18, T. 17 S., R. 37 W. (Public Land Survey location); Russell Springs 3 SW USGS topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 34 minutes 28.97 seconds North and longitude 101 degrees 26 minutes 40.93 seconds West (WGS84); 4272418 meters North and 287033 meters East (UTM zone 14 WGS84).

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: It is intermittently moist in some part throughout the year; driest during October through March; ustic moisture regime bordering on aridic.
Depth to bedrock: Greater than 200cm
Particle-size control section (weighted average) clay: 19-34 percent
Particle-size control section (weighted average) total sand: 5-29 percent
Particle-size control section (weighted average) fine sand and coarser: 0-14 percent
Depth to strong or violent effervescence: 18 to 38 centimeters (7 to 15 inches); very slight to slight effervescence is allowed within 18 cm of the mineral soil surface.
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 18 to 49 centimeters (7 to 19 inches)

Ap horizon or A (where present):
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 to 5 (dry), 2 or 3 (moist)
Chroma: 2 to 4 (dry), 1 to 3 (moist)
Texture: silt loam, silty clay loam, and loam
Sand: 0 to 50 percent
Clay: 10 to 35 percent
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
Effervescence: none to slight

Bw horizon or Bk (where present):
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 (dry), 2 to 5 (moist)
Chroma: 2 to 4 (dry), 1 to 4 (moist)
Texture: silt loam, silty clay loam, loam and clay loam
Sand: 7 to 50 percent
Clay: 10 to 37 percent
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
Effervescence: noneffervescent to violent

Bk horizon or C (where present):
Hue: 7.5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 8 (dry), 3 to 8 (moist)
Chroma: 2 to 6 (dry), 2 to 6 (moist)
Texture: silt loam, silty clay loam, loam, and clay loam
Sand: 8 to 40 percent
Clay: 10 to 34 percent
Reaction: moderately alkaline to strongly alkaline
Effervescence: slight to violent
Some pedons have more sand or more clay below 102 centimeters (40 inches).

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Ancho and Colmor series.
Ancho soils are on floodplains, terraces, and alluvial fans.
Colmor soils formed in weathered shale.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: loess
Landform: plains, rises, and hillslopes on tableland
Slopes: commonly 1 to 8 percent, but range from 0 to 20 percent
Elevation: 730 to 1,250 meters (2,395 to 4,050 feet)
Mean annual air temperature: 8 to 14 degrees C. (46 to 57 degrees F.)
Mean annual precipitation: 360 to 600 millimeters (14 to 24 inches)
Precipitation pattern: Most of the rainfall occurs as high-intensity, convective thunderstorms from late spring through early autumn. Precipitation in winter generally occurs as snow.
Frost-free period: 130 to 190 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Buffalo Park, Colby, Keith, and Richfield soils.
Buffalo Park soils are eroded Ulysses that do not have a mollic epipedon, and are on similar positions.
Colby soils do not have a mollic epipedon or a cambic horizon and are on steeper side slopes or convex ridges.
Keith and Richfield soils have argillic horizons and are typically on broader, less sloping adjacent plains.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage: well drained
Runoff: negligible to medium
Saturated hydraulic conductivity: moderately high.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is cultivated.
Winter wheat and grain sorghum are the principal crops.
Native vegetation is short and mid grasses.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Kansas, western Nebraska, southeastern Wyoming, southwestern South Dakota, and eastern Colorado. LRR H, Major Land Resource Area 72; Central High Tableland. The series is of large extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Salina, Kansas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Logan County, Kansas, 1957.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon: The zone from 0 to 22 centimeters (0 to 9 inches) (Ap horizons)
Cambic horizon: The zone from 22 to 47 centimeters (9 to 18.5 inches) (Bw horizon)
Free carbonates: 0 to 200 centimeters (0 to 79 inches) (Ap, Bw, and Bk horizons)
Identifiable secondary carbonates: 47 to 200 centimeters (18.5 to 79 inches)(Bk horizons)
Moisture regime: ustic/aridic

The assignment of the cation-exchange activity class is supported by lab sample numbers: 40A1811, 40A1813, 40A1814, 88P0864, 89P0137, 89P0727, 89P0734, 90P0719, 91P0807, 91P0809, 91P0810, 91P0811, 95P0481, 95P0482, 95P0486, and 14N0264.
Taxonomic version: Twelfth Edition, 2014.
Some soils formerly classified in the Ulysses series have free carbonates in the lower part of the mollic epipedon and throughout the cambic horizon. These soils would now be classified as Torriorthentic Haplustolls. ELF 09/1997
Modified format by LRM in 1/2006 to include metric conversion and change permeability to saturated hydraulic conductivity.
Modified format by DEW in 12/2011 to meet MO5 standards.
Removed the calcareous modifier from the parent material description. TDC 04/2012
Changed the subgroup classification from Aridic Haplustolls to Torriorthentic Haplustolls because 83 percent of the true Ulysses pedons are in the Torriorthentic Haplustolls subgroup. TDC 04/2016
Changed the taxonomic version to the Twelfth Edition. TDC 04/2016
Moved the type location to represent the new subgroup and to place it more toward the center of the Ulysses extent. TDC 04/2016
Edited the Range in Characteristics for the horizons, based on statistics from 683 true Ulysses pedons. TDC 04/2016
Free carbonates are allowed within 18 centimeters of the soil surface, but the effervescent strength is noneffervescent to slightly effervescent. TDC 04/2016
Added rises to the landform list, to comply with the MLRA 72 geomorphic description system. TDC 04/2016
Added elevation values, based on the Ulysses polygon extent and the topographic layers. TDC 04/2016
Edited Mean Annual Precipitation and Frost Free Days values, based on NOAA data (1981-2000). TDC 04/2016
Added Buffalo Park to the associated soils list. TDC 04/2016
Expanded the low end of the Runoff range from low to negligible to represent the areas with slope less than 1 percent, based on NSSH 618-49 (2003). TDC 04/2016
Added lab sample numbers that support the assignment of the cation-exchange activity class. TDC 04/2016
KSSL lab pedon IDs that support the Ulysses series are 03N0884, 05N0784, 14N0264, 40A1811, 40A1813, 40A1814, 87P0017, 87P0026, 87P0029, 88P0864, 89P0137, 89P0727, 89P0734, 89P0737, 89P0741, 90P0719, 91P0807, 91P0809,91P0810, 91P0811,95P0481, 95P0482, and 95P0486. TDC 04/2016
Some soils formerly classified in the Ulysses series do not have free carbonates in the lower part of the mollic epipedon or throughout the cambic horizon. These soils would now be classified as Aridic Haplustolls and are considered part of the Ulysses family. TDC 04/2016
Removed Oklahoma from the extent because Ulysses major components have been removed from that state. TDC 04/2016

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.