LOCATION NELLSPRING              NV

Established Series
Rev. JBF-EWB-TM-JVC
01/2020

NELLSPRING SERIES

Nellspring series consists of moderately deep to a duripan, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from volcanic rocks. Nellspring soils are on fan remnants. Slopes are 2 to 15 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 230 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 8 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Vertic Argidurids

TYPICAL PEDON: Nellspring very gravelly fine sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is partly covered with about 10 percent cobbles and 55 percent gravel.

A--0 to 8 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very gravelly fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; strong thick platy structure; hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and fine vesicular pores; 5 percent cobbles and 45 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 13 cm thick)

Btss1--8 to 30 cm; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) clay, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; strong fine prismatic structure parting to strong fine angular blocky; very hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine and few medium exped roots; common very fine tubular pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; vertical cracks 8 millimeters to 1 cm wide and 8 to 10 cm apart extend through the horizon; common slickensides; few wedge-shaped aggregates tilted 30 degrees from horizontal; neutral (pH 7.3); clear wavy boundary. (20 to 38 cm thick)

Btss2--30 to 46 cm; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) clay, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; strong fine prismatic structure parting to strong fine angular blocky; very hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; many faint and distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; vertical cracks are present that are 8 millimeters to 1 cm wide and 10 to 15 cm apart; few slickensides; few wedge-shaped aggregates tilted 30 degrees from horizontal; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); clear wavy boundary. (15 to 36 cm thick)

Btk--46 to 89 cm; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; very hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; secondary carbonates segregated in common fine threads (filaments); moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (15 to 46 cm thick)

Bqkm1--89 to 104 cm; cemented material; strong thin and medium platy structure; extremely hard, extremely firm; cemented by silica and secondary carbonates; alternating strongly cemented medium plates and discontinuous thin indurated laminae cap; horizontal root mat at upper boundary with many very fine, fine and few medium roots; 5 percent cobbles and 15 percent gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 30 cm thick)

Bqkm2--104 to 150 cm; cemented material; massive; extremely hard and hard, extremely firm and firm; cemented by silica and secondary carbonates; alternating layers of strongly and weakly cemented material; 5 percent cobbles and 15 percent gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3).

TYPE LOCATION: Washoe County, Nevada; about 5 miles northeast of Nellie Spring Mountain and 1 mile east of Grassy Camp; approximately 2,100 feet south and 1,000 feet west of the northeast corner of section 19, T. 41 N., R. 22 E.; USGS Nellie Spring Mountain 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 41 degrees 27 minutes 05 seconds N and longitude 119 degrees 32 minutes 32 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 41.4513889 latitude, -119.5411111 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Moist in winter and spring; dry from July through October; aridic soil moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature; 8 to 11 degrees C.
Depth to duripan: 50 to 100 cm.
Other features: There is an abrupt clay increase of 35 to 50 percent within a vertical distance of 3 cm between the A and Btss1 horizons.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 40 to 60 percent;
Rock fragments: 0 to less than 15 percent gravel. Lithology of fragments is volcanic rocks such as basalt.

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

Btss horizons
Hue: 5YR through 10YR.
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 4 through 6, dry or moist.
Clay content: 50 to 60 percent.
Rock fragments: 0 to less than 15 percent.
Consistence: Hard, extremely hard dry, friable to very firm moist.
Reaction: Neutral or slightly acid.
Vertic features: Vertical cracks 5 to 25 millimeters wide; few to common slickensides and wedge-shaped aggregates.

Btk horizon
Hue: 5YR through 10YR.
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 4 through 6, dry or moist.
Clay content: 35 to 50 percent.
Texture: Clay or clay loam.
Rock fragments: 0 to less than 15 percent.
Consistence: Hard, extremely hard dry, friable to very firm moist.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
Effervescence: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent.
Identifiable secondary carbonates: Few or common, fine or medium, masses or threads (filaments).
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 3 percent.

Bqkm horizons
Rupture resistance: Strongly or moderately cemented with layers of weakly cemented material.

COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in this family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nellspring soils are on fan remnants. They formed in alluvium derived from volcanic rocks. Slopes are 2 to 15 percent. Elevations range from 1,680 to 1,810 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 7 to 8 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 80 to 100 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Buffaran and Fulstone soils which have duripans within 50 cm of the surface.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Nellspring soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is dominantly Lahontan sagebrush, Sandberg's bluegrass, Thurber's needlegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Nevada. These soils are not extensive with about 3,400 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRA 23.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washoe County, Nevada (North Part), 1995. The name is coined from nearby Nellie Spring Mountain.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 8 cm (A horizon).
Abrupt textural change - The abrupt clay increase of more than 35 percent at 8 cm (between the A and Btss1 horizons).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 8 to 89 cm (Btss1, Btss2, and Btk horizons).
Slickensides and other vertic features - The zone from 8 to 46 cm (Btss1 and Btss2 horizons).
Identifiable secondary carbonates - The zone from 46 to 152 cm (Btk, Bqkm1, and Bqkm2 horizons).
Duripan - The zone from 89 to 152 cm (Bqkm1 and Bqkm2 horizons).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 8 to 58 cm (Btss1, Btss2 and part of the Btk horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.