LOCATION GERMANO            OH

GERMANO SERIES

The Germano series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in residuum from weakly cemented, fine to coarse grained fractured sandstone on uplands. Permeability is moderately rapid. Slopes range from 2 to 40 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 40 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 53 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludults

TYPICAL PEDON: Germano fine sandy loam - on an 8 percent slope at an elevation of 1250 feet above msl, on a cropland ridgetop. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated).

Ap--0 to 10 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) fine sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; about 5 percent sandstone fragments; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick).

Bt1--10 to 18 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; common soft fragments; about 10 percent sandstone fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--18 to 26 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) channery fine sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; common soft fragments; about 15 percent sandstone fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 8 to 32 inches.)

C--26 to 33 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery fine sandy loam; massive; friable; few fine roots; common soft fragments; about 45 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick.)

Cr--33 to 37 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) fractured weathered sandstone.

TYPE LOCATION: Harrison County, Ohio; Rumley Township; about 0.1 mile north of New Rumley; 2400 feet north and 2200 feet west of the southeast corner of section 14, T. 12 N., R. 5 W. Scio topographic quadrangle, lat. 40 degrees, 24 minutes, 15 seconds N. long. 81 degrees, 01 minutes, 52 seconds, W. NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to the paralithic contact (soft sandstone) range from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to the top of the argillic horizon ranges from 4 to 10 inches. Rock fragments, mainly fragments of sandstone up to 6 inches in length, range from 2 to 20 percent by volume in the A horizon, and E horizon (if
present), 3 to 35 percent in individual subhorizons of the Bt (up to 40 percent below the particle size control section), and 20 to 80 percent in BC and C horizons, where present.

The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4, and chroma of 3 or 4. Some pedons have an A horizon, 1 to 4 inches thick, that has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3 (4 or 5 dry), and chroma of 1 or 2. The Ap or A horizon is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam; or channery analogues of these textures. It is very strongly acid to moderately acid but range to neutral where limed.

The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, or channery analogues of these textures. It is strongly acid or very strongly acid. In cultivated pedons the E horizon generally is incorporated into the Ap horizon. A BE horizon is in some pedons.

The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. It commonly is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, loam, or channery analogues of these textures; but very channery
analogues of these textures are permitted in the lower part of the Bt horizon. It is typically moderately acid to very strongly acid.

The C horizon has hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is channery to extremely channery analogues of fine sandy loam, sandy loam or loamy sand. It is strongly acid to extremely acid.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family with Germano. Closely related families include the Dunellen, Lansdale, Philomont, Rigley Steinsburg, and
Unicorn series. Dunellen soils have stratified materials in the series control section. Lansdale soils are underlain by hard bedrock. Philomont, Rigley and Unicorn soils have a lithic contact at depths greater than 40 inches. Steinsburg soils do not have an argillic horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Germano soils are on ridgetops and side slopes and have a convex or planar surface. Slope gradients range from 2 to 40 percent. Climate is humid and temperate. The soils formed mainly in residuum from weakly cemented fine to coarse grained fractured sandstone. Mean annual precipitation ranges from about 36 to 44 inches,
and mean annual temperature ranges from about 50 to 54 degrees F. Frost free days range from 155 to 165 days per year. Elevation ranges from 1000 to 1400 feet above sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Coshocton, Gilpin, Hazleton, Rigley, Schaffenaker, and Westmoreland soils on nearby upland landscapes. Except for Hazleton, Rigley, and Schaffenaker, all of these soils formed in interbedded siltstone and shale and have an argillic
horizon. Gilpin, Coshocton, and Westmoreland soils are fine-loamy. The moderately deep, well drained Gilpin soils are mainly on summits and shoulders. The deep, moderately well drained Coshocton soils and deep, well drained Westmoreland soils are on summits, shoulders, side slopes, benches, and foot slopes; typically at lower elevations than Germano
soils. The deep Hazleton and moderately deep Schaffenaker soils do not have an argillic horizon, and in addition Hazleton soils are loamy-skeletal. These soils are on steep side slopes below Germano soils and on higher domes and ridges. The deep, well drained Rigley soils are on side slopes below Germano soils.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is very low to medium. Permeability is moderately rapid.

USE AND VEGETATION: Germano soils are cropped on gentler slopes and pastured or wooded on steeper slopes. Natural vegetation was hardwood forest.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 124 and 126. In east-central and southeastern Ohio, and possibly Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Harrison County, Ohio, 1991. The name is taken from the village of Germano in Harrison County.

REMARKS: Prime farmland on slopes of less than 6 percent. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - from the soil surface to a depth of about 10 inches (Ap), argillic horizon - the zone from about 10 inches to 26 inches (Bt1, Bt2); paralithic contact - at a depth of about 33 inches.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available for HR-5 (the typical pedon) AS-13 and JF-17 from the Soil Characterization Laboratory, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.