LOCATION FOXCAN                  NV

Established Series
Rev. EWB-WED-JBF
05/2016

FOXCAN SERIES

The Foxcan series consists of very shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from shale with additions of eolian material. The Foxcan soils are on mountain back slopes. Slopes are 50 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 230 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic, shallow Xeric Torriorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Foxcan, very gravelly loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with 1 percent stones, 5 percent cobbles and 50 percent with gravel.

A--0 to 3 cm; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) very gravelly loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; moderate medium platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine, fine and medium roots; many very fine interstitial and few very fine vesicular pores; 45 percent gravel of which 10 percent are soft plates that can be broken in hands; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 cm thick)

C--3 to 13 cm; light gray (2.5Y 7/2) gravelly loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; weak fine platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine through coarse roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 40 percent gravel of which one-half are soft plates that can be broken in hands; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 15 cm thick)

Cr--13 to 53 cm; highly weathered and fractured shale with lime coatings and roots in fractures.

TYPE LOCATION: Washoe County, Nevada; in the Fox Range; about 1,580 feet south and 1,950 feet east of the northwest corner of section 35 T. 31 N., R. 21 E.; USGS Smith Canyon 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 40 degrees 31 minutes 10.6 seconds N and longitude 119 degrees 35 minutes 16.3 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 40.5196111 latitude, -119.587861 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, moist in winter and spring; dry mid-June through mid-November; aridic soil moisture bordering on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 14 degrees C.
Depth to paralithic contact: 10 to 25 cm.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
Carbonates: Less than 5 percent.

Particle-size Control section - Clay content: 10 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 15 to 35 percent hard gravel, 15 to 30 percent soft platy gravel.

A horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3.

C horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5 Y.
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3.
Texture: Loam or sandy loam.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Coppereid, Grina, Holborn, Hundraw, Jackratz, Puett, Stu, Tert and Whilphang soils.

Coppereid soils are violently effervescent throughout. Grina, Holborn, Jackratz and Tert soils have more than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Puett, Stu and Whilphang soils are over 25 cm to bedrock

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Foxcan soils are on mountain back slopes. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium derived from shale with additions of eolian material. Slopes are 50 to 75 percent. Elevations are 1,525 to 1,830 meters. The climate is cool, semiarid with cold, moist winters and hot, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 250 mm, mean annual temperature is 9 to 11 degrees C, and the frost-free season is 80 to 110 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Coppereid and Sojur soils. Sojur soils have a lithic contact within 25 cm.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly scattered Utah juniper, purple sage, Wyoming big sagebrush, rabbitbrush, Sandberg bluegrass, prickly gilia, Thurber needlegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, and Indian ricegrass

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Nevada. These soils are not extensive. MLRA 23.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washoe County, Nevada, Central Part, 1990: series proposed in 1986.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 13 cm (A and C horizons).
Paralithic contact - The boundary at 13 cm (Cr layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from the surface to 13 cm (A and C horizons).

NASIS pedon and site ID 07NV771Y037amb.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.