LOCATION MEARES                  AK

Established Series
Rev: WDL,CSC
05/2022

MEARES SERIES

The Meares series consists of shallow soils to a paralithic contact of compact till. These very poorly drained soils formed in glacial drift on gently sloping to very steep mountainsides. Slopes range from 5 to 75 percent slopes. Mean annual precipitation is about 120 inches. Mean annual temperature is about 45 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, acid, shallow Typic Cryaquents

TYPICAL PEDON: Meares silt loam - on a NW facing single slope of 30 percent under conifer forest at 300 feet elevation. (All colors are for moist soil).

0i--4 to 3 inches; undecomposed forest litter.

0e--3 to 0 inches; black (5YR 2.5/1) mucky peat; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few medium, many fine and very fine roots; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)

A--0 to 5 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/2) silt loam; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few medium, common fine and very fine roots; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); clear wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)

Cg1--5 to 9 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) very gravelly silt loam: massive; friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; few fine, common very fine roots; 50 percent gravel; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)

Cg2--9 to 14 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) extremely gravelly silt loam; massive; friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) mottles; few very fine roots; 70 percent gravel; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); gradual broken boundary. (0 to 14 inches thick)

2Cd--14 inches; compact glacial till. (many feet thick)

TYPE LOCATION: Ketchikan Area, Alaska. 2,000 feet south of Port Dolores on Suemez Island, Alaska; 2000 feet west of the NE corner of Section 3, T.76S., R.79E., Copper River Meridian.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to paralithic material of compact till ranges from 14 to 20 inches. Mean annual soil temperature is about 42 degrees F. Mean summer soil temperature is about 46 degrees F. Reaction of all mineral horizons is strongly or very strongly acid.

The A horizon has hue ranging from 5YR through 10YR.

The C horizons have hue from 5YR through 10YR, value moist from 3 through 5, and chroma moist from 2 through 4. Coarse fragment content ranges from 35 to 80 percent gravel. Texture is dominantly silt loam but ranges to include sandy loam or loam. Chroma of 2 or less and mottling are present in part of the C horizons in all pedons.

The 2Cd horizon is compact till with moist bulk density more than 1.80 grams/cm3.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no known competing series.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Meares soils are on mountainsides and formed in glacial drift. The climate is humid maritime with mean annual precipitation of 100 to 140 inches. Mean annual temperature is 45 degrees F. Slopes range from 5 to 75 percent. Elevation ranges from 100 to 900 feet.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the St. Nicholas, Tonowek, and Tuxekan soils. The St. Nicholas soils are on hillslopes, less than 20 inches to hard bedrock, and have a spodic horizon. Tonowek and Tuxekan soils are deep, well drained soils in alluvial valley bottoms.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained. Moderate permeability. Slow to rapid runoff.

USE AND VEGETATION: The Meares soils are used for timber production, watershed protection, wildlife habitat, and recreation. The overstory vegetation is dominantly western hemlock, western redcedar, and Alaska-cedar with lesser amounts of Sitka spruce. Understory vegetation is dominantly blueberry, huckleberry, devilsclub, marshmarigold, ferns, and mosses.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeast Alaska. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ketchikan Area, Alaska. 1994.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this profile include: an aquic moisture regime; mottling with matrix chroma of 2 from 9 to 14 inches; no diagnostic horizons; cryic temperature regime; pH is less than 5.5 (1:1,H20) in all horizons; loamy-skeletal particle size from 9 to 14 inches; paralithic material of compact till at 14 inches from the mineral soil surface.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.