LOCATION DOMEHILL CA+NV

Established Series
Rev. EWB-JVC-JBF
03/2017

DOMEHILL SERIES

The Domehill series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from andesite and tuff-breccia with surficial additions of eolian volcanic ash. Domehill soils are on mountains and plateaus. Slopes are 2 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 400 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 6 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy-skeletal, glassy, frigid Aridic Lithic Argixerolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Domehill very gravelly ashy sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with 35 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles, and 2 percent stones.

A--0 to 5 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly ashy sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial and common very fine tubular pores; 35 percent gravel; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 8 cm thick)

Bt1--5 to 20 cm; brown (7.5YR 4/3) very gravelly ashy loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine, common medium roots; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; few faint clay bridges between sand grains; 35 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.7); clear wavy boundary. (8 to 15 cm thick)

Bt2--20 to 33 cm; brown (7.5YR 5/3) very gravelly ashy clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, very friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; many very fine and fine roots; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 45 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.7); abrupt irregular boundary. (8 to 13 cm thick)

R--33 cm; hard, unweathered andesite.

TYPE LOCATION: Mono County, California; on the Toiyabe National Forest about 2 miles southeast of the Masonic Town site; approximately 640 feet north and 600 feet east of the southwest corner of section 26, T. 6 N., R. 26 E.; USGS Dome Hill 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 20 minutes 02.7 seconds N and longitude 119 degrees 05 minutes 50.7 seconds W; GS84 Decimal Degrees 38.3340833 latitude, -119.0974167 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist in winter and spring, dry from July through October; aridic moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 7 to 8 degrees C.
Mollic epipedon thickness: 18 to 36 cm; includes the Bt1 and Bt2 horizons.
Depth to bedrock: 18 to 36 cm to a lithic contact.
Volcanic glass content: 35 to 60 percent in the coarse silt through fine sand fractions.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 18 to 27 percent.
Rock fragments: Averages 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments is mainly andesite.

A horizon
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Organic matter content: 1 to 3 percent.
Reaction: Slightly acid or neutral.

Bt1 horizon
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 4 or 5 dry.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Very gravelly ashy sandy loam, very gravelly ashy sandy clay loam, or very gravelly ashy loam.
Clay content: 18 to 25 percent.
Organic matter content: 1 to 3 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent.

Bt2 horizon
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 4 or 5 dry.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Very gravelly ashy loam, very gravelly ashy sandy clay loam, or very gravelly ashy clay loam.
Clay content: 20 to 30 percent.
Organic matter content: 1 or 2 percent.
Rock fragments: 50 to 60 percent.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Badrock, Farepeak, Hardnut, Hardteph, and Schoolmarm series.

Badrock and Hardnut soils have lithic contacts within 36 to 50 cm of the soil surface. Farepeak and Schoolmarm soils average 27 to 35 percent clay in the particle-size control section and are intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative from July through September due to convection storms. Hardteph have 60 to 85 percent rock fragments. Mattier soils have a mean annual soil temperature of 5.5 to 7 degrees C.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Domehill soils are on mountains and plateaus. They typically occur on summit, backslope or shoulder positions. They formed in residuum and colluvium derived from andesite and tuff-breccia with surficial additions of eolian volcanic ash. The probable sources of the volcanic ash are the Mono Craters and Long Valley Caldera in eastern California. Slopes are 2 to 50 percent. Elevations range from 1.955 to 3,115 meters. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 300 to 500 mm, the mean annual temperature is 5 to 7 degrees C., and the frost-free period is 30 to 70 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ashflat and Epvip soils. Ashflat soils are very deep and have a cryic temperature regime. Epvip soils are shallow to paralithic contacts and have a xeric moisture regime.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very high surface runoff; moderate permeability; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Domehill soils are used for livestock grazing, recreation, watershed, and wildlife habitat. The native vegetation is mainly low sagebrush, Thurber's needlegrass, bluegrass, and prairie junegrass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern California and western Nevada, in the western part of the Great Basin. These soils are not extensive with about 2,400 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRA 26.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Mineral County Area, Nevada, 2005. The series was proposed in Mono County (Toiyabe National Forest Area), California, 2004.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 33 cm (A, Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 5 to 33 cm (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
Vitrandic intergrade feature - The zone from the soil surface to 33 cm (A, Bt1, and Bt2 horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 33 cm to underlying hard bedrock (R layer).
Particle-size control section and ashy substitute class with glassy mineralogy - The zone from the soil surface to 33 cm (A, Bt1, and Bt2 horizons).

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

ADDITIONAL DATA: Volcanic glass content determined locally by optical grain count with a polarizing petrographic microscope.
User Pedon ID: 2004CA051003.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.