LOCATION KANDIK                  AK

Tentative Series
Rev. BBH/SR
05/2022

KANDIK SERIES

These soils typically have very thin A1 horizons and variegated grayish brown, dark brown and olive C horizons. They are calcareous below depths of about 10 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, calcareous Typic Cryorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Kandik silt loam - forested. (Colors for moist conditions)

01--2 to 0 inches; very dark gray (5YR 3/1) forest litter; fungal mycelia in lower part; many roots; abrupt smooth boundary.

A1--0 to 2 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; streaks of grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2); weak fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; charcoal fragments; abrupt wavy boundary.

C1--2 to 22 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silt loam; streaks and patches of grayish brown (5Y 4/2), dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4), and dark brown (7.5YR 4/4); weak very thin platy structure; very friable; roots common; gradual boundary.

C2--11 to 15 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) silt loam; roughly horizontal streaks of dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4); moderate very thin platy structure; very friable; few roots; calcareous; gradual boundary.

C3--15 to 24 inches; olive (5Y 4/3) silt loam; few faint streaks of olive gray (5Y 4/2) and dark gray (5Y 4/1); moderate very thin platy structure; very friable; few roots; calcareous; gradual boundary.

C4--24 to 42 inches +; olive gray (5Y 4/2) silt loam; moderate very thin platy structure; very friable; few to no roots; calcareous.

TYPE LOCATION: Circle Soil Survey Area, Alaska. About one mile northwest of Steese Highway; approximately 5 miles west of Yukon River.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Color of matrix ranges from dark grayish brown to grayish brown and olive gray. Streaks and patches range in hue from 7.5YR to 5Y, in value from 4 to 5, and in chroma from 2 to 6. A brownish incipient B horizon occurs in some pedons, indicating an intergrade to the Rampart soils.

COMPETING SERIES: These include the Bodenburg and Takotna series of the same subgroup, the Kotsina and Kaltag series of the same great group, and the Minto and Rampart series. The Bodenburg soils are not calcareous, have somewhat lower matrix chromas, and contain a buried spodic horizon. The Takotna soils have sandy strata in the subsoil. The Kotsina soils have buried lenses and pockets of organic matter. The Kaltag soils are not calcareous. The Minto soils are micaceous and noncalcareous, and have mottles indicative of impeded drainage. The Rampart soils have weak brown B horizons.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Kandik soils occur on gently to strongly sloping uplands bordering portions of the Yukon River. They have formed in fairly thick calcareous loess. The climate is subarctic continental, with long cold winters and short warm summers. Mean annual precipitation is commonly less than 14 inches.

PRINCIPAL ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include, in addition to the Rampart soils, the Easley and Yukon soils. The Easley soils are poorly drained and have high permafrost tables. The Yukon soils are somewhat poorly drained stratified soils with permafrost.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability and infiltration are moderate. Runoff is moderate to rapid, depending on slope.

USE AND VEGETATION: Largely in forest. The principal trees are white spruce and paper birch. Willows and alder occur in the understory, and are the principal vegetation in areas that have been severely burned.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils have been observed only along the upper Yukon River in east central Alaska. They are probably moderately extensive along major rivers in that area.

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

SERIES PROPOSED: Circle Area, Alaska, 1965.

REMARKS: The Kandik soils would formerly have been classified as Regosols.

OSED scanned by SSQA. Last reviewed by state 11/65.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.