LOCATION BUZZTAIL                NV

Established Series
Rev. GWM-TM-MJD-JBF
02/2012

BUZZTAIL SERIES

The Buzztail series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and coluvium derived from limestone and dolomite. The Buzztail soils are on mountains and hills. Slopes are 8 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 300 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 6 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, frigid Aridic Lithic Haploxerolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Buzztail very gravelly loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is partially covered with approximately 35 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles.

A--0 to 8 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very gravelly loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial and many fine tubular pores; 35 percent angular gravel and 5 percent angular cobbles; few faint secondary calcium carbonate masses on bottom of gravel; violently effervescent (calcium carbonate equivalent is 27 percent); slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 13 cm.)

Bk1--8 to 23 cm; brown (10YR 4/3) very gravelly loam; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; many very fine, fine and few medium roots; many very fine interstitial and common fine tubular pores; 35 percent angular gravel and 5 percent angular cobbles; few (1 percent) faint secondary calcium carbonate masses on bottom of rock fragments; violently effervescent (calcium carbonate equivalent is 24 percent); slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (8 to 18 cm)

Bk2--23 to 38 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very gravelly loam; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; many very fine, fine, medium, and common coarse roots, roots are matted 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick at the horizon boundary; many very fine and fine interstitial and many very fine, fine and common medium tubular pores; 40 percent angular gravel and 5 percent angular cobbles; few (2 percent) faint secondary calcium carbonate concretions and few faint pendants on bottom of rock fragments violently effervescent (calcium carbonate equivalent is 23 percent); slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 23 cm)

R--38 cm; hard limestone bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: White Pine County, Nevada. Approximately 2.6 mile west of the intersection of Marble wash road and Swan creek road; about 1,300 feet north and 2,600 feet east of the southwest corner of section 30, T. 19 N., R. 69 E.; latitude 39 degrees 28 minutes 43 seconds N and longitude 114 degrees 15 minutes and 17 seconds W; NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, moist from late fall though spring, dry mid-July through October except for 10 to 20 day cumulative due to convection storms; aridic bordering on xeric soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 6 to 8 degrees C.
Mollic epipedon thickness: 18 to 50 cm.
Depth to bedrock: 36 to 50 cm.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 7 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 65 percent, 35 to 60 percent gravel and 0 to 10 percent cobbles.

A horizon
Value 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist.

Bk horizons
Value 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 50 percent of the less than 20 mm fraction.
Secondary calcium carbonate accumulation: Less than 5 percent.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Hyzen Series.

Hyzen soils have a lithic contact between 15 to 36 cm and are not moist 10 to 20 days cumulative between mid-July and October.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Buzztail soils are on mountains and hills. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium derived from limestone and dolomite. Slopes are 8 to 75 percent. Elevations are 1,770 to 2,750 meters. The climate is cool, semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The annual precipitation is 250 to 350 mm; mean annual temperature is 4 to 7 degrees C., and the frost-free season is 80 to 100 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Monarch, Lodar, Logring and Amtoft soils. Logring and Amtoft soils do not have mollic epipedons. Monarch and Lodar soils have calcic horizons.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly snowberry, mountain big sagebrush, serviceberry, bluebunch wheatgrass and basin wildrye.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: East-central Nevada. MLRA 28A. These soils are not extensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona

SERIES ESTABLISHED: White Pine County, Nevada, East Part. 2004.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 38 cm (A, Bk1, and Bk2 horizons.)
Lithic contact - The boundary at 38 cm (R layer.)
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 38 cm (part of the Bk2 horizon).

Classification was updated to 11th edition on 07/2011 changed from Lithic Haploxerolls to Aridic Lithic Haploxerolls.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.