LOCATION SOUGHE                  NV

Established Series
Rev. SES/TM/RLB/JBF
05/2016

SOUGHE SERIES

The Soughe series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from various rocks. Soughe soils are on rock core areas of fan piedmont remnant side slopes, hills, plateaus and mountain ridges, crests, summits, shoulders and side slopes. Slopes are 2 to 75 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 230 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 8 degrees C.

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

TYPICAL PEDON: Soughe very cobbly loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is partially covered with 40 percent gravel and 20 percent cobbles.

A1--0 to 5 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very cobbly loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; common very fine vesicular and few very fine tubular pores; 30 percent gravel and 25 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 13 cm thick)

A2--5 to 10 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very gravelly loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; many very fine and few fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 25 percent gravel and 15 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 13 cm thick)

Bt1--10 to 18 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly clay loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine, few fine and medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; common faint clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 25 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 cm thick)

Bt2--18 to 36 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; strong medium subangular blocky structure; hard, very friable, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine, fine, and medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 35 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 25 cm thick)

R--36 cm; altered andesite.

TYPE LOCATION: Elko County, Nevada; about 2.3 miles south and 0.2 miles east of the Elliott Ranch and 2.1 miles north and 0.2 miles east of the Hackwood Ranch, approximately 250 feet east and 2,000 feet north of the southwest corner of section 4, T. 30 N., R. 54 E.; USGS Bullion 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 40 degrees 30 minutes 40 seconds N, longitude 115 degrees 54 minutes 35 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 40.51111 latitude, -115.9097222 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry; moist in winter and spring, dry mid-June through October; aridic soil moisture regime bordering on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 8 to 10 degrees C.
Depth to bedrock: 25 to 50 cm.
Reaction: Neutral through moderately alkaline.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 25 to 35 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel with 0 to 10 percent cobbles.

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

Bt horizon
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Texture: Very gravelly clay loam, very gravelly sandy clay loam, or very gravelly loam.
Structure: Weak to strong, very fine to very coarse subangular blocky or moderate to strong, medium angular blocky.
Consistence: Soft to hard, dry; very friable or friable, moist, moderately sticky or very sticky and moderately plastic or very plastic wet.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Atlow, Boomstick, Checkett, Chubard, Cottle, Doorkiss, Fortyday, Gabbvally, Hooplite, Nevo, Olac, Old Camp, Phliss, Richinde, Rowel, Stewval and Thike series.

Atlow soils have thin carbonate coatings on undersides of rock fragments in the argillic horizon. Boomstick soils contain profiles that are 70 to 80 percent channers and flagstone and contain carbonates in the lower part of the argillic horizon. Checkett, Hooplite, and Phliss soils have calcareous argillic horizons. Chubard and Richinde soils are intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative from July through September due to convection storms. Cottle and Old Camp soils have carbonate coatings on rock fragments in the Bt horizon. Doorkiss soils have an abrupt textural change between the A horizon and Bt horizon. Fortyday soils have soil temperature that range from 9 to 12 degrees C. and contain 18 to 25 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Gabbvally and Thike soils have less than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Nevo soils have bedrock that range from 13 to 30 cm and soil temperature range from 10 to 13 degrees C. Olac soils have 60 to 75 percent rock fragments in the Bt horizon. Rowel soils have an abrupt textural change and a Bt horizon with 40 to 55 percent clay. Stewval soils are 10 to 25 cm deep to bedrock and are intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative from July through September due to convection storms.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Soughe soils are on rock core areas of fan piedmont remnant side slopes and, hills, plateaus and mountain ridges, crests, summits, shoulders and side slopes. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium derived from various rocks. Slopes are 2 to 75 percent. Elevations are 1,345 to 2,200 meters. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 300 mm, mean annual temperature is 7 to 9 degrees C, and the frost-free season is 90 to 120 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Abgese, A1ley, Bilbo, Bucan, and Vanwyper series. Abgese, A1ley and Bilbo soils are very deep. Bucan and Vanwyper soils have 35 to 55 percent clay in the Bt horizon.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. The vegetation is principally Wyoming big sagebrush, low rabbitbrush, cheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail and balsamroot.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Nevada. MLRA 25, 24. These soils are not extensive.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Eureka, County, Nevada, 1983.

REMARKS: This revision changes the classification based on the revised Aridisol order.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to 10 cm (A1 and A2 horizons).
Argillic horizons - The zone from 10 to 36 cm (Bt1, and Bt2 horizons).
Xeric intergrades - Meets organic carbon requirement for xeric.
Lithic contact - The boundary at 36 cm (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from the soil surface to 36 cm (A1, A2, Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.