LOCATION CRUZSPRING NV

Established Series
Rev: TM/ET
04/2015

CRUZSPRING SERIES

The Cruzspring series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in colluvium and residuum derived from quartzite. Cruzspring soils are on hills and mountain slopes. Slopes are 15 to 50 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 200 millimeters (8 inches) and mean annual air temperature is about 13 degrees C (55 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic, shallow Typic Haplargids

TYPICAL PEDON: Cruzspring extremely gravelly sandy loam, rangeland and wildlife habitat. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with approximately 60 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles.

A1--0 to 3 centimeters (0 to 1 inch); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; strong thick and medium platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; common very fine and fine vesicular pores and common fine interstitial pores; 60 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary.

A2--3 to 8 centimeters (1 to 3 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium platy structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine, and few medium roots; common very fine and fine interstitial pores and few fine vesicular pores; 40 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizons is 5 to 18 centimeters thick)

Btk1--8 to 18 centimeters (3 to 7 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine, and few medium roots; common very fine and fine interstitial pores and few fine tubular pores; common faint clay films lining pores and bridging sand grains; very few (2 percent) patchy very thin (< .5mm) calcium carbonate coatings on bottom of rock fragments; 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary.

Btk2--18 to 28 centimeters (7 to 11 inches); light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard; very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; common very fine and fine interstitial pores and few fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films bridging sand grains and lining pores; few (5 percent) patchy very thin (< .5mm) calcium carbonate coatings on bottom of rock fragments; 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btk horizons is 13 to 30 centimeters.)

Cr--28 to 33 centimeters (11 to 13 inches); fractured, weathered quartzite; common very fine through medium roots in fractures; retains original rock structure.

R--33 (13 inches); hard, slightly fractured quartzite.

TYPE LOCATION: Nye County, Nevada; approximately 0.64 kilometers (0.4 miles) southeast of Santa Cruz Spring, about 640 meters (2,100 feet) west and 183 meters (600 feet) south of the northeast corner of section 4, T. 19 S., R. 54 E.; USGS Horse Springs 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 36 degrees, 20 minutes, 8 seconds north latitude and 115 degrees, 54 minutes, 48 seconds west longitude; UTM 11s, 597525e, 4021727n; NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture: Usually dry, but moist in some part for short periods in the winter and early spring months and for brief periods in summer. Ratio of summer to winter actual evapotranspiration is about 0.8, typical of Mojave desert transitional to Sonoran. Typic aridic soil moisture regime.

Soil temperature: 12 to 15 degrees C (53 to 59 degrees F).

Depth to paralithic contact: 25 to 36 (10 to 14 inches).

Depth to hard bedrock: 30 to 50 centimeters (12 to 20 inches).

Control Section - Clay content: Averages 12 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: Averages 35 to 65 percent, mainly quartzite gravel and cobbles.

A horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Structure: Platy or subangular blocky.
Effervescence: Slightly effervescent through violently effervescent, due to recharge from calcareous dust.

Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 5 or 6 dry; 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Texture: Loam or sandy loam.
Clay content: 15 to 20 percent.
Rock fragments: 40 to 75 percent, mainly quartzite gravel and with up to 20 percent cobbles.
Structure: Subangular blocky; thin, lower subhorizons are massive in some pedons.
Effervescence: Slightly effervescent through violently effervescent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 5 percent.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Blappert (NV), Mulespring (CA), Rodad (NV) and Vindicator (NV) series. Blappert soils have 18 to 27 percent clay in the control section and are dominated by granitic rock fragments. Mulespring soils are 36 to 50 centimeters (14 to 20 inches) to the paralithic contact and have 27 to 35 percent clay in the argillic horizon. Rodad soils have 27 to 35 percent clay and are dominated by channery siltstone and shale rock fragments. Vindicator soils have 18 to 27 percent clay in the particle-size control section and are dominated by tuffaceous rock and pararock fragments.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cruzspring soils are on summits and sideslopes of hills and mountains. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium derived from quartzite. Slopes are 15 to 50 percent. Elevations are 1,315 to 1,985 meters (4,310 to 6,500 feet). The climate is warm, arid with hot, dry summers and mild, moist winters typical of the Mojave Desert transitional to Sonoran. The mean annual precipitation is 178 to 230 millimeters (7 to 9 inches); mean annual temperature is 11 to 14 degrees C (51 to 57 degrees F), and the frost-free period is 150 to 200 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Zibate and Sed soils. Sed soils are moderately deep and have big sagebrush vegetation. Zibate soils have thermic soil temperature regimes and have blackbrush-creosotebush vegetation.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly blackbrush, ephedra, desert needlegrass, Sandberg bluegrass, spiny menodora, and scattered big sagebrush.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mojave Desert of southern Nevada; MLRA 30. Cruzspring soils are not extensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: PHOENIX, ARIZONA

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Nye County, Nevada, Southwest Part Soil Survey, 2001. The name is coined from Santa Cruz Spring.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon: 0 to 8 centimeters (0 to 3 inches),(A1 and A2 horizons).
Argillic horizon: 8 to 28 (3 to 11 inches),(Btk1 and Btk2 horizons).
Paralithic contact: 28 centimeters (11 inches),(Cr layer).
Particle-size control section: 0 to 28 centimeters (0 to 11 inches),(A1, A2, Btk1 and Btk2 horizons).

Responsibility for this series was transferred from Davis to Phoenix 4/2015. The last revision to the series was 6/2011. ET

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.