LOCATION BIJORJA                 NV

Established Series
Rev. EWB/CMH/WED/JBF
11/2016

BIJORJA SERIES

The Bijorja series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in residuum on rock pediment remnants and hills. Slopes are 8 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 200 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 12 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Xeric Haplocambids

TYPICAL PEDON: Bijorja coarse sand, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A1--0 to 5 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) coarse sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; single grained; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 15 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 cm thick)

A2--5 to 10 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loamy coarse sand, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak thin and medium platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and few fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; 5 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 cm thick)

Bw1--10 to 18 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly coarse sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and few fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; 20 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.2); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 cm thick)

Bw2--18 to 25 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly coarse sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and few fine roots; many very fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; 30 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (8 to 20 cm thick)

Bk--25 to 76 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; common very fine and fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; 30 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear irregular boundary. (25 to 64 cm thick)

Cr--76 cm; highly weathered granodiorite with few pockets of soil material.

TYPE LOCATION: Mineral County, Nevada about 1 mile southeast of Hawthorne Dump Site, about 2,000 feet south and 200 feet east of the northwest corner of section 5, T. 7 N., R. 30 E.; USGS Lucky Boy 7.5 minute quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees, 29 minutes 43 seconds N and longitude 118 degrees 40 minutes 31 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 38.4953889 latitude, -118.6752778 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, moist in winter and spring, dry in summer and fall, except for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and October due to convection storms, aridic moisture regime bordering on xeric.
Soil temperature: 12 to 14 degrees C.
Depth to Soft Rock: 50 to 100 cm.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 10 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 15 to 35 percent over one-half of which are 2 to 5 mm diameter gravel.

A horizon:
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3 dry or moist.
Reaction: Neutral or mildly alkaline


Bw horizon:
Value: 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4 dry or moist.
Consistence: Soft or slightly hard dry, nonsticky or slightly sticky wet.
Reaction: Neutral to moderately alkaline.

Bk horizon:
Structure: Massive or subangular blocky
Consistence: Soft or slightly hard dry
Carbonates: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent.
Reaction: Mildly alkaline or moderately alkaline.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Chedehap, Clems, Drewsey, Haybourne, Heist, Irrigon, Kecko, McClenden, Prosser, Rebel, Royal, Scooteney, Vining and Wiehl series.

Chedehap, Clems, Drewsey, Haybourne, Heist, Kecko, McClenden, Rebel, Royal, and Scooteney soils lack bedrock within 100 cm. Prosser, and Vining soils are not moist for 10 to 20 days following summer convection storms. Irrigon soils have less than 15 percent rock fragments in their control section and have fine sandy loam or loam Bw horizon. Prosser and Vining soils have hard basalt at 50 to 100 cm deep. Wiehl soils are fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam or silt loam in the Bw horizon and have less than 15 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bijorja soils are on rock pediment remnants and hills. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium from granitic rocks. Slopes are 8 to 30 percent. Elevations are 1,480 to 2,130 meters. The climate is cool, semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 250 mm, mean annual temperature is 10 to 12 degrees C, and the frost-free season is 100 to 130 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Petspring and Lazan soils. These soils have soft bedrock at a depth of less than 25 cm and lack a Bw horizon.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; medium runoff; high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, desert needlegrass, Nevada ephedra, bottlebrush squirreltail, and Bailey greasewood.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Nevada. These soils are not extensive. MLRA 27 and 29.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Mineral County, Nevada, 1985.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to 18 cm (A1, A2 and Bw1 horizons).
Cambic horizon - The zone from about 10 to 25 cm (Bw horizon).
Paralithic contact - The zone at 76 cm.
Xeric feature - Meets the soil moisture regime and organic carbon requirements for xeric.
Particle-size control section - The zone from about 25 cm to 76 cm (Bk horizon).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.