LOCATION NULATOHILLS AK
Established Series
MPS/SAS
05/2022
NULATOHILLS SERIES
Landscape--mountains, hills
Landform--mountain slopes, hillslopes
Slope--16 to 70 percent
Parent material--colluvium derived from volcanic ash over gravelly colluvium
Mean annual precipitation--about 550 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about -4 degrees C
Depth class--very deep
Drainage class--well drained
Soil moisture regime--udic
Soil temperature regime--cryic
Soil moisture subclass--typic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Medial over loamy-skeletal, amorphic over mixed, superactive Andic Humicryepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Nulatohills silt loam on an east-southeast facing linear, linear backslope on a hill, on a slope of 30 percent at an elevation of 454 m (The soil was moist throughout when described on August 4, 2019.)
Oe--0 to 5 cm; moderately decomposed plant material, dark gray (7.5YR 4/1) dry, black (7.5YR 2.5/1) moist; nonsmeary; common very fine, fine, medium, and coarse roots throughout ; extremely acid (pH 3.6); clear smooth boundary
A--5 to 30 cm; medial silt loam, brown (7.5YR 4/2) dry, very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; moderately smeary; common very fine, fine, and coarse roots throughout, and few medium roots throughout; few very fine tubular and pores ; 10 percent subangular gravel; extremely acid (pH 4.3); abrupt smooth boundary
2Bw1--30 to 50 cm; very gravelly loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; nonsmeary; few very fine roots throughout; common very fine tubular pores; silt coats; 5 percent subangular cobbles by volume, 35 percent subangular gravel; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); clear smooth boundary
2Bw2--50 to 150 cm; very gravelly loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak coarse granular structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; strongly smeary; few very fine tubular pores; 55 percent subangular gravel; very strongly acid (pH 4.8)
TYPE LOCATION: Nome Census Area County, Alaska, latitude 63.6821516, longitude -160.3366039 degrees, datum WGS84 (Coordinates determined with a GPS unit)
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--1 to 3 degrees C
Soil moisture control section--dry less than 45 consecutive days in June through October
Umbric epipedon--9 to 30 cm
Thickness of zone with andic soil properties--18 to 34 cm
Thickness of cambic horizon--101 to 130
Particle Size Control Section:
*Clay--5 to 14 percent
*Total rock fragment content--40 to 70 percent
Oe horizon
Thickness--2 to 12 cm
A horizon
Hue--5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR
Value--2.5 to 3 moist, 3 to 5 dry
Chroma--1 to 3
Fine-earth texture--silt, silt loam
Clay--3 to 12 percent
Sand--5 to 40 percent
Organic carbon content--8 to 12 percent
Total Fragment content--1 to 21 percent
Gravel content--1 to 20 percent
Cobble content--0 to 20 percent
Bulk density--0.5 to 1.0 g/cm3
Al plus 1/2 Fe--1 to 4 percent
Volcanic glass content--0 to 5 percent
Phosphorous retention--85 to 100 percent
Reaction--4.3 to 5.7
Thickness--18 to 34 cm
2Bw1 horizon
Hue--7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y
Value--2.5 to 5 moist, 4 to 7 dry
Chroma--2 to 6
Fine-earth texture--silt loam, loam, sandy loam
Clay--10 to 20 percent
Sand--15 to 70 percent
Organic carbon content--2 to 7 percent
Total fragments--40 to 70 percent
Gravel content--15 to 55 percent
Cobble content--0 to 25 percent
Reaction--4.3 to 5.5
2Bw2 horizon
Hue--7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y
Value--2.5 to 5 moist, 4 to 7 dry
Chroma--2 to 6
Fine-earth texture--silt loam, loam, sandy loam
Clay--10 to 20 percent
Sand--15 to 70 percent
Organic carbon content--1 to 4 percent
Total fragments--40 to 70 percent
Gravel content--15 to 55 percent
Cobble content--0 to 25 percent
Reaction--4.8 to 6.0
COMPETING SERIES: None
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
*Elevation--150 to 550 m
*Climate--warm, moist summers; cold, dry winters
*Mean annual precipitation--450 to 650 mm
*Mean annual air temperature-- -6 to -2 degrees C
*Frost-free period--45 to 80 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
*
Cuyaqsak--aquic conditions between 50 to 80cm, swales on mountains and hills
*
Paugna--no andic soil properties present, gelic soil temperature regime; mountain slopes, upper third of mountain flank, shoulders and upper backslopes
*
Cascade creek--steeper slope range, no andic soil properties present; mountain side slopes
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
*Drainage class--well drained
*Saturation during normal years--saturated for less than two weeks during the growing season
*Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--very high in the surface organic layer, moderately high to high throughout the rest of the profile
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--wildlife habitat, recreation, subsistence
Potential native vegetation--Siberian alder, beauverd spirea, stiff clubmoss, dwarf raspberry, bluejoint dicranum moss, polytrichum moss, red currant, tealeaf willow, dwarf birch, knights plume moss, splendid feather moss
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Nulato Hills-Southern Seward Peninsula Highlands, Alaska; MLRA 240; Yukon-Kuskokwim Highlands, Alaska; MLRA 230; 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 30 to 105 cm
*Umbric epipedon--zone from 5 to 30 cm
*Andic soil properties--zone from 5 to 30 cm
*Cambic horizon--zone from 30 to 150 cm
*Lithologic discontinuity--zone from 30 to 150 cm
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.