LOCATION RAGNEL NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Xeric Haplocambids
TYPICAL PEDON: Ragnel very gravelly loamy sand, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is partially covered with approximately 45 percent pebbles.
A--0 to 3 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly loamy sand, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 45 percent pebbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
Bw--3 to 11 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and few fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 40 percent pebbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); gradual wavy boundary. (7 to 19 inches thick)
2Bk--11 to 25 inches; light gray (10YR 7/1) very gravelly sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 55 percent pebbles; common distinct secondary calcium carbonate concretions on the bottom of rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 24 inches thick)
2C--25 to 60 inches; light gray (10YR 7/1) very gravelly sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 55 percent pebbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).
TYPE LOCATION: Lincoln County, Nevada; approximately 15 miles northwest of Atlanta, 4,900 feet north and 1,500 feet west of the southeast corner of section 33, T. 9 N., R. 66 E.; USGS Gouge Eye Well 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 38 degrees 36 minutes 10 seconds north latitude and 114 degrees 34 minutes 10 seconds west longitude, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually dry; moist in winter and spring and intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and September due to convection storms. Aridic soil moisture regime bordering on xeric.
Soil temperature - 47 to 52 degrees F.
Depth to carbonates: 11 to 23 inches.
Depth to discontinuity: 11 to 23 inches.
Control section - Clay content: Averages less than 10 percent.
Sand content: Averages more than 80 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mainly pebbles.
A horizon - Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Reaction: Neutral or slightly alkaline.
Bw horizon - Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture of the fine earth: Sandy loam or loam.
Structure: Fine to coarse subangular blocky.
Consistence: Soft or slightly hard, dry.
Clay content: 8 to 18 percent.
Reaction: Neutral through strongly alkaline.
Other features: Some pedons have few secondary calcium carbonate masses on the bottom of rock fragments.
2Bk horizon - Value: 5 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 1 through 4, dry or moist. (lithochromic)
Structure: Platy or single grain.
Consistence: Loose or slightly hard dry, loose or friable moist.
Clay content: 0 to 3 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Carbonates: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent. Some pedons may have rock fragments that are weakly to very strongly cemented by secondary calcium carbonate pendants, soil material is not cemented. 1 to 5 percent calcium carbonate equivalent.
2C horizon - Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 1 through 4, dry or moist. (lithochromic)
Clay content: 0 to 3 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Carbonates: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent. 1 to 5 percent calcium carbonate.
Other features: Some pedons have secondary calcium carbonate pendants on bottom of rock fragments and common very coarse (1 to 2 inches thick) discontinuous gravel lenses that are strongly cemented.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Broncho (ID), Malaga (WA), McConnel (NV), McNye (OR), and Mcwatt (NV) soils. Broncho soils have calcareous Bw horizons, contain secondary calcium carbonate cemented subhorizons in the C horizon and are not moist for 10 to 20 days in the summer. Malaga soils are noncalcareous throughout, are slightly acid to slightly alkaline and lack significant summer precipitation. McConnel soils average 60 to 80 percent pebbles in the control section and are not moist for 10 to 20 days in the summer. McNye soils contain 50 to 85 percent rock fragments dominated by cobbles and are not moist for 10 to 20 days in the summer. Mcwatt soils are 17 to 29 inches deep to indentifiable secondary calcium carbonates, are 40 to 60 inches deep to a lithic contact, and are not intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and September due to convection storms.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ragnel soils are on barrier beaches and longshore bars of beach plains in Pleistocene lake basins. These soils formed in mixed alluvium. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. Elevations are 5,000 to 6,600 feet. The climate is cool, semiarid with warm dry summers and cool moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is 8 to 10 inches; mean annual temperature is 45 to 50 degrees F., and the frost free period is 100 to 120 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Crestline, Heist, and Veet series. Crestline soils are coarse-loamy, Heist soils do not have a cambic horizon, and Veet soils are loamy-skeletal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained, very low to medium runoff, moderate to rapid permeability; saturated hydraulic conductivity class is moderately high to very high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The potential native vegetation is mainly Wyoming big sagebrush, Indian ricegrass, and bottlebrush squirreltail. This pedon is correlated to Ecological Site R028AY015, Loamy 8-10 P.Z.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Nevada. These soils are not extensive. MLRA 28A.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada
SERIES ESTABLISHED: White Pine County, Nevada, East Part, 2004. The name is coined.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric horizon - The zone from the soil surface to 3 inches (A horizon).
Cambic horizon - The zone from 3 to 11 inches (Bw horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 40 inches (lower part of the Bw, 2Bk and upper part of the 2C horizons).