LOCATION NIKLASON                AK

Established Series
Rev. MHC/DM
05/2022

NIKLASON SERIES

Depth class: very deep
Drainage class:, well drained or moderately well drained
Parent material: stratified loamy alluvium over sandy and gravelly alluvium or loamy alluvium over sandy and gravelly alluvium
Landform: stream terraces, flood plains, levees, and alluvial fans
Slopes: 0 to 12 percent
Mean annual precipitation: 14 to 30 inches.
Mean annual temperature: 30 to 36 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, nonacid Typic Cryofluvents

TYPICAL PEDON: Niklason silt loam - on a level slope under balsam poplar forest at 350 feet elevation. (All colors are for moist soil)

Oe--0 to 2 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moderately decomposed plant material; many very fine, fine, medium, and coarse roots; very strongly acid (pH 4.6) abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)

A--2 to 6 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam; weak coarse granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine, fine, medium, and coarse roots; strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)

C1--6 to 15 inches; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) and dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) stratified fine sand and sand; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine, fine and medium roots; strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 15 inches thick)

C2--15 to 23 inches; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) and dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) stratified sand through silt; massive; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; moderately acid (pH 5.6); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 20 inches thick)

2C3--23 to 60 inches; variegated extremely gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; 50 percent rounded gravel and 10 percent rounded cobble; moderately acid (pH 5.8).

TYPE LOCATION: Matanuska-Susitna Valley Area, Alaska; in the NW1/4 of the NE1/4 of section 27, T.26 N., R.5 W., Seward Meridian.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature: about 35 degrees F.
Depth to very gravelly sand: 14 to 40 inches
Upper part of the particle size control section (weighted average): coarse-loamy
Most pedons have pockets and lenses of buried organic matter at varying depths.
Reaction is very strongly acid to moderately acid in the surface horizons and to strongly acid to slightly acid in the underlying horizons.

O horizon:
Matrix color: hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y; value of 3 to 5; chroma of 2 to 4
Reaction class: very strongly acid to moderately acid

The A horizon: (where present)
Matrix color: hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y; value of 3 or 4; chroma of 1 to 4
Texture: silt loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam
Reaction class: very strongly acid to moderately acid

C horizons:
Matrix color: hue of 10YR to 5Y; value of 3 to 6; chroma of 1 to 3
Texture: stratified combinations of silt loam, very fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, very fine sand, fine sand, sand, loamy sand
Reaction class: strongly acid to slightly acid

2C horizon:
Matrix color: variegated
Texture: sand, loamy sand, loamy coarse sand modified by 40 to 70 percent coarse fragments, 30 to 65 percent gravel, 10 to 25 percent cobble, and 0 to 3 percent stones
Reaction class: strongly acid to slightly acid

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Jarvis, Klute, Klutina, Portdick, and Tonowek series. Jarvis soils has substantial amounts of mica in the control section. Klute soils have slightly acid or neutral soil reaction in the A horizons. Klutina soils have free carbonates in the underlying material. Portdick soils have mean annual soil temperatures greater than 35 degrees F. Tonowek soils have a mean annual soil temperature greater than 40 degrees F.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Drainage class:, well drained or moderately well drained
Parent material: stratified loamy alluvium over sandy and gravelly alluvium or loamy alluvium over sandy and gravelly alluvium
Landform: stream terraces, flood plains, levees, and alluvial fans
Slopes: 0 to 12 percent
Mean annual temperature: 30 to 36 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 14 to 30 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained or moderately well drained, negligible to medium runoff. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high in the coarse loamy upper horizons and high to very high in the gravelly underlying material. Niklason soils are subject to occasional and frequent flooding.

USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly forested. Dominant trees are paper birch, white spruce, and cottonwood. Cleared areas are used for cropland and pasture. The principal crops are oats, barley, bromegrass, potatoes, and hardy vegetables.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 224 Cook Inlet Lowlands, South-central Alaska. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Matanuska Valley Area, Alaska, 1966.

REMARKS: Diagnostic features recognized in this profile include:
No diagnostic horizons
Organic carbon: assumed irregular decrease based on colors, stratification, and occasional flooding
Coarse loamy particle size (weighted average): from 2 to 23 inches, sandy or sandy-skeletal from 23 to 60 inches
Soil reaction: greater than 5.5 from 15 to 60 inches
Temperature regime: cryic

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.