LOCATION WAMP NV

Established Series
REV: LJL/CAH/ET
06/2011

WAMP SERIES

The Wamp series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from limestone. Wamp soils are on fan remnants and ballenas. Slope ranges from 4 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 200 millimeters and the mean annual air temperature is about 12 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, mesic, shallow Calcic Petrocalcids

TYPICAL PEDON: Wamp very gravelly fine sandy loam, rangeland and wildlife habitat. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered by approximately 65 percent gravel, 3 percent cobbles and 4 percent stones.

A--0 to 5 centimeters (0 to 2 inches); brown (10YR 5/3), very gravelly fine sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; many very fine vesicular and few fine tubular pores; 45 percent gravel, 2 percent cobbles, and 1 percent stones; violently effervescent (25 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in the fine earth fraction); moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 7 centimeters thick)

Bkq1--5 to 18 centimeters (2 to 7 inches); brown (10YR 5/3), very gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; strong coarse subangular blocky structure; moderately hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and few fine through very coarse roots; few very fine and fine tubular pores; 1 percent fine, prominent, white (10YR 8/1), indurated calcium carbonate pendants on bottom surfaces of rock fragments with sharp boundaries; 20 percent prominent, white (10YR 8/1), calcium carbonate coats on bottom surfaces of rock fragments; 4 percent distinct, brownish yellow (10YR 6/6), silica coats on bottom surfaces of rock fragments; 30 percent gravel, 3 percent cobbles, and 3 percent stones; violently effervescent (30 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in the fine earth fraction); moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 15 centimeters thick)

Bkq2--18 to 43 centimeters (7 to 17 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3), very gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and few fine through very coarse roots; common very fine and few fine tubular pores; 6 percent medium, prominent, white (10YR 8/1), indurated calcium carbonate pendants on bottom surfaces of rock fragments with sharp boundaries ; 20 percent prominent, white (10YR 8/1), calcium carbonate coats on bottom surfaces of rock fragments; 4 percent distinct, brownish yellow (10YR 6/6), silica coats on bottom surfaces of rock fragments; 50 percent gravel, 3 percent cobbles, and 3 percent stones; violently effervescent (40 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in the fine earth fraction); moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); very abrupt wavy boundary. (15 to 30 centimeters thick)

Bkqm1--43 to 56 centimeters (17 to 22 inches); white (10YR 8/1), strongly cemented petrocalcic horizon, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) moist; strong very thick platy structure; extremely hard, slightly rigid, brittle; few very fine and fine roots in fractures; few very fine tubular pores in fractures; fractures are 10 to 45 centimeters apart; thin (1 millimeter) silica cemented laminar cap; 5 percent soil in fractures; violently effervescent; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 18 centimeters thick)

Bkqm2--56 to 75 centimeters (22 to 30 inches); white (10YR 8/1), very strongly cemented petrocalcic horizon, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; massive; rigid, rigid, brittle; fractures are greater than 45 centimeters apart; thin (1 millimeter) silica cemented laminar cap; violently effervescent.

TYPE LOCATION: Clark County, Nevada; about 28 kilometers north and 23 kilometers east of Corn Creek, Nevada on the eastside of the Sheep Mountains; approximately 2 kilometers west and 4 kilometers north of Wamp Spring on the eastside of the Mormon Well Road; 330 feet north and 2380 feet west of the southwest corner of section 25, T. 14 S., R. 61 E.; USGS Mormon Well, NV 7.5 minute quadrangle; 36 degrees, 40 minutes, 51.9 seconds north latitude and 115 degrees, 5 minutes, 41.5 seconds west longitude; UTM 11S 0670226e 4061186n; (DTM:NAD83).

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture - usually dry, moist in some part from December to March and intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days during July to October following summer convection storms. The soils have an aridic bordering on ustic soil moisture regime.

Soil temperature: 12 to 15 degrees C.

Depth to calcic horizon: 4 to 20 centimeters.
Depth to petrocalcic horizon: 25 to 50 centimeters.

Control section
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel with 0 to 7 percent cobbles and stones.
Clay content: 8 to 12 percent.
Calcium carbonate equivalence of the less than 20 millimeter fraction: 40 to 60 percent.

A horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4 moist.
Calcium carbonate equivalence of the fine earth: 20 to 30 percent.

Bkq1 or Bk1 horizon (when present)
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Structure: moderate or strong, subangular blocky or platy.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel.
Calcium carbonate equivalence of the fine earth: 20 to 40 percent.
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 0 to 5.
Electrical conductivity: 0 to 2 dS/m.

Bkq2 or Bk2 horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4 dry or moist.
Texture: loam or fine sandy loam.
Structure: weak or moderate.
Consistence: slightly hard through hard.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel.
Calcium carbonate equivalence of the fine earth: 30 to 50 percent.
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 0 to 5.
Electrical conductivity: 0 to 2 dS/m.
Other features: 5 to 10 percent visible secondary calcium carbonate.

Bkqm horizons
Value: 6 through 8 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3 moist.
Consistence: extremely hard through very rigid dry, slightly rigid through very rigid moist.
Cementation class: strongly cemented through indurated.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Goodwater, Purob, and Spager series. Goodwater soils have a very weak to moderately cemented hardpan. Purob soils have a typic- aridic soil moisture regime. Spager soils have an aridic bordering on xeric moisture regime, a mean annual soil temperature of 8 to 12 degrees C., and 15 to 20 percent clay content.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wamp soils are on fan remnants and ballenas. Slope ranges from 4 to 50 percent. These soils formed in alluvium derived from limestone. Elevations are 1460 to 2150 meters. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, intermittently moist summers. Precipitation is greatest in the winter with lesser secondary peak in the summer, typical of the Mojave Desert transitional to Great Basin. The mean annual precipitation is 175 to 225 millimeters; mean annual air temperature is 8 to 13 degrees C., and the frost-free season is 90 to 180 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Doespring and Quijinump soils. Doespring soils are on higher elevation fan remnants. Quijinump soils are on inset fans and fan aprons at lower elevations and do not have hardpans.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; very high runoff; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity above the petrocalcic horizon and very low in the lower part of the petrocalcic.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly blackbrush, mountain big sagebrush and blue grama.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mojave Desert of southern Nevada, U.S.A.; MLRA 30. These soils are not extensive.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Desert National Wildlife Refuge Area, Nevada, South Part; Clark County, Nevada 2011. The name is from Wamp Spring located in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the profile are:

Ochric epipedon - 0 to 18 centimeters (0 to 7 inches) (A and Bkq1 horizons).
Calcic horizon - 18 to 43 centimeters (7 to 17 inches) (Bkq2 horizon).
Petrocalcic horizon - 43 to 75 centimeters (17 to 30 inches) (Bkqm1 and Bkqm2 horizons).
Particle-size control section - 25 to 43 centimeters (10 to 17 inches) (part of the Bkq2 horizon).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.