LOCATION MEZZER                  NV

Established Series
Rev. JBF/DJM/TM
10/2016

MEZZER SERIES

The Mezzer series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from limestone and quartzite. Mezzer soils are inset fans. Slopes are 2 to 8 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 225 mm and the mean annual air temperature is about 11 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, mesic Xeric Haplocambids

TYPICAL PEDON: Mezzer very gravelly fine sandy loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soils unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with approximately 45 percent gravel.

A--0 to 8 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 35 percent gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 13 cm thick)

Bw--8 to 25 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) gravelly fine sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine, fine and medium and few coarse roots; many very fine and fine interstitial and common very fine and fine tubular pores; 25 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; common (2 percent) secondary calcium carbonate concretions on bottom of rock fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (17 to 30 cm thick)

C--25 to 114 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) extremely gravelly sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic many very fine and fine, and common medium roots; many very fine and fine interstitial and few fine tubular pores; 60 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; common (3 percent) randomly occurring secondary calcium carbonate concretions around rock fragments; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); clear smooth boundary. (76 to 100 cm thick)

2C--114 to 152 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) very gravelly loamy coarse sand, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist: massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 35 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; common (3 percent) randomly occurring secondary calcium carbonate concretions around rock fragments; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6).

TYPE LOCATION: Lincoln County, Nevada, 2,000 feet north and 750 feet east of the southwest corner of section 10, T.1 N., R.57 E.; USGS Worthington Peak 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 37 degrees 57 minutes 41 seconds N and longitude 115 degrees 33 minutes 51 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 37.9613889 latitude, -115.5647222 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Moist in winter and spring, dry in summer and fall, and intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative July to September due to convection storms; aridic soil moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 11 to 13 degrees C.
Carbonates: 40 to 60 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in the less than 20 mm fraction, 20 to 30 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in less than 2 mm fraction.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 8 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 50 to 80 percent, mainly gravel.

A horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.

Bw horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Rock fragments: 15 to 35 percent, mainly gravel.

C horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Fine sandy loam or sandy loam.
Modifiers: Very gravelly or extremely gravelly.

2C horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 5 or 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Clay content: 3 to 12 percent.
Texture: Sandy loam or loamy coarse sand.
Modifiers: Very gravelly or extremely gravelly.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Windmill series. Windmill soils contain 35 to 50 percent gravel in the particle-size control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Mezzer soils are on inset fans. They formed in alluvium derived from limestone and quartzite. Slopes are 2 to 8 percent. Mezzer soils are at elevations of 1,310 to 2,090 meters. The average annual air temperature is 7 to 12 degrees C. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 250 mm. The frost free season is 100 to 150 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Armespan and Ursine series. Armespan soils have 20 to 40 percent durinodes and 20 to 50 percent weak to strong discontinuous cementation by secondary silica. Ursine soils are shallow to indurated duripan.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Mezzer soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The potential native vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, winterfat, rabbitbrush, fourwing saltbush, bottlebrush squirreltail and Indian ricegrass. This pedon is correlated to Ecological Site R029XY049NV, Sandy Loam 8-12 P.Z.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central and south-eastern Nevada. The soil is not extensive. MLRA 29

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lincoln County, Nevada, North Part, 1994.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to 18 cm. (A and part of the Bw horizon)
Cambic horizon - The zone from 8 to 25 cm. (Bw horizon)
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm. (part of the C horizon)

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.