LOCATION KOYNIK                  NV

Established Series
Rev. CEJ-GJS-JVC-JBF
03/2016

KOYNIK SERIES

The Koynik series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from limestone and calcareous shale. Koynik soils are on hills and mountains. Slopes are 15 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 180 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, mesic Lithic Torriorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Koynik very gravelly very fine sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with approximately 40 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles.

A--0 to 8 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) very gravelly very fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate thin platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine vesicular pores; 35 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 13 cm thick)

ABk--8 to 15 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly silt loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate thin platy structure parting to moderate fine granular; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine, fine and few medium roots; many very fine vesicular and few very fine tubular pores; 40 percent gravel; secondary carbonates segregated as common medium pendants on bottoms of rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 cm thick)

Bk--15 to 20 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) very gravelly loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; moderate thin platy structure parting to moderate fine granular; slightly hard, very friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial and tubular pores; 40 percent gravel; secondary carbonates segregated as common fine masses in the matrix and common medium pendants and coats on rock fragments; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 13 cm thick)

R--20 cm; hard limestone bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Lander County, Nevada; about 5 miles southeast of Battle Mountain; approximately 1,000 feet east and 400 feet south of the northwest corner of section 11, T. 31 N., R. 45 E.; USGS Blossom Spring 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 40 degrees 34 minutes 46 seconds N and longitude 116 degrees 52 minutes 41 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 40.5794444 latitude, -116.8780556 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, moist for short periods in winter and early spring, dry from May through October; typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 8 to 11 degrees C.
Depth to bedrock: 20 to 36 cm to a lithic contact.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Calcium carbonate content: 15 to 60 percent carbonate equivalent in the less than 2 mm fraction; 40 to 60 percent in the less than 20 mm fraction, usually increasing with depth.
Other features: Some pedons have 2 or 5 cm of highly fractured bedrock above the lithic contact.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 12 to 25 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 50 percent, dominantly gravel. Lithology of fragments are limestone.

A horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.

Bk horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Very gravelly loam, very gravelly very fine sandy loam, or very gravelly silt loam.
Structure: Weak or moderate, platy or subangular blocky or is massive.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Potosi, Sheeppass and Theriot series.

Potosi and Theriot soils are moist for 10 to 20 days (cumulative) in the upper few cm of the soil moisture control section between July and October and have 50 to 80 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section. Sheeppass have a mean annual soil temperature of 11 to 15 degrees C.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Koynik soils are on hills and mountains. They formed in residuum and colluvium derived from limestone and calcareous shale. Slopes are 15 to 50 percent. Elevations range from 1,465 to 1,985 meters. The climate is arid with cool, moist winters and hot, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 130 to 200 mm, mean annual temperature is 8 to 10 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 100 to 120 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Puffer and Stingdorn soils. Puffer soils have mixed mineralogy and an aridic soil moisture regime bordering xeric. Stingdorn soils have mixed mineralogy, argillic horizons, and thin duripans capping hard bedrock.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Koynik soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The vegetation is mainly shadscale, bud sagebrush, bottlebrush squirreltail, Sandberg's bluegrass, and green ephedra.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and Central Nevada. These soils are not extensive with about 4,000 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRAs 24 and 28B.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lander County, Nevada, South Part, 1985.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (A, ABk and part of thr Bk horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 20 cm to underlying hard bedrock (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from the soil surface to 20 cm (A, ABk, and Bk horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.