LOCATION RUBYHILL NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Xereptic Haplodurids
TYPICAL PEDON: Rubyhill fine sandy loam-rangeland (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 10 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak thick platy structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine, and common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 10 percent fine gravel; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (8 to 20 cm thick)
Bw1--10 to 33 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, sticky and slightly plastic; many medium and few fine and very fine and very fine roots; few fine and common very fine pores; 5 percent gravel; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); clear wavy boundary. (13 to 33 cm thick)
Bw2--33 to 53 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few medium, fine and very fine roots; many pores; 5 percent gravel; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 25 cm thick)
Bqkm1--53 to 79 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) very pale brown (10YR 8/2) coated, strongly cemented duripan, brown (10YR 5/3) with coats of light gray (10YR 7/2) moist; massive; very hard, very firm; few fine and very fine roots oriented horizontally, many very fine interstitial pores; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); clear wavy boundary. (10 to 66 cm thick)
Bqkm2--79 to 107 cm; variegated very pale brown (10YR 8/2) and pale brown (10YR 6/3) strongly cemented duripan, very pale brown (10YR 8/2) and pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; massive; very hard, very firm; many very fine interstitial pores; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 30 cm)
Bqkm3--107 to 127 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) strongly cemented duripan, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; very hard, very firm; gravel is silica coated and silca-bridged between sand grains; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2).
TYPE LOCATION: Eureka County, Nevada; approximately 17 miles northwest of Eureka in Kobeh Valley; about 2,100 feet east and 1,100 feet north of the southwest corner of section 6, T. 21 N., R. 52 E.; latitude 39 degrees 52 minutes 23 seconds N and longitude 115 degrees 52 minutes 17 seconds W; NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Moist in winter and spring, dry mid-June through October; aridic soil moisture regime bordering on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 7 to 8 degrees C.
Depth to base of the Bw horizon: 50 to 76 cm.
Depth to duripan: 50 to 76 cm.
Other features - Some pedons have a thin weak Bk horizon.
Particle-size control section - Clay: 20 to 30 percent.
Rock fragments: 5 to 35 percent.
A horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Structure: Platy or granular.
Consistence: Soft or slightly hard.
Reaction: Neutral through moderately alkaline.
Bw horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Texture: Loam, light clay loam or gravelly loam.
Clay content: 20 to 30 percent.
Rock fragments: 5 to 35 percent gravel.
Structure: Blocky or it is massive.
Consistence: Slightly hard or hard.
Reaction: Neutral through moderately alkaline.
Bqkm horizon
Structure: Platy or it is massive.
Consistence: Very firm or extremely firm.
Other features: Several to many indurated discontinuous laminae.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family at the present time.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Rubyhill soils are on fan piedmonts. These soils formed in alluvium from mixed rocks. Slopes are 0 to 8 percent. Elevations are 1,740 to 2,170. The climate is cool, semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 300 mm; mean annual temperature is 6 to 7 degrees C., and the frost-free season is 80 to 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bartine, Kobeh, Overland, and Umil soils. Bartine, Kobeh and Overland soils lack a duripan, also Barine and Overland have bedrock at a depth of 50 to 100 cm. Umil soils have an indurated duripan within a depth of 50 cm.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow or medium runoff; moderate permeability; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity.
USE AND VEGETATION: Livestock grazing and wildlife habitat, but some small areas are included in cultivated fields. Vegetation is principally big sagebrush and Sandberg bluegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Nevada. These soils are moderately extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Eureka County (Diamond Valley Area), Nevada, 1971.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - Thezone from the surface to 18 cm (A and part of Bw1 horizon).
Cambic horizon - The zone from about 10 to 53 cm (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons).
Strongly cemented duripan - The zone from about 53 to 79 cm (Bqkm1 horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to about 53 cm (Bw2 and a portion of the Bw1 horizon).