LOCATION PINEVAL NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Durinodic Xeric Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Pineval gravelly loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soils unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 8 cm; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) gravelly loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; strong very thin platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine vesicular pores; 20 percent pebbles; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 13 cm thick)
Bt1--8 to 15 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; many very fine and fine and few medium roots; many very fine interstitial and tubular pores; common faint clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 40 percent pebbles; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (8 to 15 cm thick)
Bt2--15 to 28 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly sandy clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine, fine and few medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds and common faint clay films lining pores; 50 percent pebbles; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (8 to 18 cm thick)
Bqk1--28 to 53 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few very fine, fine and medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; 35 percent pebbles; 40 percent weak and very weak discontinuous silica cementation; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (20 to 50 cm thick)
Bqk2--53 to 152 cm; variegated extremely gravelly coarse sand; massive; slightly hard, very friable to firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; 70 percent pebbles; continuous weak brittle matrix with several 1/2 to 6 inch thick discontinuous lenses of strong silica cementation; carbonate coats on underside of rock fragments; slightly effervescent in matrix and strongly effervescent on carbonate coats; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).
TYPE LOCATION: Eureka County, Nevada; about 41 miles south of Carlin; 2,100 feet north and 250 feet east of the southwest corner of section 14, T. 26 N., R. 51 E.; USGS Mineral Hill SW 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 40 degrees 07 minutes 57 seconds N and longitude 116 degrees 11 minutes 58 seconds W; NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Moist in winter and spring, dry mid-June through October; aridic moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Soil temperature - 8 to 11 degrees C.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: 25 to 35 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent pebbles. Lithology of fragments are volcanic or mixed.
A horizon - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3.
Reaction: Neutral to moderately alkaline.
Bt horizons - Value: 5 or 6 dry.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: Very gravelly loam, very gravelly clay loam, or very gravelly sandy clay loam.
Consistence: Soft or slightly hard.
Reaction: Neutral to moderately alkaline.
Bqk horizons - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Stratified very gravelly sandy loam to extremely gravelly sand.
Rock fragments: 35 to 70 percent, mostly pebbles.
Consistence: Soft to hard dry, very friable to firm moist, nonsticky to slightly sticky and nonplastic to slightly plastic wet.
Silica cementation: Weakly cemented by secondary silica with a continuous brittle matrix in at least one subhorizon.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 5 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Wildhill series. Wildhill soils are moderately deep to lithic contacts.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pineval soils are on fan remnants and fan aprons. They formed in alluvium derived from volcanic or mixed rocks. Slopes are 2 to 30 percent. Elevations range from 1,494 to 2,134 meters. The climate is semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 300 mm, the mean annual temperature is 8 to 9 degrees C., and the frost-free period is 100 to 120 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Perwick, Puett, and Tulase soils. Perwick soils are coarse-loamy, moderately deep to paralithic contacts, and do not have diagnostic subsurface horizons. Puett soils are loamy, shallow to paralithic contacts, and do not have diagnostic subsurface horizons. Tulase soils are coarse-silty, very deep, and have horizons with durinodes, secondary carbonates and secondary gypsum.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to very high surface runoff; moderately slow permeability; moderately high or high saturated hydraulic conductivity.
USE AND VEGETATION: Pineval soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, Douglas rabbitbrush, Thurber needlegrass, Sandberg bluegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern and central Nevada. These soils are extensive with about 112,000 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRAs 24, 25, 27, and 28B.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Eureka County, Nevada, 1983.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 8 cm (A horizon).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 8 to 28 cm (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
Duric feature - The zone from 53 to 152 cm (Bqk2 horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 8 to 28 cm (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).