LOCATION NOMARA NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Calcic Pachic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Nomara stony silt loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 4 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) stony silt loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak very thin platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 5 percent pebbles, 3 percent cobbles, 1 percent stones; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
A2--4 to 10 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 5 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 7.2); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
A3--10 to 19 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 10 percent pebbles, 5 percent cobbles; mildly alkaline (pH 7.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
Bt--19 to 34 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine interstitial and tubular pores; few thin clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 40 percent pebbles; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (8 to 15 inches thick)
Btk--34 to 40 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) extremely gravelly clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; very hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; common thin clay films lining pores; many medium soft masses of lime; violently effervescent; 60 percent pebbles, 20 percent cobbles; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); abrupt irregular boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
2R--40 inches; fractured argillite with lime coating fractures.
TYPE LOCATION: Humboldt County, Nevada; approximately 4 miles southeast of Winnemucca, about 1,600 feet north and 2,400 feet east of the southwest corner of section 12, T. 35 N., R. 38 E.; 40 degrees, 55 minutes, 12 seconds north latitude and 117 degrees, 39 minutes, 08 seconds west longitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Moist in winter and spring, dry from July through September.
Soil temperature - 40 to 47 degrees F.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 20 to 36 inches.
Depth to bedrock - 20 to 40 inches.
Depth to carbonates - 17 to 36 inches.
A horizon - Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 through 4 moist.
Chroma: 1 through 4.
Bt horizons - Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 through 4 moist.
Texture: Very gravelly silt loam, very gravelly loam, or extremely gravelly clay loam.
Clay content: 20 to 35 percent.
Rock fragments: 40 to 80 percent.
Consistence: Hard or very hard, dry.
Reaction: Mildly alkaline in upper part, moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline in the lower part.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Rypod(T UT) series. Rypod soils are more than 60 inches deep to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nomara soils are on side slopes of mountains. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium weathered from argillite, slate, andesite, quartzite, and limestone with some influence from loess. Slopes are 30 to 75 percent. Elevations are 5,500 to 7,600 feet. The climate is cool, semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 10 to 12 inches; mean annual temperature is 39 to 45 degrees F., and the frost-free season is 70 to 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Gosumi and Sumine series. Gosumi soils are 40 to 60 inches deep to bedrock, lack secondary carbonates within 42 inches, and have 35 to 50 percent clay in their control section. Sumine soils have a mollic epipedon that is 8 to 15 inches thick and are noneffervescent in their profiles.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid or very rapid runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly mountain big sagebrush, snowberry, Idaho fescue, and bluebunch wheatgrass
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Nevada. These soils are not extensive. MLRA 24.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Humboldt County (BLM Sonoma Planning Unit), Nevada. 1974.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon(Pachic) - The zone from the soil surface to 34 inches (A1, A2, A3, Bt horizons).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 19 to 40 inches (Bt, Btk horizons).
Calcic horizon - The zone from 34 to 40 inches (Btk horizon).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 40 inches.
Particle-size control section - The zone from 19 to 39 inches.
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. The remainder of this document has not been updated.