LOCATION FLOER                   NV

Established Series
Rev. CEJ/RLB/JBF
03/2016

FLOER SERIES

The Floer series consists of deep, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from basalt, chert, and other rocks with a component of loess. Floer soils are on mountains and foothills side slopes. Slopes are 8 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 300 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 6 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey-skeletal, smectitic, frigid Aridic Palexerolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Floer gravelly silt loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is partially covered with 30 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles and stones.

A1--0 to 8 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak very thin and thin platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and common medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; 15 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 8 cm thick)

A2--8 to 30 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and medium roots; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; 15 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (8 to 23 cm thick)

Bt1--30 to 38 cm; brown (10YR 4/3) very cobbly silty clay loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; common faint clay films on faces of ped; about 20 percent gravel, 25 percent cobbles and 5 percent stones; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 8 cm thick)

Bt2--38 to 53 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) very cobbly clay, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; strong medium and coarse prismatic structure parting to strong medium subangular blocky; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; continuous distinct clay films on faces of ped and lining pores; 25 percent gravel, 25 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (8 to 15 cm thick)

Btk1--53 to 66 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) very cobbly clay, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; strong, fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; many distinct clay films on faces of ped and lining pores; 10 percent gravel and 25 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent; common fine soft carbonate filaments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (13 to 25 cm thick)

Btk2--66 to 127 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very cobbly clay, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) moist; moderate, medium subangular block structure; hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; common thin clay films on faces of ped and lining pores; 20 percent gravel, 30 percent cobbles and 5 percent stones; strongly effervescent; common fine soft carbonate filaments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (10 to 64 cm thick)

R--127 cm; fractured chert

TYPE LOCATION: Lander County, Nevada, in the Hilltop Canyon area, approximately 1,320 feet south and 600 feet west of the northeast corner of section 5, T. 29 N., R. 46 E.; USGS Mount Lewis 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 40 degrees 24 minutes 56 seconds N and longitude 116 degrees 48 minutes 54 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 40.4155556 latitude, -116.8150000 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, but moist in some part from November to July; xeric soil moisture regime bordering on aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature: 6 to 8 degrees C.
Mollic epipedon thickness: 20 to 50 cm and includes the upper part of the Bt horizon.
Depth to bedrock: 100 to 150 cm.
Depth to carbonates: 50 to 100 cm.
Reaction: Neutral through moderately alkaline, increasing with depth.
Secondary carbonates: Segregated carbonate occurs as common fine filaments that is slightly effervescent through strongly effervescent.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 50 to 65 percent.
Rock fragments: 20 to 30 percent gravel and 20 to 40 percent cobbles and stones.

A horizon
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3.

Bt horizon
Value: 2 or 3 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3 in the upper part and 3 or 4 in the lower part.
Texture: Very gravelly, very stony or very cobbly silty clay loam in the thin upper subhorizon; very cobbly clay or very stony clay in lower subhorizons.

Btk horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 4 through 8.
Texture: Extremely stony clay loam, extremely stony clay or very cobbly clay, when mixed.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Delmo and Heusser series and the closely related Pie Creek series.

Delmo and Heusser soils are very deep and do not contain calcium carbonates.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Floer soils are on mountain and foothill side slopes. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium derived from basalt, chert, and other rocks with a component of loess. Slopes are 8 to 50 percent. Elevations are 1,680 to 2,290 meters. The climate is cool, semiarid with warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is 250 to 360 mm; mean annual temperature is 4 to 7 degrees C., and the frost-free season is 80 to 100 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Checkett, Ginser, Glasgow, and Ramires soils. Checkett soils are less than 50 cm deep to bedrock. Checkett and Ginser soils have less than 35 percent clay in their control section. Glasgow and Ramires soils have less than 35 percent rock fragments in their particle-size control sections.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to very rapid runoff; very slow permeability; moderately low saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly low sagebrush, Douglas rabbitbrush, Sandberg bluegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, Eriogonum species, and phlox.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Nevada. These soils are not extensive. MLRA 24, 23.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lander County, North Part, Nevada, 1985.

REMARKS: Type location was moved in 1991 to better represent the series.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 38 cm. (A1, A3, Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)
Argillic horizon - The zone from 30 to 127 cm (Bt and Btk horizons)
Pale feature - Abrupt textural change at 30 cm, and clayey particle-size control section.
Lithic contact - The boundary at 127 cm (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from about 30 to 80 cm (Bt1, Bt2, Btk1 and part of the Btk2 horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.