LOCATION WEEPAH NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic, shallow Xeric Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Weepah very gravelly loam, rangeland. (Colors
are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) Approximately 40
percent of the surface is channers fragments and 5 percent flagstones.
A--0 to 2 inches; light brownish gray (l0YR 6/2) very
gravelly loam, grayish brown (l0YR 5/2) moist; moderate medium
platy structure parting to moderate medium and fine subangular
blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many fine and very fine
interstitial pores; 45 percent pebbles (about l5 percent of these will break down in l5 hours of shaking in water or in sodium hexametaphosphate) and 5 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (l to 3 inches thick)
Bk--2 to 8 inches; grayish brown (l0YR 5/2) very gravelly
loam, very dark grayish brown (l0YR 3/2) moist; weak fine sub- angular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and very fine, few medium roots; many
fine and very fine interstitial pores; 40 percent pebbles (about
l0 percent of these will break down in l5 hours of shaking in
water or in sodium hexametaphosphate) and l5 percent cobbles;
common thin lime coatings and pendants on undersides of rock fragments; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6);
clear irregular boundary. (3 to 11 inches thick)
Cr--8 inches; soft shale bedrock, highly fractured with
common very fine and fine roots matted in fractures.
TYPE LOCATION: Esmeralda County, Nevada; mine exploratory cut on
a north slope about 2,200 feet south and l,800 feet west of the northeast corner of section 20, T. l N., R. 40 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Moist in winter and spring months, dry in summer
and fall except for l0 to 20 days cumulative between July and
October due to convection storms.
Soil temperature - 49 to 55 degrees F.
Control section - Texture (less than 2mm): Averages loam or fine sandy loam.
Clay content: l0 to l8 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 65 percent, mostly gravel.
Depth to paralithic contact: 4 to l2 inches.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline and strongly alkaline.
Electrical conductivity: Less than 0.l S/M.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: l5 to 35 percent, strongly effervescent to violently effervescent.
A horizon - Value: 4, 5, or 6 dry, 3, 4, or 5 moist (dark colors
are due mainly to parent material).
Chroma: l, 2, or 3.
Structure: Subangular blocky or platy.
Bk horizon - Hue: l0YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 4, 5, or 6 dry, 2, 3, or 4 moist (dark colors are due
mainly to parent material).
Chroma: 2, 3, or 4.
Texture (less than 2 mm.): Fine sandy loam or loam,
Structure: Subangular blocky or massive.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the
Calpeak series. Calpeak soils
have less than l5 percent calcium carbonate equivalent and have mostly 2 to 5 millimeter pebbles.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Weepah soils are on mountain slopes and
ridges at elevations of 5,800 to 7,800 feet. They formed in
residuum from shale, sandstone, siltstone and other sedimentary rocks. Slopes range from l5 to 75 percent. The average annual precipitation is 8 to l0 inches; the average annual temperature
is 47 to 53 degrees F.; and the frost-free season is 90 to l20
days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Downeyville and
Kyler soils. Downeyville soils have a lithic contact and less carbonates. Kyler soils have a lithic contact and are
carbonates.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland. Principal vegetation includes
black sagebrush, Nevada ephedra, spiny hopsage, pine bluegrass, galleta grass and bottlebrush squirreltail.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West-central Nevada. This series is of small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada
SERIES PROPOSED: Esmeralda County, Nevada, l984.
REMARKS: Carbonates measured with field calcimeters.
Ochric epipedon - the surface to 7 inches.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Paralithic contact - 8 inches (Cr horizon).
Particle-size control section - zone from surface to 8 inches (A,
Bk horizons).
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.