LOCATION HARTIG             NV+CA

HARTIG SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Aridic Haploxerolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Hartig gravelly loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 10 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak very thin and thin platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine roots; many fine and very fine interstitial pores; 15 percent gravel; slightly acid (pH 6.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 20 inches thick)

Bw--10 to 21 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very gravelly loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 40 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.8); gradual smooth boundary. (8 to 20 inches thick)

C--21 to 42 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 50 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.0). (12 to 44 inches thick)

R--42 inches; unweathered bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Washoe County, Nevada; approximately 1,000 feet southeast of the northwest corner of section 9, T. 46 N., R. 19 E.; USGS Little Coleman Canyon 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 41 degrees 55 minutes 42 seconds north latitude and 119 degrees 51 minutes 52 seconds west longitude, NAD27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture - Usually moist in winter and spring, dry from June through mid-October; Aridic moisture regime that borders on xeric.

Mean annual soil temperature - 44 to 47 degrees F.

Mollic epipedon thickness - 10 to 20 inches.

Depth to bedrock - 40 to 60 inches to a lithic contact.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 12 to 18 percent;
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel with up to 40 percent being fine gravel. Lithology of fragments is volcanic rocks such as basalt or andesite.

A horizon
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 4 or 5 dry.
Chroma: 2 or 3 moist.
Structure: Weak or moderate very thin to medium platy or granular.
Consistence: Soft or slightly hard, dry.
Reaction: Slightly acid or neutral.
Organic matter content: 1 to 4 percent.

Bw horizon
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Very gravelly loam or very gravelly sandy loam.
Clay content: 12 to 20 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent gravel, 0 to 5 percent cobbles.
Structure: Weak to moderate, fine to coarse subangular blocky.
Consistence: Soft to slightly hard, dry.
Reaction: Slightly acid or neutral.

C horizon
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Very gravelly loam or very gravelly sandy loam.
Clay content: 10 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent gravel, 0 to 5 percent cobbles.
Structure: Subangular blocky or massive.
Consistence: Very friable and friable, moist.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Fitzwater, Loncan, Riddleranch, Snapeed, and Swahlen series.

Fitzwater soils average 18 to 27 percent clay in the particle-size control section and are dominated by cobbles and stones. Loncan, Riddleranch, and Snapeed soils are moderately deep to lithic contacts. Swahlen soils are very deep and average 18 to 25 percent clay in the particle-size control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hartig soils are on plateaus and mountains. They typically occur on backslope positions. These soils formed in colluvium and residuum derived from volcanic rocks such as andesite, dacite, rhyolite, and tuff. Slopes are 8 to 70 percent. Elevations range from 5,000 to 6,960 feet. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 16 inches, the mean annual temperature is 40 to 44 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 50 to 70 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Booth, Hapgood, and Newlands soils. Booth soils are fine and moderately deep to paralithic contacts. Hapgood soils have thick mollic epipedons and a cryic temperature regime. Newlands soils are fine-loamy and have a cryic temperature regime.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium or high surface runoff; moderate permeability (moderately high or high saturated hydraulic conductivity).

USE AND VEGETATION: Hartig soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, Idaho fescue, bluebunch, wheatgrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, prairie junegrass, western needlegrass, Nevada bluegrass, and lupine.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Nevada and northeastern California. These soils are moderately extensive. The series concept and main acreage is in MLRA 23, while other acreage occurs in MLRA 26.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lyon County, Nevada, 1981.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 10 inches (A horizon).

Cambic horizon - The zone from 10 to 21 inches (Bw horizon).

Lithic contact - The boundary at 42 inches to underlying hard, unweathered bedrock (R layer).

Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 40 inches. (Bw horizon and part of the C horizon.)

In 1989 the type location of the Hartig series was moved from Oregon to Nevada.