LOCATION THIKE NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Xeric Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Thike very cobbly sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with 40 percent pebbles, 30 percent cobbles, and 10 percent stones.
A--0 to 2 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very cobbly sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; common very fine and fine vesicular and interstitial pores; 35 percent pebbles, 15 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
Bt1--2 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine, common fine tubular and interstitial pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 30 percent pebbles and 10 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
Bt2--5 to 8 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely cobbly sandy clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine and fine roots; common very fine and fine interstitial pores; common faint clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 30 percent pebbles and 40 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
R--8 inches; fractured granite; bedrock is weathered with some clay and roots in cracks in the upper 4 inches; bedrock becomes harder and less fractured at 12 inches.
TYPE LOCATION: Esmeralda County, Nevada, about 2 miles east of Willow Springs; 2,600 feet south and 2,600 feet east of the northwest corner of section 17, T. 8 S., R. 42 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Moist in winter and spring months, dry in summer and fall except for 10 to 20 days between July and October due to convection storms; aridic moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Soil temperature - 47 to 52 degrees F.
Depth to bedrock - 5 to 14 inches to a lithic contact.
Reaction - Neutral or slightly alkaline.
Effervescence - Noneffervescent.
Control section - Clay content: 12 to 18 percent; Rock fragments: 50 to 70 percent with less than 5 percent stones, 15 to 40 percent cobbles, and 20 to 50 percent pebbles. More than half of the pebbles are coarse (about 25 millimeters in size).
A horizon - Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3.
Structure: Platy or subangular blocky.
Bt1 horizon - Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Texture (less than 2 mm): Sandy loam or coarse sandy loam.
Clay content: 10 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 40 to 70 percent.
Bt2 horizon - Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Texture (less than 2 mm): Coarse sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam.
Clay content: 18 to 27 percent.
Rock fragments: 50 to 70 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are Atlow, Cottle, Gabbvally, Hooplite, and Stewval series. Potential competitors in a similar family are the Boomstick, Checkett, Fortyday, Nevo, Olac, Old Camp, Phliss, Rowel, and Soughe series.
Atlow, Boomstick, Checkett, Cottle, Fortyday, Hooplite, Nevo, Olac, Old Camp, Phliss, Rowel, Soughe, and Stewval soils average more than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section. In addition, Hooplite and Stewval soils have calcareous Bt horizons and Olac soils are not moist for 10 to 20 days in the summer. Gabbvally soils have less than 50 percent rock fragments in the control section, most of which are pebbles.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Thike soils are on mountains. They formed in residuum and colluvium derived from granite and related granitic rocks. Slopes are 15 to 75 percent. Elevations range from 5,500 to 7,400 feet. The climate is cool-semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 8 to 11 inches, the mean annual temperature is 45 to 49 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 90 to 120 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Calpeak, Slatery, and Gabbvally series. Calpeak soils do not have an argillic horizon and are on less stable slopes. Slatery soils are over siltstone and are calcareous throughout. Gabbvally soils are over tuff and have 18 to 27 percent clay in the particle-size control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; high surface runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Thike soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, ephedra, galleta, desert needlegrass, and Sandberg bluegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Nevada. These soils are not extensive.
MLRA 29.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Esmeralda County, Nevada, 1984.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 2 inches (A horizon).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 2 to 8 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 8 inches to underlying hard bedrock (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from the soil surface to 8 inches (A, Bt1, and Bt2 horizons).