LOCATION ASHCAMP NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy, glassy, mesic, shallow Vitritorrandic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Ashcamp ashy sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 3 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) ashy sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots; many very fine tubular and few very fine interstitial pores; 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
Bt--3 to 7 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) ashy sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; common faint clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 9 inches thick)
Cr--7 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) soft, weathered andesitic tuff; breaks into 2 to 6 centimeter thick plates; many roots and some soil in fractures.
TYPE LOCATION: Washoe County, Nevada; about 27.5 miles east of Vya; approximately 1,600 feet south and 1,600 feet west of the northeast corner of section 1, T. 42 N., R. 23 E.; USGS Badger Mountain SE 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 41 degrees 35 minutes 10 seconds north latitude and 119 degrees 19 minutes 38 seconds west longitude, NAD83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually moist in winter and spring, dry from July through October; Aridic moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature - 47 to 51 degrees F.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 7 to 14 inches, includes the Bt horizon.
Depth to bedrock - 7 to 14 inches to a paralithic contact. The paralithic materials below the contact are vitric tuffs.
Volcanic glass content - 35 to 60 percent in the coarse silt through fine sand fractions.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 10 to 18 percent;
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent gravel. Lithology of fragments are volcanic rocks such as tuff.
Other features - Many roots are present within bedrock fractures.
A horizon
Value: 2 or 3 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Clay content: 8 to 15 percent.
Organic matter content: 1 or 2 percent.
Bt horizon
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 2 or 3 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Clay content: 12 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent gravel.
Consistence: Slightly hard or hard dry.
Organic matter content: 1 or 2 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Cormol and Okayview series.
Cormol soils have 20 to 30 percent clay in the particle-size control section and have paralithic contacts at depths of 14 to 20 inches. Okayview soils have 18 to 27 percent clay in the particle-size control section and are intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative from July through September due to convection storms.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ashcamp soils are on plateaus. They formed in residuum and colluvium derived from andesitic tuff and similar volcanic rocks of pyroclastic origin. Slopes are 2 to 15 percent. Elevations range from 5,620 to 6,400 feet. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 14 inches, mean annual temperature is 45 to 47 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 80 to 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bitner and Devada soils. Bitner soils are moderately deep to paralithic contacts, have mollic epipedons, and do not have argillic horizons. Devada soils are clayey, shallow to lithic contacts, and have mollic epipedons and argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; high surface runoff; moderately rapid permeability (high saturated hydraulic conductivity).
USE AND VEGETATION: Ashcamp soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, Thurber's needlegrass, basin wildrye, and antelope bitterbrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Nevada. These soils are not extensive with about 6,000 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRA 23.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washoe County (North Part), Nevada, 1995.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 7 inches (A and Bt horizons).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 3 to 7 inches (Bt horizon).
Vitrandic intergrade feature - The zone from the soil surface to 7 inches (A and Bt horizons).
Paralithic contact - The boundary at 7 inches to underlying soft bedrock (Cr layer).
Particle-size control section and ashy substitute class with glassy mineralogy - The zone from the soil surface to 7 inches (A and Bt horizons).