LOCATION BRICONE NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic Lithic Cryorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Bricone very gravelly fine sandy loam--forestland. (Colors are for dry soils unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with approximately 60 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones.
A--0 to 8 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) very gravelly fine sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; 40 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 cm thick)
Bw--8 to 24 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) extremely gravelly fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine, common medium, and few coarse roots; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; 70 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (8 to 15 cm thick)
Bk--24 to 33 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) extremely gravelly fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine, common medium and few coarse roots; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; 70 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; 5 percent visible secondary calcium carbonate concretions on bottom of rock fragments; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); abrupt irregular boundary. (8 to 20 cm thick)
R--33 cm; very rigid, indurated, fractured limestone bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: White Pine County Nevada; about 2,000 feet southeast of Granite Peak in the Snake Range in Great Basin National Park; USGS Minerva Canyon 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 50 minutes 27.8 seconds N and longitude 114 degrees 15 minutes 21 seconds W; UTM zone 11, 738173e, 4302718n, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually moist; moist in winter, spring and early summer, dry in all parts at least 45 consecutive days following the summer solstice (July and August), but intermittently moist in the upper part for 10 to 20 days cumulative due to convection storms between July and September; much of the moisture that falls on the site is in the form of snow and is removed from these convex slopes by the wind; Xeric soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature - 3 to 5 degrees C.
Mean summer soil temperature - 8 to 10 degrees C.
Depth to base of the Bw horizon - 15 to 24 cm.
Depth to bedrock - 25 to 50 cm to a lithic contact.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 12 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 50 to 80 percent, dominantly limestone gravel.
A horizon - Value: 5 or 6 dry, dominantly 4 through 6 moist; value of 3 moist 1s less than 10 cm thick.
Chroma: 2 or 3 dry, 2 through 4 moist.
Effervescence: Slightly effervescent to strongly effervescent.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
Bw and Bk horizons - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Fine sandy loam, loam or sandy loam.
Clay content: 12 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 50 to 80 percent.
Structure: Subangular blocky, or massive.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
Effervescence: Slightly effervescent to violently effervescent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 60 percent, for the less than 20 mm fraction; 10 to 15 for the fine-earth fraction.
Other features: Bk is too thin or lacks enough visible secondary calcium carbonate to meet calcic horizon criteria.
COMPETING SERIES: At present, there are no other series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bricone soils are on mountains. They typically occur on linear to convex summit, shoulder, and upper backslope positions. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium from limestone and dolomite. Slopes are 15 to 75 percent. Elevations are 2,230 to 3,560 meters. The climate is humid with cold, wet winters and cool, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 600 to 950 mm, the mean annual temperature is 1.5 to 4 degrees C., and the frost-free season is 30 to 50 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Linpeak and Piar series. Linpeak soils are very deep and have cambic and calcic horizons. Piar soils are deep and have cambic and calcic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; moderate permeability; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity.
USE AND VEGETATION: Forestland and wildlife habitat. The potential native vegetation is mainly bristlecone pine and limber pine with a sparse understory of currant. This site is correlated to Ecological Site F28AY081NV, Great Basin bristlecone pine-limber pine/gooseberry-common juniper and Ross sedge.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Nevada. MLRA 28A. These soils are not extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: White Pine County, Great Basin National Park, Nevada, 2009. The name is coined.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 8 cm (A horizon).
Identifiable secondary carbonates - The zone from 24 to 33 cm (Bk horizon).
Lithic contact - The boundary with hard bedrock at about 33 cm (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from the soil surface to 33 cm (A, Bw, and Bk horizons).