LOCATION FLUE                    NV

Established Series
Rev. HVB-TM-DD-JVC
03/2016

FLUE SERIES

The Flue series consists of moderately deep to a duripan, well drained soils that formed in a surficial mantle of loess and volcanic ash over alluvium derived from mixed rocks. Flue soils are on fan remnants and plateaus. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 230 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Vitrixerandic Natridurids

TYPICAL PEDON: Flue ashy very fine sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A1--0 to 5 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) ashy very fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak thin platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and few fine roots; common very fine vesicular and interstitial pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 13 cm thick)

A2--5 to 15 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) ashy very fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak thick platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine vesicular and interstitial pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 cm thick)

Bq--15 to 33 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) ashy very fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; moderate thick platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; 10 percent weakly silica cemented nodules; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 25 cm thick)

2Btnk--33 to 64 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium angular blocky; hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine, fine and medium roots that are mostly exped; common very fine and fine tubular pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; SAR is 32; 5 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; secondary carbonates segregated as few fine filaments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (25 to 36 cm thick)

2Btnqk--64 to 81 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) clay, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine and few fine roots; few very fine and fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent weakly silica cemented nodules; SAR is 25; 5 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; secondary carbonates segregated as common fine filaments; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 18 cm thick)

2Bqk--81 to 89 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few very fine and fine tubular pores; 5 percent weakly silica cemented nodules, continuously brittle matrix; violently effervescent; 25 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 15 cm thick)

2Bqkm--89 to 102 cm; cemented material; strong very thick platy structure; extremely hard, extremely firm; 1 to 2 mm thick indurated laminar cap; clear irregular boundary. (5 to 13 cm thick)

3Cqk--102 to 152 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; prominent carbonate and silica pendants and coats on rock fragments; violently effervescent; 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0).

TYPE LOCATION: Humboldt County, Nevada; about 29 kilometers north of Winnemucca on the west side of Paradise Valley; approximately 61 meters north and 762 meters east of the southwest corner of section 27, T. 39 N., R. 38 E.; USGS China Garden 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 41 degrees 13 minutes 21 seconds N and longitude 117 degrees 41 minutes 24 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 41.2225000 latitude, -117.6900000 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist in the moisture control section in winter and spring, dry from July through October; aridic soil moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 9.5 to 11 degrees C.
Depth to natric horizon: 28 to 48 cm.
Depth to identifiable secondary carbonates: 25 to 64 cm.
Depth to duripan: 50 to 100 cm.
Other features; There is usually an abrupt boundary between the Bq and 2Btnk horizons; Thin 2Btn horizons are above the 2Btnk in some pedons. Some pedon have 2Bqk horizons above the duripan.

Particle-size control section: Clay content: 35 to 60 percent.
Rock fragments: 0 to 25 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments is mixed.

A horizons
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
Volcanic glass content: 30 to 60 percent in coarse silt through fine sand fractions.

Bq horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Ashy very fine sandy loam, ashy loam, or ashy silt loam.
Clay content: 10 to 20 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent gravel.
Structure: Platy, subangular blocky, prismatic or is massive.
Consistence: Slightly hard or hard, dry.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Silica cementation: 10 percent or more weakly to strongly cemented lenses or durinodes; Some pedons have continuous brittle matrix.
Volcanic glass content: 20 to 40 percent in coarse silt through fine sand fractions.
Oxalate aluminum plus one-half oxalate iron: 0.2 to 0.4 percent.

2Btnk and 2Btnqk horizons
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Clay or clay loam.
Structure: Fine through coarse prismatic; lower subhorizons are subangular or angular blocky in some pedons.
Consistence: Slightly hard or hard, dry.
Identifiable secondary carbonates: Finely disseminated in the matrix or segregated in filaments and masses.
Sodicity (SAR): 13 to 50.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or very strongly alkaline.

3Cqk horizons
Texture: Stratified very gravelly sandy loam to extremely gravelly coarse sand.
Clay content: 2 to 7 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 70 percent, mainly gravel.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline to very strongly alkaline.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Cortez series. Cortez soils do not have Bq horizons in the lower part of the eolian mantle and do not have thin horizons high in carbonates between the natric horizon and the duripan.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Flue soils are on fan remnants and plateaus. These soils formed in a surficial mantle of loess and volcanic ash over alluvium derived from mixed rocks. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. Elevations range from 1,310 to 1,737 meters. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 250 mm, the mean annual temperature is 8 to 10 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 90 to 120 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Golconda, Orovada, Puett, and Snapp soils. Golconda soils are fine-loamy and have a typic aridic moisture regime. Orovada soils do not have argillic horizons and duripans. Puett soils are shallow to paralithic contacts and do not have diagnostic subsurface horizons. Snapp soils do not have duripans.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Flue soils are used for irrigated cropland, rangeland, and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, spiny hopsage, and bottlebrush squirreltail.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRA 24.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Humboldt County, Nevada, East Part, 1993.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 15 cm (A1 and A2 horizons).
Vitrandic intergrade feature - The zone from the soil surface to 33 cm (A1, A2, and Bq horizons).
Natric horizon - The zone from 33 to 81 cm (2Btnk and 2Btnqk horizons).
Identifiable secondary carbonates - The zone from 33 to 152 cm (2Btnk, 2Btnqk, 2Bqk, 2Bqkm, and 3Cqk horizons)
Duripan - The zone from 89 to 102 cm (2Bqkm horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 33 to 81 cm (2Btnk and 2Btnqk horizons).

The revision of November 2007 updated the taxonomic class from Fine, smectitic, mesic Xeric Natridurids based on the parent material for the eolian mantle and laboratory data on sand mineralogy.

ADDITIONAL DATA: A pedon of Flue has full characterization data by the Soil Survey Laboratory (SSL), Lincoln, NE, as soil survey sample number S88NV-013-007 (pedon # 88P0696). A similar taxadjunct is S86NV-013-303 (pedon # 86P0766).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.