LOCATION TIMPER NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic, shallow Cambidic Haplodurids
TYPICAL PEDON: Timper sandy loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise indicated.)
Al--0 to 3 inches; gray (l0YR 6/l) sandy loam, dark grayish brown (l0YR 4/2) moist; weak medium platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; many fine and medium vesicular pores; l0 percent fine pebbles; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.7); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
A2--3 to 6 inches; light gray (l0YR 7/2) sandy loam, dark brown (l0YR 4/3) moist; weak thick platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; few fine tubular and many fine vesicular pores; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.7); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bw--6 to l0 inches; light brownish gray (l0YR 6/2) sandy loam, dark brown (l0YR 4/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 11 inches thick)
Bqkm--l0 to l8 inches; white (l0YR 8/2) strongly silica and lime-cemented gravelly duripan, grayish brown (l0YR 5/2) moist; moderate thick platy structure; extremely hard, very firm; many fine roots in cracks and between plates; many cracks that occur between plates and where the pan is fractured; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.9); clear wavy boundary. (5 to l0 inches thick)
2Bqk--l8 to 27 inches; light gray (l0YR 7/l) stratified gravelly loamy sand and sand, grayish brown (l0YR 5/2) moist; moderate thick platy structure due to stratification and weak cementation, single grained in other strata; hard in some strata, loose in others, firm and loose when moist, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine roots that run horizontally between plates; common very fine interstitial pores in cemented strata and many very fine and fine interstitial pores in other strata; 20 percent pebbles, violently effervescent on the outer faces of plates and slightly effervescent within plates and noncemented strata; strongly alkaline (pH 8.9); clear wavy boundary. (0 to l2 inches thick)
3Bqkm--27 to 36 inches; light gray (l0YR 7/l) strongly silica-lime cemented duripan, grayish brown (l0YR 5/2) moist; weak thickly platy structure; extremely hard, very firm, nonsticky, nonplastic; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; slightly effervescent in fractures and noneffervescent elsewhere but has thin white (l0YR 8/2) and very pale brown (l0YR 7/3) moist sheets where lime and silica have accumulated on plate tops; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to l2 inches thick)
4C--36 to 60 inches; light gray (l0YR 7/2) very gravelly loamy coarse sand, dark brown (l0YR 4/3) moist; single grained; loose; few fine roots; 50 percent pebbles; moderately alkaline (pH 8.l).
TYPE LOCATION: Lincoln County, Nevada; about l,320 feet south and 820 feet west of the northwest corner of section 33, T. 3 S., R. 55 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry, moist in some part for short periods during winters and early spring months and for l0 to 20 days cumulative between July through October due to convection storms.
Soil temperature: 53 to 59 degrees F.
Depth to duripan: l0 to 20 inches.
Reaction: The soil ranges from moderately alkaline to very strongly alkaline, except in the unconformable material which can be mildly alkaline.
Control section - Texture: Sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
Clay percentage: 5 to l8.
Rock fragments: Up to 50 percent in any horizon but when mixed average less than 35 percent.
A horizon - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: l, 2, or 3.
Carbonates: Slightly or strongly effervescent.
Bw horizon - Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3.
Carbonates: Slightly to violently effervescent.
Structure: Granular or subangular blocky.
2Bqk horizon (when present) - Depth to unconformable material: 30 to 60 inches.
Texture: Stratified loam, through very gravelly coarse sand. Carbonates: Noneffervescent to strongly effervescent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Adelaide, Belcher, and Blackhawk series. Adelaide soils have a buried Bt horizon and the control section average texture is loam, silt loam or very fine sandy loam and it is noncalcareous above the duripan. Belcher soils have semiconsolidated lake laid tuff below a depth of 20 inches. Blackhawk soils have a dominantly silt loam noncalcareous sola.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Timper soils are on alluvial flats, fan piedmonts and fan skirts These soils formed in mixed alluvium. Slopes are 0 to 4 percent. Elevations are 4,700 to 5,400 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 4 to 6 inches; mean annual temperature is 50 to 57 degrees F.; and the frost-free season is l30 to l50 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Aysees, Fang, Jarboe, Kawich, and Penoyer soils. All of these soils are very deep and lack a duripan. Also, Aysees soils are sandy-skeletal and have a calcic horizon; Fang soils are coarse-loamy and have high chroma iron mottles within a depth of 40 inches; Kawich soils are sandy; and Penoyer soils are coarse-silty.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. medium or slow runoff; Moderately rapid permeability above the duripan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. The vegetation is mainly graymolly, shadscale, and annuals.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Nevada. These soil are not extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Nye County (Big Smokey Valley Area), Nevada, l972.
REMARKS:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to 7 inches.
DIAGNOSTIC HORIZONS AND FEATURES RECOGNIZED IN THIS PEDON ARE:
Duripan features - strongly cemented - The zone from l0 to l8 inches (Bqkm horizon)
Particle-size control section - The zone from surface to l0 inches (A, Bw horizons)