LOCATION GABBVALLY               NV

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

GABBVALLY SERIES

The Gabbvally series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from volcanic rocks with a component of volcanic ash. Gabbvally soils are on hills, plateaus, mesas, and mountains. Slopes are 2 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 250 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 11 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Xeric Haplargids

TYPICAL PEDON: Gabbvally extremely stony loamy coarse sand--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with approximately 25 percent gravel, 20 percent cobbles, and 15 percent stones.

A--0 to 5 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) extremely stony loamy coarse sand, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and common fine roots; common very fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; 25 percent gravel, 20 percent cobbles, and 15 percent stones; neutral (pH 7.2); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 cm thick)

Bt1--5 to 10 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly sandy clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular and few very fine interstitial pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.2); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 23 cm thick)

Bt2--10 to 20 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly sandy clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular and few very fine interstitial pores; common faint and few distinct clay films on faces of peds; 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); abrupt irregular boundary. (0 to 18 cm thick)

R--20 cm; hard, fractured rhyolitic tuff; few roots and carbonates in fractures.

TYPE LOCATION: Mineral County, Nevada; in the Gabbs Valley Range; 800 feet north and 400 feet west of the southeast corner of section 23, T.10 N., R.33 E.; USGS Win Wan Flat 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 42 minutes 38.7 seconds N and longitude 118 degrees 15 minutes 30.5 seconds W; UTM zone 11, 390582e, 4285430n; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 38.7109444 latitude, -118.258611 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, moist in winter and spring months, dry in summer and fall except for 10 to 20 days between July and October due to convection storms; aridic soil moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 15 degrees C.
Depth to bedrock: 15 to 36 cm to a lithic contact.
Reaction: Neutral or slightly alkaline.
Volcanic glass: 15 to 30 percent volcanic glass in the 0.02 mm to 2.0 mm fraction.
Other features: The estimated product of the ammonium extractable aluminum plus half the iron times 60 plus the volcanic glass is 20 to 30.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 15 to 25 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 50 percent; predominantly gravel.

A horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.

Bt horizons
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Sandy clay loam, loam, or sandy loam.
Structure: Subangular blocky or angular blocky
Clay content: 18 to 27 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 50 percent.
Consistence: Soft or slightly hard, dry, very friable or friable, moist, slightly sticky or moderately sticky and slightly plastic or moderately plastic, wet.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Atlow, Boomstick, Checkett, Chubard, Cottle, Fortyday, Hooplite, Nevo, Olac, Old Camp, Phliss, Richinde, Rowel, Soughe, Stewval, and Thike series.
Atlow soils have 27 to 35 percent clay in the control section and have bedrock at a depth of 36 to 50 cm.
Boomstick soils are 36 to 50 cm to bedrock.
Checkett soils have bedrock at a depth of 38 to 50 cm, more than 50 percent rock fragments in the particle- size control section, and the Bt horizon is moderately or strongly alkaline.
Chubard soils have mean annual soil temperatures ranging from 8 to 11 degrees C., and have 50 to 75 percent rock fragments.
Cottle soils are do not receive summer moisture.
Fortyday soils have bedrock at 36 to 50 cm.
Hooplite soils have calcareous profiles and are not moist for 10 to 20 days in the summer.
Nevo soils contain 25 to 33 percent clay in the control section.
Olac soils are not moist for 10 to 20 days in the summer. Old Camp soils contain 27 to 35 percent clay in the Bt horizon.
Phliss soils have secondary lime accumulation at depth of 8 to 25 cm, and are dry from July through October.
Richinde soils have mean annual soil temperatures ranging from 8 to 11 degrees C and clay content of 27 to 35 percent.
Rowel soils contain 50 to 80 percent coarse fragments with 25 to 35 percent clay in the control section and the Bt horizon is 40 to 55 percent clay.
Soughe soils have 25 to 35 percent clay in the control section and are not moist for 10 to 20 days in the summer.
Stewval soils have calcium carbonate throughout.
Thike soils have more than one-half the gravel which are 2 to 5 mm in size and the sand fraction is dominantly coarse sand.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gabbvally soils are on hills, plateaus, mesas, and mountains. Gabbvally soils formed in residuum and colluvium derived from volcanic rocks with a component of volcanic ash. Slopes are 2 to 75 percent. Elevations range from 1,070 to 2,600 meters. The climate is cool-semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 300 mm, the mean annual temperature is 10 to 12 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 100 to 130 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Tejabe and Calpeak soils. Both of these soils do not have argillic horizons.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Gabbvally soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The native vegetation is Wyoming big sagebrush, desert needlegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, Nevada ephedra, and galleta.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Nevada. These soils are extensive. MLRAs 27 and 29.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Esmeralda County, Nevada, 1984.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to 5 cm (A horizon).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 5 to 20 cm (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
Lithic contact - The contact at 20 cm (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The layer from the surface to 20 cm (A, Bt1, and Bt2 horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.