LOCATION LIVENGOOD AK
Tentative Series
Rev. DEP/SR/DLM
02/2022
LIVENGOOD SERIES
The Livengood series consists of moderately deep well-drained soils formed in calcareous loess weathered shale and graywacke. The soils occur on uplands, and have slopes ranging from less than 3 to 45 percent. The mean annual precipitation is 10 to 14 inches, and the mean annual air temperature is 22 degrees to 24 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over fragmental, mixed, superactive Typic Haplocryepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Livengood silt loam, forested. (Colors are for moist soil.)
01--1 to 0 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) forest litter with mycelia and charcoal fragments; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
A1--0 to 2 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
A2--2 to 4 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common roots; slightly acid; abrupt irregular boundary.
B21--4 to 11 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) silt loam; weak thin platy structure; very friable; common roots; common very fine pores; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
B22--11 to 13 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; weak thin platy structure; very friable; common roots; neutral; gradual wavy boundary.
C1--13 to 25 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silt loam; weak thin platy structure; friable; few roots to depth of 18 inches; calcareous; abrupt smooth boundary.
IIC2--25 to 35 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) shattered graywacke.
TYPE LOCATION: Yukon Crossing Area, Alaska. SE1/4 SW1/4 NE1/4, Sec. 25, R11W, T13N, Fairbanks Meridian.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the loess ranges from 20 to 30 inches. The A1 horizon ranges in thickness from less than 1 to 3 inches, and in color from 7.5YR 4/2 to 10YR 4/3. The A2 horizon may be absent. It ranges in color from 7.5YR 5/4 to 10YR 5/3. The B horizons range in thickness from 7 to 12 inches, and in color from 2.5Y 4/4 to 10YR 4/4 and 10YR 4/3. The C horizons may be weakly to strongly calcareous. Rock fragments in the IIC horizon may have carbonate coatings on their undersides.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series in this classification
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Livengood soils occupy hills and ridges at elevations of 600 to 1,200 feet in interior Alaska. Gradients range from nearly level on narrow ridge tops to 45 percent on steep hillsides. They are formed in calcareous loess that overlies shattered bedrock at depths of 20 to 40 inches. The climate is cold continental, with long cold winters and short warm summers. Mean annual precipitation is 10 to 14 inches, with a summer precipitation maximum. The average December and January temperature is about -10 degrees F., and the average July temperature is about 60 degrees F. The mean annual air temperature is 22 degrees to 24 degrees F. The frost-free season probably is about 75 days, but daylight is continuous most of the summer.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the competing Rampart soils and the
Batza,
Kandik, and
Kuslina soils. The Batza and Kuslina soils are mottled and have perennially frozen substrata. The Kandik soils are formed in thick loess and have no brown cambic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; medium to rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Almost entirely in forest dominated bywhite spruce, paper birch, and quaking aspen. Most areas have had forest fires in the past.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Low hills bordering the Yukon River and its major tributaries in northern interior Alaska. The soils are moderately extensive.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: WASILLA, ALASKA
SERIES PROPOSED: Yukon Crossing Area, Alaska, 1976.
OSED scanned by SSQA. Last revised by state on 4/76.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.