LOCATION NICKEL                  NV+AZ NM TX

Established Series
Rev. DJM/LNL/ET
12/2015

NICKEL SERIES

The Nickel series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium from mixed rock sources. Nickel soils are on fan remnants. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 5 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 65 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, thermic Typic Haplocalcids

TYPICAL PEDON: Nickel gravelly very fine sandy loam, rangeland and wildlife habitat. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered by approximately 70 pebbles, 10 percent cobbles and 1 percent stones.

A--0 to 2 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly very fine sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; strong thin platy structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine roots; many very fine and common fine vesicular pores; 20 percent pebbles and 5 percent cobbles; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)

Bw--2 to 4 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) moist; moderate thick platy structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots, many very fine and fine interstitial and few fine tubular pores; 10 percent pebbles and 3 percent cobbles; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)

Bkq--4 to 31 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) extremely gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine through medium roots; many very fine and fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; common (15 percent) fine calcium carbonate coats on faces of peds and as coats on bottom and sides of rock fragments; few (2 percent) distinct silica coats on the bottom of rock fragments;40 percent pebbles and 20 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (20 to 50 inches thick)

Bk--31 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely gravelly coarse sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine through medium roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; common (15 percent) fine masses and many (45 percent)fine coats and pendants on bottom and sides of rock fragments; weakly discontinuous calcium carbonate cemented lenses 1 to 2 inches thick; 55 percent pebbles and 20 percent cobbles; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0)

TYPE LOCATION: Clark County, Nevada; about 3.5 miles south of Mesquite along the road to Cabin Springs; about 100 feet south and 500 feet east of the northwest corner of section 33, T. 13 S., R. 71 E.; on the USGS Mesquite, NV 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 36 degrees 46 minutes 1 seconds north latitude and 114 degrees 4 minutes 26 seconds west longitude; UTM 11 761180e, 4073019n, NAD 83

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually dry, moist in some part during winter and spring and intermittently moist in the upper part following summer convection storms; typic aridic moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature - 59 to 71 degrees F.
Depth to calcic horizon - 4 to 25 inches.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Control section - Clay content: Averages 3 to 18 percent, commonly less than 15;
Rock fragments: Averages 40 to 85 percent.
Texture: Averages coarse sandy loam or sandy loam.

A horizon - Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 6 dry or moist.

Bw horizon - Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 6 dry or moist.
Texture of fine earth: Sandy loam or loam with less than 18 percent clay.
Structure: Weak or moderate subangular blocky, platy or prismatic.
Rock fragments: 10 to 85 percent.

Bkq and Bk (when present) horizons - Hue: 10YR, 7.5YR or neutral.
Value: 5 through 8 dry, 4 through 7 moist.
Chroma: 1 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Coarse sandy loam or sandy loam with coarse sand in the lower part of the profile. Some pedons do not have coarse sand.
Structure: Massive, single grain, and subangular blocky.
Consistence: Loose, soft through hard, very friable though very firm, nonsticky and slightly sticky, nonplastic or slightly plastic.
Rock fragments: 50 to 85 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent in the fine earth fraction: 5 to 25 percent in some subhorizons within a depth of 40 inches.
Other features: O to 20 percent weakly to strongly cemented discontinuous lenses of hardpan. Small amounts of gypsum are present in the lower part of some pedons.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Alemeda, Chamberino, Corazones, Dime, Piquin, Railroad (T), and Stagecoach series. Alemeda soils have a lithic contact at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Chamberino soils have loam or sandy clay loam textures with 18 to 35 percent clay in the particle-size control section and contain 35 to 50 percent rock fragments. Corazones soils do not receive significant precipitation during December through March. Dime soils have thin Bt horizons and are dominated by cobbles in the particle-size control section. Piquin soils moisture control section has the most moisture between July and September and is in the 8 to 10 inch precipitation zone. Railroad soils have a lithic contact at 30 to 40 inches. Stagecoach soils are moist in the moisture control section for more than 20 days cumulative from June through September, have a moisture distribution pattern typical of the Sonoran Desert and are in the 10 to 13 inch precipitation zone.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nickel soils are on fan remnants. These soils formed in alluvium from mixed rock sources. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. Elevations are 1,800 to 4,000 feet. The climate is low-latitude desert, with mild winters and very hot summers. Precipitation is greatest in the winter with a lesser secondary peak in summer, typical of the Mojave Desert. The mean annual precipitation is 4 to 7 inches; mean annual temperature is 57 to 70 degrees F.; and the frost-free season is 170 to 300 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Arizo, Cave, and Bitter Spring soils. Arizo soils have very gravelly sandy control sections. Cave soils have indurated Bkm horizons. Bitter Spring soils have more than 18 percent clay in the Bt horizon and have a sandy-skeletal textural control section.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very low though medium runoff; moderate permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly creosotebush and white bursage.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mojave Desert of southern Nevada, northern Arizona, southern New Mexico, and western Texas. These soils are extensive. The series concept and main acreage is in MLRA 30 in Nevada and Arizona, while other acreage occurs in MLRA 42 in New Mexico and Texas and MLRAs 40 and 41 in Arizona. Nickel soils in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas are currently being correlated to other soil series more appropriate to the Sonoran Desert or Chihuahuan Desert.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: PHOENIX, ARIZONA

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Clark County (Virgin River Soil Conservation District), Nevada. 1939.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
Ochric epipedon- 0 to 4 inches (A and Bw horizons).
Calcic horizon- 4 to 60 inches (Bkq and Bk horizons).
Particle size control section- 10 to 40 inches (parts of the Bkq and Bk horizons).

Responsibility for this series was transferred from Davis to Phoenix 12/2015. The last revision to the series was 3/2007. ET

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.