LOCATION PUELZMINE               NV

Established Series
Rev. LJL/RLB/TM
12/2015

PUELZMINE SERIES

The Puelzmine series consists of shallow to a duripan, well drained soils that formed in colluvium and residuum from basalt influenced by calcareous loess. Puelzmine soils are on basalt flows. Slope ranges from 4 to 15 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 6 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 63 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, thermic, shallow Cambidic Haplodurids

TYPICAL PEDON: Puelzmine extremely gravelly fine sandy loam, rangeland and wildlife habitat. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is partially covered by approximately 45 percent pebbles, 10 percent cobbles and 5 percent stones.

A--0 to 2 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) extremely gravelly fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; many very fine and few fine interstitial pores; 45 percent pebbles, 10 percent cobbles and 5 percent stones; violently effervescent (25 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in the fine earth fraction); moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)

Bqk1--2 to 11 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and few fine through coarse roots; common very fine and few fine interstitial pores; many medium distinct calcium carbonate and silica pendants on the undersides of rock fragments; 30 percent pebbles, 10 percent cobbles and 5 percent stones; violently effervescent (20 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in the fine earth fraction); moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)

Bqk2--11 to 17 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few very fine interstitial pores; discontinuous laminar cap with 55 percent hard, firm and brittle lenses; many medium distinct calcium carbonate and silica pendants on the undersides of rock fragments; 40 percent pebbles, 10 percent cobbles and 5 percent stones; strongly effervescent (30 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in the fine earth fraction); strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)

Bqkm--17 to 37 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/2) strongly cemented duripan, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) moist; strong very thick platy structure; few very fine and fine roots matted horizontally and vertically in fractures; abrupt wavy boundary. (18 to 26 inches thick)

R--37 inches; hard, slightly fractured basalt bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Clark County, Nevada; approximately 5 miles southwest of Goodsprings in the Spring Mountain Range on Table Mountain; about 630 feet south and 1,190 feet west of the northeast corner of section 4, T. 25 S., R. 58 E.; USGS Goodsprings, NV 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 35 degrees, 48 minutes, 26 seconds north latitude and 115 degrees, 28 minutes, 50 seconds west longitude; UTM 11s, 637281e, 3963633n; NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture - Usually dry, moist in some part for short periods during winter and early spring and for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July to October following convection storms. Has a typic-aridic moisture regime.

Soil temperature - 59 to 65 degrees F.

Depth to calic horizon 1 to 3 inches.

Depth to duripan - 14 to 20 inches.

Depth to bedrock - 30 to 40 inches.

Control section - Percent clay: 10 to 18 percent.

Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent.

Calcium carbonate equivalent of the less than 20 millimeter fraction: 20 to 40.

A horizon - Value: 6 or 7 dry.

Chroma: 3 or 4.

Bqk1 horizon - Rock fragments: 25 to 50 percent gravel, 5 to 15 percent cobbles and 0 to 5 percent stones.

Calcium carbonate equivalent in the fine earth fraction: 15 to 30 percent.

Identifiable secondary carbonates: 30 to 100 percent of rock fragments have medium or coarse calcium carbonate and silica pendants.

Bqk2 horizon - Rock fragments: 25 to 50 percent gravel, 5 to 15 percent cobbles and 0 to 5 percent stones.

Calcium carbonate equivalent in the fine earth fraction: 20 to 40 percent.

Identifiable secondary carbonates: 30 to 100 percent of rock fragments have medium or coarse calcium carbonate and silica pendants.

Other features - Cementation: 35 to 60 percent weak or strong discontinuous silica and calcium carbonate cementation.

Bqkm horizon - Chroma: 1 through 3.

Cementation class: Moderately cemented or strongly cemented.

Other features: More than half of the volume does not slake in acid.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Azureridge (NV), Owlshead (CA) and Ustidur (NV) soils. Azureridge, Owlshead and Ustidur soils do not have a lithic contact at 30 to 40 inches. Azureridge soils have a duripan at 7 to 14 inches and a paralithic contact at 10 to 20 inches. Owlshead soils have a duripan at 7 to 14 inches and a coarse textural class below the hardpan. Ustidur soils have an aridic moisture regime that borders on ustic.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Puelzmine soils are on basalt flows. These soils formed in colluvium and residuum from basalt influenced by calcareous loess. Slope ranges from 4 to 15 percent. Elevations are 4,200 to 5,200 feet. The climate is hot and arid with cool, moist winters and hot, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 5 to 7 inches; mean annual temperature is 57 to 63 degrees F., and the frost-free season is 180 to 240 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the St. Thomas and Zeheme series. St. Thomas and Zeheme soils are both less than 14 inches to bedrock and have carbonatic mineralogy for there control sections.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; moderate permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for range and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly blackbrush, fourwing saltbush and winterfat.

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, 1994. The name is coined from Puelz Mine located at the base of Table Mountain.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon - 0 to 2 inches (A horizon).

Calcic horizon - 2 to 17 inches (Bqk1 and Bqk2 horizons.)

Duripan - 17 to 37 inches (Bqkm horizon).

Particle-size control section - 10 to 17 inches (part of the Bqk1 and Bqk2 horizons).

Responsibility for this series was transferred from Davis to Phoenix 12/2015. The last revision to the series was 7/2006. ET

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.