LOCATION BATZA                   AK

Tentative Series
Rev. CEF-SR
02/2022

BATZA SERIES

The Batza series have fairly thin O horizons, thin A horizons, and gleyed gravelly loam or silt loam C horizons. The permafrost table is moderately deep to deep.

TAXONOMIC CLASS:

TYPICAL PEDON: Batza loam - brush. (Colors are for moist conditions.)

Oi--3 to 1 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) moss and decomposing organic materials; many roots; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)

Oa--1 inch to 0; black (5YR 2/1) finely divided organic matter; many roots; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 2 inches thick)

A--0 to 3 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) heavy loam; few medium faint mottles of dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2); weak coarse granular structure; very friable; many roots; medium acid; clear broken boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)

C1g--3 to 10 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) loam; few medium and coarse distinct mottles of strong brown (7.5YR 5/8); weak coarse platy structure, breaking to weak fine subangular blocky; very friable; many roots; medium acid; gradual boundary.

C2g--10 to 17 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) gravelly loam; few medium faint mottles of dark gray (5Y 4/1); weak coarse platy structure; very friable; many roots; medium acid; clear broken boundary.

Oa1--17 to 18 inches; black (N 2/ ) discontinuous band of organic matter; many roots; clear broken boundary.

C3g--18 to 32 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) gravelly heavy loam with lenses of very gravelly loam; few medium faint mottles of dark gray (5Y 4/1); weak coarse platy structure; friable; few roots; medium acid. Permafrost table is at 73 inches.

TYPE LOCATION: Eagle Summit Area, Alaska. About 1-1/3 miles ESE of roadhouse at Milepost 101, Steese Highway, and about 1-1/3 miles SW of confluence of Eagle Creek and Cripple Creek.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The A horizon ranges widely in color, from 5YR 2/1 through 10YR 4/4. Its texture ranges from loam to silt loam. It is absent or very thin in some pedons. Matrix colors in the C horizon range from 2.5Y 4/2 through 5Y 5/3. Textures range from silt loam to gravelly loam; the proportion of gravel usually increases with depth. Depth to the permafrost table ranges from 20 to 80 inches, and is inversely correlated with the thickness and proportion of moss in the O horizon. COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bradway, Dotlake, and Tanana series of the same family. The Bradway and Tanana soils have substantial mica and are free of gravel. Dotlake soils have stratas of fine sand in the lower control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Batza soils occur on gently sloping to steep hills. The regolith is weathered sedimentary or metamorphic rock, in places mixed with or covered by thin deposits of loess. The climate is subarctic continental, with long cold winters and short warm summers. Mean annual air temperatures are less than 32 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation is less than 20 inches.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly to poorly drained. Permeability is moderate above the permafrost table. Runoff is moderate to rapid.

USE AND VEGETATION: Entirely in native vegetation, which consists of a sparse forest of black spruce, willows, alder, and other shrubs, or of sedges, grasses, and low-growing shrubs.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Interior Alaska. The series is probably moderately extensive.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: WASILLA, ALASKA

SERIES PROPOSED: Hughes Area, Alaska, 1965. (Name is from the Batza River.)

REMARKS: Batza series was proposed in an uncorrelated "remote" survey. More data is needed to refine the series concept. The series has not been revised since 1965 (jpm 2/89).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.