LOCATION CRYSTAL SPRINGS NV

Established Series
Rev. DJM/BAL/RLB/JBF
06/2016

CRYSTAL SPRINGS SERIES

The Crystal Springs series consists of shallow over petrocalcic, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from limestone and dolomite with small amounts of quartzite, sandstone, ignimbrite, or schist. The Crystal Springs soils are on fan piedmonts. Slopes are 0 to 8 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 150 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 13 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, carbonatic, mesic, shallow Typic Petrocalcids

TYPICAL PEDON: Crystal Springs gravelly sandy loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is partially covered with 15 percent gravel.

A--0 to 8 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; moderate thick platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; common very fine vesicular and fine interstitial pores; 15 percent gravel; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.5); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 cm thick)

Bkq1--8 to 25 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly fine sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine through medium roots; common very fine and fine interstitial pores; many thick carbonate and silica pendants on undersides of rock fragments; 15 percent gravel; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); clear smooth boundary. (8 to 30 cm thick)

Bkq2--25 to 38 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly fine sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine through medium roots; few very fine interstitial pores; many thick carbonate and silica pendants on undersides of rock fragments; 5 percent cobbles and 25 percent gravel; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 30 cm thick)

Bkqm--38 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) indurated petrocalcic horizon, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; extremely hard, extremely firm; very thin (less than 1 mm) continuous indurated silica lamellae capping strongly carbonate-silica cemented material; violently effervescent.

TYPE LOCATION: Lincoln County, Nevada; in Sixmile Flat approximately 3 miles north of U.S. Highway 93; about 1,300 feet west and 1,900 feet south of the northeast corner of section 16, T. 4 S., R. 61 E.; USGS Hiko 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 37 degrees 36 minutes and 6 seconds N and longitude 115 degrees 8 minutes and 28 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 37.6016667 latitude, -115.1416667 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, moist in some part for short periods during winter and early spring months and for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and October due to convection storms; typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 15 degrees C.
Depth to petrocalcic horizon: 36 to 50 cm.
Carbonates: Calcium carbonate equivalent greater than 40 percent by weight.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 5 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 15 to 35 percent gravel and cobbles, predominantly gravel.

A horizon
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4.

Bkq horizons
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4.
Consistence: Soft through very hard, very friable to very firm.
Other features: The Bkq2 horizon may be weakly cemented in some pedons.

Bkqm horizon
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 3 through 7 moist.
Chroma: 1 through 4.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Crystal Springs soils are on fan piedmonts. These soils formed in alluvium derived from limestone and dolomite with small amounts of quartzite, sandstone, ignimbrite, or schist. Slopes are 0 to 8 percent. Elevations range from 1,169 to 1,879 meters. The mean annual precipitation is 125 to 200 mm, the mean annual temperature is 11 to 14 degrees C, and the frost-free season is 130 to 180 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bluewing, Cliffdown, and Penoyer soils. These are all deep soils that lack indurated Bkm horizons, and have coarse-silty, sandy-skeletal, and coarse-loamy particle-size control sections, respectively.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. Present vegetation is mainly fourwing saltbush, spiny menodora, Nevada ephedra, Indian ricegrass, desert needlegrass, and Anderson wolfberry

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern and east-central Nevada, and southwestern Utah. The series is of moderate extent. MLRA 29.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pahranagat-Penoyer Valleys Area, Lincoln County, Nevada, 1968. Crystal Springs is named after a group of thermal springs in Pahranagat Valley.

REMARKS: The Crystal Springs type location was moved in 1990 to better reflect the series concept.

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 Bqk1 horizons).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 38 cm (Bkq2 horizon).
Petrocalcic horizon - The boundary at 38 cm (Bkqm).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.