LOCATION WAUCOBA CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Waucoba stony loam, on a northeast facing concave slope of 55 percent under Mormon tea and spiny hopsage, at 6,100
feet elevation. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. When described the soil was dry throughout.)
The surface has a litter of 15 percent pebbles, 10 percent
cobbles, and 3 percent stones.
A1--0 to 3 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) stony loam, brown
(10YR 4/3) moist; moderate thin platy structure; slightly hard,
very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and common very fine roots; common fine tubular and interstitial
pores; 15 percent pebbles and 10 percent cobbles; neutral (pH
7.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 3 inches thick)
A2--3 to 9 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly loam, brown
(10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine and common very fine roots; common fine tubular and interstitial pores; 25 percent pebbles; slightly effervescent, disseminated
Btk1--9 to 15 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very
gravelly clay loam, dark yellowish brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist;
moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and few very fine roots; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; few thin clay
films on faces of peds and in pores; 40 percent pebbles and 10 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent, disseminated lime;
moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 6 inches thick)
Btk2--15 to 19 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very
gravelly clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, sticky and
slightly plastic; few very fine interstitial pores; common thin
clay films on faces of ped and in pores; 50 percent pebbles and 10 percent cobbles; violently effervescent, disseminated lime; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt irregular boundary. (3 to 4 inches thick)
R--19 inches; highly fractured quartzite with a thin, highly calcareous layer with opal coating the underside of the fragments
and lining some of the vertical cracks. Fractures are 1 to 10
inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Inyo County, California, Saline Valley; about 1/2 mile upslope from the abandoned Waucoba tungsten mine; NW corner section 28, T.11 S., R.37 E., MDB&M.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is
about 54 to 59 degrees F. Depth to a lithic contact ranges from
14 to 20 inches. The soil is moist less than 90 consecutive days when the soil temperature is warmer than 41 degrees F. These
soils are dry throughout from May through mid-November. The soil
is neutral or mildly alkaline in the surface layer and mildly to moderately alkaline below.
The A horizon has dry color of 10YR 6/3 or 6/4 and moist color of
4/3 or 5/3. It is stony or gravelly loam.
The Bt horizon has dry color of 10YR 6/4 or 6/6. It is gravelly
or very cobbly clay loam or loam and average 35 to 75 percent rock fragments.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Downeyville,
Hoot,
Mirkwood
Theon(T), Valley City, and
Vium series. Downeyville and Mirkwood soils are
4 to 14 inches to a lithic contact. Hoot soils have an E horizon
at the surface and are noncalcareous except for Btk horizon thin carbonate coatings on some rock fragments. Theon soils have soil temperature of 49 to 54 degrees F., a paralithic contact at a depth of 8 to 14 inches, a lithic contact at a depth of 10 to 20 inches, and an A1 horizon 1 to 2 inches thick. Valley City soils are dominated by stone and cobble size fragments in the argillic horizon. Vium soils are 8 to 14 inches to a lithic contact and contain 8 to 16 percent clay in the control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Waucoba soils are on hills and mountains. Slopes are 30 to 85 percent. The soils formed in residuum from metamorphic rocks. The bedrock is fractured and has a thin calcareous layer, with opal coating on the underside of fragments
and in vertical cracks. Elevations are 5,000 to 8,000 feet. Commonly the higher elevations occur on southern exposures. The climate is arid, with hot, dry summers with infrequent thunder showers of short duration and cool, moist winters. The average annual precipitation is 7 to 9 inches. The mean January
temperature is 35 degrees F. The frost free season is 185 to 235 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Theriot soils
which lack an argillic horizon and are carbonatic.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for watershed, wildlife habitat,
and recreation land. The native vegetation is primarily big sagebrush, spiny hopsage, green Morman tea, and shadscale.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils are mapped in the Northern California Desert and are of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Inyo County, California, Saline Valley Area, 1980.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: Ochric epipedon - 0 to 3 inches (A1 horizon)
Argillic horizon - 9 to 19 inches (Btk1 and Btk2 horizons)
Lithic contact - at 19 inches, the contact with quartzite
Particle-size control section - 10 to 19 inches (whole argillic horizon)
Xeric moisture regime
The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Reno MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.