LOCATION APPIAN NV

Established Series
Rev. MAT/LNL/JVC
06/2017

APPIAN SERIES

The Appian series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from mixed rocks over lacustrine deposits. Appian soils are on lake plains, alluvial flats, and basin-floor remnants. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 125 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 12 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Natrargids

TYPICAL PEDON: Appian sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with approximately 20 percent medium subangular and subrounded gravel.

A--0 to 8 cm; gray (10YR 6/1) sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate thick platy structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and few medium roots; many fine vesicular pores; 5 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 20 cm thick)

Btnk--8 to 28 cm; brown (7.5YR 5/2) clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; moderate medium columnar structure; very hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine and few medium roots; few very fine tubular pores and common very fine and fine interstitial pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 5 percent gravel; common fine and medium filaments of secondary carbonate; noneffervescent in matrix and violently effervescent on filaments; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (13 to 30 cm thick)

2C1--28 to 53 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) finely stratified sand, fine sand, loamy sand, and sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 10 percent gravel; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) moist, relict masses of iron accumulation; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (10 to 46 cm thick)

2C2--53 to 157 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 10 percent gravel; many coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) moist, relict masses of iron accumulation; many mica flakes; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).

TYPE LOCATION: Churchill County, Nevada; about 150 feet east of the pole-line road between the 26 foot Drop Powerhouse and Lahontan Reservoir; approximately 2,600 feet east and 500 feet north of the southwest corner of section 34, T. 19 N., R. 27 E.; USGS Sheckler Reservoir 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 39 degrees 27 minutes 40.7 seconds N and longitude 118 degrees 56 minutes 27.6 seconds W: WGS84 Decimal Degrees 39.4615000 latitude, -118.941111 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist for short periods in winter and early spring, dry May through October; typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 14 degrees C.
Depth to base of natric horizon: 18 to 48 cm.
Depth to strongly contrasting horizons: 18 to 48 cm; A strongly contrasting particle-size class is within a depth of 100 cm.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 27 to 35 percent in the upper part and 0 to 5 percent in the contrasting lower part.
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent in the upper part and 5 to 15 percent in the contrasting lower part, fragments are mainly gravel of mixed lithologies.

A horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 1 or 2, dry or moist.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline through strongly alkaline.

Btnk horizon
Hue: 7.5YR through 5Y.
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Clay loam or sandy clay loam.
Structure: Moderate or strong, fine through coarse, columnar or prismatic parting to subangular blocky.
Consistence: Hard to very hard dry; friable or firm moist.
Reaction: Stongly alkaline through very strongly alkaline.
Sodicity (SAR): 13 to 90.
Identifiable secondary carbonates: Few or common, fine or medium white carbonate coats and filaments.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 10 percent.
Gypsum content: 0 to 2 percent.
Other features: Some pedons lack secondary carbonates.

2C horizons
Hue: 7.5YR through 5Y.
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Predominantly sand that is stratified with textures that include coarse sand, fine sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam.
Rock fragments: 5 to 15 percent gravel; some pedons have up to 75 percent gravel in thin strata.
Structure: Massive or single grain.
Consistence: Loose to slightly hard.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline to very strongly alkaline.
Effervescence: Noneffervescent to violently effervescent.
Redoximorphic features: Few to many, fine to large, faint to prominent high chroma relict masses of iron accumulation with hue of 5YR through 2.5Y.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 10 percent.
Gypsum content: 0 to 2 percent.
Other features: Some pedons have a 3C horizon at depths of 100 to 150 cm with texture of clay, silty clay, silty clay loam, or silt loam.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Biddleman, Bighat, and Cakehill series.

Biddleman soils have 20 to 35 percent rock fragments in the natric horizon and 60 to 80 percent gravel in the underlying contrasting horizons. Bighat soils have stones and cobbles in the natric horizon and upper part of the strongly contrasting horizons. Cakehill soils are moderately deep to paralithic contacts.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Appian soils are on lake plains, alluvial flats, and basin-floor remnants. They formed in alluvium derived from mixed rocks over lacustrine deposits. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. Elevations range from 1,180 to 1,750 meters. The climate is arid with cool, moist winters and hot, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 100 to 180 mm, the mean annual temperature is 11 to 13 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 100 to 130 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Isolde and Parran soils. Isolde soils are sandy and occur on stable dunes. Parran soils are fine textured and have a salic horizon.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity. Wet phases with a high water table are in irrigated areas.

USE AND VEGETATION: Appian soils are used for livestock grazing, irrigated agriculture, and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly shadscale, Bailey's greasewood, black greasewood, bud sagebrush, and Indian ricegrass. Alfalfa and small grains are the principal irrigated crops.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western and northern Nevada. These soils are extensive with about 110,000 acres of the series mapped to date. The series concept and main acreage is in MLRA 27, while other acreage occurs in MLRAs 24, 26, 28A, and 28B.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Churchill County (Fallon-Fernley Area), Nevada, 1971.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 8 cm (A horizon).
Natric horizon - The zone from 8 to 28 cm (Btnk horizon).
Identifiable secondary carbonates - The zone from 8 to 28 cm (Btnk horizon).
Major lithologic discontinuity - The abrupt change to sandy material at 28 cm (between the Btnk and 2C1 horizons).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 8 to 100 cm (Btnk and 2C1 horizons and part of the 2C2 horizon).

ADDITIONAL DATA: A pedon of Appian sampled near the typical pedon for the series type location has full characterization data by the Soil Survey Laboratory (SSL), Lincoln, NE, as pedon ID 99NV001008 (pedon # 00P0246).

User Pedon ID: 20017NV001061.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.