LOCATION PINCHER                 AK

Established Series
Rev. SR
02/2022

PINCHER SERIES

The Pincher series consists of moderately well drained soils formed in silty loess overlying stratified alluvium on terraces and in depressions on moraines. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 34 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation is about 19 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid Aeric Humic Cryaquepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Pincher silt loam -- brush (All colors are for moist soil)

Oe--2 inches to 0; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) organic naterials; black (N 2/ ) near surface where burned; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)

A---0 to 5 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam; common medium faint mottles of dark yellowish brown and patches of black; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; roots common; strongly to medium acid; clear wavy boundary, but boundary coincides with old root channels in places and may be irregular. (3 to 6 inches thick)

Bw--5 to 14 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) silt loam; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) irregular streaks toward bottom of horizon; weak coarse subangular blocky structure, breaking to very fine granular; very friable; roots common; medium acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)

Cg1--14 to 19 inches; olive gray (5Y 4/2) silt loam; few fine faint mottles of olive brown; massive; very friable; few roots; fine pores common; slightly to medium acid; abrupt smooth boundary.

2Cg2--19 to 22 inches; olive gray (5Y 4/2) loamy sand; single grain; loose; no roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.

3Cg3--22 to 30 inches; layered olive gray (5Y 4/2) silt loam and sandy loam; common medium faint mottles of olive brown; silt loam is massive, firm, and vesicular; sandy loam is massive and very friable; no roots; slightly acid to neutral.

TYPE LOCATION: Kenai - Kasilof Area, Alaska. NW 1/4, NW 1/4, section 10, T.5 N., R.9 W., Seward Meridian, Alaska. RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Dominant colors in the A horizon range from 10YR 2/1 through 10YR 2/2. Colors in the B horizon range from 10YR 3/2 through 2.5Y 4/4. In the C horizons they range from 5Y 4/2 through 5Y 4/3. Mottles may or may not occur in the C horizon. The substratum is usually stratified with layers of sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, and silt loam, but strata vary in thickness and some pedons are dominantly silty or sandy. Pebbles may occur in some strata, and some pedons have lenses of gravelly sand.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no known competing series.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Pincher soils occur on broad terraces and in shallow depressions in moraine areas. The regolith consists of silty loess over stratified alluvium. The mean annual temperature ranges from 33 to 36 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 16 to 22 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Kasilof, Naptowne, and Tustumena series. All are well drained soils with spodic horizons. The Kasilof soils are formed in very shallow loess over sandy-skeletal substrata. The Naptowne soils are formed in shallow loess over loamy gravelly till. The Tustumena soils are formed in shallow loess over sandy-skeletal substrata.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Permeability is moderately slow to moderate in the substrata. Runoff is slow.

USE AND VEGETATION: The native vegetation is mostly grass and shrubs, with clumps of white spruce, paper birch, and quaking aspen. A few areas of these soils are used for forage crops and garden vegetables.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. The series is inextensive.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kenai - Kasilof Area, Alaska. 1960.

REMARKS: The range in characteristics and overall concept of the Pincher series are poorly defined. More data is needed to adequately define the series concept or the series should be inactivated (jpm 2/5/87).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.