LOCATION DECRAM NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive Xeric Haplocryolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Decram very gravelly loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) About 3 to l5 percent of the soil surface is covered with stones.
Al--0 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (l0YR 4/2) very gravelly loam, very dark grayish brown (l0YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and very fine roots; common fine and very fine interstitial pores; 35 percent pebbles, l0 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.2); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
A2--6 to 11 inches; brown (l0YR 4/3) very gravelly loam, dark brown (l0YR 3/3) moist; moderate, fine and very fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and very fine roots; common fine and very fine interstitial and tubular pores; 35 percent pebbles, 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.2); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Bw1--11 to 24 inches; yellowish brown (l0YR 5/4) very gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (l0YR 3/4) moist; moderate fine angular blocky structure; slightly hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and very fine roots; common fine and very fine interstitial and tubular pores; 45 percent pebbles; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
Bw2--24 to 28 inches; yellowish brown (l0YR 5/4) extremely cobbly loam, dark yellowish brown (l0YR 4/4) moist; weak fine and very fine subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic, few fine and very fine roots, common very fine interstitial pores; 40 percent pebbles, 30 percent cobbles; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 25 inches thick)
R--28 inches; andesite.
TYPE LOCATION: Lander County, Nevada; approximately 20 miles northeast of Austin in the Simpson Park Mountains; about 2,000 feet east and 2,300 feet north of the southwest corner of Section 30, T. 2l N., R. 48 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Moist in winter and spring, dry in summer and early autumn. (Dry 60 to 90 days)
Soil temperature - 42 to 45 degrees F.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 7 to l5 inches.
Average summer soil temperature - 55 to 59 degrees F.
Depth to bedrock - 20 to 40 inches.
Control section - Clay content: l8 to 25 percent, when mixed.
Rock fragments: 35 to 70 percent angular rock fragments, when mixed.
Reaction of A and Bw horizons - Neutral or mildly alkaline.
A horizon - Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3.
Bw1 horizon - Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Texture: Very gravelly loam or very cobbly loam. Structure: Angular blocky or subangular blocky.
Bw2 horizon - Hue: l0YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Texture: Very gravelly loam, extremely gravelly loam, very cobbly loam, or extremely cobbly loam.
Carbonates: Lime coatings on underside of rock fragments in some pedons.
Reaction: Mildly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Antrobus, Brickel, Broad Canyon, Calume(T), Conical(T), Fairydell, Farlow, Foxmount, Grafen, Greyback, Handran, Kamack, Klug(T), Lag(T), Maurice, McCort(T), Midelight, Midfork, Parachute, Rockabin (T), Sebud, Silvercliff, Sup, Supervisor, Teemat(T), Thornburgh, Tiban, Tineman and Wareagle(T) series. Antrobus, Broad Canyon, Fairydell, Greyback, Handran, Kamack, Klug, Lag, Maurice, McCort, Midelight, Midfork, Sebud, Sup, Teemat, Thornburgh, Tiban and Tineman soils lack bedrock within 40 inches. Farlow, Foxmount and Grafen soils have a paralithic contact within 40 inches. Brickel soils are medium acid or slightly acid. Parachute soils are dry for less than 30 days in summer and fall. Rockabin and Supervisor soils lack a cambic horizon and have less than l8 percent clay in their particle-size control section. Silvercliff soils have a calcic horizon. Wareagle soils have mean summer soil temperatures less than 48, Calume less than 50 and Conical less than 52 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Decram soils are on mountain crests, shoulders, and upper side slopes. These soils formed in residuum from weathered quartzite, chert, and volcanic rocks. Slopes are 8 to 50 percent. Elevations are 7,500 to 9,500 feet. The climate is cold, semiarid with cold, moist winters and cool, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is l6 to 20 inches; mean annual temperature is 40 to 43 degrees F., and the frost-free period is less than 50 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Chad, Hapgood, Spinlin, Welch, and Winu soils. Chad soils have an argillic horizon and have frigid soil temperature regimes. Hapgood, Welch, and Winu soils all have pachic epipedons. Spinlin soils have an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff, moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly low sagebrush, Sandberg bluegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Nevada. These soils are not extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Eureka County Area, Nevada, l983.
DIAGNOSTIC HORIZONS AND FEATURES RECOGNIZED IN THIS PEDON ARE:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to about 11 inches (A1 and A2 horizons).
Cambic horizon - The zone from about 11 to 28 inches (Bw horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at about 28 inches (the R horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to about 28 inches (Bw horizons and part of the A2 horizons).