LOCATION PUETT                   NV+UT

Established Series
Rev. RAF/RLB/JVC/JBF
11/2016

PUETT SERIES

The Puett series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from tuff and tuffaceous sedimentary rocks. Puett soils are on pediments, hills, mountains, and plateaus. Slopes are 4 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: Puett coarse sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 8 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) coarse sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 18 cm thick)

C--8 to 33 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) coarse sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common medium and coarse, few very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (8 to 38 cm thick)

Cr--33 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) highly weathered tuff with many fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4), yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) and very pale brown (10YR 8/2) mottles; few fine, medium and coarse roots along cracks.

TYPE LOCATION: Eureka County, Nevada; about 10 miles south of Carlin; 900 feet west and 50 feet south of the apparent northeast corner of section 17, T. 31 N., R. 52 E.; USGS Palisade 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 40 degrees 34 minutes 36 seconds N and longitude 116 degrees 7 minutes 49 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 40.5766667 latitude, -116.1302778 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry; moist in winter and spring, dry summer and fall; aridic soil moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 8 to 11 degrees C.
Depth to bedrock: 25 to 50 cm to a paralithic contact.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Effervescence: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 10 percent. Some pedons have C horizons with up to 30 percent.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 5 to 10 percent.
Rock fragments: Average 0 to 35 percent gravel. Lithology of fragments are volcanic rocks such as tuff or sedimentary rocks such as tuffaceous sandstone and siltstone.

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

C horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam. Gravelly loam or gravelly sandy loam occurs in some pedons.
Structure: Subangular blocky or massive.
Consistence: Soft to hard, dry; nonsticky or slightly sticky and nonplastic or slightly plastic, wet.
Other features: Some pedons have identifiable secondary carbonates as coats on rock fragments.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Coppereid, Foxcan, Grina, Holborn, Hundraw, Jacratz, Stu, Tert, and Whilphang series.

Coppereid, Foxcan, and Hundraw soils are very shallow to paralithic contacts. Grina and Holborn soils have more than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Jacratz soils are very shallow to paralithic contacts and have 27 to 35 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Stu soils have 10 to 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section and have mean annual soil temperature of 12 or 13 degrees C. Tert soils are very shallow to paralithic contacts and have mean annual soil temperature of 12 to 15 degrees C. Whilphang soils are intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and October and have mean annual soil temperature of 12 to 15 degrees C.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Puett soils are on pediments, hills, mountains, and plateaus. They formed in residuum and colluvium derived from tuff and tuffaceous sedimentary rocks. Slopes are 4 to 75 percent. Elevations range from 1,370 to 2,200 meters. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 250 mm, the mean annual temperature is 8 to 10 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 100 to 120 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ferdelford, Perwick, and Susie Creek soils. Ferdelford soils are fine-loamy, moderately deep to paralithic contacts, and have cambic horizons. Perwick soils coarse-loamy, moderately deep to paralithic contacts, and do not have diagnostic subsurface horizons. Susie Creek soils are fine, deep and very deep to paralithic contacts, and have mollic epipedons, argillic horizons, and horizons with weak silica cementation.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Puett soils are used for livestock grazing, wood products, and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, black sagebrush, gray rabbitbrush, Utah juniper, Douglas rabbitbrush, Indian ricegrass, and basin wildrye.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and central Nevada and western Utah. These soils are extensive, with about 154,000 acres of the series mapped in Nevada to date. MLRAs 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28A, and 28B.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Eureka County, Nevada (Tuscarora Mountain Area), 1979.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (A and part of the C horizons).
Paralithic contact - The boundary at 33 cm to underlying soft bedrock (Cr layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from the soil surface to 33 cm (A and C horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.