LOCATION POOKALOO                NV

Established Series
Rev. CEJ/JR/RLB/JBF
11/2016

POOKALOO SERIES

The Pookaloo series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium derived from limestone, dolomite, and calcareous siltstone. Pookaloo soils are on mountains and hills. Slopes are 8 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 330 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 8 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, mesic Lithic Xeric Haplocalcids

TYPICAL PEDON: Pookaloo very gravelly loam--woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted). The soil surface is partially covered with approximately 60 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles.

A--0 to 10 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate thin platy structure parting to moderate fine granular; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and few medium roots; common very fine tubular and few fine interstitial pores; 35 percent gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 cm thick)

Bk1--10 to 23 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine, fine, and few medium roots; common fine and few medium tubular pores; common medium (2 to 4 mm) secondary calcium carbonate pendants on the bottom of rock fragments; 45 percent gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (8 to 25 cm thick)

Bk2--23 to 33 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine, medium, and few coarse roots; common fine and few medium tubular pores; common medium (2 to 4 mm) secondary calcium carbonate pendants on the bottom of rock fragments; 50 percent gravel as hard, firm partially decomposed siltstone; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 23 cm thick)

Bk3--33 to 48 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine, common medium and coarse roots; common fine, few medium and coarse tubular pores; common medium (2 to 4 mm) secondary calcium carbonate pendants on the bottom of rock fragments; 40 percent gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 20 cm thick)

R--48 cm; very pale brown (10YR 8/3) fractured limestone.

TYPE LOCATION: White Pine County, Nevada; about 2.5 miles southeast of McBrides Sheep Well in Long Valley; approximately 400 feet west and 100 feet south of the northeast corner of section 4, T. 20 N., R. 59 E.; USGS McBrides Sheep Well 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 39 degrees 38 minutes 19.8 seconds N and longitude 115 degrees 19 minutes 38.1 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 39.6388889 latitude, -115.3272222 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, moist in winter and spring, dry summer and fall; aridic soil moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 8 to 11 degrees C.
Depth to bedrock: 36 to 50 cm to a lithic contact.
Depth to calcic horizon: 5 to 15 cm.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 70 percent for the less than 20 mm fraction.
Effervescence: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 10 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 50 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments is limestone or dolomite.

A horizon
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 6, moist or dry.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 20 to 30 percent in the less than 2 mm fraction.

Bk horizons
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 3 through 6, moist or dry.
Structure: Very fine to medium subangular blocky or massive.
Texture: Very gravelly silt loam or very gravelly loam.
Consistence: Nonsticky or slightly sticky and nonplastic or slightly plastic.
Secondary calcium carbonate: 5 to 20 percent by volume 1 to 5 mm thick secondary calcium carbonate pendants on bottom of rock fragments.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 30 to 50 percent in the less than 2 mm fraction.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Amtoft and Tecomar series.

Amtoft soils are dry for 70 to 85 consecutive days during the summer and have rock fragments that are dominantly flagstones or cobbles. Tecomar soils have dominantly loam and silt loam texture, have 20 to 27 percent clay, and 50 to 80 percent rock fragments.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pookaloo soils are on hills and mountains. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium derived from dolomite, limestone, and calcareous siltstone. Slopes are 8 to 75 percent. Elevations are 1,645 to 2,685 meters. The climate is semiarid with cold, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 300 to 400 mm, the mean annual temperature is 7 to 10 degrees C., and the frost-free period is 100 to 115 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: This is the Zimbob soil. Zimbob soils are less than 36 cm to bedrock.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Pookaloo soils are used for woodland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly singleleaf pinyon, Utah juniper, black sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: East-central Nevada. These soils are extensive with about 315,000 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRA 28B.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Western White Pine County Area, Nevada, 1990.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (A and part of the Bk1 horizons).
Calcic horizon - The zone from 10 to 48 cm (Bk1, Bk2, and Bk3 horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 48 cm (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 48 cm (Bk3 horizon and part of the Bk2 horizon).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.