LOCATION MUSKOX AK

Established Series
MPS
11/2024

MUSKOX SERIES

Depth class: very deep
Drainage class: well drained
Parent material: loamy colluvium derived from graywacke
Landscape: mountains, hills
Landform: mountain slopes, hillslopes
Microfeature: swales
Slopes: 2 to 30 percent
Mean annual precipitation: about 400 mm (16 in)
Mean annual air temperature: about -4 degrees C. (25 degrees F.)
Frost-free period: 70 to 90 days

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive Typic Humicryepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Muskox silt loam in a white spruce woodland on a south facing linear, convex backslope on a slope of 14 percent at an elevation of 415m (1365 ft)

Oi--0 to 5 cm (0 to 2 in); slightly decomposed plant material; very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) broken face moist, brown (7.5YR 4/2) broken face dry; slightly decomposed plant material; many very fine and fine roots throughout; very strongly acid (pH 4.6); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 cm, 2 to 4 in thick)

A--5 to 14 cm (2 to 6 in); silt loam; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) broken face moist, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) broken face dry; weak fine granular structure; friable, slightly hard, nonsticky, nonplastic; nonsmeary; many very fine, fine roots and common medium roots throughout; common very fine dendritic tubular pores; 5 percent gravel; noneffervescent; very strongly acid (pH 4.5); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 cm,2 to 6 in thick)

AB--14 to 33 cm (6 to 13 in); silt loam; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) broken face moist, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) broken face dry; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly hard, nonsticky, nonplastic; nonsmeary; moderately few very fine and fine roots throughout; few very fine dendritic tubular pores; 10 percent gravel; noneffervescent; strongly acid (pH 5.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (14 to 25 cm, 6 to 10 in thick)

Bw1--33 to 60 cm (13.0 to 24 in); silt loam; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) broken face moist, light gray (2.5Y 7/2) broken face dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly hard, nonsticky, nonplastic; nonsmeary; very few very fine roots throughout; common fine dendritic tubular pores; 10 percent gravel; noneffervescent; strongly acid (pH 5.3); gradual smooth boundary. (15 to 30 cm, 6 to 12 in thick)

Bw2--60 to 120 cm (24 to 47 in); gravelly silt loam; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) broken face moist, pale yellow (2.5Y 7/3) broken face dry; 4 percent very fine prominent irregular strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) and 10 percent fine distinct irregular very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) mottles; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm, moderately hard, nonsticky, slightly plastic; nonsmeary; very few very fine roots throughout; few fine dendritic tubular pores; 20 percent gravel; noneffervescent; strongly acid (pH 5.3); gradual smooth boundary. (30 to 85 cm, 12 to 33 in thick)

C--120 to 200 cm (47 to 79 in); gravelly silt loam; brown (10YR 5/3) moist, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; massive; friable, slightly hard, nonsticky, nonplastic; nonsmeary; few very fine irregular pores; 20 percent gravel; noneffervescent; strongly acid (pH 5.5). (35 to 132 cm, 14 to 52 in thick)

TYPE LOCATION: Nulato Hills - Continental Divide and Blackburn Hills Soil Survey Area, Alaska; latitude 64.5898618, longitude -160.1965116, datum WGS84, UTM north 7163287.09 and UTM east 442715.48, zone 4, datum WGS84.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture regime: udic
Soil temperature regime: cryic
Mean annual soil temperature: 0 to 3 degrees C. (32 to 37 degrees F.)
Thickness of organic material: 4 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in)
Thickness of umbric epipedon: 19 to 40 cm (8 to 16 in)
Thickness of cambic horizon: 45 to 115 cm (18 to 45 in)

Oi horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 2 or 2.5 moist, 4 dry
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: slightly decomposed material
Organic matter: 60 to 90 percent
Reaction class: extremely acid to moderately acid (pH 3.5 to 6.0)

A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: silt loam
Sand: 10 to 40 percent
Silt: 50 to 80 percent
Clay: 3 to 16 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 10 percent
Organic matter: 2 to 8 percent
Reaction class: extremely acid to strongly acid (pH 3.5 to 5.4)

AB horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: silt loam or its gravelly analogue
Sand: 10 to 47 percent
Silt: 50 to 80 percent
Clay: 3 to 16 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 20 percent
Organic matter: 2 to 8 percent
Reaction class: very strongly acid to strongly acid (pH 4.5 to 5.4)

Bw1 horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 5 moist, 5 to 7 dry
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: silt loam or its gravelly analogue
Sand: 10 to 47 percent
Silt: 50 to 80 percent
Clay: 3 to 16 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 20 percent
Organic matter: 1 to 5 percent
Reaction class: very strongly acid to moderately acid (pH 4.5 to 6.0)

Bw2 horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 5 moist, 5 to 7 dry
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: silt loam, loam or their gravelly analogues
Sand: 15 to 50 percent
Silt: 33 to 88 percent
Clay: 3 to 17 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 25 percent
Organic matter: 1 to 5 percent
Reaction class: very strongly acid to moderately acid (pH 4.5 to 6.0)

C horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 5 moist, 5 to 7 dry
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: silt loam, sandy loam or their gravelly analogues
Sand: 15 to 70 percent
Silt: 18 to 80 percent
Clay: 3 to 12 percent
Rock fragments: 15 to 50 percent
Organic matter: 0.4 to 3 percent
Reaction class: very strongly acid to moderately acid (pH 4.5 to 6.0)

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Blaquirre, Maquinna (AK) and Donnel, Gestrin (ID) series.
Blaquirre soils have lithic contact between 50 to 100 cm (20 to 40 in)
Maquinna soils lack a cambic horizon, have lithic contact between 100 to 150cm (40 to 60 in), and have a mean annual air temperature of -3 to 9 degrees C (26 to 48 degrees F)
Donnel soils lack a surface organic horizon and have coarser textures throughout
Gestrin soils have redoximorphic depletions below 100 cm (40 in), lack a surface organic horizon, and have coarser texture in the C horizon

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation: 50 to 500 meters (164 to 1640 feet)
Parent material: loamy colluvium derived from graywacke
Landform: mountain slopes, hillslopes
Slopes: 2 to 30 percent
Mean annual precipitation: 300 to 500 mm (12 to 20 in)
Mean annual air temperature: -6 to -1 degrees C. (21 to 30 degrees F.)
Frost free period: 70 to 90 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Apun, Cranberryslough, Fluffle, Sagvaktuk, Sikuruk, Stovecreek, Tagluk, Tenmileriver, Tuttu, Uluun, Umilguk soils.
Apun soils have aquic conditions starting between 0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 in ), have a reduced matrix within 50 cm (20 in), have permafrost, have a histic epipedon, lack a cambic horizon, have a gelic soil temperature regime, and occur on mountainbases
Cranberryslough soils have aquic conditions starting between 0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 in), have a reduced matrix within 50 cm (20 in), have permafrost, have a histic epipedon, lack a cambic horizon, have a gelic soil temperature regime, have a fine-loamy particle size class, and occur on saddles of hills.
Fluffle soils have aquic conditions starting between 0 to 25cm (0 to 10 in), have a reduced matrix within 25 cm (10 in), have an ochric epipedon, and occur on floodplains
Sagvaktuk soils have an ochric epipedon, have an isotic mineralogy, and occur on drainageways
Sikururk soils have aquic conditions starting between 0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 in), have a reduced matrix within 50 cm (20 in), have permafrost, lack a cambic horizon, have a gelic soil temperature regime, and occur on shoulders and summits of hillslopes, saddles, and mountainflanks, center third
Stovecreek soils have aquic conditions starting between 0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 in), have a reduced matrix within 50 cm (20 in), lack a cambic horizon, have an isotic mineralogy class, and occur on toeslopes and drainageways
Tagluk soils have folistic and mollic epipedons, lack a cambic horizon, have a loamy-skeletal particle size class, and occur on similar landforms on headslopes and mountainflank, center third
Tenmileriver soils have andic soil properties in the surface, lack a cambic horizon, have an amorphic over mixed mineralogy class, have a gelic soil temperature regime, have a medial over loamy-skeletal particle size class, and occur on similar landforms on mountainflanks, lower third and side slopes
Tuttu soils have andic soil properties in the surface, lack a cambic horizon, have a gelic soil temperature regime, and occur on similar landforms on mountainflanks, lower third and side slopes
Uluun soils have aquic conditions starting between 25 to 50cm (10 to 20 in), have a reduced matrix within 50 cm (20 in), have a folistic epipedon, have a fine-loamy particle size class, have free carbonates within 150 cm, and occur on nose slopes and side slopes
Umilguk soils have aquic conditions starting between 25 to 50cm (10 to 20 in), have a reduced matrix within 50 cm (20 in), have a mollic epipedon, and occur on similar landforms on mountainflanks, lower third and nose slopes

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class: well drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: very high in the Oi horizon, moderately high in the A, AB, and Bw1 layers, moderately high to high in the Bw2 and C layers
Permeability: very rapid to rapid in the Oi horizon, moderate in the A, AB, and Bw1 horizons, moderate to moderately rapid in the Bw2 horizon, and moderate to rapid in the C horizon
Runoff: medium

USE AND VEGETATION:
Use: wildlife habitat, recreation, and subsistence
Native vegetation: woodland horsetail, tealeaf willow, dwarf birch, bog blueberry, knights plume moss, white spruce, bluejoint, black crowberry, marsh labrador tea, bunchberry dogwood, polytrichum moss, sphagnum, cloudberry, lingonberry, beauverd spirea, dwarf raspberry, red currant

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 240, Nulato Hills-Southern Seward Peninsula Highlands. The series is of moderate extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Wasilla, Alaska

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Nulato Hills - Continental Divide and Blackburn Hills Soil Survey, Alaska, 2024.

REMARKS: Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this profile include:

Particle-size control section: 30 to 105 cm (12 to 41 in)

Umbric epipedon: 5 to 33 cm (2 to 13 in) (A and AB horizons)

Cambic horizon: 33 to 120 cm (13 to 47 in) (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)

ADDITIONAL DATA:

User pedon ID: 2021AK180746

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.