LOCATION BRUBECK CA+NV

Established Series
Rev. JBF/TM
02/2012

BRUBECK SERIES

The Brubeck series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from volcanic rocks. Brubeck soils are on plateaus. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 250 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 8 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Aridic Haploxererts

TYPICAL PEDON: Brubeck very cobbly clay--on a southwest-facing slope of 5 percent under Wyoming big sagebrush, cheatgrass, and shadscale at about 1,450 meters elevation--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described on 6/28/77 the soil was dry to 58 cm and was slightly moist to 81 cm.)

A--0 to 5 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) very cobbly clay, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; strong very fine granular structure; hard, very friable, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 5 percent gravel, 35 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 8 cm thick)

Bw--5 to 15 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) clay, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate fine and medium angular blocky structure; soft, very friable, very sticky and very plastic; many very fine and few fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; vertical cracks 10 to 20 mm wide and about 10 to 15 cm apart; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 15 cm thick)

Bss--15 to 58 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) clay, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; strong medium and coarse prismatic structure parting to strong medium and coarse angular blocky; very hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine, fine, and common medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; vertical cracks 10 to 15 mm wide and about 10 to 15 cm apart; many intersecting slickensides bounding common wedge-shaped peds tilted 30 to 60 degrees from the horizontal; slightly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.5); clear wavy boundary. (36 to 48 cm thick)

Bssk--58 to 81 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) clay, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium and coarse angular blocky structure; very hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine and few fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; vertical cracks 10 to 15 mm wide about 10 to 15 cm apart; many intersecting slickensides bounding common wedge-shaped peds tilted 30 to 60 degrees from the horizontal; strongly effervescent; secondary carbonates segregated in few fine filaments; strongly alkaline (pH 8.7); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 30 cm thick)

R--81 cm; hard fractured basalt; fine-earth soil material fill fractures and some secondary carbonate coats line fractures which are 0.3 to 0.6 wide and 8 to 20 cm apart.

TYPE LOCATION: Lassen County, California; about 5 miles east of Mud Flat and 400 feet north of the Smoke Creek Ranch Road; about 2,580 feet south and 250 feet east of the northwest corner of section 2, T. 30 N., R. 16 E.; USGS Little Mud Flat 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 40 degrees 29 minutes 25 seconds N and longitude 120 degrees 09 minutes 05 seconds W; NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Moist in winter and spring, dry from June through September; moisture penetration into this soil is controlled by cracks which remain open during June through mid-December for about 200 days; adjacent soils have an aridic soil moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 8 to 12 degrees C.
Slickensides and other vertic features: Few to many intersecting slickensides and few to common wedge-shaped peds occur within depths of 15 cm from the soil surface and extend to the bedrock contact; Large cracks, 1 to 7.5 cm wide, open and close each year and extend from the soil surface to the bedrock contact forming large prisms.
Depth to bedrock: 50 to 100 cm to a lithic contact.
Other features: In some pedons the upper 5 or 8 cm of the bedrock is slightly weathered.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 40 to 60 percent.

A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Reaction: Neutral through moderately alkaline.
Effervescence: Noneffervescent or slightly effervescent.

Bw horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Clay or silty clay.
Clay content: 40 to 60 percent.
Reaction: Neutral through moderately alkaline.
Effervescence: Noneffervescent or slightly effervescent.

Bss horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Clay or silty clay.
Clay content: 40 to 60 percent.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline through strongly alkaline.
Effervescence: Noneffervescent or slightly effervescent.

Bssk horizon (when present)
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Clay or silty clay.
Clay content: 40 to 60 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Effervescence: Slightly effervescent or strongly effervescent.
Identifiable secondary carbonates: Occurs as seams, soft masses, or filaments.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 8 percent.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Doten, Gerlach, Getrail, Horsecamp, Manogue, Moroni, and Waspo series.

Doten, Gerlach, and Moroni soils are very deep. Getrail soils are deep to paralithic contacts and are more moist. Horsecamp soils are deep to lithic contacts. Manogue soils are deep and very deep to paralithic contacts. Waspo soils are moderately deep to paralithic contacts.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Brubeck soils are on plateaus. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium derived from volcanic rocks such as basalt or andesite. Cobbles and stones occur on the surface 5 cm and cover up to about 55 percent of the area. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. Elevations range from 1,310 to 1,850 meters. The climate is semi-arid with cool, moist winters and hot, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 230 to 300 mm and total annual snowfall is 500 to 760 mm. The mean annual temperature is 7 to 9 degrees C, The frost-free period is 60 to 100 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Gerlach and Horsecamp soils and the Corral, Devada, and Shinnpeak soils. Corral and Devada soils have mollic epipedons, argillic horizons, and are 10 to 20 inches deep to bedrock. Shinnpeak soils have indurated duripans between depths of 12 and 20 inches.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Brubeck soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The vegetation is mostly Wyoming big sagebrush, basin big sagebrush, western wheatgrass, beardless wildrye, bluebunch wheatgrass, Thurber's needlegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern California and northwestern Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRA 23.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washoe County (Central Part), Nevada, 1990.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (A, Bw and part of the Bss horizon).
Slickensides - The zone from 15 to 81 cm (Bss and Bssk horizons).
Other vertic features - The zone from the soil surface to 81 cm (A, Bw, Bss, and Bssk horizons).
Identifiable secondary carbonates - The zone from 58 to 81 cm (Bssk horizon).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 81 cm to underlying hard bedrock (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 81 cm (Bssk horizon and part of the Bss horizon).

ADDITIONAL DATA: The typical pedon at the series type location has characterization data by the Soil Survey Laboratory (SSL), Lincoln, NE, as soil survey sample number S81CA-035-003 (pedon # 81P0695). The local office pedon number is 322.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.