LOCATION LINPEAK NV

Established Series
Rev. EWB-TM-JVC-JBF
02/2012

LINPEAK SERIES

The Linpeak series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that formed in colluvium derived from limestone and calcareous shale. Linpeak soils are on mountains. Slopes are 15 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 750 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 2 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic Xeric Calcicryepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Linpeak gravelly loam--forestland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with approximately 30 percent gravel.

Oi--0 to 4 cm; slightly decomposed plant material composed of needles, twigs, and cones from Engelmann's spruce; abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 8 cm thick)

A--4 to 7 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular and few very fine interstitial pores; 25 percent gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 8 cm thick)

Bw1--7 to 35 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) and light gray (2.5Y 7/2) very gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine through coarse roots; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; common large prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist masses of iron accumulation; 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.1); clear wavy boundary. (20 to 36 cm thick)

Bw2--35 to 81 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine through coarse roots, with many very fine roots in pockets; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; 55 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; 5 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (30 to 61 cm thick)

Bk--81 to 157 cm; pale yellow (5Y 7/3) extremely gravelly loam, olive (5Y 5/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable; moderately sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine roots, many very fine roots in pockets; many very fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; 70 percent gravel, with discontinuous strata ranging from 50 to 90 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; secondary calcium carbonate concretions on bottoms of rock fragments; 32 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2).

TYPE LOCATION: White Pine County, Nevada; in Great Basin National Park about 0.75 miles northeast of Lincoln Peak; USGS Wheeler Peak 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 53 minutes 22 seconds N and longitude 114 degrees 17 minutes 23 seconds W; UTM Zone 11 735072e 4307994n, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist in winter, spring, and early summer, dry in all parts at least 45 consecutive days following the summer solstice (July and August), but intermittently moist in the upper part for 10 to 20 days cumulative due to convection storms between July and September; snow covered from November through April; upper part is saturated for less than 20 days during snowmelt in April and/or May;. Water appears to move laterally in the lower part of the profile in spring and early summer; Xeric soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 3 to 5 degrees C.
Mean summer soil temperature: 7 to 8 degrees C.
Depth to base of cambic horizon: 38 to 81 cm.
Depth to calcic horizon: 76 to 100 cm.

Particle-size control section: Clay content: Averages 12 to 18 percent.
Rock fragment content: Averages 50 to 80 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments is mainly limestone.

A horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Reaction: Moderately acid or slightly acid.

Bw1 horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 6, dry or moist.
Clay content: 18 to 27 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel. Sub-horizons of some pedons range up to 80 percent rock fragments.
Reaction: Moderately acid through neutral.
Redoximorphic features: Commonly occur as coarse concentrations of iron with hue of 5YR or 7.5YR.

Bw2 horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5, moist.
Chroma: 2 through 6, dry or moist.
Clay content: 18 to 27 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel. Sub-horizons of some pedons range up to 80 percent rock fragments.
Reaction: Neutral through moderately alkaline.
Effervescence: Slightly effervescent or strongly effervescent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 55 percent in the less than 20 mm fraction, 5 to 30 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in the less than 2 mm fraction.

Bk horizon
Hue: 10YR through 5Y.
Value: 6 or 7 dry.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
Clay content: 5 to 15 percent.
Rock fragments: 50 to 85 percent, mainly gravel.
Effervescence: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 55 percent in the less than 20 mm fraction, 25 to 40 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in the less than 2 mm fraction.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Adek, Bakerpeak, Bealand, Piar and Windwash series.

Adek soils do not have cambic horizons, have calcic horizons at depths of 5 to 13 cm from the soil surface, and have horizons with silica pendants.
Bakerpeak soils do not have cambic horizons and the depths of of the calci horizon is 25 to 50 cm. Bealand soils do not have cambic horizons, have calcic horizons as shallow as 25 cm from the soil surface.
Piar soils are deep to lithic contacts and have calcic horizons at depths of 28 to 38 cm from the soil surface. Windwash soils are moderately deep.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Linpeak soils are on mountains. They typically occur on smooth to concave backslope positions. These soils formed in colluvium derived from limestone and calcareous shale. Slopes are 15 to 75 percent. Elevations range from 2,440 to 3,430 meters. The climate is humid with cold wet winters and cool dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 600 to 950 mm, the mean annual temperature is 1.5 to 4 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 30 to 50 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bricone soil and the competing Piar soil. Bricone soils are shallow to lithic contacts and do not have diagnostic subsurface horizons.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained; high surface runoff; moderate permeability; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Linpeak soils are used for forestland, recreation, and wildlife habitat. The potential native vegetation is mainly a forest canopy of Engelmann's spruce and limber pine with a sparse understory of snowberry, common juniper, and currant. This site is correlated to Ecological Site F28AY084NV Engelmann's spruce-mountain gooseberry-skyline bluegrass and Ross' sedge.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Nevada. These soils are not extensive. MLRA 28A.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: White Pine County, Great Basin National Park, Nevada, 2009. The name is coined from nearby Lincoln Peak.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Organic soil material - The zone from the soil surface to 4 cm (Oi horizon).
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (Oi, A, and upper part of Bw1 horizon).
Cambic horizon - The zone from 7 to 81 cm (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons).
Calcic horizon - The zone from 81 to 157 cm (Bk horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 29 to 104 cm (lower part of the Bw1, Bw2 and upper part of the Bk horizons).

The revision of December 2006 updated the taxonomic class from Xeric Eutrocryepts based on the tenth edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 2006. A revision in April 2003 updated the typical pedon and adjusted horizon depths for the Oi horizon as the soil surface.

ADDITIONAL DATA: The typical pedon at the series type location is reference sampled for the Soil Survey Laboratory (SSL), Lincoln, NE, as soil survey sample number S91NV-033-001 (pedon # 92P0143). Selected data are available for the Bw1, Bw2, and Bk horizons.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.