LOCATION EMESTINE                AK

Established Series
SDB/MJS
08/2025

EMESTINE SERIES

Depth class: very deep
Drainage class: well drained
Parent material: organic material over sandy till
Landscape: mountains
Landform: mountain slopes
Slope: 1 to 20 percent
Mean annual precipitation: about 600 mm (24 in)
Mean annual air temperature: about 2 degrees C (36 degrees F)
Frost-free period: 45 to 90 days

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid Typic Cryorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Emestine loamy very fine sand in a scrub birch community on a northeast facing convex, linear backslope on a 10 percent slope at an elevation of 560m (1835 ft)

Oi--0 to 10 cm (0 to 4 in); slightly decomposed plant material, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) broken face moist; common very fine, fine, and many medium roots throughout; neutral (pH 7.1); abrupt wavy boundary (7 to 13 cm, 3 to 5 in)

A--10 to 17 cm (4 to 7 in); loamy very fine sand, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) broken face moist; common very fine and fine roots throughout; many very fine and fine tubular pores throughout; moderate medium columnar structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; nonsmeary; 5 percent subrounded gravels by volume; neutral (pH 6.9); abrupt wavy boundary (5 to 15 cm, 2 to 6 in).

BC--17 to 150 cm (7 to 59 in); gravelly loamy very fine sand, brown (10YR 4/3) broken face moist; common very fine and fine roots in top of the horizon; common very fine and few fine tubular pores throughout; moderate medium columnar, and moderate fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; nonsmeary; 16 percent subrounded gravels by volume; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4). (122 to 138 cm, 48 to 54 in)

TYPE LOCATION: North Copper River Soil Survey Area, Alaska; latitude 61.58438, longitude -145.10484, UTM 6829344.28 north and UTM 600602.65 east, zone 6, Datum WGS84.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture regime: udic
Soil temperature regime: cryic
Mean annual soil temperature: 1 to 5 degrees C (34 to 41 degrees F)
Thickness of organic material: 10 to 13 cm (4 to 5 in)
Thickness of ochric epipedon: 12 to 28 cm (5 to 11 in)

Oi horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 2 to 3
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: slightly decomposed organic material, moderately decomposed organic material, highly decomposed organic material
Organic matter: 60 to 90 percent
Reaction class: neutral (pH 6.6 to 7.3)

A horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 2 to 3
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: loamy very fine sand
Sand: 75 to 85 percent
Silt: 7 to 23 percent
Clay: 2 to 10 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 14 percent gravel
Organic matter: 2.7 to 7.2 percent
Reaction class: neutral (pH 6.6 to 7.3)

BC or C horizons:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 4
Chroma: 2 to 3
Texture: gravelly loamy very fine sand, loamy very fine sand
Sand: 75 to 85 percent
Silt: 6 to 22 percent
Clay: 3 to 13 percent
Rock fragments: 1 to 30 percent gravel
Organic matter: 0.01 to 1.50 percent
Reaction class: neutral to slightly alkaline (pH 6.6 to 7.8)

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Baldy (AZ) and Squirrelcreek (AK) soils.
Baldy soils have more than 15 percent cobbles in A and C horizons.
Squirrelcreek soils are somewhat excessively drained, form on alluvium parent material, and occur on bluffs, floodplains, and river valleys in outwash plains.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation: 300 to 1200 meters (985 to 3935 feet)
Parent material: organic material over sandy till
Landform: mountain slopes
Slopes: 1 to 20 percent
Mean annual precipitation: 300 to 1400 mm (12 to 55 in)
Mean annual air temperature: -5 to -1 degrees C. (23 to 30 degrees F)
Frost-free period: 45 to 90 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Greylingcreek, Ride and Secondlake soils.
Greylingcreek soils are excessively drained and occur on mountain valleys and moraines.
Ride soils are somewhat excessively drained and occur on mountain slopes and hillslopes.
Secondlake soils are well drained, have a mollic epipedon, and occur on mountain slopes.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class: well drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: very high in the Oi, A, and BC horizons
Permeability: very rapid in the Oi, A, and BC horizons
Runoff: very low

USE AND VEGETATION:
Use: wildlife habitat, recreation, and subsistence
Native vegetation: resin birch and white spruce

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 228 Interior Alaska mountains.
Extent: limited

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Wasilla, Alaska

SERIES ESTABLISHED: North Copper River Soil Survey, Alaska, 2024.

REMARKS: Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this profile include:

Particle-size control section: 35 to 110 cm (14 to 43 in)

Ochric epipedon: 0 to 17 cm (0 to 7 in) (Oi and A horizon)

ADDITIONAL DATA:

User pedon Id: 2022AK261324

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.