LOCATION BOXCAR                  AK

Tentative Series
Rev. DVP/DM
02/2022

BOXCAR SERIES

Depth class: very deep
Drainage class: well drained
Parent material: ash influence loess over coarse ablation till
Landform: kame and lateral moraines
Slopes: 0 to 60 percent
Mean annual precipitation: about 30 inches
Mean annual temperature: about 35 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Medial over sandy or sandy-skeletal, amorphic over mixed Alic Haplocryands

TYPICAL PEDON: Boxcar silt loam - on a northeast-facing, linear 17 percent slope under Lutz spruce vegetation at 1854 feet (565 meters) elevation. (All colors are for moist soil unless noted)

Oi--0 to 3 inches (0 to 8 cm); black (10YR2/1); slight decomposed plant material; extremely acid (pH 4.3); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 3 inches thick)

A--3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 cm); dark reddish brown (5YR2.5/2) and dark brown (7.5YR 3/2); silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots, few medium roots; very smeary; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); abrupt broken boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)

E--5 to 6 inches (13 to 16 cm); very dark grayish brown (10YR4/2); very fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots, few medium roots; very smeary; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)

Ab--6 to 9 inches (16 to 24 cm); dark brown (10YR4/4); very fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots, common few roots; very smeary; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick)

Bw--9 to 20 inches (24 to 52 cm); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4); very fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; very smeary; 5 percent gravel; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 13 inches thick)

2C--20 to 60 inches (52 to 152 cm); olive brown (2.5y 4/3); extremely cobbly loamy fine sand; single grained; loose nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; 25 percent gravel, 35 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; moderately acid (pH 5.8).

TYPE LOCATION: Western Kenai Peninsula Area, Alaska; Caribou Hills; in the SE 1/4 of section 21, T. 2 S., R. 11 W; USGS Seldovia 1:25,000 quad; UTM north 6650927 and UTM east 602459, zone 5.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Mean annual soil temperature: 33 to 37 F.
Ash influenced loess: 14 to 26 inches (36 to 65 cm) thick
Depth to glacial till: 14 to 33 inches (36 to 80 cm)


O horizon:
Matrix color: value of 2 or 3; chroma of 1 to 3
Texture: slight or moderately decomposed plant material
Reaction class: extremely acid to strongly acid

A and Ab horizons:
Matrix color: hue of 5YR to 10YR; value of 2.5 to 4; chroma of 2 to 4
Texture: silt loam, very fine sandy loam
Reaction class: very strongly acid to moderately acid

E horizon:
Matrix color: value of 4 or 5; chroma of 3 to 6
Texture: very fine sandy loam, silt loam
Reaction class: very strongly acid to moderately acid

Bw horizon:
Matrix color: hue of 10YR or 2.5Y; value of 3 to 5; chroma of 3 to 6
Texture: very fine sandy loam, silt loam, fine sandy loam
Coarse fragments: 0 to 5 percent gravel
Reaction class: very strongly acid to moderately acid

2C horizon:
Matrix color: hue of 10YR to 5Y; value of 3 or 4; chroma of 2 to 4
Texture: loamy sand, sand, loamy fine sand, fine sand modified by 35 to 65 percent total coarse fragments; 15 to 40 percent gravel, 0 to 35 percent cobbles, and 0 to 5 percent stones
Reaction class: moderately acid or slightly acid

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: ash influence loess over coarse ablation till
Landform: kame and lateral moraines
Slope: 0 to 60 percent
Mean annual temperature: about 35 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: about 35 degrees F.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Estelle and Nikolaevsk soils. Estelle soils have a spodic horizon and a loamy-skeletal material in the particle size control section. Nikolaevsk soils have a spodic horizon and an aquic moisture conditions within 20 inches (50 cm) of the mineral soil surface.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, very low to high runoff, saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high in the solum and high to very high in the underlying glacial till.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used for timber production and wildlife habitat. The native vegetation is Lutz spruce below timberline and mixed shrubs, forbs, and grasses above timberline.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 224 Cook Inlet Lowlands, South-central Alaska. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES PROPOSED: Area, Alaska, 2000

REMARKS: Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this profile include:
Presumed greater than 2.0 cmol(+)/kg Al 3+ in the solum
Andic soil materials from 3 to 20 inches (8 to 52 cm)
Sandy or sandy-skeletal particle size from 20 to 60 inches (52 to 152 cm)
Loess mantle dominated by ash influenced loess that has a moist bulk density of less than 0.90 grams per cubic centimeter and phosphorous retention greater than 85 percent.
The weighted average particle size of the contrasting substratum material is sandy (99ss034-01).
Temperature regime: cryic
Moisture regime: udic

ADDITIONAL DATA:

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.