LOCATION HALACAN NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic Lithic Cryrendolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Halacan very gravelly loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered by approximately 50 percent pebbles.
A1--0 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine, fine, and medium roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 40 percent pebbles; very few coats of secondary calcium carbonate on bottoms of rock fragments; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
A2--5 to 11 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) extremely channery loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and medium roots; common fine tubular pores; 45 percent channers and 15 percent flagstones; very few coats of secondary calcium carbonate on bottoms of rock fragments; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
Bk--11 to 17 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) extremely channery loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine, fine, few medium roots; common fine tubular and interstitial pores; 45 percent channers and 30 percent flagstones; few coats of secondary calcium carbonate on bottoms of rock fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); gradual wavy boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
R--17 inches; hard fractured limestone.
TYPE LOCATION: Lander County, Nevada; about 17 miles north of Austin on Mount Callaghan in the Toiyabe Range; approximately 1,400 feet north and 2,300 feet west of the southeast corner of section 1, T. 21 N., R. 44 E.; USGS Mount Callaghan 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually moist, moist late fall through mid summer, dry late summer through mid fall; xeric moisture regime that borders on aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature - 37 to 42 degrees F.
Mean summer soil temperature - 50 to 59 degrees F.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 7 to 12 inches.
Depth to bedrock - 10 to 20 inches to a lithic contact.
Control section - Clay content: 10 to 18 percent; Rock fragments: 50 to 80 percent, mainly channers. Lithology of fragments is limestone or dolostone.
A horizons - Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Organic matter content: 1 or 2 percent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 10 to 20 percent in the less than 2 millimeter fraction and 30 to 50 percent in the less than 20 millimeter fraction.
Identifiable secondary carbonates: Very few (less than 5 percent by volume) coats on bottoms of rock fragments.
Effervescence: Slightly to strongly.
Bk horizon - Value: 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 6, dry or moist.
Texture: Extremely channery loam or very channery loam.
Structure: Weak or moderate subangular blocky.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Consistence: Very friable or friable moist.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 25 to 40 percent in the less than 2 millimeter fraction and 40 to 60 percent in the less than 20 millimeter fraction.
Identifiable secondary carbonates: Very few or few (1 to 5 percent by volume) coats on bottoms of rock fragments.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Haunchee and Sheege series. Haunchee soils do not have Bk horizons or identifiable secondary carbonates as coats on rock fragments in the A horizons. Sheege soils have dominantly stones in the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Halacan soils are on mountains. They typically occur on shoulders and backslopes. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium derived from limestone and dolomite. Slopes are 8 to 50 percent. Elevations range from 7,300 to 10,100 feet. The climate is semiarid with cold, moist winters and cool, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 14 to 18 inches, mean annual temperature is 36 to 41 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 30 to 50 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Hapgood, Hatur, Layview and Packer soils. Hapgood, Hatur and Packer soils have bedrock at depths greater than 20 inches. Hapgood, Layview, and Packer soils have mixed mineralogy. Layview and Packer soils have argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very high surface runoff; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Halacan soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly low sagebrush, black sagebrush, Idaho fescue, Nevada bluegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRA 28B.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lander County (South Part), Nevada, 1985.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 11 inches (A1 and A2 horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 17 inches to underlying hard bedrock (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 17 inches (Bk horizon and part of the A2 horizon).