LOCATION SOONAHBE NV+ID

Established Series
Rev. PLK/GHL-JVC
11/2019

SOONAHBE SERIES

The Soonahbe series consists of deep to a duripan, well drained soils that formed in loess and alluvium derived from mixed sources. Soonahbe soils are on fan remnants and stream terraces. Slopes are 1 to 8 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 360 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 6.7 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Mollic Haploxeralfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Soonahbe silt loam--on a 1 percent slope at an elevation of 1,640 meters--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described on August 4, 1981, the soil was dry throughout.)

A--0 to 15 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; strong thin platy structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; neutral (pH 6.9); clear smooth boundary. (13 to 36 cm thick)

Bt1--15 to 36 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine, few medium interstitial pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds; few uncoated silt grains on faces of peds; neutral (pH 7.1); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 20 cm thick)

Bt2--36 to 61 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; strong medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine roots; common very fine and fine interstitial pores; common faint and few distinct clay films on faces of peds; common uniformly distributed, coarse, cylindrical cicada burrows with color and texture similar to matrix; neutral (pH 7.0); gradual smooth boundary. (15 to 41 cm thick)

Bt3--61 to 79 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; strong medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; few very fine interstitial pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds; many uniformly distributed, coarse, cylindrical cicada burrows with color and texture similar to matrix; neutral (pH 7.0); gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 36 cm thick)

Bq--79 to 117 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) silt loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; common uniformly distributed, coarse, cylindrical cicada burrows with brittle material of color and texture similar to matrix; several large krotovinas; neutral (pH 7.3); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 46 cm thick)

Bqkm--117 to 150 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) cemented material, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; extremely hard, extremely firm; few fine roots concentrated along fracture planes; few fine interstitial pores; strongly effervescent in many medium seams with secondary carbonates; common fine dark concretions and stains of manganese oxide; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); gradual wavy boundary. (25 to 56 cm thick)

Bqk--150 to 203 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) silt loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4); massive; hard, firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; slightly effervescent in few fine filaments of calcium carbonate; few fine dark concretions of manganese oxide; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 53 cm thick)

2C--203 to 213 cm; variegated gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic.

TYPE LOCATION: Elko County, Nevada; on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation about 3.5 miles west of Owyhee; approximately 1,100 feet north and 100 feet west of the southeast corner of section 30, T. 47 N., R. 52 E.; USGS The Point 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 41 degrees 56 minutes 24 seconds north latitude and 116 degrees 10 minutes 14 seconds west longitude; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 41.9400000 latitude, -116.170556 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually moist in winter, spring, and early summer; dry in late summer and early fall; Xeric moisture regime that borders on aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature - 6.7 to 8.3 degrees C.
Depth to base of argillic horizon - 75 to 112 cm.
Depth to duripan - 107 to 132 cm.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: 22 to 32 percent.

A horizon
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Reaction: Neutral or slightly alkaline.

Bt horizons
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Clay loam or loam.
Reaction: Slightly acid through slightly alkaline.

Bq horizon (when present)
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Loam or silt loam.
Effervescence: None to strong.
Reaction: Neutral through moderately alkaline.

Bqkm horizon
Value: 7 or 8 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bullnel, Kilfoil, Soonaker, and Yainax series.

Bullnel and Kilfoil soils are moderately deep to sedimentary bedrock. Soonaker soils are moderately deep to lithic contacts. Yainax soils are moderately deep to paralithic contacts.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Soonahbe soils are on fan remnants and stream terraces. These soils formed in loess and alluvium derived from mixed sources. Slopes are 1 to 8 percent. Elevations range from 1,620 to 1,710 meters. The mean annual precipitation is 330 to 410 mm, most of which falls as snow and spring rain. The mean annual temperature is 6.1 to 7.2 degrees C. The frost-free period is 70 to 100 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Paynecreek, Thacker, and Yatahoney soils. Paynecreek soils have mollic epipedons, do not have duripans, and occur on both tread and riser positions of stream terraces. Thacker soils are fine textured, moderately deep to duripans, and occur on fan remnants and stream terraces. Yatahoney soils are fine textured, moderately deep to duripans, and occur on plateaus and rock pediments.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; low or medium surface runoff; moderately slow saturated hydraulic conductivity (moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity) above the duripan and rapid (high or very high saturated hydraulic conductivity) below the duripan.

USE AND VEGETATION: Soonahbe soils are used for rangeland and irrigated cropland. Alfalfa and barley are the principle crops. Native vegetation is mainly basin big sagebrush, Idaho fescue, Nevada bluegrass, bluebunch wheatgrass, and twisted leaf rabbitbrush.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Nevada and southwestern Idaho. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRA 25.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Idaho and Nevada, 1984. The name is from the local Indian word for grass.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 15 cm (A horizon).

Argillic horizon - The zone from 15 to 79 cm (Bt1, Bt2 and Bt3 horizons).
Duripan - The zone from 117 to 150 cm (Bqkm horizon).

Identifiable secondary carbonates - The zone from 117 to 203 cm (Bqkm and Bqk horizons).

Particle-size control section - The zone from 15 to 65 cm (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons and part of the Bt3 horizon).

Future investigations are needed on this soil to determine the content of volcanic glass in the surface and subsurface horizons. The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Reno MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.