LOCATION SODA LAKE               NV

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

SODA LAKE SERIES

The Soda Lake series consist of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in volcanic ash, basaltic lapilli, and in alluvium derived mainly from basalt. Soda Lake soils are on alluvial fans and barrier beaches adjacent to volcanic cones. Slopes are 0 to 15 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 Torriorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Soda Lake gravelly loamy sand--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface has a well-developed desert pavement of dominantly 20 mm diameter basalt fragments (lapilli).

A--0 to 5 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly loamy sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; common very fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; 20 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 10 cm thick)

Bw--5 to 23 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly loamy sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak very coarse prismatic structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; many fine and very fine interstitial and common very fine tubular pores; 20 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (13 to 28 cm thick)

2Bk1--23 to 36 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) finely stratified loamy fine sand and gravelly sand, with very dark gray (10YR 3/1) and gray (10YR 5/1) basaltic scoria, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive and single grain; soft and very friable if massive, loose if single grain, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine interstitial pores; secondary carbonates segregated as medium and coarse distinct white (10YR 8/1) masses in the matrix and as coats on gravel; 10 percent gravel; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 23 cm thick)

3Bk2--36 to 48 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) finely stratified fine sand and loamy very fine sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial and few fine tubular pores; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 18 cm thick)

4C1--48 to 61 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) loamy very fine sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; many fine and very fine interstitial pores; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 18 cm thick)

5C2--61 to 127 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) loamy fine sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (46 to 76 cm thick)

6C3--127 to 152 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 20 percent fine basalt lapilli; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4).

TYPE LOCATION: Churchill County, Nevada; about 7 miles west-northwest of Fallon near the base of the recent volcanic cone surrounding Soda Lake; approximately 1,700 feet east and 800 feet north of the southwest corner of section 5, T. 19 N., R. 28 E.; USGS Soda Lake East 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 39 degrees 32 minutes 6 seconds N and longitude 118 degrees 52 minutes 10 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 39.5350000 latitude, -118.869444 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist for short periods in the winter and spring, dry from summer to mid-fall; typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 14 degrees C.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline through very strongly alkaline (up to pH 11.0).

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 5 to 10 percent.
Rock fragments: Averages 5 to 15 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments is mainly basalt.

A horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Structure: Mainly massive or single grain, but some pedons have weak, medium or thick platy structure.

Bw horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value of 5 or 6 dry, and 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Loamy fine sand to loamy coarse sand.
Clay content: 5 to 10 percent.
Rock fragment: Less than 10 percent.
Structure: Weak prismatic or subangular blocky.

Bk horizons
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 5 through 8 dry, 3 through 7 moist
Chroma: 1 through 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Stratified sand, fine sand, loamy fine sand, loamy very fine sand, coarse sandy loam, or sandy loam.
Clay content: 5 to 10 percent
Consistence: Slightly hard to very hard and are slightly brittle or brittle when wet.
Secondary carbonates: Occurs as coats on gravel, as common or many, fine to coarse filaments, masses, or weakly cemented seams that are discontinuous, or a combination of these forms.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 5 percent.
Durinodes: Up to 20 percent 5 to 19 mm diameter, spheroidally shaped durinodes can occur in any horizon below 61 cm.
Other features: Any horizon can have up to 35 percent fine gravel.

C horizons
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 5 through 8 dry, 3 through 7 moist.
Chroma: 1 through 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Loamy fine sand, loamy very fine sand, or gravelly sand.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Aneth, Luning, Shumbegay, Soolake, and Yerington series.

Aneth soils have hue of 5YR or 2.5YR, are intermittently moist in some part from July to October following convection storms, and have Bk horizons below 50 cm. Luning soils have strata with more than 35 percent rock fragments and do not have Bk horizons. Shumbegay soils have hue of 5YR or 2.5YR and are intermittently moist in some part from July to October following convection storms. Soolake soils have strata of silt loam, have less than 5 percent rock fragments, and have mean annual soil temperature of 9 to 12 degrees C. Yerington soils have Bqk horizons in the particle-size control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Soda Lake soils are on alluvial fans and barrier beaches adjacent to volcanic cones. They formed in volcanic ash, basaltic lapilli, and in alluvium derived mainly from basalt along with some granitic rocks. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. Elevations range from 1,219 to 1,280 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 130 to 145 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Appian and Isolde soils. Appian soils are fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal and have natric horizons. Isolde soils are sandy and occur on stable dunes.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat excessively drained with some areas altered to somewhat poorly drained; high saturated hydraulic conductivity. The altered drainage is due to excessive seepage from irrigation canals that traverse the area and irrigation water losses. In these areas the water table fluctuates from a high of 3 feet during the peak of the irrigation season to about 10 feet during the winter months when the canals are dry. In other areas the water table is below 10 feet.

USE AND VEGETATION: Soda Lake soils are used for livestock grazing and irrigated cropland. The vegetation is mainly shadscale, fourwing saltbush, Bailey's greasewood, and bud sagebrush in the better drained areas and black greasewood in the more poorly drained areas. Alfalfa, corn, pasture, small grains, and melons are the principal crops.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Nevada. These soils are not extensive with about 9,000 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRAs 27 and 29.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Churchill County (Fallon Area), Nevada, 1909.

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 Bw horizons).
Identifiable secondary carbonates - The zone from 23 to 48 cm (2Bk1 and 3Bk2 horizons).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm (3Bk2, 4C1 and parts of the 2Bk1 and 5C2 horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.