LOCATION BOXSPRING               NV

Established Series
Rev. JVC/JBF/DJM
06/2016

BOXSPRING SERIES

The Boxspring series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from limestone and dolomite. Boxspring soils are on hills and mountains. Slope are 15 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 230 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 13 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, mesic Lithic Ustic Torriorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Boxspring extremely gravelly loam--rangeland and wildlife habitat. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The surface is covered by approximately 50 percent gravel and 15 percent cobbles.

A--0 to 8 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) extremely gravelly loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak thin platy structure that parts to moderate very fine subangular blocky; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine roots; common very fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; 50 percent gravel and 15 percent cobbles; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 cm thick)

C1--8 to 28 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; few very fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; 40 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (8 to 23 cm thick)

C2--28 to 41 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) extremely gravelly loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few very fine interstitial pores; 50 percent gravel and 20 percent cobbles; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the C horizons:18 to 45 cm)

R--41 cm; fractured limestone bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Lincoln County, Nevada, approximately 1 mile west of Blue Nose Peak; about 2,015 feet south and 1,800 feet west of the southeast corner of section 24, T. 21 S., R. 68 E; USGS Blue Nose Peak, NV 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 37 degrees 14 minutes 13 seconds N and longitude 114 degrees 19 minutes 47 seconds W; UTM zone 11N 763401e 4043463n; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 37.2369444 latitude, -114.3297222 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry; moist in some part from December through March and intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days during July through October following summer convection storms; aridic soil moisture regime that borders on ustic.
Mean annual soil temperature: 13 to 14 degrees C.
Depth to bedrock: 25 to 50 cm to a lithic contact.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: Averages 30 to 40 percent in the material less than 2 mm and 40 to 60 percent in the less than 20 mm fraction.

Paricle-size control section - Clay content: 10 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 80 percent.

A horizon
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist.

C horizons
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Structure: Weak fine or very fine, subangular blocky or massive.
Consistence: Soft or slightly hard.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Wesix series.

Wesix soils have mean annual soil temperature of 12 to 14 degrees C and are moist more than 60 consecutive days April through June.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Boxspring soils are on hills and mountains. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium derived from limestone and dolomite. Slopes are 15 to 75 percent. Elevations are 945 to 2,380 meters. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, intermittently moist summers. Precipitation is greatest in the winter with a lesser secondary peak in the summer, typical of the Mojave Desert transitional to the Sonoran Desert. The mean annual precipitation is 175 to 250 mm, the mean annual temperature is 8 to 14 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 90 to 180 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the St. Thomas, Theriot, Zaqua, and Winklo soils. St. Thomas soils have mean annual temperature greater than 15 degrees C. Theriot soils have typic aridic soil moisture regimes. Zaqua and Winklo soils have argillic horizons and mixed mineralogy.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Boxspring soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is blackbrush, desert bitterbrush, banana yucca, Nevada ephedra, Joshua tree, and Utah juniper.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mojave Desert of southern and southeastern Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRA 29, 30.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lincoln County, Nevada, South Part, 1992.

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 C1 horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 41 cm to underlying hard, unweathered bedrock (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 41 cm (part of the C1 horizon and the C2 horizon).

ADDITIONAL DATA: Previous authors and editors include: DJM/TM/ET.

Responsibility for this series was transferred from Davis to Phoenix 4/2015. The last revision to the series was 10/2014. ET

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.