LOCATION WILDCAT AZEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, frigid Aquertic Paleustalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Wlldcat gravelly very fine sandy loam - forest (Colors for dry conditions unless otherwise noted)
0i--0 to 1 inches; Thin layer of partially decayed pine needles and leaves.
E1--1 to 3 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly very fine sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium and coarse platy breaking to moderate fine granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; plentiful fine roots; many fine interstitial pores; 50 percent gravel, cobbles and stones; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick.)
E2--3 to 8 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; plentiful fine and few medium roots; many fine interstitial and few fine tubular pores; common gravel, cobbles and stones; neutral (pH 6.7); abrupt wavy boundary . (3 to 10 inches thick.)
Bt1--8 to 18 soils; mottled brown (7.5YR 5/4), red (2.5YR 4/6) and light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay, brown (7.5YR 4/4), dark red (2.5YR 3/6) and grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; mottles are many fine and medium and distinct; weak medium prismatic structure breaking to strong medium and coarse angular blocky structure; extremely hard, very firm, sticky and very plastic; plentiful fine, medium and coarse roots; few fine tubular pores; common pressure faces; continuous moderately thick clay films on ped faces; few gravel and cobbles; moderately acid (pH 5.6); gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 15 inches thick.)
Bt2--18 to 33 inches; mottled light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2), yellowish red (5YR 5/6) and reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) clay, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2), yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; mottles are many fine and medium and distinct; weak coarse angular blocky structure; extremely hard, extremely firm, sticky and very plastic; few fine, medium and coarse roots; few fine tubular pores; few thin clay films on ped faces; common pressure faces; few gravel and cobbles; strongly acid (pH 5.4); abrupt irregular boundary (8 to 20 inches thick.)
R--33 to 35 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) and red (2.5YR 4/6) dense fine-grained sandstone; massive; extremely hard, extremely firm; few fine roots; clay tongues extend into fractures of R horizon; slightly acid (pH 6.5).
TYPE LOCATION: Coconino County, Arizona. NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 Sec. 11, T12N, R8F.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to bedrock: 20 to 50 or more inches
Stones and cobbles: on the surface range from few to many
Cobbles and stones may be common in the lower portion of the B2 horizon
Mean annual temperature: 45 degrees F. or less
Mean summer temperature: less than 59 degrees F.
Soil moisture: Some horizons may be dry for periods of 60 to 90 days during the late spring months. Typic ustic moisture regime.
Base saturation of the Argillic horizon (by sum of cations) is more than 60 percent.
A thin A1 horizon may be present in some areas.
A2 horizon
Thickness: 3 to 15 inches
Hue: 10YR and 7.5YR
Value: 6 and 7 dry and 3 thru 5 moist
Chroma: 2 and 3
Texture: gravelly very fine sandy loam, gravelly loam, and gravelly sandy loam
Structure: massive to weak medium and coarse platy
Reaction: slightly acid to moderately alkaline
B horizon
Hue: 2.5YR through 5yValue: 4 thru 6 dry and 3 thru 5 moist
Chroma: 2 thru 6
Mottles are common to many fine, medium and large and distinct to prominent. The B horizon is 16 to 35 inches thick
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral with the pH generally decreasing with depth
R material is generally noncalcareous sandstone of the Coconino formation but slightly calcareous sandstone members of the Kaibab formation may be present.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on nearly level to rolling upland exposures of sandstone with slopes ranging from 1 to 15 percent. The soils are formed in residuum from Coconino sandstone or Kaibab formation. Elevations range from 6800 to 7200 feet. The average annual precipitation ranges from approximately 18 to 22 inches. The mean annual air temperature is approximately 44 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the McVickers, Hogg and Soldier soils, these include the recent alluvial Clover Springs and Luth soils in the drainageways. Both the Clover Springs and Luth soils have mollic epipedons and lack an argillic horizon which is characteristic of the Wildcat soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is medium. Permeability is slow to very slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for timber production, summer grazing, wildlife and recreation. Vegetation consists of ponderosa pine, Gambel oak and alligator juniper trees, Fendlers Ceanothus shrub, red root Friogonum, mullein and daisy forbs, mountain muhly, squirretail, June grass, pine dropseed and three-awn grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: In central Arizona at intermediate and high elevations where the Coconino sandstone is exposed on the surface. The series is of small extent with a total of approximately 8000 acres mapped at this time. MLRA 39.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Coconino County, Arizona, Long Valley Area Survey, 1967. Name taken from a nearby spring.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 1 to 8 inches. (E horizon)
Argillic horizon - 8 to 33 inches. (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)
Abrupt texture change - at 8 inches
The proper classification of this series is in question. The Aquertic subgroup requires a combination of Aquic and Vertic properties. In other words, aquic conditions and cracks, slickensides, wedge shaped aggregates or linear extensibility of 6.0 cm. These properties were not described. The type location should be visited and the pedon described and properly classified.
Formerly classified as a Planosol.