LOCATION GOLDBUTTE               NV

Established Series
LJL/TM/ET
04/2015

GOLDBUTTE SERIES

The Goldbutte series consists of very shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium from gneiss, schist and granite. Goldbutte soils are on hills and mountains. Slope ranges from 15 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 9 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 55 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, nonacid, mesic, shallow Typic Torriorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Goldbutte extremely gravelly coarse sandy loam, rangeland and wildlife habitat. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered by approximately 70 percent pebbles, 5 percent cobbles and 3 percent stones.

A--0 to 4 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) extremely gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; common very fine, few fine tubular pores; 65 percent pebbles, 5 percent cobbles and 3 percent stones; neutral (pH 7.2); clear smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)

Bt--4 to 5 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) very gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; moderately hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and few fine roots; few very fine and fine tubular pores; many discontinuous, distinct clay films on rock fragments, bridging sand grains and lining pores; 45 percent pebbles, 5 percent cobbles and 2 percent stones; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)

Crt--5 to 6 inches; weathered gneiss bedrock, fractures 1 to 5 centimeters apart; 15 percent discontinuous, faint clay films on rock fragments. (1 to 4 inches thick)

R--6 inches; hard gneiss bedrock, fractures 10 to 20 centimeters apart.

TYPE LOCATION: Clark County, Nevada; about 36 miles south and 10 miles west of Mesquite, Nevada; approximately 0.6 miles north and 1 mile east of Gold Butte; 690 feet north and 1,170 feet west of the southeast corner of section 9, T. 19 S., R. 70 E.; USGS Gold Butte, NV 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 36 degrees, 17 minutes, 29.6 seconds north latitude and 114 degrees, 10 minutes, 35.4 seconds west longitude; UTM 11s, 0753565e 4019985n; 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. The soils have a typic-aridic moisture regime.

Soil temperature: 55 to 58 degrees F.

Depth to paralithic contact: 4 to 10 inches.

Depth to bedrock: 5 to 14 inches.

Control section - Rock fragments: Average 40 to 70 percent, mainly gravel.
Clay content: 6 to 15 percent.
Effervescence: Noneffervescent throughout.
Reaction: Neutral or slightly alkaline.

A horizon - Value: 4 or 5 dry.
Chroma: 4 through 6 dry and moist.
Organic matter: 0.5 to 1.0 percent.


Bt horizon - Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR or 5YR.
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 4 through 6 dry and moist.
Organic matter: 0.2 to 0.5 percent.
Texture: Coarse sandy loam or sandy loam.
Consistence: Slightly hard or moderately hard, nonplastic or slightly plastic.
Rock fragments: 35 to 70 percent.
Other features: Discontinuous clay films, clay does not increase by 3 percent or more from the A horizon clay content.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Mexispring (CA) and Uripnes (NV) series. Mexispring soils lack Bt horizons, have thick Cr layers and are more than 60 inches to hard bedrock. Uripnes soils have a mean annual soil temperature of 47 to 54 degrees F and have hard bedrock at 20 to 40 inches.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Goldbutte soils are on hills and mountains. Slope ranges from 15 to 50 percent. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium from gneiss, schist and granite. Elevations are 3,500 to 5,500 feet. The climate is low-latitude desert, with mild winters and very hot summers. Precipitation is greatest in the winter with a lesser secondary peak in summer, typical of the Mojave Desert. The mean annual precipitation is 8 to 10 inches; mean annual air temperature is 53 to 56 degrees F., and the frost-free season is 130 to 180 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Cetrepas and Nolena soils. Cetrepas soils have argillic horizons and commonly have scattered juniper trees in the plant community. Nolena soils have a thermic soil temperature regime and are on southerly aspects or at lower elevation.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very high runoff; moderately rapid permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly blackbrush, banana yucca, turbinella oak and green ephedra.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mojave desert of southern Nevada; MLRA 30. These soils are moderately extensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: PHOENIX, ARIZONA

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Clark County Area, Nevada, 2006. Proposed in Clark County, Nevada Soil Survey Area, 2002. The name is coined from Gold Butte, Nevada.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the profile are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 5 inches (A and Bt horizons).
Paralithic contact - 5 inches (Crt horizon).
Bedrock contact - 6 inches (R horizon).
Particle-size control section - 0 to 5 inches (A and Bt horizons).
The Bt horizon does not have a sufficient increase in clay and/or is too thin to meet the requirements for an argillic horizon.

Responsibility for this series was transferred from Davis to Phoenix 4/2015. The last revision to the series was 7/2006. ET

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.