LOCATION PILINE NV+IDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Xeric Epiaquerts
TYPICAL PEDON: Piline silty clay loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface has gilgai that are 2 to 6 centimeters high.
A1--0 to 2 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure; slightly hard, firm, sticky and very plastic; few fine, common very fine roots; common fine, few very fine tubular pores; mildly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
A2--2 to 12 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine granular; very hard, very firm, sticky and very plastic; few fine and very fine roots; few fine tubular pores; few iron manganese concretions; mildly alkaline (pH 7.8); gradual smooth boundary. (6 to 11 inches thick)
Bss1--12 to 19 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; few fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine roots; few fine tubular pores; many intersecting slickensides; common iron manganese concretions; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6); gradual wavy boundary. (6 to 17 inches thick)
Bss2--19 to 48 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; common fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) mottles; weak coarse prismatic structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine roots; many intersecting slickensides; common iron manganese concretions; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6); gradual wavy boundary. (13 to 32 inches thick)
C--48 to 60 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; massive; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common iron manganese concretions; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Owyhee Desert, Elko County, Nevada, in an unsectionized area, approximately 7 miles west of Desert Ranch Reservoir, 41 degrees, 40 minutes, 19 seconds north latitude and 116 degrees, 40 minutes, 28 seconds west longitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Moist in winter and spring, with perched water table at 0 to 24 inches from January to July, dry late may through November. Ponding on the soil surface is common in most years.
Soil temperature - 47 to 52 degrees F.
Reaction : Neutral to moderately alkaline; subhorizon in the lower part are moderately alkaline in some pedons.
Control section - Clay content: 35 to 50 percent.
Other features - When, dry vertical cracks 1 centimeter or more wide extend to a depth of more than 40 inches. The cracks are closed for more than 60 consecutive days in the early spring. Gilgai are 2 to 10 centimeters in height. Few to many iron-manganese concretions can occur in any horizon.
A horizon -Hue 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3
Reaction: Neutral to mildly alkaline.
Bss and C horizons - Hue 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 5 or 6 moist.
Chroma: 1 or 2, chroma is 2 in more than half of the pedons on ped faces or in matrix
Textures: Dominantly clay or silty clay but contain clay loam in the lower substratum.
Structure: Prismatic, subangular blocky, angular blocky or massive.
Slickensides: Common to many intersecting slickensides.
Consistence: Hard to extremely hard, dry; firm to very firm, moist.
Iron mottles: Few to many and fine to medium in some subhorizons but decreasing with depth.
Redox concentrations are absent within 2 meters of the soil surface.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. Similar soils classified as Aquic Chromoxererts are the Dosa (T)(CA), Lasvar (T)(CA) and Pitvar (T)(CA) series. Dosa soils are moderately deep to a paralithic contact. Pitvar soils have a duripan at 40 to 60 inches deep. Lasvar soils have a duripan at moderate depth.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Piline soils are on internally drained small relict lake plains, alluvial flats and playas. These soils formed in alluvium from mixed sources. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. Elevations of 4,800 to 5,700 feet. Climate is cool and semiarid with warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. Mean annual precipitation is 8 to 12 inches; mean annual temperature is 45 to 50 degrees F., and the frost-free season is 90 to 120 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the McCleary soils. These soils lack vertical cracks and gilgai.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained; ponded or very slow runoff; very slow permeability. The seasonal water table is perched at 10 to 24 inches during the months of February and May. The surface is ponded with water for a short period during the same months in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Livestock grazing, and wildlife habitat. Vegetation is mainly mat muhly silver sage brush, bluegrass and bottlebrush squirreltail.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Nevada and South Western Idaho. MLRA 25. Piline soils are of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Elko County, Nevada, 1986.
REMARKS: Classification was changed from Aquic Chromoxererts to Xeric Epiaquerts in 1993.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Vertic features - Slickensides occur between 12 and 48 inches. When dry vertical cracks 1 centimeter or more wide extend to a depth of more than 40 inches. Gilgai are 2 to 10 centimeters in height.
Aquic feature - Chroma of 2 or less with redoximorphic concentrations from 12 to 48 inches.
Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 40 inches (part of A2, Bss1, and part of Bss2 horizons).