LOCATION NUSHAGAK                AK

Established Series
SAS/TJR/SJN
05/2022

NUSHAGAK SERIES

The Nushagak series consists of very deep, poorly drained soils formed in organic material over loess on talfs of plains. Slopes range from 0 to 11 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 625 millimeters and the mean annual air temperature is about 0.6 degree C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, isotic, acid Histic Cryaquepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Nushagak mucky peat, located on a plain talf with a slope of 2 percent and elevation of 19 meters; when described on September 10th, 2007 the soil was moist to 26 cm and saturated below 26 cm (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted)

Oe--0 to 26 cm; mucky peat; nonsticky, nonplastic; many fine roots, many medium roots, and many very fine roots; very strongly acid (pH 4.5); clear smooth boundary

A--26 to 31 cm; dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) silt loam; 18 percent sand; 77 percent silt; 5 percent clay; weak medium granular structure; nonsticky, nonplastic; many fine roots, many medium roots, and many very fine roots; very strongly acid (pH 4.5); clear smooth boundary

Cg--31 to 183 cm; dark greenish gray (5GY 4/1) very fine sandy loam; 47 percent sand; 49 percent silt; 4 percent clay; massive; nonsticky, nonplastic; 25 percent coarse brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist, masses of oxidized iron with clear boundaries; strongly acid (pH 5.3)

TYPE LOCATION: Dillingham Census Area, Alaska; 4 kilometers west-southwest of Dillingham; 59.0207583 degrees north latitude and 158.5432056 degrees west longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature - 0.0 to 0.7 degree C (cryic soil temperature regime)
Soil moisture control section - Soil is wet at a shallow depth for much of the growing season in most years (aquic soil moisture regime)
Thickness of histic epipedon - 20 to 39 cm
Depth to aquic conditions - 0 - 26 cm
Depth to reduced matrix - 31 to 80 cm

All mineral horizons-
Reaction - 4.5 to 5.7

Particle-size control section-
Clay content - 2 to 7 percent
Rock fragments - 0 percent

Oe horizon
Thickness - 20 to 39 cm

A or AC horizon
Hue - 7.5YR or 10YR
Value - 2 to 4
Chroma - 1 to 4
Fine earth texture - Silt loam
Clay content - 2 to 7 percent
Reaction - 4.5 to 5.7
Rock fragments - 0 percent
Thickness - 5 to 55 cm

Cg horizon
Hue - 2.5Y to 5GY
Value - 4 or 5
Chroma - 1 or 2
Fine earth texture - Silt loam, silt, or very fine sandy loam
Clay content - 2 to 7 percent
Reaction - 5.0 to 5.7
Rock fragments - 0 percent
Thickness - 103 to 152 cm

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material - Herbaceous organic material over coarse-silty loess
Landform - Talfs on plains
Slope - 0 to 11 percent
Elevation - 1 to 107 meters
Climate - Short, cool summers; long, cold winters
Mean annual precipitation - 609 to 777 mm
Mean annual air temperature - 0.4 to 0.7 degrees C
Frost free duration - 85 to 140 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Kanakanak - No histic epipedon present, very deep to aquic conditions, similar landform position
Muklung - No histic epipedon present, deep to aquic conditions, plain talfs
Pellernarquq - No histic epipedon present, aquic conditions at surface, dips and talfs on plains

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: (Ksat)
Drainage class - Poorly drained
Saturation in normal years - Below 26 cm for much of the year, except at the surface for two weeks or more in spring and less than two weeks in early summer
Flooding - None
Ponding - Frequent and long
Ksat - Moderately high to high in the organic layer, moderately high in the A or AC horizons, and moderately low to moderately high in the Cg horizon

USE AND VEGETATION:
Use - Wildlife habitat and berry picking
Potential natural vegetation - Boreal woodland composed of white spruce, paper birch, black crowberry, dwarf birch, lingonberry, spirea, and moss

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Bristol Bay Lowlands; MLRA 236; moderate extent

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Nushagak-Mulchatna Watershed Soil Survey, Dillingham Census Area, Alaska, 2019

REMARKS:
Particle-size control section - 51 to 126 cm
Histic epipedon - Oe horizon
Soil moisture regime - Aquic
Aquic conditions - All horizons
Reduced matrix - Cg horizon

---

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.