LOCATION SARAPH NV+CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy, glassy, mesic, shallow Vitrixerandic Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Saraph ashy loamy sand--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is partially covered with 10 percent gravel.
A1--0 to 2 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) ashy loamy sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak thin platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and fine vesicular pores; 5 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
A2--2 to 4 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) ashy sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; 5 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
Bt1--4 to 9 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) ashy sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and common fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 8 inches thick)
Bt2--9 to 16 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) ashy clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; strong fine subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine and common fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; many faint clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
Cr--16 inches; soft tuff; few fine coats of secondary carbonate at the soil-bedrock contact.
TYPE LOCATION: Humboldt County, Nevada; about 0.5 mile east of Wildcat Gorge; approximately 2,800 feet east and 400 feet north of the southwest corner of section 28, T. 42 N., R. 24 E.; USGS Badger Mountain SE 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 41 degrees 32 minutes 2 seconds north latitude and 119 degrees 16 minutes 16 seconds west longitude, NAD27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually dry, moist in winter and spring; dry from late June through October; Aridic moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature - 47 to 52 degrees F.
Depth to base of argillic horizon - 14 to 20 inches.
Depth to bedrock - 14 to 20 inches to a paralithic contact. The paralithic materials below the contact are vitric tuffs.
Volcanic glass content - 45 to 70 percent in the coarse silt through fine sand fractions.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 18 to 30 percent;
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments are tuff or basalt.
Reaction - Neutral or slightly alkaline.
A horizons
Value: 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Bt1 horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Texture: Ashy sandy loam or ashy sandy clay loam.
Clay content: 15 to 25 percent.
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent.
Bt2 horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Texture: Ashy sandy clay loam or ashy clay loam.
Clay content: 20 to 35 percent.
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent.
Structure: Moderate or strong, fine or medium, angular blocky or subangular blocky.
Other features: Some pedons may be slightly effervescent and have few or common masses of identifiable secondary carbonates.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Ashart series. Ashart soils have albic horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Saraph soils are on rock pediments and plateaus. These soils formed mainly in residuum derived from soft vitric tuff, with minor amounts of loess and colluvium derived from basalt. Slopes are 2 to 50 percent. Elevations range from 4,580 to 6,670 feet. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 8 to 12 inches, the mean annual temperature is 43 to 45 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 80 to 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Tuffo and Yellowhills soils. Tuffo soils are ashy, very shallow and shallow to paralithic contacts, and do not have diagnostic subsurface horizons. Yellowhills soils are ashy, very deep, and have mollic epipedons and cambic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; high or very high surface runoff; slow permeability (moderately low or moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity).
USE AND VEGETATION: Saraph soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, and Thurber's needlegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Nevada and northeastern California. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRA 23.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Humboldt County, Nevada (West Part), 1993.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 4 inches (A1 and A2 horizons).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 4 to 16 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
Paralithic contact - The boundary at 16 inches to underlying soft bedrock (Cr layer).
Particle-size control section and ashy substitute class with glassy mineralogy - The zone from 4 to 16 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: A reference pedon has glass count data available from the Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE as pedon number 92Z0403.