LOCATION ZAFOD                   NV

Established Series
Rev. CAB-PWB-JVC-JBF
12/2016

ZAFOD SERIES

The Zafod series consists of moderately deep to a duripan, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from quartz monzonite, granite, and some limestone. Zafod soils are on fan remnants. Slopes are 2 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 250 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 8.3 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Xereptic Haplodurids

TYPICAL PEDON: Zafod gravelly coarse sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is partially covered with approximately 35 percent gravel.

A--0 to 15 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and common fine roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; 15 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (8 to 23 cm thick)

Bk--15 to 38 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine, common medium and few coarse roots; common very fine and fine tubular and few fine interstitial pores; common secondary calcium carbonate masses on the bottom of rock fragments; 30 percent gravel; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt broken boundary. (4 to 10 cm thick)

2Bqk--38 to 94 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) extremely gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots; many very fine, fine and medium interstitial and common fine and medium tubular pores; many secondary calcium carbonate and secondary silica pendants on the bottom of fragments; few pockets of loamy coarse sand throughout; 70 percent gravel of which 70 percent are coarse hard detached pan fragments; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (20 to 58 cm thick)

3Bqkm--94 to 97 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) cemented material, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; very hard, very firm; strongly cemented by secondary silica and secondary calcium carbonate; few very fine roots in fractures; common very fine interstitial pores; many secondary calcium carbonate and secondary silica pendants on the bottom of the horizon; violently effervescent; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 25 cm thick)

4C--97 to 150 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; very hard, very firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 20 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).

TYPE LOCATION: White Pine County, Nevada; about 3 miles west of Blue Mass between Moffitt Flat and Antelope Valley; in a unsectioned township about 1,000 feet north and 800 feet east of the projected southwest corner of section 14, T. 22 N., R. 68 E.; USGS Tippett 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 39 degrees, 46 minutes, 43 seconds N and longitude 114 degrees, 15 minutes, 48 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 39.7786111 latitude, -114.2633333 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Moist late fall through early summer, dry late July through September except for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and September due to convection storms; aridic soil moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 8 to 11 degrees C.
Ochric epipedon thickness: 8 to 23 cm.
Depth to calcic horizon: 8 to 23 cm.
Depth to duripan: 50 to 100 cm.

Control section - Clay content: 5 to 15 percent.
Rock fragments: Averages 35 to 70 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments is granite, quartz monzonite, some limestone, and detached pieces of duripan.

A horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Effervescence: Slightly effervescent or strongly effervescent.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.

Bk horizon
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 5 dry, 3 through 6 moist.
Texture: Gravelly sandy loam or gravelly coarse sandy loam.
Clay content: 5 to 15 percent.
Rock fragments: 15 to 35 percent.
Consistence: Nonplastic or slightly plastic.
Effervescence: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 15 percent.
Other features: Some pedons contain up to 10 percent durinodes.

2Bqk horizon
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 7 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Very gravelly coarse sandy loam, extremely gravelly coarse sandy loam, or very cobbly coarse sandy loam.
Rock fragments: 35 to 70 percent, 40 percent or more of the fragments are pan fragments.
Structure: Subangular, angular blocky, or massive.
Consistence: Firm to very friable moist, nonsticky or slightly sticky and nonplastic or slightly plastic, wet.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 10 to 25 percent.

3Bqkm horizon
Value: 7 or 8 dry, 4 through 7 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.

4C horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Gravelly sandy loam, gravelly coarse sandy loam, very gravelly coarse sand or very gravelly coarse sandy loam.
Clay content: 2 to 15 percent.
Rock fragments: 15 to 60 percent, mainly gravel.
Consistence: Loose to very hard dry, and loose to very firm, moist.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Effervescence: Slightly effervescent through violently effervescent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 25 percent.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Zafod soils are on fan remnants. These soils formed in alluvium derived from quartz monzonite, granite, and some limestone. Slopes are 2 to 30 percent. Elevations range from 1,495 to 2,230 meters. The climate is semiarid with cold, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 300 mm, mean annual temperature is 7 to 9 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 100 to 120 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Eastwell, Gremmers, and Ungene soils. Eastwell soils are shallow to duripans. Gremmers soils are loamy and shallow to duripans. Ungene soils are sandy-skeletal, very deep, and do not have duripans.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Zafod soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, Sandberg's bluegrass, Indian ricegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, and winterfat.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRAs 28A and 28B.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Elko County (Southeast Part), Nevada, 1994.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (A and part of the Bk horizons).
Calcic horizon - The zone from 15 to 94 cm (Bk and 2Bqk horizons).
Duripan - The zone from 94 to 97 cm (3Bqkm horizon).
Particle size control section - The zone from 25 to 94 cm (2Bqk horizon and lower part of the Bk horizon).

ADDITIONAL DATA: A pedon is sampled for full characterization by the Soil Survey Laboratory (SSL), Lincoln, NE, as soil survey sample number S94NV-033-001 (pedon # 94P0726).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.