LOCATION WITEFELS NV CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed Typic Cryopsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Witefels coarse sand--forest land. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Oi--0 to 3 centimeters; slightly decomposed plant material composed of fir needle duff; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 5 centimeters thick)
A1--3 to 10 centimeters; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) coarse sand, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine and very fine roots; many very fine and fine pores; 5 percent gravel; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 10 centimeters thick)
A2--10 to 23 centimeters; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly loamy coarse sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine, and few medium and coarse roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 20 percent gravel; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear wavy boundary. (8 to 13 centimeters thick)
AC--23 to 36 centimeters; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly loamy coarse sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine, and few medium and coarse roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 25 percent gravel; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear wavy boundary. (10 to 25 centimeters thick)
C1--36 to 66 centimeters; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly loamy coarse sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine, and few medium and coarse roots; many fine and very fine interstitial pores; 25 percent gravel; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear wavy boundary. (28 to 53 centimeters thick)
C2--66 to 91 centimeters; light gray (10YR 7/2) gravelly coarse sand, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; very few roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 30 percent gravel; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear wavy boundary. (20 to 30 centimeters thick)
Cr--91 centimeters; weathered granitic rock.
TYPE LOCATION: Washoe County, Nevada; about 805 meters east and 610 meters south of the northwest corner of section 30, T. 16 N., R. 19 E.; USGS Marlette Lake 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 39 degrees 13 minutes 27 seconds north latitude and 119 degrees 53 minutes 29 seconds west longitude, NAD83; UTM zone 11N, 250408E, 4345627N, NAD83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to a paralithic contact of weathered rock ranges from 50 to 100 centimeters from the mineral soil surface; The paralithic materials below the contact are weathered granitic rock.
Soil moisture - The soils are usually moist, but are dry from late July until October 1 between depths of 30 to 89 centimeters; Xeric moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature - 4 to 7 degrees C.
Mean summer soil temperature - 6 to 8 degrees C.
Particle-size control section Texture: coarse sand or loamy coarse sand modified by 15 to 35 percent fine gravel. Lithology of fragments are granitic rocks such as granite or granodiorite.
A horizons
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 through 4 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Reaction: Slightly acid through strongly acid.
C horizons
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Reaction: Slightly acid through strongly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Kunayosh, Lukanin, Mysten, Skagway, and Teklanika soils. All of these soils are deeper than 100 centimeters.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Witefels soils are on mountain slopes at elevations of 2100 to 2896 meters. They formed in colluvium and residuum derived from granitic rocks. Slopes are 4 to 75 percent. Rock outcrops are common. The climate is semiarid with cool, dry summers and cold, wet winters. The mean annual precipitation is 890 to 1270 mm most of which is snow. The mean annual temperature is 1 to 5 degrees C., and the frost-free season is less than 80 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Corbett and Temo soils. Corbett soils are frigid. Temo soils have bedrock within 50 centimeters.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; low or medium surface runoff; rapid permeability (high or very high saturated hydraulic conductivity) above the paralithic contact and slow to moderate (moderately low or moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity) in the paralithic materials.
USE AND VEGETATION: Witefels soils are used for watershed, timber production, and wildlife habitat. The vegetation is primarily semi-dense to dense stands of mixed conifer forest that are mostly red fir, mountain hemlock, western white pine, and whitebark pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Nevada and eastern California on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Range. These soils are not extensive with about 2,300 hectares of the series mapped to date. MLRA 22A.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washoe County, Nevada, South Part, 1980.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 23 centimeters (Oi, A1, and A2 horizons).
Paralithic contact - The boundary at 91 centimeters to underlying weathered rock (Cr layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 28 to 91 centimeters (C1 and C2 horizons and part of the AC horizon).
Witefels soils were formerly included in the Cagwin series.
ADDITIONAL DATA: A pedon of Witefels has full characterization data by the Soil Survey Laboratory (SSL), Lincoln, NE, as user pedon ID 79NV031007 (pedon # 79P0469).