LOCATION CRUNKER NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Duric Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Crunker loamy sand. Rangeland and wildlife habitat. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 8 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loamy sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak thick platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial and few tubular pores; 5 percent pebbles; noneffervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 cm thick)
A2--8 to 20 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly loamy sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine through medium roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 15 percent pebbles; noneffervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (20 to 30 cm thick)
Bk--20 to 51 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly coarse sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; single grained; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine common medium roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 35 percent pebbles with lime coating the undersides; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (15 to 25 cm thick)
2Bk--51 to 86 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly loamy sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; common very fine and fine interstitial and few tubular pores; 45 percent pebbles with lime coatings and some bridging of sand grains; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (30 to 40 cm thick)
2Bqk--86 to 152 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) extremely gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many micro roots; common very fine and fine interstitial pores; 65 percent pebbles, 5 percent cobbles; 30 percent weak to strong discontinuous silica cementation; lime and silica pendants coating the bottom of pebbles; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Mineral County, Nevada; about 700 feet south and 200 feet east of the north west corner of section 2, T. 9 N., R. 32 E.; latitude 38 degrees, 40 minutes, 25 seconds N and longitude 118 degrees, 23 minutes, 27 seconds W; NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Moist in winter and spring, dry in summer and fall except for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and October due to convection storms.Typic-aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil temperature - 12 to 15 degrees C.
Depth to 2B horizon - 38 to 76 cm.
Cementation- Discontinuous weakly to strongly silica cementation occurs below 76 cm with silica cementing and bridging sand grains. Lime and silica pendants coat the bottom of pebbles.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: 5 to 12 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, dominantly pebbles.
A horizon - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2, 3 or 4.
Structure: Platy, subangular blocky or massive.
Bk horizon - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2, 3 or 5.
Structure: Massive or single grained.
Texture: Stratified coarse sand, sand, or loamy sand.
Rock fragments: 35 to 50 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline to strongly alkaline; effervescent to strongly effervescent.
2B horizon - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Texture: Stratified loamy sand, sand or sandy loam.
Rock fragments: 40 to 60 percent average, individual strata may have 35 to 80 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline to very strongly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other competing series at this time. Linco soils are similar but are coarse-loamy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Crunker soils are on inset fans and fan aprons. These soils formed in alluvium derived from mixed rock sources. Slopes are 2 to 15 percent. Elevations ranges from 1,770 to 2,120 meters. The mean annual temperature is 10 to 12 degrees C.; the mean annual precipitation ranges from 200 to 300 mm and the frost-free season is 100 to 130 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ratleflat and Fawin series. The Ratleflat series has an argillic horizon. The Fawin series has a cambic horizon and a control section that averages less than 15 percent pebbles.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; rapid permeability; very high or high saturated hydraulic conductivity.
USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is Wyoming big sagebrush, spiny hopsage, Nevada Ephedra, Indian ricegrass, needleandthread, galleta and bottlebrush squirreltail.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West-central Nevada, these soils are not extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Mineral County, Nevada, 1981.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Discontinuous silica cementation - The zone from about 86 to 150 cm (2Bqk horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from abut 25 to 100 cm. (2Bk and part of Bk and 2Bqk horizons)