LOCATION WAMEGO KSEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiudolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Wamego silt loam - on an 8 percent slope in native grass. (Colors are for the moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 6 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silt loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate very fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly plastic and slightly sticky; many fine roots; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
AB--6 to 10 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly plastic and slightly sticky; many fine roots; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizons is 5 to 12 inches.)
Bt1--10 to 17 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; some faces of peds are very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2); few faint clay films on ped faces; 5 percent gravel, mostly sandstone; common fine roots; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt2--17 to 27 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; some faces of peds are dark brown (10YR 4/3); common fine faint clay films on ped faces; 10 percent gravel, mostly sandstone and shale; few fine roots; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 10 to 28 inches.)
Cr--27 to 48 inches; pale brown and yellowish brown shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Pottawatomie County, Kansas; about 10 miles east of Westmoreland; about 1,100 feet east and 400 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 5, T. 8 S., R. 11 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to paralithic contact with shale bedrock is 20 to 40 inches. The thickness of the mollic epipedon is 7 to 18 inches. Volume of shale and sandstone gravel 2 mm to 3 inches long ranges from 0 to 15 percent in any horizon. Fine mica flakes are common throughout many pedons.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5 or 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and 3 to 5 dry, and a chroma of 1 or 2. It is a silt loam or silty clay loam. Reaction is medium acid or slightly acid.
The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5 and 4 to 6 dry, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is silty clay loam, clay loam, or silty clay with 35 to 42 percent clay. Reaction is medium acid to neutral. Some pedons have a BC horizon with color and texture similar to the Bt horizon. Volume of shale and sandstone gravel in the BC ranges from 0 to 35 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Donerail, Loradale, Montello, Peebles, Schapville, and Woolper soils. Donerail, Loradale, Montello, Peebles, and Woolper soils have a paralithic contact at depths greater than 40 inches. Schapville soils have a discontinuity within the Bt horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wamego soils are on narrow ridges and upper side slopes of the upland. Slopes range from 3 to 25 percent. Wamego soils are formed in residuum from shale and sandstone. The mean annual temperature ranges from 53 to 58 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 38 inches. Thornthwaites Annual P-E Index ranges from 54 to 66.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Elmont, Sibleyville, and Vinland soils; and the Pawnee and Wymore soils. The Elmont soils have paralithic contact greater than 40 inches and occur above Wamego soils. The loamy Sibleyville soils occur on similar landscapes. The Vinland soils have paralithic contact less than 20 inches and occur on similar landscapes. The Pawnee and Wymore soils have paralithic contact at depths greater than 60 inches. They usually occur on ridges above the Wamego soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly in native ranges. Dominant grasses are big and little bluestem, indiangrass, and switchgrass. Some of the less sloping areas are cultivated. Wheat and grain sorghum are the principal crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeast Kansas. The series is moderately extensive, about 40,000 acres.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Salina, Kansas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pottawatomie County, Kansas, 1984.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of about 10 inches (A,and AB horizons); argillic horizon - the zone from about 10 to 27 inches (Bt1, and Bt2 horizons).