LOCATION LUCILE AK
Established Series
Rev. DBS-SR-JPM
05/2022
LUCILE SERIES
The Lucile series consists of very deep, poorly drained soils formed in ash-influenced loess overlying glacial till or glaciofluvial sediments. Lucile soils are on stream terraces and moraines. Slopes range from 0 to 12 percent. The mean annual temperature is about 34 degrees F. The average annual precipitation is about 25 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Medial over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed Andic Cryaquods
TYPICAL PEDON: Lucile silt loam - on a 2 percent east facing slope under forest vegetation. (All colors are for moist soil)
Oi--4 inches to 0; black (10YR 2/1) mat of slightly decomposed moss and forest litter; many roots; many coarse charcoal fragments; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
E--0 to 3 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) silt loam; weak thin platy structure; friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many roots; common medium distinct mottles of dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4); very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bs1--3 to 4 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common roots; many fine concretions; many patches of brown (7.5YR 4/4) and very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2); very strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bs2--4 to 12 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, smeary, nonsticky and nonplastic; common roots; common medium distinct mottles of yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and few large patches of brown (10YR 5/3); very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
Eb--12 to 13 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few roots; many charcoal fragments; small patches of dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and dark gray (10YR 4/1); very strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
Bsb--13 to 16 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, smeary, nonsticky and nonplastic; few roots; many fine sand size concretions; few gravel; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
2C--16 to 60 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) very gravelly sand; massive in place, single grain when disturbed; loose; iron coatings on upper 10 inches of gravel; few discontinuous strata of weakly cemented sand; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Susitna Valley Area, Alaska; 1100 feet west and 350 feet south of the northwest corner of section 30, T.21N., R.4W., Seward Meridian.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum ranges from 14 to 20 inches thick. Most pedons are bisequal. The loess mantle is 15 to 30 inches thick. Mottles are present in the albic horizon or the upper part of the spodic horizon. The ratio of free iron to carbon is more than 0.2 in parts of the spodic horizon. Based on morphological evidence, the water table is commonly above 20 inches. However, the water table ranges below 48 inches in those pedons having altered drainage due to natural lowering of the water table. Reaction of the profile ranges from strongly acid to medium acid.
The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR; value moist from 3 to 5; and chroma moist of 1 or 2.
The B horizons have hue from 5YR to 10YR; value and chroma moist from 2 to 4. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam.
The buried sola, when present, is similar to the surface sola in color and texture. Hue ranges to 2.5Y in some pedons.
The 2C horizon is sand with 25 to 50 percent coarse fragments. Coarse fragments include 5 to 10 percent cobble and 20 to 40 percent gravel. The upper part of the horizon, in some pedons, consists of a layer of sand up to 6 inches thick over the gravelly strata.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Ahrnklin(T), Caswell,
Grewingk, Kadake(T),
Longmare,
Purches(T), and
Spenard series in the same subgroup. Ahrnklin(T), Caswell, Grewingk, and Longmare soils do not have amorphous material within the control section. Kadake(T) soils have more than 35 percent clay within the control section. Purches(T) soils average more than 35 percent coarse fragments throughout the entire control section. Spenard soils have less than 35 percent coarse fragments in the lower part of the control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lucile soils are on stream terraces and on gravelly glacial moraines. The slope is commonly less than 2 percent but will range up to 12 percent. The soils formed in ash-influenced loess overlying glacial till or glaciofluvial sediments. The mean annual temperature ranges from 32 to 36 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation ranges from 20 to 30 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Slow to medium runoff. Moderate permeability in the loess mantle and rapid in the underlying material.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly forested with dominantly black spruce and a thick ground cover of moss.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Alaska. The series is of moderate extent.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: WASILLA, ALASKA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Susitna Valley Area, Alaska, 1979.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include: spodic horizons from 2 to 12 inches; mottling in the spodic horizons and an aquic moisture regime; cryic temperature regime; an exchange complex dominated by amorphous material from 0 to 16 inches; loamy particle size from 16 to 60 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data is available for this soil - NSSL number 79P-2161-2167.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.