LOCATION MOTTSVILLE NV+CA

Established Series
Rev. LNL-EWB-JVC-JBF
04/2017

MOTTSVILLE SERIES

The Mottsville series consists of very deep, excessively drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from granitic rocks. Mottsville soils are on alluvial fans, fan remnants and fan aprons. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 280 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, mesic Torripsammentic Haploxerolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Mottsville loamy coarse sand--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A1--0 to 13 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loamy coarse sand, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many fine interstitial pores; 10 percent fine gravel; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear smooth boundary. (13 to 23 cm thick)

A2--13 to 25 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly loamy coarse sand, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many fine interstitial pores; 20 percent fine gravel; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear wavy boundary. (13 to 25 cm thick)

AC--25 to 46 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly loamy coarse sand, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many fine interstitial pores; 20 percent fine gravel; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear wavy boundary. (15 to 23 cm thick)

C1--46 to 76 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly coarse sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and few fine roots; many fine interstitial pores; 20 percent fine gravel: slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear wavy boundary. (23 to 60 cm thick)

C2--76 to 157 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly coarse sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and few fine roots; many fine interstitial pores; 20 percent fine gravel; neutral (pH 6.6).

TYPE LOCATION: Douglas County, Nevada; between the Carson Range and Carson Valley west of the intersection of Foothill Road and Fredericksburg Road; about 100 feet west and 50 feet south of the north quarter corner of section 36, T. 12 N., R. 19 E.; USGS Woodfords 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 52 minutes 00 seconds N and longitude 119 degrees 47 minutes 52 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 38.8665556 latitude, -119.7977778 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry in the moisture control section; moist in winter and spring, dry in summer and fall; aridic soil moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 9 to 12 degrees C.
Mollic epipedon thickness: 25 to 50 cm, includes the AC horizon in some pedons.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 3 to 10 percent.
Coarse sand and very coarse sand content: 35 to 55 percent.
Rock fragments: 5 to 30 percent, mainly fine gravel. Lithology of fragments are granitic rocks such as granite and granodiorite.

A horizons
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Organic matter content: 1 to 3 percent.
Structure: Weak or moderate subangular blocky, granular, or is single grain.
Reaction: Moderately acid to neutral.

AC horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 2 through 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Gravelly coarse sand, gravelly loamy coarse sand, loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, or loamy sand.
Rock fragments: 5 to 30 percent.
Organic matter content: 0.5 to 3 percent.
Reaction: Moderately acid to neutral.

C horizons
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 2 through 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Gravelly coarse sand, gravelly loamy coarse sand, loamy coarse sand, or coarse sand; some pedons have loamy sand.
Rock fragments: 5 to 30 percent.
Organic matter content: 0.25 to 0.75 percent.
Reaction: Moderately acid to neutral.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Fordney and Graufels series.

Fordney soils have less than 35 percent coarse sand and very coarse sand content, have fine gravel of basalt lapilli in the series control section, and are neutral through moderately alkaline throughout. Graufels soils are moderately deep to paralithic contacts.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Mottsville soils are on alluvial fans, fan remnants and fan aprons. These soils formed in alluvium derived from granitic rocks. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. Elevations range from 1,370 to 1,615 meters. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 250 to 300 mm, mean annual temperature is 8 to 11 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 90 to 110 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Holbrook and Ophir soils. Holbrook soils are loamy-skeletal. Ophir soils have aquic conditions at depths of 20 to 30 inches during certain times in normal years.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Excessively drained; negligible or very low surface runoff; high saturated hydraulic conductivity. These soils are susceptible to rare flooding for extremely brief periods throughout the year.

USE AND VEGETATION: Mottsville soils are used for rangeland and urban development. The vegetation is mainly big sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, Anderson's peachbrush, and needlegrasses.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Nevada and California east of the Sierra Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRA 26.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Douglas County (Carson Valley SCD Physical Survey), Nevada, 1940.

REMARKS: (04/2001-This revision narrows the ranges to represent Mottsville soils as mapped in western Nevada and eastern California. The Mottsville soils mapped in the Riverside and San Diego Areas of California in MLRAs 19 and 20 need correlation to another series.)

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 46 cm (A1 and A2 horizons).
Particle size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm (AC and C1 horizons and part of the C2 horizon).

ADDITIONAL DATA: The typical pedon at the series type location was sampled in 1961 and characterized by the soil survey laboratory in Riverside, CA as sample number S61Nev-3-5. The data is published in Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 23.

User Pedon ID: 2006NV005056.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.