LOCATION WAHGUYHE           NV

WAHGUYHE SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, nonacid, mesic Lithic Xeric Torriorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Wahguyhe very gravelly sandy loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) About 60 percent of the soil surface is covered with pebbles and 2 percent with cobbles.

A--0 to 2 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine vesicular pores; 36 percent pebbles; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)

C--2 to 16 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine interstitial pores; 45 percent pebbles; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (11 to 15 inches thick)

R--16 inches; rhyolite bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Nye County, Nevada approximately 20 miles northwest of the town of Beatty; about 1,600 feet north and 2,000 feet east of the projected southwest corner of section 20, T. 10 S., R. 43 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture - Moist in winter and spring months, dry in summer and fall except for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and October due to convection storms.

Soil temperature - 53 to 59 degrees F.

Depth to lithic contact: 14 to 20 inches.

Control section - Percent clay: 5 to 15 percent.

Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent. Mainly pebbles.

A horizon - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.

Chroma: 3 or 4.

C horizon - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.

Chroma: 3 or 4.

Structure: Subangular blocky, platy or is massive.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Jobpeak(NV), Lequieu(CA), Skedaddle(NV), Smallcone(NV), Snaker(OR), and Tejabe(NV) series. Jobpeak, Skedaddle, Smallcone and Tejabe soils are less than 12 inches deep to bedrock. Lequieu soils contain 20 to 25 percent clay in the control section. Snaker soils have mean annual summer temperature of less than 53 degrees F.; in addition, they are neutral or mildly alkaline and have more than 15 percent clay in the control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wahguyhe soils are on mountain slopes and hills. These soils formed in mostly residuum with some colluvium from volcanic flowrock and tuffs. Slopes are 15 to 75 percent. Elevations are 5,500 to 8,200 feet. The climate is arid with hot summers and mild winters. The mean annual precipitation is about 8 to 12 inches; mean annual temperature is 51 to 57 degrees F., and the frost-free season is 120 to 180 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Caya soils. The Caya soils have argillic horizons.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; rapid runoff; moderately rapid permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, ephedra, and spiny menodora.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Nevada. These soils are not extensive. MLRA 29, 30.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Esmeralda County, Nevada, 1984.

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

Ochric epipedon - From the surface to 7 inches.

Lithic contact - At 16 inches (R horizon).

Xeric feature - Have an aridic moisture regime that borders on Xeric.

Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 16 inches.