LOCATION NUAHS                   NV

Established Series
Rev: CMH/EWB/WED/JBF
05/2016

NUAHS SERIES

The Nuahs series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in mixed alluvium derived from dominantly granitic and rhyolitic rocks. Nuahs soils are on fan skirts and lake plain terraces. Slopes are 0 to 8 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 100 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 12 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Haplocalcids

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

A--0 to 10 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loamy sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; single grained; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 5 percent 2 to 5 mm gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 15 cm thick)

Bk1--10 to 18 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) moist; weak thin platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many fine and very fine interstitial pores; 5 percent 2 to 5 mm gravel; disseminated carbonates; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 10 cm thick)

Bk2--18 to 30 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) moist; weak medium platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common medium, fine and very fine roots; few fine tubular and common very fine interstitial pores; 10 percent 2 to 5 mm gravel; disseminated carbonates; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.2); clear wavy boundary. (13 to 23 cm thick)

Bk3--30 to 46 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) coarse sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine, few medium and fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; few fine carbonate filaments and carbonate pendants on gravel undersides; 10 percent 2 to 5 mm gravel; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 25 cm thick)

2C--46 to 56 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly loamy coarse sand, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 35 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 25 cm thick)

3Cq--56 to 84 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots at top of horizon; common very fine interstitial pores; 10 percent 2 to 5 mm gravel; thin 1 to 3 mm thick discontinuous silica laminae plates; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 30 cm thick)

4Cy--84 to 119 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly coarse sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine interstitial pores; 40 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles; few gypsum crystals on undersides of cobbles and some gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 43 cm thick)

5C--119 to 152 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) fine sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine interstitial pores; 10 percent 2 to 5 mm gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3)

TYPE LOCATION: Mineral County, Nevada; approximately 3,695 feet west and 7,920 feet north of the junction of Highways 95 and 23, about 1,000 feet north and 1,500 feet east of the southwest corner of section 21, T. 8 N., R. 34 E.; USGS Luning, NV 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 32 minutes 01 seconds N and longitude 118 degrees 12 minutes 09 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 38.5336111 latitude, -118.2025000 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, moist for short periods in winter and early spring, for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and October due to convection storms. Dry in lower part of moisture control section; typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 15 degrees C.
Depth to calcic horizon: 5 to 30 cm.
Profile electrical conductivity: 2 to 16 millimhos.
Sodicity (SAR): 13 to 30.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 10 to 15 percent.
Rock fragments: Averages 15 to 35 percent, mainly gravel, over half of which are 2 to 5 mm in diameter.

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

Bk horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Texture: Coarse sandy loam or sandy loam with strata of loamy sand present in some pedons.
Clay content: 10 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: Usually less than 15 percent of dominantly 2 to 5 mm gravel.
Structure: Platy, subangular blocky, prismatic or is massive. Consistence: Soft through hard dry.
Reaction: Strongly alkaline or very strongly alkaline.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 15 percent.

C horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Texture: Stratified fine sandy loam to very gravelly loamy coarse sand.
Clay content: 5 to 15 percent average.
Rock fragments: Individual horizons have 10 to 50 percent rock fragments, over half of which are 2 to 5 millimeter gravel; average 15 to 35 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Effervescence: Slightly effervescent or strongly effervescent; Calcium carbonate equivalent: Less than 5 percent
Other features: Below a depth of 75 cm gypsum crystals are on the underside of some cobbles and gravel in some pedons.
Cementation: Thin 1 to 3 mm thick discontinuous silica laminae or 5 to 15 percent weak to strong durinodes may be present in some pedons.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bluechief, Boreham, Hiko Springs, Kinan, McCutchen, Moffat, Nakai, Nakoy, Nolava, Pagina, Riemod and Trook series.

Bluechief soils have bedrock at 50 to 100 cm and have 20 to 40 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in the Bk horizon. Boreham, Nolava and Riemod soils have more than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Hiko Springs and McCutchen soils have the top of the calcic horizon deeper than 30 cm. Kinan soils have hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, or 7.5YR. Moffat and Nakai soils have less than 15 percent rock fragments in the control section. Also, Moffat soils have hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR and Nakai soils have the top of the calcic horizon at a depth of 50 to 100 cm. Nakoy soils have mean annual soil temperatures of 8 to 12 degrees C, and do not receive the 10 to 20 day summer precipitation. Pagina soils have hue of 5YR or 7.5YR. Trook soils have a mean annual soil temperature of 8 to 11 degrees C and a calcium carbonate equivalent of 15 to 40 percent in the calcic horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nuahs soils are on fan skirts and lake plain terraces. These soils formed in mixed alluvium derived from dominantly granitic and rhyolitic rocks when on lake plain terraces alluvium is water reworked. Slopes are 0 to 8 percent. Elevations are 1,285 to 1,646 meters. The climate is cool, arid with warm, dry summers and cool, dry winters. The mean annual precipitation is 75 to 150 mm, mean annual temperature is 10 to 13 degrees C, and the frost-free season is 130 to 160 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Nycon, Inmo, Sundown, and Soda Spring soils. Inmo soils are sandy-skeletal. Nycon and Sundown soils are sandy. Soda Spring soils have no calcic horizon.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; slow runoff; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly shadscale, Cooper, wolfberry, Indian ricegrass, green molly kochia, Bailey greasewood and Russian thistle.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Nuahs soils are in west-central Nevada. These soils are not extensive. MLRA 27.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Mineral County Area, Nevada, 1985.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm. (A horizon)
Calcic horizon - The zone from about 10 to 30 cm (Bk1 and Bk2 horizons).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm. (Bk3, 2C, 3Cq and part of Bk1 and 4Cy horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.