LOCATION RAGNEL                  NV

Established Series
Rev. BAL/RLB/TM/JBF
02/2012

RAGNEL SERIES

The Ragnel series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from mixed rocks. The Ragnel soils are on barrier beaches and longshore bars. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 230 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 8 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Xeric Haplocambids

TYPICAL PEDON: Ragnel very gravelly loamy sand--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is partially covered with approximately 45 percent gravel.

A--0 to 8 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly loamy sand, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 45 percent gravel; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 cm thick)

Bw--8 to 28 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and few fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 40 percent gravel; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); gradual wavy boundary. (18 to 48 cm thick)

2Bk--28 to 64 cm; light gray (10YR 7/1) very gravelly sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 55 percent gravel; common distinct secondary calcium carbonate concretions on the bottom of rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual wavy boundary. (13 to 60 cm thick)

2C--64 to 152 cm; light gray (10YR 7/1) very gravelly sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 55 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).

TYPE LOCATION: Lincoln County, Nevada; approximately 15 miles northwest of Atlanta, 4,900 feet north and 1,500 feet west of the southeast corner of section 33, T. 9 N., R. 66 E.; USGS Gouge Eye Well 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 38 degrees 36 minutes 10 seconds N and longitude 114 degrees 34 minutes 14 seconds W; NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry; moist in winter and spring and intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and September due to convection storms; aridic soil moisture regime bordering on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 8 to 11 degrees C.
Depth to carbonates: 28 to 58 cm.
Depth to discontinuity: 28 to 58 cm.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages less than 10 percent.
Sand content: Averages more than 80 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel.

A horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Reaction: Neutral or slightly alkaline.

Bw horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture of the fine earth: Sandy loam or loam.
Structure: Fine to coarse subangular blocky.
Consistence: Soft or slightly hard, dry.
Clay content: 8 to 18 percent.
Reaction: Neutral through strongly alkaline.
Other features: Some pedons have few secondary calcium carbonate masses on the bottom of rock fragments.

2Bk horizon
Value: 5 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 1 through 4, dry or moist. (lithochromic)
Structure: Platy or single grain.
Consistence: Loose or slightly hard dry, loose or friable moist.
Clay content: 0 to 3 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Carbonates: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent. Some pedons may have rock fragments that are weakly to very strongly cemented by secondary calcium carbonate pendants, soil material is not cemented. 1 to 5 percent calcium carbonate equivalent.

2C horizon
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 1 through 4, dry or moist. (lithochromic)
Clay content: 0 to 3 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Carbonates: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent. 1 to 5 percent calcium carbonate.
Other features: Some pedons have secondary calcium carbonate pendants on bottom of rock fragments and common very coarse (3 to 5 cm thick) discontinuous gravel lenses that are strongly cemented.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Broncho, Malaga, McConnel, McNye, and Mcwatt series.

Broncho soils have calcareous Bw horizons, contain secondary calcium carbonate cemented subhorizons in the C horizon and are not moist for 10 to 20 days in the summer. Malaga soils are noncalcareous throughout, are slightly acid to slightly alkaline and lack significant summer precipitation. McConnel soils average 60 to 80 percent gravel in the particle-size control section and are not moist for 10 to 20 days in the summer. McNye soils contain 50 to 85 percent rock fragments dominated by cobbles and are not moist for 10 to 20 days in the summer. Mcwatt soils are 43 to 74 cm deep to indentifiable secondary calcium carbonates, are 100 to 150 cm deep to a lithic contact, and are not intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and September due to convection storms.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ragnel soils are on barrier beaches and longshore bars of beach plains in Pleistocene lake basins. These soils formed in mixed alluvium. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. Elevations are 1,525 to 2,015 meters. The climate is cool, semiarid with warm dry summers and cool moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 250 mm, mean annual temperature is 7 to 10 degrees C, and the frost free period is 100 to 120 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Crestline, Heist, and Veet series. Crestline soils are coarse-loamy, Heist soils do not have a cambic horizon, and Veet soils are loamy-skeletal.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat excessively drained, very low to medium runoff, high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The potential native vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, Indian ricegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail. This pedon is correlated to Ecological Site R028AY015, Loamy 8-10 P.Z.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Nevada. These soils are not extensive. MLRA 28A.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona

SERIES ESTABLISHED: White Pine County, Nevada, East Part, 2004. The name is coined.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric horizon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (A and part of the Bw horizons).
Cambic horizon - The zone from 8 to 28 cm (Bw horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm (lower part of the Bw, 2Bk and upper part of the 2C horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.