LOCATION GANAFLAN NV
Established Series
Rev. EWB-CEJ-JVC-JBF
05/2016
GANAFLAN SERIES
The Ganaflan series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in lacustrine deposits derived from mixed rocks and tufa deposits. Ganaflan soils are on lake terraces. Slopes are 2 to 15 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 150 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 11 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Typic Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Ganaflan fine sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 3 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; many very fine, fine, medium, and coarse interstitial pores; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 13 cm thick)
A2--3 to 10 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; moderate medium platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and few fine roots; common very fine vesicular pores; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 cm thick)
C1--10 to 33 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine, fine and few medium roots; 10 percent gravel-sized tufa fragments; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); clear wavy boundary. (10 to 25 cm thick)
C2--33 to 53 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) gravelly loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine, medium and coarse roots; 20 percent gravel-sized tufa fragments; violently effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); clear wavy boundary. (13 to 30 cm thick)
C3--53 to 81 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few fine, medium and coarse roots; 50 percent gravel-sized tufa fragments; violently effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); abrupt irregular boundary. (0 to 38 cm thick)
Cr--81 to 122 cm; dendritic tufa with soil in holes and cracks; very few fine roots in cracks which are matted on harder tufa plates at 119 cm; abrupt smooth boundary. (13 to 46 cm thick)
2C--122 to 152 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) stratified sand and gravelly sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 20 percent gravels; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).
TYPE LOCATION: Washoe County, Nevada; in the eastern part of Honey Lake Valley about 1 mile northwest of the Never Sweat Hills; 1,100 feet north and 1,100 feet west of the southeast corner of section 15, T. 27 N., R. 19 E.; USGS Astor Pass 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 40 degrees 12 minutes 17.9 seconds N and longitude 119 degrees 49 minutes 53.3 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 40.2049722 latitude, -119.831472 longitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist for short periods in winter and early spring, dry the remainder of the year; typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 14 degrees C.
Depth to bedrock: 50 to 100 cm to a paralithic contact. The paralithic materials are thinly bedded layers of tufa. Tufa is a chemical sedimentary rock composed of calcium carbonate and silica and deposited from solution in the water of springs adjacent to lakes.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 10 to 18 percent. Some pedons have thin strata with up to 27 percent clay.
Rock fragments: Averages less than 35 percent gravel. Lithology of fragments is tufa.
A horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Salinity (EC): 8 to 16 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 13 to 45.
C horizons
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Dominantly gravelly loam or loam. With strata of sandy loam, silt loam, silty clay loam or very fine sandy loam in some pedons.
Rock fragments: Less than 35 percent dominantly gravel-sized dendritic or thinolite tufa fragments. Some pedons have subhorizons or thin strata with 35 to 50 percent gravels.
Structure: Subangular blocky or massive.
Consistence: Soft to hard, very friable or friable.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline through very strongly alkaline (up to pH 9.6).
Salinity (EC): 8 to 16 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 13 to 45.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 15 percent.
Cr layer
Paralithic materials composed of lithoid or dendritic tufa with some fine-earth in cracks and pockets. Thin plates of harder travertine or thinolite tufa may be present in some pedons.
2C' horizon
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Stratified sand to very gravelly coarse sand.
Clay content: 2 to 10 percent.
Rock fragments: 10 to 50 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline through very strongly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Apron,
Fang,
Fruitland,
Geer,
Jeddito,
Jenrid,
Kumiva,
Marcou,
Mazuma,
Moepitz,
Piltdown,
Shotnick,
Sodaspring,
Tooele,
Trachute,
Vanderhoff,
Wentridge, and
Worland series.
Apron,
Fang,
Fruitland,
Geer,
Jeddito,
Jenrid,
Kumiva,
Marcou,
Mazuma,
Piltdown,
Shotnick,
Sodaspring,
Tooele, and
Trachute soils are very deep.
Moepitz,
Vanderhoff,
Wentridge, and
Worland soils do not have tufa fragments within the particle-size control section, are not moderately deep to tufa bedrock, and do not have stratified sandy horizons below paralithic materials.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ganaflan soils are on lake terraces associated with Lake Lahontan and other Pleistocene lakes. They formed in lacustrine deposits derived from mixed rocks and tufa deposits. Slopes are 2 to 15 percent. Elevations range from 1,190 to 1,345 meters. In central Nevada elevations range as high as 1,465 to 1,770 meters, but are atypical for the series. The climate is arid with cool, moist winters and hot, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 100 to 200 mm, the mean annual temperature is 10 to 11 degrees C., and the frost-free period is 90 to 130 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Ruhe,
Smaug, and
Trocken soils. Ruhe soils are shallow to tufa, sandy, and occur on beach terraces. Smaug soils are very deep, coarse-silty, and occur on lake terraces. Trocken soils are very deep, loamy-skeletal, and occur on fan remnants.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; high surface runoff; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity.
USE AND VEGETATION: Ganaflan soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly shadscale, bud sagebrush, Indian ricegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western and central Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive. The series concept and main acreage is in MLRA 27, while other acreage occurs in MLRA 29.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washoe County (Central Part), Nevada, 1990.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (A1, A2 and part of C1 horizons).
Paralithic contact - The boundary at 81 cm to a relatively thin layer of underlying soft bedrock.
Paralithic materials - The zone from 81 to 122 cm (Cr layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 81 cm (C2 and C3 horizons and part of the C1 horizon).
NASIS pedon and site ID 07NV771Y040amb.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.