LOCATION ADOBE                   NV

Established Series
Rev. LL/WED/JVC/JBF
12/2011

ADOBE SERIES

The Adobe series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from limestone and dolomite. Adobe soils are on mountains. Slopes are 15 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 460 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 6 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic Lithic Calcicryolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Adobe very gravelly silt loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is partially covered with approximately 85 percent gravel.

A1--0 to 5 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very gravelly silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate thick platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and few fine roots; many very fine and fine vesicular pores; 40 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 8 cm thick)

A2--5 to 13 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and few fine through medium roots; many very fine tubular and interstitial pores; 50 percent gravel; common fine coats of secondary calcium carbonate on bottoms of gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 13 cm thick)

Bk1--13 to 28 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine, common fine and medium roots; many very fine tubular pores; 45 percent gravel; common medium and coarse coats of secondary calcium carbonate on bottoms of gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (10 to 25 cm thick)

Bk2--28 to 43 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine few fine and medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; 50 percent gravel; common coarse pendants and coats of secondary calcium carbonate on bottoms of gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (10 to 25 cm thick)

R--43 cm; hard fractured limestone.

TYPE LOCATION: White Pine County, Nevada; about 2 miles south of Little Antelope Summit in the White Pine Range; 2,000 feet east and 2,300 feet south of the northwest corner of section 5, T. 17 N., R. 58 E.; USGS Hamilton 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 39 degrees 22 minutes 23 seconds N and longitude 115 degrees 28 minutes 8 seconds W; NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist, moist in winter through mid spring, dry late spring through fall; xeric soil moisture regime that borders on aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature: 3 to 7 degrees C.
Mean summer soil temperature: 12 to 15 degrees C.
Mollic epipedon thickness: 25 to 50 cm.
Depth to bedrock: 38 to 50 cm to a lithic contact.

Particle-sze control section - Clay content: 18 to 27 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments is limestone or dolomite.

A horizons
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist,
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Organic matter content: 2 to 4 percent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 15 percent in the less than 2 mm fraction.

Bk horizons
Texture: Very gravelly silt loam or very gravelly loam.
Structure: Weak or moderate subangular blocky.
Consistence: Friable or very friable, moist.
Organic matter content: 0.5 to 3 percent.
Effervescence: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent.
Identifiable secondary carbonates: common to many fine to very coarse coats on bottoms of gravel in the Bk1 horizon, common to many fine to very coarse pendants on the bottoms of gravel in the Bk2 horizon.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 35 to 45 percent in the less than 2 mm fraction, 40 to 60 percent in the less than 20 millimeter fraction.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Jimbee series. Jimbee soils have accumulation of silica, have Bqk horizons, and have mean summer soil temperature of 7 to 9 degrees C.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Adobe soils are on mountains. They typically occur on backslope positions. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium derived from limestone and dolomite. Slopes are 15 to 75 percent. Elevations range from 2,260 to 3,050 meters. The climate is semiarid with cold, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 400 to 550 mm, mean annual temperature is 4 to 7 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 50 to 70 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Hardol and Wardbay soils. Hardol soils are very deep and have thick mollic epipedons. Wardbay soils are deep to lithic contacts, have thick mollic epipedons, and have a frigid temperature regime.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; very high surface runoff; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Adobe soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly black sagebrush and bluebunch wheatgrass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRAs 28A and 28B.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: White Pine County (Western Part), Nevada, 1990.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 43 cm (A1, A2, Bk1, and Bk2 horizons).
Calcic horizon - The zone from 13 to 43 cm (Bk1 and Bk2 horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 43 cm to underlying hard bedrock (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 43 cm (Bk2 and part of the Bk1 horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.