LOCATION PAHRANGE NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Aridic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Pahrange very stony sandy loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
All--0 to 4 inches, brown (l0YR 5/3) very stony sandy loam, dark brown (l0YR 3/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial and tubular pores; 25 percent pebbles, 5 percent cobbles, and l0 percent stones; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
Al2--4 to ll inches, brown (l0YR 5/3) very gravelly loam, dark brown (l0YR 3/3) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and medium roots; many very fine and medium tubular pores; few thin cl y films on ped faces, in the
pores, and coating rock fragments; 35 percent pebbles and 5 percent cobbles; neu ral (pH 6.8); abrupt wavy
boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
B2lt--ll to 20 inches, yellowish brown (l0YR 5/4) gravelly clay loam, dark yellowish brown (l0YR 4/4) moist; strong medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; many thin clay films on ped faces, in the pores and coating rock fragments; 20 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 6.8); gradual smooth boundary. (8 to l7 inches thick)
B22t--20 to 26 inches; brownish yellow (l0YR 6/6) clay loam, yellowish brown (l0YR 5/6) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few very fine and fine tubular pores; l5 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Cr--26 to 39 inches; soft weathered rock with very pale brown (l0YR 7/3) loam, pale brown (l0YR 6/3) moist in fractures. (l0 to l5 inches thick.)
R--39 inches; hard, fractured, silica and clay coated rhyolitic bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Washoe County, Nevada; approximately l,200 feet east and 2,600 feet south from northwest corner of section 26, T. 23 N., R. l2 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum and depth to bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The mean annual soil temperature ranges from 47 degrees to 53 degrees F. The soil is moist during the winter and spring. It is slightly acid or neutral. Mollic epipedon is 8 to l2 inches thick.
The A horizon has value of 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is 8 to l5 inches thick.
The Bt horizon has value of 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist, and chroma of 4 or 6. It s 27 to 35 percent clay and
l5 to 35 percent rock fragments.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bissel,
Bjork,
Cowiche,
Dodes,
Indiano,
Margerum,
Orr,
Ralls,
Simcoe and
Springmeyer series. Bissel, Cowiche, Margerum, Orr, Ralls, and Springmeyer soils are deeper than 40 inches. Bjork soils have less than l5 percent rock fragments in the control section and lack an abrupt AB boundary. Dodes soils lack hard rock within 40 inches and do not have an abrupt AB boundary. Indiano soils do not have an abrupt AB boundary and have less than 4 inches of soft weathered rock above the hard rock. Simcoe soils
have less than l5 percent rock fragments in the control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pahrange soils are on mountain slopes at elevations of 4,500 to 7,000 feet. Slopes are l5 to 70 percent. These soils formed in colluvium and residuum from weathered rhylitic rock. The climate is semiarid with cold winters and hot summers. The mean annual precipitation is l0 to l2 inches; mean annual temperature is 44 degrees to 50 degrees F., and the frost-free season is 80 to ll0 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Lemm, Skedaddle and Duco soils. Lemm soils are deeper than 40 inches. Skedaddle and Duco soils are less than 20 inches deep.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for range. The native vegetation is low sagebrush, green ephedra, dwarf rabbitbrush, Nevada bluegrass, desert needlegrass, and Sandberg bluegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Nevada. The series is of small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washoe County, Nevada, South Part, l980.
REMARKS:
The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Reno MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.