LOCATION BIT NVInactive Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, carbonatic, mesic Calcic Petrocalcids
TYPICAL PEDON: Bit fine sandy loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 2 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) fine sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak thick platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
C1--2 to 6 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and medium roots; common fine interstitial and tubular pores; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 6 inches thick)
C2--6 to 15 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and medium roots; common fine tubular and interstitial pores; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 12 inches thick)
C3--15 to 24 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; few fine tubular, and common very fine and fine interstitial pores; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
2Bk--24 to 34 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/2) very gravelly loam, light gray (10YR 7/2) moist; massive; hard, firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; common fine and very fine interstitial pores; 45 percent fine and medium limestone gravel; discontinuous very weak cementation by secondary calcium carbonate; violently effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
2Bkqm1--34 to 38 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) and white (10YR 8/1) cemented material, brown (10YR 5/3) and light gray (10YR 7/2) moist; massive; extremely hard, extremely firm; light gray (10YR 7/2) very thin (1 to 2 mm) continuous indurated laminae stratified with white (10YR 8/1) strongly cemented gravelly materials, few very fine and fine roots matted on laminae surfaces; few fine and common very fine interstitial pores; few very thin (1 mm or less) discontinuous light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) silica cemented laminae, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; almost the entire horizon dissolves in acid; violently effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
2Bkqm2--38 to 46 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/2) cemented material, light gray (10YR 7/2) moist; massive; extremely hard and hard, very firm and firm; stratified strongly cemented and weakly cemented very gravelly sandy loam; common fine and very fine interstitial pores in strongly cemented part, and many very fine and fine, and few medium interstitial pores in weakly cemented part; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (7 to 12 inches thick)
3Bk--46 to 69 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) sandy loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) moist; massive; hard, firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine interstitial pores; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Lincoln County, Nevada; about 6 miles north-northwest of Pioche in Lake Valley; approximately 500 feet east of the northwest corner of section 21, T. 2 N., R. 67 E.; USGS Mount Wilson SW 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 38 degrees 01 minutes 30 seconds north latitude and 114 degrees 28 minutes 47 seconds west longitude, NAD27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - These soils are usually moist in winter and spring, dry in summer and fall; moist for 50 to 75 percent of the time that soil temperature at 20 inches exceeds 41 degrees F.; Aridic moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature - 47 to 52 degrees F.
Depth to petrocalcic horizon - 26 to 36 inches.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 9 to 17 percent; Rock fragments: Averages 15 to 35 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments are mainly limestone or dolostone.
A horizon - Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Structure: Weak or moderate, very thin through thick platy.
Consistence: Soft or slightly hard.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
C horizons - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, or loam.
Clay content: 10 to 18 percent.
Reaction: Strongly alkaline or very strongly alkaline (up to pH 9.6).
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 10 to 20 percent.
2Bk horizons - 7 or 8 dry, 6 or 7 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Clay content: 7 to 15 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 50 percent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 60 percent.
2Bqkm horizons - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Cementation: Individual laminae are 1 to 1 to 5 mm thick. The combined thickness of all laminae is 5 to 20 mm. The laminae are stratified with strongly or weakly lime cemented materials, or alternating strata of the 2. These materials are hard to extremely hard, and firm to extremely firm. Few to common discontinuous 1 mm or less thick silica laminae are in some pedons and have chroma of 3 through 5. These are in the strongly or weakly cemented materials.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Factory series. Factory soils have cambic horizons, hue of 2.5YR through 7.5YR, and have an aridic moisture regime that borders on ustic.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bit soils are on planar to slightly concave stream terraces and on fan remnants. They typically occur on tread or summit positions. These soils formed in alluvium derived dominantly from limestone but includes dolostone, quartzite, and some reworked lacustrine deposits that may contain volcanic ash. Slopes are 0 to 8 percent. Elevations range from 5,800 to 6,100 feet. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 8 and 12 inches that comes mostly as snow. The mean annual temperature is 45 to 50 degrees F. and the mean summer temperature is about 66 degrees F. The frost-free period is 100 to 130 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Heist, Patter, and Sierocliff soils. Heist and Patter soils are very deep, have cambic horizons, and do not have petrocalcic horizons. Sierocliff soils are loamy-skeletal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; high surface runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Bit soils are used for livestock grazing. The vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, Nevada ephedra, and Douglas rabbitbrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Nevada. These soils are not extensive with about 2,400 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRA 28B.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lincoln County (Meadow Valley Area), Nevada, 1971.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 2 inches (A horizon).
Calcic horizon - The zone from 24 to 34 inches (2Bk horizon).
Petrocalcic horizon - The zone from 34 to 38 inches (2Bkqm1 and 2Bkqm2 horizons).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 34 inches (C3 and 2Bk horizons and part of the C2 horizon).
This series was inactivated in August 2008 due to the extensive revision of the soil survey of Meadow Valley Area, Nevada (NV613). The series is not extensive and its acreage was remapped with other soils.
The revision of January 2004 updated the taxonomic class from Coarse-loamy, carbonatic, mesic Xeric Petrocalcids and recognizes the presence of a calcic horizon.