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.)
A1--0 to 8 cm; gray (10YR 6/1) sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; many fine and medium vesicular pores; 10 percent fine gravel; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.7); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 13 cm thick)
A2--8 to 15 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) sandy loam, brown (10YR 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 20 cm thick)
Bw--15 to 25 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) sandy loam, brown (10YR 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. (8 to 28 cm thick)
Bqkm--25 to 46 cm; very pale brown (10YR 8/2) strongly silica and lime-cemented gravelly duripan, grayish brown (10YR 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. (13 to 25 cm thick)
2Bqk--46 to 69 cm; light gray (10YR 7/1) stratified gravelly loamy sand and sand, grayish brown (10YR 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 gravel, 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 30 cm thick)
3Bqkm--69 to 91 cm; light gray (10YR 7/1) strongly silica-lime cemented duripan, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; weak thick 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 very pale brown (10YR 8/2) and very pale brown (10YR 7/3) moist sheets where lime and silica have accumulated on plate tops; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 30 cm thick)
4C--91 to 152 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) very gravelly loamy coarse sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; single grained; loose; few fine roots; many fine interstitial pores; 50 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1).
TYPE LOCATION: Lincoln County, Nevada; about 1,320 feet south and 100 feet west of the northeast corner of section 33, T. 3 S., R. 55 E.; latitude 37 degrees 38 minutes 46 seconds N and longitude 115 degrees 47 minutes 19 seconds W; NAD 83.
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; typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 12 to 15 degrees C.
Depth to duripan: 25 to 50 cm.
Depth to unconformable material: 75 to 150 cm.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: 5 to l8 percent.
Rock fragments: Up to 50 percent in any horizon but when mixed average less than 35 percent, mostly gravel.
A horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: l through 3.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline through very strongly alkaline.
Carbonates: Slightly effervescent or strongly effervescent.
Bw horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3.
Texture: Sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline through very strongly alkaline
Carbonates: Slightly through violently effervescent.
Structure: Granular or subangular blocky.
2Bqk horizon (when present)
Texture: Stratified loam through very gravelly coarse sand.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline through very strongly alkaline
Carbonates: Noneffervescent through strongly effervescent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Adelaide, Belcher Blackhawk and Truhoy series.
Adelaide soils have a buried Bt horizon and the particle-size 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 50 cm. Blackhawk soils have a dominantly silt loam noncalcareous particle-size control section. Truhoy soils have a Bqk horizon with silica cementation above the duripan.
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 1,430 to 1,650 meters. The mean annual precipitation is 100 to 150 mm; mean annual temperature is 10 to 14 degrees C.; 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 100 cm; Kawich soils are sandy; and Penoyer soils are coarse-silty.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. medium or slow runoff; Moderately rapid permeability; high saturated hydraulic conductivity above the duripan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Livestock grazing 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: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to 18 cm (A1,A2 and part of the Bw horizon).
Cambic horizon - The zone from 15 to 25 cm (Bw horizon).
Strongly cemented duripan - The zone from 25 to 46 cm (Bqkm horizon)
Particle-size control section - The zone from surface to 25 cm (A, Bw horizons)