LOCATION NIKAAT AK
Established Series
SAS/TJR
05/2022
NIKAAT SERIES
Landscape--valley
Landform--loess covered terraces and plains
Slope--0 to 3 percent
Parent material--cryoturbated organic material and loess
Mean annual precipitation--about 400 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about -3 degrees C
Depth class--very deep (shallow to permafrost)
Drainage class--poorly drained
Soil moisture regime--aquic
Soil temperature regime--gelic
Soil moisture subclass--typic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, nonacid, subgelic Typic Histoturbels
TYPICAL PEDON: Nikaat mucky peat on an east facing convex, linear plain talf, on a slope of 1 percent at an elevation of 86 m (The soil was wet, non-satiated to 43 cm, moist to 50 cm, dry to 72 cm, and wet, satiated to 97 cm when described on June 24, 2018.)
Oe/Ajj--0 to 23 cm; mucky peat and highly organic silt loam, 90 percent brown (7.5YR 5/2) dry, very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) moist and 10 percent dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry, black (10YR 2/1) moist; nonsticky, nonplastic; many very fine roots and common fine roots; very strongly acid (pH 4.5); abrupt irregular boundary
A/Oijj--23 to 43 cm; ashy sandy loam and peat, 85 percent brown (10YR 5/3) dry, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist and 15 percent dark gray (7.5YR 4/1) dry, black (7.5YR 2.5/1) moist; weak thin platy structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; common very fine roots; common very fine irregular pores; strongly acid (pH 5.2); clear irregular boundary
A/Oejj--43 to 72 cm; silt loam and mucky peat, 60 percent brown (7.5YR 5/2) dry, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist and 40 percent brown (7.5YR 4/2) dry, very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) moist; weak thin platy structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; common very fine roots; few fine irregular pores; strongly acid (pH 5.5); clear irregular boundary
C/Oefjj--72 to 150 cm; permanently frozen silt loam and mucky peat, 60 percent brown (10YR 5/3) dry, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist and 40 percent dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak thin platy structure; very firm, nonsticky, nonplastic; common very fine roots; moderately acid (pH 5.6)
TYPE LOCATION: Nome Census Area County, Alaska, latitude 63.1687420, degrees, longitude --161.4982100 degrees, datum WGS84 (Coordinates determined with a GPS unit)
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature-- -2 to -1 degrees C
Soil moisture control section--saturated between 0 and 25 cm during the growing season (aquic moisture regime)
Histic epipedon thickness--20 to 40 cm
Depth to permafrost contact--30 to 75 below the soil surface
Depth to cryoturbation--0 to 30 cm
Particle Size Control Section:
*Clay--10 to 18 percent
Oe/Ajj horizon
Thickness--20 to 40 cm
A/Oijj horizon
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--2.5 to 4 moist, 4 to 6 dry
Chroma--1 to 4
Fine-earth texture--ashy sandy loam, ashy fine sandy loam, ashy very fine sandy loam
Clay--0 to 7 percent
Sand--50 to 70 percent
Organic carbon--10 to 15 percent
Phosphorous retention--85 to 100 percent
Reaction--4.5 to 5.5
Thickness--2 to 20 cm
A/Oejj horizon
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--2.5 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry
Chroma--1 to 3
Fine-earth texture--mucky silt, mucky silt loam, mucky loam
Clay--8 to 18 percent
Sand--8 to 45 percent
Organic carbon--10 to 15 percent
Reaction--5.5 to 6.1
Thickness--20 to 50 cm
C/Oefjj horizon
Hue--7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y
Value--2 to 4 moist, 4 to 6 dry
Chroma--2 or 3
Fine-earth texture--permanently frozen silt, permanently frozen silt loam
Clay--8 to 18 percent
Sand--5 to 35 percent
Organic carbon--7 to 12 percent
Reaction--5.5 to 6.2
COMPETING SERIES:
*
Chissovun-pH ranges to 8.0, slight effervescence, cryoturbation present in substratum, alluvial parent material
*
Gushdoiman-pH ranges to 8.0, no cryoturbation present within 150 cm, alluvial parent material
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
*Elevation--0 to 300 m
*Climate--warm, moist summers; cold, dry winters
*Mean annual precipitation--300 to 500 mm
*Mean annual air temperature-- -5 to -1 degrees C
*Frost-free period--55 to 90 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
*
Willowcreek--aquic conditions at the soil surface, drainageways
*
Sikinik--coarse fragments present, plains and toeslopes of hills
*
Asulu--organic layers greater than 40 cm thick, polygonal ground on plains
*
Apun--coarse fragments present, backslopes and foot slopes of hills
*
Runkelscreek-- aquic conditions at the soil surface during all parts of the growing season, drainageways
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
*Drainage class--poorly drained
*Saturation during normal years--saturated throughout the year at a depth of between 0 and 25 cm
*Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--moderately high or high in the upper part of the profile, very low in the lower part
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--wildlife habitat, recreation, subsistence
Potential native vegetation--reindeer lichen, marsh Labrador tea, graygreen reindeer lichen, dwarf birch, bog blueberry, black crowberry, water sedge, tussock cottongrass, sphagnum moss, lingonberry
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Nulato Hills-Southern Seward Peninsula Highlands, Alaska; MLRA 240; large extent
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: WASILLA, ALASKA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Nulato Hills BLM area, Nome Census Area, Alaska; 2021
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon
*Particle-size control section--zone from 48 to 123 cm
*Histic epipedon--zone from 0 to 23 cm
*Cryoturbation--zone from 0 to 150 cm
*Volcanic glass--zone from 23 to 43 cm
*Depth to permafrost 72 cm
*Depth to aquic conditions--0 cm (a positive reaction to alpha-alpha dipyridyl is assumed at this depth)
________________________________________
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.