LOCATION SONDOA NV

Established Series
Rev. MJZ-RLB-JVC
05/2016

SONDOA SERIES

The Sondoa series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium and lacustrine deposits derived from mixed rocks. Sondoa soils are on stream terraces and basin-floor remnants. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 150 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 12 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Typic Torriorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Sondoa silt loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A1--0 to 5 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; strong thick platy structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and fine, common medium and coarse vesicular pores; violently effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 13 cm thick)

A2--5 to 10 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; strong very thin platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 13 cm thick)

C1--10 to 41 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; strong fine prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine roots; many very fine, common fine and medium, and few coarse tubular pores; few coarse distinct black (10YR 2/1) moist relict masses of manganese accumulation on faces of peds; few 5 to 10 mm diameter crustacean shells; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); clear smooth boundary. (13 to 38 cm thick)

C2--41 to 51 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine, few fine and medium tubular pores; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 25 cm thick)

C3--51 to 56 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine, few fine and medium tubular pores; silt coats lining pores; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 38 cm thick)

C4--56 to 66 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine and few fine roots; many very fine, fine, and common medium tubular pores; silt coats lining pores; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 74 cm thick)

C5--66 to 81 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine and medium roots; many very fine, common fine and medium, and few coarse tubular pores; few coarse distinct black (10YR 2/1) moist relict masses of manganese accumulation; few 5 to 10 mm diameter crustacean shells; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.2); gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 20 cm thick)

C6--81 to 119 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, very sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine and fine, few medium and coarse tubular pores; silt coats lining pores; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.2); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 51 cm thick)

C7--119 to 152 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; many very fine and fine, common medium and coarse tubular pores; silt coats lining pores; common medium prominent reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/6) moist relict masses of iron accumulation and common medium and coarse distinct black (10YR 2/1) moist relict masses of manganese accumulation; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.2)

TYPE LOCATION: Pershing County, Nevada; about 3 miles northeast of Toulon; approximately 2,400 feet east and 2,300 feet south of the northwest corner of section 26, T. 26 N., R. 30 E.; USGS Granite Point 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 40 degrees 5 minutes 41 seconds N. and longitude 118 degrees 34 minutes 54 seconds W.; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 40.0947222 latitude, -118.581667 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, moist in the winter and spring, dry June through November; typic aridic (torric) soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 14 degrees C.
Reaction: Strongly alkaline or very strongly alkaline (up to pH 9.6).

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 25 to 35 percent.

A horizons
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist; mantled A horizons on stream terraces commonly have the value of 3 moist and when rubbed, lighten to 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Salinity (EC): 0 to 32 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 46 to 130.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 30 percent.
Effervescence: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent.
Other features: mantled A horizons are common in some pedons.

C horizons
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Stratified silt loam and silty clay loam. Thin or very thin laminae (varves) of fine sand are common in some pedons.
Clay content: 23 to 35 percent.
Consistence: Slightly hard to hard dry, friable to firm moist, slightly sticky or moderately sticky and slightly plastic or moderately plastic.
Structure: Prismatic or subangular blocky or the horizon is massive.
Salinity (EC): 4 to 32 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 60 to 130.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 25 percent.
Effervescence: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent.
Gypsum content: 0 to 1 percent.
Redoximorphic features: Relict redox concentrations of iron or manganese are common in any subhorizon in the lower part of the profile.
Other features: Some pedons have few gypsum filaments below a depth of 64 cm; Some pedons have weak discontinuous silica cementation or durinodes or both; Some pedons lack crustacean shells; some pedons have subhorizons with identifiable secondary carbonates as masses.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Blueagle, Easychair, Rosney, Sagrlite, Sain, Swingler, and Timpie series.

Blueagle soils are moistened for 10 to 20 days during the period of July to September by summer convection storms and have granular structure in most of the profile. Easychair and Swingler series average 18 to 25 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Rosney soils have a mean annual soil temperature of 8 to 11 degrees C. Sagrlite soils are moistened for 10 to 20 days during the period of July to September by summer convection storms. Sain soils have electrical conductivity of less than 4 mmhos/cm and sodium adsorption ratio of less than 5. Timpie soils average 18 to 27 percent clay in the particle-size control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sondoa soils are on barrier beaches, stream terraces, and basin floor remnants. These soils formed in alluvium and lacustrine deposits derived from mixed sources. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. Elevations range from 1,158 to 1,830 meters. The climate is arid with cool, moist winters and hot, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 100 to 200 mm, the mean annual temperature is 11 to 13 degrees C., and the frost-free period is 100 to 140 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Isolde and the competing Swingler soils. Isolde soils are sandy and occur on dunes.

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

USE AND VEGETATION: Sondoa soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly black greasewood and Torrey seepweed.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRA 27.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pershing County (Lovelock Area), Nevada, 1985.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (A1, A2 and part of the C1 horizons).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm (C2, C3, C4, and C5 horizons and parts of the C1 and C6 horizons).

More study is needed of this series to determine if a salic horizon is normally present and whether the taxonomic classification should be revised to Typic Haplosalids. This soil was previously correlated in the Lovelock Area, Nevada as Sonoma silt loam, drained, strongly saline-alkali.

ADDITIONAL DATA: A pedon of Sondoa sampled within 2,000 feet of the series type location has full characterization data by the Soil Survey Laboratory (SSL), Lincoln, NE, as pedon ID S08NV027001 (pedon # 08N0492).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.