LOCATION ULYSSES            KS+CO NE OK SD WY

ULYSSES SERIES

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

TYPICAL PEDON: Ulysses silt loam - on a 1 percent convex slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 10 (0 to 4 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; hard, friable; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.

A--10 to 25 centimeters (4 to 10 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium granular structure; hard, friable; many worm casts; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 18 to 30 centimeters (7 to 12 inches) thick.)

Bw--25 to 46 centimeters (10 to 18 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; moderate medium granular structure; hard, friable; abundant worm casts; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 30 centimeters (0 to 12 inches) thick)

C1--46 to 76 centimeters (18 to 30 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable; violent effervescence; faint films and streaks of segregated lime; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (38 to 102 centimeters (15 to 40 inches) thick)

C2--76 to 152 centimeters (30 to 60 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Greeley County, Kansas; 26 kilometer (16 miles) southwest of Tribune; 457 meters (1,500 feet) south and 640 meters (2,100 feet) west of the northeast corner of sec. 8, T. 20 S., R. 42 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum thickness: 25 to 61 centimeters (10 to 24 inches)
Depth to free carbonates: 18 to 38 centimeters (7 to 15 inches)
Mollic epipedon: 18 to 51 centimeters (7 to 20 inches) thick

A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5, and 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

Bw horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6, and 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam or silty clay loam, but includes loam and clay loam with the sand fraction dominated by very fine sand
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
Some pedons have an AC horizon.

C horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 5 to 7, and 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: silt loam or silty clay loam, but the range includes loam and clay loam with the sand fraction dominated by very fine sand
Reaction: moderately alkaline
Some pedons have more sandy or more clayey layers below 102 centimeters (40 inches).

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: calcareous loess
Landform: hills and plains
Slope: commonly 1 to 8 percent, but range from 0 to 20 percent
Mean annual temperature: 9 to 14 degrees C. (48 to 57 degrees F.)
Mean annual precipitation: 38 to 48 centimeters (15 to 19 inches)
Thornthwaite Annual P-E Index ranges from 25 to 34.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Colby, Keith, Kuma, and Richfield soils.
Colby soils are on steeper side slopes or convex ridges.
Keith, Kuma, and Richfield soils are typically on broader, less sloping divides.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated to cropland.
Principal crops are winter wheat and grain sorghum.
Native vegetation is short and mid grasses.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Kansas, western Nebraska, eastern Colorado, and Oklahoma Panhandle. The series is of large extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Salina, Kansas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Logan County, Kansas, 1957.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon: 0 to 25 centimeters (0 to 10 inches) (Ap, A horizons)
Cambic horizon: 25 to 46 centimeters (10 to 18 inches) (Bw horizon)
Moisture regime: aridic
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.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Lab data is available in Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 4, pp 74 to 81.

Modified format by LRM in 1/2006 to include metric conversion and change permeability to saturated hydraulic conductivity.