LOCATION GARO               CO

GARO SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic Calcic Haplocryepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Garo silty clay loam, on a 1 percent slope in grassland at an elevation of 2795 meters (9,170 feet). (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 8 cm (0 to 3 inches); light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; weak very thick platy structure; slightly hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; strongly effervescent; 5 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 18 cm thick)

Bky1--8 to 18 cm (3 to 7 inches); pale olive (5Y 6/3) silty clay loam, olive (5Y 5/3) moist; weak medium angular blocky structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine carbonate masses in the matrix; few fine gypsum crystals in the matrix; strongly effervescent; 17 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary.

Bky2--18 to 41 cm (7 to 16 inches); pale olive (5Y 6/4) silty clay loam, olive (5Y 5/4) moist; weak medium angular blocky structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine carbonate masses in the matrix; few fine gypsum crystals in the matrix; violently effervescent; 6 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary.

Bky3--41 to 64 cm (16 to 25 inches); olive (5Y 5/3) silty clay, olive (5Y 4/3) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine carbonate masses in the matrix; common fine gypsum crystals in the matrix; violently effervescent; 14 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); clear smooth boundary.

Bky4--64 to 152 cm (25 to 60 inches); light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; massive; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine carbonate masses in the matrix; common fine gypsum crystals in the matrix; violently effervescent; 14 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4). (Combined thickness of the Bky horizons is greater than 56 cm)

TYPE LOCATION: Park County, Colorado; about 19 kilometers (12 miles) north of Hartsel; about 1,200 feet south and 500 feet west of the northeast corner of Sec. 14, T. 10 S., R. 76 W.; Elkhorn USGS quad; lat. 39 degrees 11 minutes 15 seconds N. and long. 105 degrees 51 minutes 00 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: The soil moisture control section is usually moist in some part during summer and early fall, and intermittently dry in late fall; ustic moisture regime bordering on aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature: 2.8 to 5 degrees C (37 to 41 degrees F)
Mean summer soil temperature: 10.6 to 14.4 degrees C (51 to 58 degrees F)
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: 8 to 18 cm (3 to 7 inches)
Depth to cambic horizon: 8 to 18 cm (3 to 7 inches)
Depth to gypsum accumulations: 8 to 18 cm (3 to 7 inches)
Thickness of the ochric horizon: 8 to 18 cm (3 to 7 inches)

Particle-size control section (weighted averages):
Noncarbonate clay content: 36 to 42 percent
Fine sand and coarser sand content: 10 to 15 percent
Rock fragment content: 0 to 3 percent

A horizon
Hue: 2.5Y, 5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry; 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3 dry; 2 or 3 moist
Clay content: 35 to 40 percent
Carbonate clay content: 1 to 3 percent
Gravel content: 0 to 5 percent, indurated
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 10 percent
Gypsum content: 1 to 3 percent
Electrical conductivity: 2 to 4 mmhos/cm

Bky horizons
Hue: 2.5Y, 5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry; 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4 dry; 2 to 4 moist
Texture: silty clay, silty clay loam
Clay content: 35 to 45 percent
Carbonate clay content: 1 to 3 percent
Gravel content: 0 to 5 percent, indurated
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 20 percent (subhorizons with 15 percent or greater are less than 15 cm thick)
Gypsum content: 1 to 3 percent
Electrical conductivity: 2 to 4 mmhos/cm

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Peaspear series.
The Peaspear soils do not have gypsum accumulations.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: alluvium from shale, typically the Pierre Formation.
Landform: basin floors and alluvial flats
Slopes: 0 to 3 percent
Elevation: 2743 to 2835 meters (9,000 to 9,300 feet)
Mean annual temperature: 2.2 to 3.3 degrees C (36 to 38 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: 305 to 356 mm (12 to 14 inches)
Precipitation pattern: Monthly precipitation is lowest in winter and greatest in July and August.
Frost-free period: 50 to 80 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Gebson and Heath series. Gebson soils have a mollic epipedon and an argillic horizon and are on pediments. Heath soils have an argillic horizon and are on pediments.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: well drained, slow permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation consists mainly of western wheatgrass, Junegrass, inland saltgrass, needleandthread, slender wheatgrass, slimstem muhly, streambank wheatgrass, and mat muhly.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Colorado; LRR E, MLRA 48B; small extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Lakewood, Colorado

SERIES PROPOSED: Park County, Colorado; Teller Park soil survey area, Colorado; 2009. The name is taken from an abandoned town site in Park County.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Series control section: The zone from 0 to 200 cm.
Particle-size control section: The zone from 25 to 100 cm. (part of Bky2, Bky3, and part of Bky4 horizons)
Ochric epipedon: The zone from 0 to 8 cm. (A horizon)
Cambic horizon: The zone from 8 to 152 cm. (Bky1, Bky2, Bky3, Bky4 horizons)
Secondary carbonates: The zone from 8 to 152 cm. (Bky1, Bky2, Bky3, Bky4 horizons)
Gypsum accumulations: The zone from 8 to 152 cm. (Bky1, Bky2, Bky3, Bky4 horizons)

The Garo series name was reactivated in 2009 for use in the Teller-Park soil survey. This series was originally established in 1959 in Chaffee County, Colorado, in the Trout Creek Watershed Area, which is now a part of the soil survey of Pike and San Isabel National Forests, Northern Part.

Taxonomic Version: Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 10th Edition, 2006.