LOCATION PELIC                   NV

Established Series
Rev. MAT-LNL-JVC-JBF
05/2016

PELIC SERIES

The Pelic series consists of very deep, very poorly drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from mixed igneous rocks. Pelic soils are on flood plains and oxbows. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 127 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 12 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Typic Fluvaquents

TYPICAL PEDON: Pelic sand--wet meadow. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 30 cm; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) sand, light gray (10YR 7/2) dry; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine roots and many medium rhizomes; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; few coarse prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) masses of iron accumulation; the surface 0.3 cm consists of a white (N 8/0) slightly hard salt crust; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (15 to 36 cm thick)

Cg1--30 to 41 cm; dark gray (10YR 4/1) loamy fine sand, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots and common medium rhizomes; common very fine and fine tubular pores; few coarse prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) masses of iron accumulation; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (8 to 15 cm thick)

Cg2--41 to 56 cm; dark gray (10YR 4/1) sandy loam, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; few coarse prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) masses of iron accumulation; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt broken boundary. (3 to 15 cm thick)

Cg3--56 to 97 cm; dark gray (10YR 4/1) sand, light olive gray (5Y 6/2) dry; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; few coarse prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) masses of iron accumulation; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (36 to 61 cm thick)

Cg4--97 to 107 cm; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) silty clay, light olive gray (5Y 6/2) dry; massive; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine tubular pores; few fine and medium prominent dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) masses of iron accumulation; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 cm thick)

Cg5--107 to 152 cm; gray (10YR 5/1) stratified sand and coarse sand, light olive gray (5Y 6/2) dry; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4)

TYPE LOCATION: Churchill County, Nevada; in the Lahontan Valley about 8.25 miles southeast of Fallon; approximately 1,225 feet east and 1,134 feet south of the northwest corner of section 2, T. 17 N., R. 29 E.; USGS Carson Lake 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 39 degrees 22 minutes 12 seconds N and longitude 118 degrees 42 minutes 9 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 39.3700000 latitude, -118.702500 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture; Saturated with water during most years from the soil surface to about 50 cm; aquic or peraquic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 14 degrees C.
Effervescence: Slightly effervescent or strongly effervescent in the A and upper Cg horizons, noneffervescent in the lower Cg horizons.
Other features: Root mats (up to 5 cm thick) are present in some pedons where the water table is within 8 cm of the soil surface during most of the year.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 0 to 5 percent.

A horizon
Hue: 10YR through 5Y.
Value: 5 or 6 moist, 6 or 7 dry.
Chroma: 1 or 2, moist or dry.
Redoximorphic features: Occur as few to many, fine to coarse redox concentrations of iron with reddish hue or high chroma.
Structure: Single grain or massive, or has weak or moderate, very thin to medium platy structure.
Consistence: Loose or soft in sandy strata and slightly hard or very hard in clayey strata.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Salinity (EC): 0 to 32 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 1 to 12.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 3 percent.

Cg horizons
Hue: 10YR through 10Y moist; ranges to 5B or N (neutral) with depth. The hue changes rapidly on exposure to air and dry hue is 2.5Y or 5Y.
Value: 2 through 4 moist, 4 through 6 dry.
Chroma: 0 (when hue is N) or 1 moist, 0 (when hue is N) through 2 dry.
Texture: Dominantly sand or coarse sand; Strata up to 15 cm thick of sandy loam to clay are common; thick continuous dense strata of lacustrine clay are common below 100 cm.
Clay content: 0 to 12 percent.
Redoximorphic features: Occur as redox concentrations of iron with reddish or yellowish hue with high chroma or redox depletions of bluish or greenish hue with low chroma.
Salinity (EC): 4 to 32 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 1 to 5.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 3 percent.
Other features: An odor of methane gas can be detected emitting from the lower Cg horizons.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Almeria series. Almeria soils are less affected by soluble salts and sodium and have mean annual temperature of 8 to 12 degrees C.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pelic soils are on flood plains and oxbows on delta plains. These soils formed in alluvium derived from mixed igneous rocks such as granite, basalt, and andesite. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. Elevations range from 1,158 to 1,250 meters. The climate is arid with cool, moist winters and hot, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 100 to 150 mm. The mean annual temperature is 11 to 13 degrees C, The frost-free period is 120 to 140 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the East Fork, Fallon, and Sagouspe soils. These soils are not saturated with water high in the soil profile. In addition, East Fork soils are fine-loamy and Fallon soils are coarse-loamy.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained; very rapid permeability. These soils are susceptible to frequent ponding for long duration from February through May with water up to 30 cm foot deep. These soils are susceptible to frequent flooding for long periods between April and October.

USE AND VEGETATION: Pelic soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The native vegetation is inland saltgrass and wiregrass in the more salt-affected areas where the water table is somewhat lower or Baltic rush, bluejoint reedgrass, and cattails in the less salt-affected areas where the water table is at the soil surface or the surface is ponded.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Nevada. These soils are not extensive with about 6,500 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRA 27.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Churchill County (Fallon-Fernley Area), Nevada, 1971.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (part of the A horizon).
Aquic conditions - The conditions of endosaturation, reduction, and redoximorphic features between the soil surface and 152 cm during normal years (parts of all horizons).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm (Cg1, Cg2, Cg3 and parts of the A and Cg4 horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.