LOCATION LEMCAVE NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed Oxyaquic Haplocryepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Lemcave extremely gravelly sandy loam--forestland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with approximately 25 percent gravel, 15 percent cobbles, 10 percent stones, and 5 percent boulders.
Oi--0 to 3 cm; slightly decomposed plant material composed of conifer needles; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 5 cm thick)
A--3 to 8 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) extremely gravelly sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and few fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 50 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 13 cm thick)
AE--8 to 20 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) extremely gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine, fine, and medium, and few coarse roots; common very fine tubular pores; 50 percent gravel, 15 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; neutral (pH 6.8); clear smooth boundary. (8 to 20 cm thick)
E1--20 to 36 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) extremely cobbly coarse sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine, fine, medium, and coarse roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 40 percent gravel, 25 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; neutral (pH 6.6); clear wavy boundary. (10 to 25 cm thick)
E2--36 to 76 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) extremely cobbly loamy coarse sand, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine, common fine and medium roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 45 percent gravel, 25 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear wavy boundary. (25 to 50 cm thick)
E and Bt--76 to 155 cm; 90 percent very pale brown (10YR 7/3) extremely cobbly loamy coarse sand, brown (10YR 5/3) moist (E part), with 10 percent 5 to 20 mm thick lamellae of light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist (Bt part); massive; soft, very friable nonsticky and nonplastic; 40 percent gravel, 25 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; strongly acid (pH 5.5).
TYPE LOCATION: White Pine County, Nevada; in Great Basin National Park about 1,500 feet south of Dead Lake; USGS Wheeler Peak 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 55 minutes 57 seconds N and longitude 114 degrees 16 minutes 21 seconds W; UTM Zone 11, 736423e, 4312818n, NAD83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually 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; snow covered from November through April; upper part is saturated for about 20 to 30 consecutive days during snowmelt; Xeric soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature - 4 to 7 degrees C.
Mean summer soil temperature - 7 to 8 degrees C.
Mean winter temperature - 0 to 2 degrees C.
Ochric epipedon thickness - 46 to 89 cm, includes the Oi, A, AE, E1, and E2 horizons.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 4 to 12 percent.
Rock fragment content: Averages 50 to 90 percent. Lithology of fragments is mainly quartzite.
A and AE horizons - Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Reaction: Slightly acid or neutral.
E horizons - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Clay content: 6 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 50 to 90 percent.
Reaction: Slightly acid or neutral.
E and Bt horizon - Clay content: 3 to 10 percent.
Lamellae: 5 to 20 mm thick lamellae of sandy clay loam or sandy loam and clay bridging of sand grains occurs below 24 inches from the soil surface. Total thickness of the lamellae is less than 7.5 cm or less than 10 percent of the thickness of overlying horizons.
Reaction: Strongly acid through slightly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Tangoe series. The Tangoe series has mean annual temperature of -5 to -3 degrees C., and is saturated for more than 1 month between May and September.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lemcave soils are on moraines and stream terraces. These soils formed in till and outwash derived from quartzite with local admixtures of granitic rocks. Slopes are 8 to 50 percent. Elevations range from 2,070 to 2,860 meters. The climate is cool, moist-subhumid with cold wet winters and warm dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 450 to 700 mm. The mean annual temperature is 3 to 6 degrees C. and the frost-free period is 40 to 60 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Gaia and Jumble soils. Gaia soils are loamy-skeletal and have mollic epipedons. Jumble soils are loamy-skeletal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium surface runoff; moderately rapid permeability; high saturated hydraulic conductivity.
USE AND VEGETATION: Lemcave soils are used for forestland and wildlife habitat. The potential native vegetation is mainly a forest canopy of white fir, Douglas fir, limber pine, and quaking aspen with an understory of manzanita and dwarf Oregon-grape. This site is correlated to Ecological Site F28AY080NV, Rocky Mountain White Fir-Rocky Mountain Douglas-Fir-creeping barberry-mountain snowberry-bluegrass-Ross' sedge.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Nevada. These soils are not extensive. MLRA 28A.
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: The revision of March 2003 updates the taxonomic classification from Sandy-skeletal, mixed, frigid Typic Xerorthents, adjusts all horizon depths for the Oi horizon as the soil surface, and verifies the presence of both albic and cambic horizons.
The revision of February 2008 updates the classification Sandy-skeletal, mixed, Oxyaqquic Haplocryepts, and modified the horizonation.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Organic soil material - The zone from the soil surface to about 3 cm (Oi horizon).
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 76 cm (Oi, A, AE, E1, and E2 horizons).
Cambic Horizon - The zone from 20 to 36 cm (E1 horizon).
Albic horizon - The zone from 20 to 76 cm (E1 and E2 horizons).
Lamellae - The zone from 76 to 155 cm (E and Bt horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 28 to 103 cm (lower part of the E1 horizon, E2 and upper part of the E and Bt horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Previous authors and editors include: EWB-RLB-TRM.