LOCATION HANDPAH NV

Established Series
Rev. JBF-WED-RLB-JVC
06/2016

HANDPAH SERIES

The Handpah series consists of shallow to a duripan, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from volcanic rocks. Handpah soils are on fan remnants. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 230 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 12 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic, shallow Xeric Argidurids

TYPICAL PEDON: Handpah gravelly fine sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 15 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; many very fine and fine vesicular pores; 15 percent gravel; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 25 cm thick)

Bt1--15 to 20 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; hard, friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; common fine tubular pores; 5 percent gravel; common faint clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 cm thick)

Bt2--20 to 33 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly clay, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium prismatic structure; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine roots; common fine tubular pores; 15 percent gravel; common prominent clay films on faces of peds, lining pores, and coating rock fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 18 cm thick)

Bt3--33 to 43 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; 30 percent gravel; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 25 cm thick)

Bqk--43 to 48 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; hard, firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; 45 percent gravel; secondary silica and calcium carbonate-cemented fragments of detached duripan; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 20 cm thick)

Bqkm1--48 to 56 cm; cemented material; massive; very hard, brittle; very strongly cemented with secondary silica and calcium carbonate and capped by thick indurated laminae of opaline silica; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6) ; clear wavy boundary. (8 to 25 cm thick)

Bqkm2--56 to 152 cm; cemented material; massive; very hard, brittle; strongly cemented with secondary silica and calcium carbonate; violently effervescent.

TYPE LOCATION: Nye County, Nevada; in the south end of West Stone Cabin Valley and south of U.S. Highway 6; about 2,200 feet north and 1,800 feet east of the southwest corner of section 1, T. 3 N., R. 47 E.; USGS Stone Cabin Ranch 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 08 minutes 16 seconds N and longitude 116 degrees 40 minutes 12 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 38.1378889 latitude, -116.6700000 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist in winter and spring, mostly dry in summer and fall except intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and September due to convection storms; aridic soil moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 14 degrees C.
Ochric epipedon thickness: 5 to 25 cm.
Depth to duripan: 36 to 50 cm.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 25 to 35 percent.
Rock fragments: Averages 15 to 30 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments is mainly volcanic rocks such as rhyolite or basalt.

A horizon
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
Effervescence: Noneffervescent through slightly effervescent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 5 percent in the less than 2mm fraction.

Bt horizons
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Gravelly clay loam, gravelly loam, or gravelly sandy clay loam; some pedons have thin subhorizons of gravelly clay.
Structure: Prismatic or weak or moderate, subangular blocky.
Consistence: Slightly hard or hard, slightly sticky or moderately sticky and slightly plastic or moderately plastic.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Effervescence: Noneffervescent through slightly effervescent; some pedons may be strongly effervescent in lower part.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 10 percent in the less than 2mm fraction.

Bqk horizon (when present)
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Structure: Massive or subangular blocky.
Consistence: Slightly hard or hard, dry; friable or firm, moist; and nonsticky or slightly sticky, wet
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 10 to 20 percent in the less than 2 mm fraction.

Bqkm1 and Bqkm2 horizons
Cementation: Very strongly cemented or indurated in the Bqkm1 horizon; some pedons have weakly cemented to strongly cemented subhorizons within the duripan.
Other features: The duripan is fractured in some pedons.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Argalt, Bigfrog, Bruncan, Chuckridge, Chuska, Colthorp, Dewar, Grassval, Minu, Packwood, Pipeline, Roseworth, Roval, Thoms, and Wellington series.

Argalt soils have duripans at depths of 20 to 36 cm and bedrock at 25 to 50 cm from the soil surface. Bartome and Dewar soils have mean annual soil temperatures of less than 11 degrees C., have silty clay loam Bt horizons, and are not intermittently moist in summer. Bigfrog and Chuska soils have mean annual soil temperatures of 8 to 11 degrees C. Bruncan, Colthorp, and Packwood soils have lithic contacts within 10 cm of the soil surface. Chuckridge and Grassval soils have duripans at depths within 36 cm of the soil surface. Minu and Roval soils have a mean annual soil temperature of 8 to 11 degrees C. Pipeline soils have less than 15 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section and less than 15 percent fine sand and coarser. Roseworth soils have less than 15 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section and have mean annual soil temperatures of 9 to 11 degrees C. Thoms are neutral or slightly acid in horizons above the duripan and have mean annual soil temperatures of 8 to 12 degrees C. Wellington soils are neutral or slightly acid in horizons above the duripan and are not intermittently moist in summer.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Handpah soils are on fan remnants. They formed in alluvium derived mainly from volcanic rocks. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. Elevations range from 1,220 to 2,250 meters. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 250 mm, mean annual temperature is 10 to 13 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 110 to 150 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Stewval and Veet soils. Stewval soils are loamy-skeletal and shallow to lithic contacts. Veet soils are loamy-skeletal, very deep, and have cambic horizons.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Handpah soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, bottlebrush squirreltail, and Indian ricegrass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Nevada. These soils are extensive with about 130,000 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRA 29 and 28A.

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 soil surface to 15 cm (A horizon).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 15 to 43 cm (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons).
Identifiable secondary carbonates - The zone from 43 to 152 cm (Bqk, Bqkm1, and Bqkm2 horizons).
Duripan - The zone from 48 to 152 cm (Bqkm1 and Bqkm2 horizons).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 15 to 43 cm (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons).

ADDITIONAL DATA: A pedon near the series type location has full characterization by the Soil Survey Laboratory (SSL), Lincoln, NE, as soil survey sample number S87NV-023-004 (pedon # 87P0271).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.