LOCATION STRAYCOW                NV

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

STRAYCOW SERIES

The Straycow series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium from metamorphic rock. Straycow soils are on hills. Slope ranges from 8 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 6 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 60 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, thermic, shallow Typic Haplargids

TYPICAL PEDON: Straycow extremely gravelly sandy loam, rangeland and wildlife habitat. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered by approximately 65 percent pebbles and 5 percent cobbles.

A--0 to 2 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine and few fine interstitial and tubular pores; 65 percent pebbles and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)

Bt--2 to 7 inches; reddish yellow (5YR 6/6) very gravelly clay loam, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine and few fine roots; many very fine and few fine tubular pores; many prominent clay films on ped faces and lining pores and many colloidal stains coating rock fragments; 50 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 17 inches thick)

Cr--7 to 20 inches; weathered bedrock with roots and soil in fractures.

TYPE LOCATION: Clark County, Nevada; approximately 2 miles east of Hart Peak on the east side of the Castle Mountains and 1/2 mile north of Stray Cow Well; about 1,125 feet east and 1,040 feet south of the northwest corner of section 15, T. 30 S., R. 62 E.; USGS Hart Peak, NV 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 35 degrees, 20 minutes, 21 seconds north latitude and 115 degrees, 2 minutes, 39 seconds west longitude; UTM 11, 677744e, 3912411n; 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. These soils have a typic aridic moisture regime.

Soil temperature - 59 to 65 degrees F.

Depth to argillic horizon - 1 to 3 inches.

Depth to paralithic contact - 5 to 20 inches.

Control section - Percent clay: 12 to 24 percent above the argillic horizon and 27 to 35 percent in the argillic horizon.

Rock fragments: Averages 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel.

Reaction: Neutral or slightly alkaline.

Other features: Noncalcareous throughout.

A horizon - Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.

Value: 5 or 6 dry.

Bt horizon - Chroma: 4 through 6.

Texture: Sandy clay loam or clay loam.

Consistence: Slightly hard or hard.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Anklam (AZ), Azure (AZ) and Botleg (NV) series. Anklam and Azure soils are moist more than 20 days cumulative in the moisture control section, and in addition, Anklam soils are in 10 to 13 inch precipitation zone. Azure soils average 12 to 17 percent clay in the control section and are calcareous throughout. Botleg soils are calcareous throughout and have a MAST of 67 to 71 degrees F,

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Straycow soils are on hills. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium from metamorphic bedrock. Slope ranges from 8 to 50 percent. Elevations are 2,700 to 4,500 feet. The climate is a low-latitude desert with mild winters and very hot summer. Precipitation is greatest in the winter with a lesser secondary peak in summer typical of the Mojave Desert. 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 Highland, Hopps and Nippeno series. Highland soils are moderately deep to hard bedrock. Hopps and Nippeno soils are shallow and very shallow to hard bedrock.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly big galleta, bush muhly, Mojave buckwheat, Nevada ephedra and creosotebush.

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 Stray Cow Well located nearby.

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

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

Argillic horizon - 2 inches 7 inches (Bt horizon).

Paralithic contact - 7 to 20 inches (Cr layer).

Particle-size control section - 0 to 7 inches (A and Bt horizons).

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

---

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.