LOCATION MCKINLEY AK
Established Series
Rev. JPM/TLP/DLM
05/2022
MCKINLEY SERIES
Depth class: moderately deep
Drainage class: well drained
Parent material: weathered colluvial and residual schist
Landform: backslopes, shoulders and summits of bedrock cored hills and mountains
Slopes: 15 to 70 percent
Mean annual temperature: about 3 degrees C (26 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: about 38 cm (15 inches)
TAXONOMIC CLASS:
TYPICAL PEDON: MCKINLEY gravelly mucky silt loam - on a slope of 40 percent under alpine tundra at about 1000 meters (3300 feet) elevation. (All colors are for moist soil unless noted)
A--0 to 2 inches (0 to 5 cm); 10YR 2/2; stony mucky silt loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many very fine to medium roots; slightly sticky; nonplastic; 10 percent gravels, 5 percent cobbles, 5 percent stones; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 6 cm (0 to 2.5 in.) thick)
2Bw--2 to 12 inches (5 to 30 cm); 10YR 4/3; extremely stony sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common very fine and fine roots; slightly sticky; nonplastic; 30 percent gravels, 20 percent cobbles, 20 percent stones; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 40 cm (4 to 16 in.) thick)
2BC--12 to 26 inches (30 to 65 cm); 10YR 4/3; extremely stony sandy loam; massive; very friable; few very fine and fine roots; slightly sticky; nonplastic; 30 percent gravels, 25 percent cobbles, 25 percent stones; moderately acid (pH 5.6); diffuse smooth boundary. (30 to 50 cm (12 to 20 in.) thick)
2C--26 to 30 inches (65 to 76 cm); 10YR 4/3; extremely stony sandy loam; massive; very friable; slightly sticky; nonplastic; 20 percent gravel, 15 percent cobbles, 50 percent stones; slightly acid (pH 6.4).
2Cr--30 to 60 inches (76 to 152 cm); weathered schist.
TYPE LOCATION: on west side of Donnelly Dome; in the SW 1/4 of the SW 1/4, section 15, T. 13S., R. 10E; Mt. Hayes (D-4) 1:63,000 quad; Fairbanks Meridian; UTM north 7074003 and UTM east 556944, zone 6.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Particle-size control (section weighted average): Loamy-skeletal
Total coarse fragments in the control section: 50 to 90 percent
Soil moisture regime: Udic
Mean annual soil temperature: -3 degrees C (27 degrees F)
Thickness of moderately decomposed organic material: 0 to 4 cm (1.6 inches)
Thickness of cambic horizon: 15 to 50 cm (6 to 20 inches)
Depth to paralithic contact: 30 to 90 cm (12 to 35 inches)
O horizon:(where present)
Matrix color: hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y; value of 2 to 3; chroma of 1 to 3
Texture: moderately to highly decomposed organic matter
Reaction class: acid to nonacid
A horizon:
Matrix color: hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y; value of 2 to 4; chroma of 1 to 3
Texture: silt loam, loam, or sandy loam modified by 10 to 25 percent total coarse fragments, 5 to 15 percent gravel, 0 to 10 percent cobbles, and 0 to 10 percent stones
Bw horizon:
Matrix color: 10YR and 2.5Y; value of 3 to 5; chroma of 3 and 4
Texture: silt loam, loam, or sandy loam modified by 35 to 70 percent total coarse fragments, 20 to 60 percent gravel, 10 to 70 percent cobbles, and 5 to 20 percent stones
Reaction class: very strongly acid or strongly acid
2BC and 2C horizons:
Matrix color: 10YR to 5Y; value of 3 to 5; chroma of 3 and 4; also variegated
Texture: loam or sandy loam modified by 60 to 90 percent total coarse fragments, 25 to 70 percent gravel, 10 to 35 percent cobbles, and 10 to 50 percent stones
COMPETING SERIES: These are no competing series in this classification.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: colluvial and residual weathered schist
Landform: backslopes, summits and shoulders of bedrock-cored hills
Slope: 15 to 70 percent
Mean annual temperature: about 3 degrees C (26 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: about 38 cm (15 inches)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: This includes the Domelake series (T). Domelake series are permafrost soils on landscape positions similar to Mckinley.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Medium runoff. Permeability is moderately high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for wildlife habitat and recreation. The native vegetation is alpine tundra, consisting of lichens, dryas, and other low-growing forbs and shrubs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 176, Interior Alaska Highlands, the series is of moderate extent.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: WASILLA, ALASKA
SERIES PROPOSED: North Star Soil Survey, Alaska, 1968. Reactivated, 2002, Fort Greely Soil Survey
REMARKS: Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this profile include:
Cambic horizon: from 4 to 30 cm (2 to 12) inches.
Paralithic contact: at 76 cm (30 inches).
Temperature regime: Cryic
Moisture regime: Udic
ADDITIONAL DATA: Series first introduced in 1968, in the North Star Soil Survey. Series was reactivated in 2002, in the Ft. Greely Soil Survey
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.