LOCATION NEMICO                  NV

Established Series
Rev. DJM/EWB/JVC/JBF
05/2016

NEMICO SERIES

The Nemico series consists of shallow to a duripan, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from volcanic rocks. Nemico soils are on mountains and plateaus. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 150 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 11 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, smectitic, mesic, shallow Typic Natridurids

TYPICAL PEDON: Nemico stony sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered by approximately 3 percent stones, 5 percent cobbles, and 10 percent gravel.

A--0 to 8 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) stony sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; moderate thick platy structure; hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and fine vesicular pores; 10 percent stones, 5 percent cobbles, and 10 percent gravel; strongly alkaline (pH 8.5); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 15 cm thick)

Btn1--8 to 15 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly clay, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky; slightly hard, very friable, very sticky and very plastic; many very fine and fine roots; many fine interstitial and common fine tubular pores; 20 percent gravel; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; slightly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.7); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 18 cm thick)

Btn2--15 to 25 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly clay, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to strong medium angular blocky; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; many very fine and fine exped roots; common fine tubular pores; 20 percent gravel; many pressure faces and common distinct clay films lining pores; slightly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.7); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 15 cm thick)

Btnk--25 to 30 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly clay, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine roots; few very fine and fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 30 percent gravel; few fine carbonate filaments; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.7); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 15 cm thick)

Bqk--30 to 38 cm; pink (7.5YR 8/4) gravelly loam, reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) moist; massive; extremely hard, very brittle; 30 percent gravel; discontinuously cemented with carbonates and silica; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0). (0 to 10 cm thick)

Bqkm--38 to 41 cm; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) indurated duripan, strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) moist; massive; extremely hard; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0). (1 to 13 cm thick)

R--41 cm; unfractured hard basalt.

TYPE LOCATION: Churchill County, Nevada; about 26 miles southeast of Fallon near the Cocoon Mountains; 800 feet south and 2,400 feet east of the projected northwest corner of section 15, T. 15 N., R. 31 E.; USGS Diamond Field Jack Wash 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 39 degrees 10 minutes 2.4 seconds north latitude and 118 degrees 30 minutes 13.3 seconds west longitude, WGS84 Decimal Degrees 39.1673333 latitude, -118.503694 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually dry, moist in some part for short periods during winter and early spring months, and for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and October due to convection storms; typic aridic moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 15 degrees C.
Depth to thin duripan: 25 to 50 cm.
Depth to hard bedrock: 28 to 64 cm.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 35 to 45 percent; Rock fragments: 15 to 35 percent, lithology of fragments are volcanic rocks such as basalt.

A horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 1 through 4.
Reaction: Neutral to strongly alkaline.

Btn and Btnk horizons
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4.
Texture (less than 2 millimeter fraction): Clay or clay loam.
Rock fragments: Up to 35 percent.
Structure: Fine or medium prismatic parting to subangular blocky or angular blocky.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Salinity (EC): 4 to 8 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 31 to 60.

Bqk horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 5 through 7 moist.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Salinity (EC): 8 to 16 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 31 to 45.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 5 percent.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Knoss and Knott series. Knoss soils have 0 to 15 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section and do not have bedrock within 100 cm. Knott soils have duripans that range from 10 to 25 cm thick and are not underlain by bedrock.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nemico soils are on mountains and plateaus. They formed in residuum and colluvium derived from volcanic rocks. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. Elevations range from 1,460 to 1,400 meters. The climate is cool-arid with cool, moist winters and hot, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 125 to 200 mm, the mean annual temperature is 10 to 12 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 100 to 120 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: This is the Old Camp soil. Old Camp soils are loamy-skeletal, shallow to lithic contacts, and are in an aridic moisture regime bordering on xeric.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Nemico soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The vegetation is mainly shadscale, bud sagebrush, Bailey greasewood, Indian ricegrass, and galleta.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Nevada. These soils are not extensive. MLRA 27.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lyon County Area, Nevada, 1981.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 8 cm (A horizon).
Natric horizon - The zone from 8 to 30 cm. (Btn1, Btn2, and Btnk horizons)
Duripan - The zone from 38 to 41 cm. (Bqkm horizon)
Bedrock - The boundary at 41 cm. (R horizon)
Particle-size control section - The zone from 8 to 30 cm. (Btn1, Btn2, and Btnk horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.