LOCATION SAULICH                 AK

Established Series
Rev. SR-JPM
02/2022

SAULICH SERIES

The Saulich series consists of very poorly drained and poorly drained soils formed in micaceous loess sometimes mixed with alluvium and colluvium and underlain by permafrost on hillslopes and alluvial fans. Slopes range from 0 to 45 percent. The mean annual temperature is about 24 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation is about 12 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS:

TYPICAL PEDON: Saulich silt loam -- under forest (All colors are for moist soil)

Oi--0 to 6 inches; mat of undecomposed sphagnum moss and roots; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)

Oe--6 to 10 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) mat of moderately decomposed moss; many charcoal fragments; many roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)

A--10 to 13 inches; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) silt loam; weak thin platy structure; very friable; black (10YR 2/1) and very dark brown (10YR 2/2) streaks; common roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)

Bg1--13 to 18 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silt loam; moderate to weak thin platy structure; friable; common medium distinct mottles of brown (7.5YR 4/4) and streaks of olive brown (2.5Y 4/4); few roots; slightly acid; gradual boundary.

Bg2--18 to 26 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) silt loam; weak thin platy structure; friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; patches of olive gray (5Y 4/2) and few medium distinct mottles of dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4); few roots; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.

Cf--26 to 38 inches; same horizon as above, but frozen with many clear ice lenses (7/9/63); few angular rock fragments.

TYPE LOCATION: Salcha - Big Delta Area, Alaska; in the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 14, T.7S., R.6E., Fairbanks Meridian.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the organic mat ranges from 8 to 16 inches. Depth to the permafrost table ranges from 16 to 30 inches and is inversely related to the thickness of the O horizons. Texture throughout the profile is silt loam or very fine sandy loam with less than 15 percent fine sand or coarser. Substantial mica is present in the profile but less than 40 percent by weight. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid in the organic mat to slightly acid in the mineral horizons above the permafrost.

The O horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR; value moist from 2 to 4; and chroma moist from 1 to 3. Texture is peat or mucky peat. Reaction is extremely acid to slightly acid

The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y; value moist of 2 to 4; and chroma moist from 1 to 3. Texture is silt loam or mucky silt loam. Streaks of darker colored organic and mineral material are often present. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to neutral

The B horizon has hue from 10YR to 5Y; value moist from 3 to 5; and chroma moist from 1 to 4. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to neutral

The C horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y; value moist from 3 to 5; and chroma moist from 1 to 3. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam. Reaction is slightly acid to neutral.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Goldstream series in the same family. Goldstream soils have pH less than 5.5 (1:1; H2O) throughout the control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The soils formed in micaceous silty loess mixed with alluvium and colluvium. The climate is cold continental. Mean annual temperature ranges from 20 to 28 degrees F., and average annual precipitation ranges from 10 to 14 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly and poorly drained. Medium runoff. Moderate permeability above the permafrost.

USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly in native vegetation consisting of a sparse forest of black spruce with a few small birch and willow trees and a dense understory of low-growing shrubs.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Interior Alaska. The soils are of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fairbanks Area, Alaska. 1961.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this profile include: a histic epipedon from 0 to 10 inches and permafrost at 26 inches; coarse-silty particle size from 10 to 36 inches.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.