LOCATION MOLION                  NV

Established Series
Rev. RAF/PWB/JVC/JBF
07/2016

MOLION SERIES

The Molion series consists of shallow to a duripan, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from mixed rocks. Molion soils are on fan remnants. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 250 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic, shallow Xereptic Haplodurids

TYPICAL PEDON: Molion loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A1--0 to 5 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; many very fine interstitial and tubular pores; 5 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 13 cm thick)

A2--5 to 13 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and very fine roots; many very fine interstitial and common very fine tubular pores; 5 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 8 cm thick)

Bk1--13 to 28 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common medium andfine roots; many very fine interstitial and common very fine tubular pores; 15 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual smooth boundary. (8 to 18 cm thick)

Bk2--28 to 48 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) extremely gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and very fine roots; common fine interstitial and tubular pores; 70 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); clear wavy boundary. (12 to 25 cm thick)

Bqkm--48 to 84 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) duripan, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; massive; extremely hard, extremely firm, very strongly cemented by secondary silica; few fine tubular pores; 70 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); gradual wavy boundary. (20 to 38 cm thick)

C1--84 to 99 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly loamy sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine interstitial pores; 40 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); clear smooth boundary. (15 to 30 cm thick)

C2--99 to 152 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) extremely gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic, many very fine interstitial pores; 70 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8)

TYPE LOCATION: Eureka County, Nevada; about 16 miles west of Eureka in Antelope Valley; 600 feet south and 1,300 feet west of the northeast corner of section 20, T. 19 N., R. 51 E.; USGS Bartine Ranch 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 39 degrees 30 minutes 53 seconds N and longitude 116 degrees 15 minutes 4 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 39.5152778 latitude, -116.2516667 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Moist in winter and spring, dry in summer and fall; aridic moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 8 to 11 degrees C.
Depth to duripan: 36 to 50 cm.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 8 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: Averages 50 to 70 percent. Lithology of fragments is mixed rocks.

A horizons
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.

Bk horizons
Value: 5 or 6 dry.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Extremely gravelly sandy loam or extremely gravelly loam; some pedons have thin subhorizons of gravelly loam or very gravelly sandy loam.
Structure: Subangular blocky or massive.
Consistence: Soft or slightly hard dry.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Effervescence: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 2 or 3 percent.

C horizons
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Very gravelly loamy sand, extremely gravelly loam, and extremely gravelly sandy loam.
Structure: Massive or single grain.
Consistence: Loose to hard, loose to firm, nonsticky or slightly sticky and nonplastic or slightly plastic.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 2 or 3 percent.
Salinity (EC): 0 to 2 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 1 to 12.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Eastmore and Eastwell series.

Eastmore soils have a calcium carbonate equivalent of 10 to 20 in the less than 2 mm fraction and are intermittently moist in some part for 10 to 20 days cumulative from July through September. Eastwell soils have 35 to 50 percent rock fragments and 5 to 10 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in the particle-size control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Molion soils are on fan remnants. They typically occur on summit positions. These soils formed in alluvium derived from mixed rocks with some loess. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. Elevations range from 1,830 to 2,140 meters. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 300 mm, mean annual temperature is 7 to 11 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 70 to 100 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Kobeh and Shipley soils. Kobeh soils are very deep and have cambic horizons and horizons with durinodes. Shipley soils are coarse-loamy, very deep, and do not have diagnostic subsurface horizons.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; very high surface runoff, moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Molion soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly black sagebrush, low rabbitbrush, and Indian ricegrass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRAs 28B and 29.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Eureka County, Nevada, 1983.

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 Bk1 horizons).
Duripan - The zone from 48 to 84 cm (Bqkm horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 48 cm (Bk2 horizon and part of the Bk1 horizon).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.