LOCATION NUSS OR

Established Series
Rev. JSC-AON-TDT-JVC
05/2011

NUSS SERIES

The Nuss series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in colluvium and residuum derived from volcanic rocks. Nuss soils are on hills, plateaus, and structural benches. Slopes are 0 to 70 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 400 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 7 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Lithic Haploxerolls

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

A--0 to 10 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) stony loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium platy structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and few fine roots; few very fine and few fine vesicular pores; 10 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles, and 10 percent stones; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); gradual smooth boundary. (5 to 25 cm thick)

Bw1--10 to 30 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and few fine roots; few very fine and few fine tubular pores; 20 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); gradual smooth boundary.

Bw2--30 to 38 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) cobbly loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine and few fine roots; few very fine and few fine tubular pores; 5 percent gravel and 20 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 13 to 38 cm)

R--38 cm; fractured basalt.

TYPE LOCATION: Harney County, Oregon; in the Water Mountains about 11 miles east-southeast of Buchannan; about 800 feet north and 1,800 feet east of the southwest corner of section 9, T. 23 S., R. 35 E.; USGS Coleman Mountain 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 43 degrees 35 minutes 0 seconds N and longitude 118 degrees 25 minutes 31 seconds W; NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist but are dry in all parts between depths of 10 and 30 cm about 60 to 90 consecutive days in the 4 month period following the summer solstice and are moist in the winter; xeric moisture regime that borders on aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature: 7 to 8 degrees C.
Depth to bedrock: 25 to 50 cm to a lithic contact.
Mollic epipedon thickness: 18 to 43 cm; includes the Bw horizons in most pedons.
Reaction: Slightly acid through slightly alkaline.
Other features: In some pedons where the underlying bedrock is tuff the upper few inches of the lithic contact is slightly weathered.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 18 to 30 percent.
Rock fragments: Averages 5 to 30 percent, mainly gravel and cobbles. Lithology of fragments are volcanic rocks such as basalt, andesite, and tuff.

A horizon and AB horizon (when present)
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist.
Chroma: 1 through 3, dry or moist.
Organic matter content: 1 to 3 percent.

Bw horizons
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 2 through 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Gravelly loam, gravelly clay loam, cobbly loam, cobbly clay loam, loam, or clay loam.
Rock fragments: 5 to 35 percent.
Organic matter content: 0.5 to 2 percent.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Choptie, Doyn, Quicksilver, Sadorus, Spaa, and Taylow series.

Choptie soils have 12 to 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Doyn soils are 10 to 25 cm to a lithic contact and have an aridic moisture regime. Quicksilver soils have 6 to 15 percent clay and 25 percent or more coarse sand and very coarse sand in the particle-size control section. Sadorus soils have 5 to 12 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Spaa soils have horizons with secondary carbonates and rock fragments of travertine in the particle-size control section. Taylow soils are dry in the moisture control section for 45 to 60 consecutive days following the summer solstice.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nuss soils are on hills, plateaus, and structural benches. These soils formed in colluvium and residuum derived from volcanic rocks such as basalt, andesite, and tuff. Some areas are influenced by surface additions of volcanic ash. Slopes are 0 to 70 percent. Elevations range from 1,220 to 2,052 metrers. The climate is semiarid and characterized by cold, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 30 to 50 cm. The mean annual temperature is 4 to 7 degrees C. The frost-free period is 20 to 80 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ateron, Booth, Bullump, and Royst soils. Ateron soils are clayey-skeletal. Booth soils are in the fine family and are 50 to 100 cm deep to bedrock. Bullump soils are loamy-skeletal and are over 100 cm deep to bedrock. Royst soils are clayey-skeletal and have bedrock at depths of 50 to 100 cm.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Nuss soils are used for livestock grazing, limited timber production, and wildlife habitat. The vegetation is mainly mountain big sagebrush, curlleaf mountainmahogany, Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, Cusick's bluegrass, and scattered ponderosa pine and western juniper.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Oregon. These soils are moderately extensive. The series concept is in MLRA 10, while the main acreage occurs in MLRA 21.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Klamath County (Southern Part), Oregon, 1977.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 38 cm (A, Bw1, and Bw2 horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 38 cm to underlying hard bedrock (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 38 cm (Bw2 and part of Bw1 horizons).

The revision of January 2004 moves the type location from Klamath County to Harney County, Oregon to better represent the series concept as being shallow to a lithic contact. Future study is needed to determine whether Nuss soils as mapped in Klamath County are typically shallow to a paralithic contact and to determine the amount of volcanic ash influence in the fine-earth fraction.

The classification was changed in 1991 from Loamy, mixed, frigid, shallow Typic Haploxerolls. A lithic contact was deemed to be present below the soil that was not described in the older description.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.