LOCATION DRYGYP NV
Established Series
Rev. DJM-JVC
04/2015
DRYGYP SERIES
The Drygyp series consists of very shallow to a petrogypsic horizon, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from gypsum rock. Drygyp soils are on fan remnants. Slope ranges from 2 to 15 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 4 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 72 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, gypsic, hyperthermic, shallow Typic Petrogypsids
TYPICAL PEDON: Drygyp fine sand, rangeland and wildlife habitat. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The continuity of the soil surface is broken by 0.5 to 2.0 feet high hummocks of hardened gypsiferous soil material.
A--0 to 2 inches; reddish yellow (5YR 6/8) fine sand, yellowish red (5YR 5/6) moist; moderate medium platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and many fine interstitial pores; very slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt broken boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
2By--2 to 7 inches; pinkish white (7.5YR 8/2) gypsiferous material, pink (7.5YR 8/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common fine and few medium roots; common very fine and common fine tubular pores; apparent texture of the fine earth sandy loam; many fine and medium clusters of crystals of secondary gypsum, which disrupt the soil matrix; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick)
2Bym1--7 to 13 inches; pink (7.5YR 7/4) moderately cemented petrogypsic horizon, reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) moist; massive; very hard, extremely firm, brittle; few medium tubular pores; many fine clusters of crystals of secondary gypsum segregated throughout matrix; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt wavy boundary.
2Bym2--13 to 65 inches; pink (7.5YR 7/3) very weakly and weakly cemented petrogypsic horizon, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; moderately hard and hard, firm and very firm, brittle; secondary gypsum segregated throughout matrix as many clusters of crystals; slightly effervescent and strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6). (Combined thickness of the 2Bym horizons is 50 to 56 inches.)
TYPE LOCATION: Clark County, Nevada; in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area about 3.5 miles west of Overton Beach and the Overton Arm of Lake Mead; 1,465 feet east and 310 feet north of the southwest corner of section 17, T. 17 S., R. 68 E.; USGS Valley of Fire East, NV 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 36 degrees 26 minutes 56 seconds north latitude and 114 degrees 25 minutes 15 seconds west longitude; UTM 11s, 731152e, 4036831n; NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually dry, moist in some part during winter and spring and intermittingly moist in the upper part following summer convection storms; typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature - 72 to 78 degrees F.
Ochric epipedon thickness - 1 to 3 inches.
Depth to petrogypsic horizon - 4 to 8 inches.
A horizon - Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 4 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Calcium carbonate equivalent in the fine earth fraction: 1 to 20 percent.
Gypsum content: 0 to 5 percent.
Other features: In some pedons this horizon is of eolian origin.
2By or By horizons - Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 7 or 8 dry.
Chroma: 2 through 6, dry or moist.
Texture: Gypsiferous sandy loam or gypsiferous fine sandy loam.
Calcium carbonate equivalent in the fine earth fraction: 1 to 5 percent.
Gypsum content: 40 to 90 percent in the less than 20-millimeter fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: At present, there are no other series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Drygyp soils are on fan remnants. These soils formed in alluvium derived from gypsum rock. Slope ranges from 2 to 15 percent. Elevations are 1,200 to 2300 feet. The climate is that of a low-latitude desert, with mild winters and very hot summers. Precipitation is greatest in the winter with lesser secondary peak in the summer, typical of the Mojave Desert transitional to Sonoran Desert. The mean annual precipitation is 3 to 5 inches, the mean annual temperature is 70 to 75 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 300 to 360 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: This is the
Bluegyp (NV) soil. Bluegyp soils are coarse-loamy, deep to paralithic contact, and have gypsic horizons. They typically occur on lower elevation fan summit positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; very high runoff; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Fremont dalea, Parrys sandpaper,, fourwing saltbush, Torrey ephedra, and big galleta.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mojave Desert of southern Nevada. MLRA 30. These soils are not extensive..
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: PHOENIX, ARIZONA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Clark County Area, Nevada, 2006. Proposed in Clark County, Nevada, 1998. The name is coined.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 7 inches (A and 2By horizons).
Petrogypsic horizon - 7 to 65 inches (2Bym1 and 2Bym2 horizons).
Particle-size control section - 0 to 7 inches (A and 2By horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: A different pedon of Drygyp was sampled for full characterization by the Soil Survey Laboratory (SSL), Lincoln, NE, as soil survey sample number S04NV-003-001 (pedon # 04N0770).
Responsibility for this series was transferred from Davis to Phoenix 4/2015. The last revision to the series was 7/2006. ET
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.