LOCATION CHUSKA ID+NV UT

Established Series
Rev. DL/DA/CLM/JBF
01/2019

CHUSKA SERIES

The Chuska series consists of shallow to a duripan, well drained, soils that formed in alluvium derived from welded tuff and flow rock. They are on terraces, dipslopes, ridges, hills and fan remnants, with slopes of 1 to 25 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 250 mm and the average air annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic, shallow Xeric Argidurids

TYPICAL PEDON: Chuska gravelly loam - on a 2 percent, convex, south facing slope, under native rangeland, at 1,622 meters elevation. (Colors are for air-dry soil unless otherwise stated. When described on September 7, 1978, the soil profile was slightly moist throughout.)

A--0 to 8 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; many very fine and fine vesicular pores; 25 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 15 cm thick)

Bt1--8 to 18 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine through medium roots; many very fine and fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 10 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 25 cm thick)

Bt2--18 to 25 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine and fine roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 10 percent gravel size duripan fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 13 cm thick)

Btk--25 to 36 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) gravelly clay loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine and fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; common faint clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 25 percent gravel size duripan fragments; violently effervescent (20 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 18 cm thick)

Bkqm--36 to 46 cm; very pale brown (10YR 8/2) fractured indurated duripan, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) moist; massive; extremely hard, extremely firm; many continuous silica cemented laminations throughout the duripan; few very fine roots in fractures of the duripan; fractures are 0.6 cm wide and are 25 cm apart; violently effervescent; abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 30 cm thick)

2Bkq--46 to 74 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) extremely gravelly sandy loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) moist; massive; very hard, very firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; few very fine and fine tubular pores; 50 percent gravel and 20 percent gravel size pan fragments; carbonate pendants on undersides of gravel; weakly cemented matrix; violently effervescent (25 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (15 to 38 cm thick)

2Bk--74 to 130 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) extremely gravelly sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; 60 percent gravel, 15 percent cobbles; with carbonate pendants on undersides of rock fragments; violently effervescent (25 percent calcium carbonate equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (38 to 64 cm thick)

3R--130 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) welded tuff, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; extremely hard; carbonate coated on upper boundary.

TYPE LOCATION: Twin Falls County, Idaho; about 8 miles south of Rogerson, Idaho, about 1600 feet east and 50 feet north from the southwest corner of section 10, T. 15 S., R. 15 E.; USGS Salmon Butte 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 42 degrees 07 minutes 44 seconds N and longitude 114 degrees 41 minutes 12 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 42.1288889 latitude, -114.6866667 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, moist in winter and early spring; aridic soil moisture regime bordering on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 8 to 11 degrees C.
Depth to calcium carbonate: 18 to 36 cm.
Depth to duripan: 30 to 50 cm.
Depth to bedrock: 100 to more than 150 cm.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 26 to 35 percent.
Rock fragments: 5 to 35 percent gravel (includes duripan fragments).

A horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3 dry or moist.
Structure: Granular or platy

Bt horizons
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4 dry or moist.
Texture: Clay loam, gravelly clay loam, gravelly loam or sandy clay loam.
Reaction: Moderately or strongly alkaline.
Carbonates: Noneffervescent through violently effervescent.

Bkqm
Thickness of first silica lamination: 3 to 8 cm.
Thickness of subsequent laminations: 1.2 to 5 cm.

Bkq and Bk horizons
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 5 or 6 moist.
Chroma: 3 to 6 dry or moist.
Texture: Extremely gravelly sandy loam or very gravelly clay loam.
Rock fragments: 35 to 75 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Argalt, Bruncan, Bigfrog, Chuckridge, Colthorp, Dewar, Grassval, Handpah, Minu, Packwood, Pipeline, Roseworth, Roval, Thoms and Wellington soils.

Argalt, Bruncan, Colthorp, and Packwood soils have bedrock above 100 cm. Bigfrog, Minu and Roval soils lack bedrock directly under the hardpan. Chuckridge soils have less than 26 percent clay for the average of the particle-size control section. Dewar and Grassval soils are effervescent in the entire argillic horizon. Handpah soils have mean annual soil temperatures warmer than 12 degrees C. Pipeline and Roseworth soils have silty clay loam or silt loam textures in the Bt horizons.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Chuska soils are on terraces, dipslopes, hills, ridges and fan remnants. Slopes range from 1 to 25 percent. The soil formed in alluvium derived from welded tuff and flow rock. Elevation ranges from 1,070 to 1,895 meters. The average annual precipitation is about 230 to 300 mm. The average annual air temperature is about 7 to 11 degrees C. The frost-free period is 100 to 140 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ackett, Lud, Udaho and Weash soils. Ackett soils are fine textured. Lud soils have fine textured argillic horizons. Udaho soils are loamy-skeletal. Weash soils have ashy mineralogy. Ackett and Weash soils occur on lower terraces. Lud soils occur on higher terraces. Udaho soils occur on sideslopes.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Chuska soils are used for rangeland and irrigated cropland. The native vegetation is Wyoming big sagebrush, basin big sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, Thurber needlegrass and Indian ricegrass. The principal crops grown are wheat, barley and alfalfa hay.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southcentral Idaho and northeastern Nevada. This series is of moderate extent. MLRA 25.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Elko County (Northeast Part), Nevada, 1986.

REMARKS: The revision of 8/95 changes the classification from Xerollic Durargids to Xeric Argidurids according to the 1994 edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to 8 cm (A horizon).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 8 to 46 cm (Bt and Btk horizons).
Calcic horizon - The zone from 25 to 46 cm (Btk horizon).
Duripan - The zone from 36 to 46 cm (Bkqm horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 8 to 46 cm (Bt and Btk horizons).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.