LOCATION MILLERLUX               NV

Established Series
Rev: SES/TM/RLB/JBF
05/2016

MILLERLUX SERIES

The Millerlux series consists of shallow, well drained soil that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from basalt and tuff with a minor component of loess. Millerlux soils are on basaltic plateaus. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 250 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 7 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, smectitic, frigid Lithic Xeric Haplargids

TYPICAL PEDON: Millerlux extremely cobbly loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soils unless otherwise noted).

A--0 to 3 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) extremely cobbly loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate coarse platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots; many very fine vesicular pores; 40 percent cobbles, 20 percent gravel and 2 percent stones; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 15 cm thick)

E--3 to 10 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; strong very fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; almost all of the sand grains are bleached in the upper part and many are bleached in the lower part; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 cm thick)

Btss1--10 to 20 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay, with dark brown (10YR 3/3) colloidal coatings on peds, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; strong medium prismatic structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; many very fine roots, mostly exped; many exped very fine and few very fine inped tubular pores; continuous slickensides along prism faces; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (8 to 18 cm thick)

Btss2--20 to 30 cm; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) clay, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine and few fine exped roots; common very fine exped and few very fine inped tubular pores; continuous moderately thick clay films lining pores; many slickensides; slightly effervescent in spots; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 15 cm thick)

Btk--30 to 38 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) clay, , dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; strong, fine and medium angular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; very few very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; common moderately thick and many thin clay films on peds and in pores: 10 percent gravel; many medium and coarse prominent carbonate segregations; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 15 cm thick)

2R--38 cm; basalt bedrock with continuous thin white (10YR 8/1) carbonate coatings on its surface.

TYPE LOCATION: Washoe County Nevada; The site is on the Little Sheldon Refuge about 1,300 feet east and 1,300 feet north of the southwest corner of section 36, T. 46 N., R. 21 E.; USGS Bald Mountain, NV 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 41 degrees 51 minutes 40 seconds N and longitude 119 degrees 34 minutes 26 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 41.8611111 latitude, -119.573889 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry in late June through mid-October, but moist in winter and spring; aridic soil moisture regime bordering on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 6 to 8 degrees C.
Depth to bedrock: 30 to 50 cm.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 40 to 60 percent.
Rock fragments: Less than 15 percent, mainly gravel.

A horizon (when present)
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3.
Reaction: Usually neutral or slightly alkaline, but is moderately alkaline in some pedons.

E horizon (when present)
Value 6 or 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3.
Clay content: 15 to 27 percent.

Btss horizons
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 through 6, but may be 2 dry in upper part.
Structure: Fine to coarse prismatic or angular blocky.
Consistence: Hard or extremely hard, dry; firm to extremely firm, moist; sticky or very sticky and plastic or very plastic, wet.
Reaction: Neutral through moderately alkaline.
Other features: Some pedons do not contain slickenslides.

Btk horizon
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Texture: Clay or clay loam.
Clay content: 35 to 50 percent.
Rock fragments: 10 to 30 percent, mainly gravel.
Structure: Prismatic or angular blocky.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Anawalt and Linkup series.

Anawalt soils lack carbonate accumulations in the lower Bt horizons, and are influenced by volcanic ash. Linkup soils do not contain Btk horizons, do not have an abrupt A/B textural boundary and contains 10 to 35 percent rock fragments.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Millerlux soils are on plateaus. These soils developed in residuum and colluvium derived from tuff and basalt and localized alluvium with a minor component of loess. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. Elevations are 1,768 to 2,316 meters. The mean annual precipitation is 250 to 360 mm. The mean annual temperature is 5 to 7 degrees C and the frost-free season is 50 to 70 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Ninemile and Madleline soils. Both soils have mollic epipedons.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; slow through rapid runoff, moderately low saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is low sagebrush, Sandberg or pine bluegrass, Thurber needlegrass with lesser amounts of Idaho fescue.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and western Nevada. The soils are of moderate extent. MLRA 23, 27, 24, 26.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pershing County, East part, Nevada 1986.

REMARKS: This revision changes the classification based on the revised Aridisol order.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 10 cm (A and E horizons).
Albic horizon - The zone from 3 to 10 cm (E horizon).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 10 to 38 cm (Bt1, Bt2 and Btk horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 38 cm (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 38 cm (Bt1, Bt2 and Btk horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.