LOCATION RAVENSWOOD NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey-skeletal, smectitic, frigid Typic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Ravenswood gravelly loam, very stony--forestland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with approximately 65 percent pebbles, 10 percent cobbles and 3 percent stones.
A1--0 to 3 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate thin platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and fine vesicular pores; 15 percent pebbles and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
A2--3 to 9 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; 10 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 7.2); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--9 to 13 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly clay loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist, moderate medium angular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine and medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; many faint and common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 30 percent pebbles and 5 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Bt2--13 to 29 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly clay, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; strong medium angular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine and medium roots; few very fine tubular pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 40 percent pebbles and 10 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); clear wavy boundary. (8 to 19 inches thick)
Bt3--29 to 36 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly clay, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to strong medium angular blocky; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few coarse roots; few fine tubular pores; many pressure faces; 25 percent pebbles, 10 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt irregular boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
R--36 inches; fractured, hard, altered tuff.
TYPE LOCATION: Lander County, Nevada; about 35 miles southwest of Austin; 1,000 feet north and 500 feet east of the southwest corner of section 7, T. 15 N., R. 38 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Moist in winter and spring, dry 45 to 90 consecutive days from mid-July to October; xeric moisture regime that borders on aridic.
Soil temperature - 43 to 47 degrees F.; greater than 41 degrees F. from May through November.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 10 to 16 inches and includes the upper part of the argillic horizon.
Depth to bedrock - 20 to 40 inches to a lithic contact.
Control section - Clay content: 35 to 50 percent; Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mainly pebbles. Lithology of fragments are volcanic and metamorphic rocks such as rhyolite, tuff, or metarhyolite.
Reaction - Slightly acid to slightly alkaline.
A horizon - Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Bt horizons - Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 5 dry in the upper part, 5 or 6 dry in lower part, 3 moist in the upper part, 3 to 5 moist in the lower part.
Chroma: 3 in the upper part, 3 through 6 in the lower part.
Texture: The Bt1 horizon is very gravelly clay loam; the Bt2 and Bt3 horizons are very gravelly clay or very gravelly clay loam.
Structure: Angular blocky, subangular blocky, or prismatic.
Consistence: Slightly hard or hard, dry; friable to firm, moist; slightly sticky to very sticky and slightly plastic to very plastic, wet.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Birchcreek, Derringer, Droem (T), Erakatak, Leevan, McIvey, Roostercomb, Snaresnout, Threek, Yago, and Yeates Hollow series.
Birchcreek soils have mainly cobbles and stones in the particle-size control section. Derringer soils are moderately deep to paralithic contacts. Droem, Leevan and Roostercomb soils have mollic epipedons that do not include the upper part of the argillic horizon. Also, Leevan soils have clay texture in the upper part of the argillic horizon and Droem soils have clay loam texture in all parts of the argillic horizon. Erakatak soils have mainly cobbles in the particle-size control section. McIvey, Threek, Yago and Yeates Hollow soils are greater than 40 inches deep to bedrock. Snaresnout soils contain 60 percent or more rock fragments in the lower part of the argillic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ravenswood soils are on mountains. They formed in colluvium and residuum derived from volcanic and metamorphic rocks. Slopes are 8 to 50 percent. Elevations range from 6,000 to 8,000 feet. The climate is semiarid with cold, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 16 inches, the mean annual temperature is 40 to 45 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 60 to 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Cleavage, Douhide, and Itca soils. Cleavage soils are loamy-skeletal, are shallow to lithic contacts, and have mollic epipedons and argillic horizons. Douhide and Itca soils are clayey-skeletal, shallow to lithic contacts, and have mollic epipedons and argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; high or very high surface runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Ravenswood soils are used for livestock grazing, wood products, and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is a forest canopy of singleleaf pinyon and Utah juniper with an understory of mountain big sagebrush, Thurber needlegrass, and Idaho fescue.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and western Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRAs 28B and 27.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Eureka County, Nevada, 1983.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 13 inches (A1, A2, and Bt1 horizons).
Argillic horizon - The zone from about 9 to 36 inches (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 36 inches to underlying hard bedrock (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 9 to 29 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).