LOCATION SAWMILLCREEK AK
Established Series
Rev. TLP/JPM/DLM
12/2022
SAWMILLCREEK SERIES
Depth class: Very deep
Drainage class: well drained
Parent material: loess over calcareous glacial outwash
Landform: alluvial fans
Slopes: 0 to 2 percent
Mean annual precipitation: about 12 inches, 305 mm
Mean annual temperature: about 29 degrees F., -1.6 C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive Typic Haplocryepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Sawmillcreek silt loam - on a slope of 5 percent under grass pasture at 1200 feet elevation. (All colors are for moist soil unless noted)
Ap--0 to 7 inches (0 to 17 cm); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak medium platy structure parting to weak fine granular structure; friable; nonsticky; non-plastic; many fine and very fine roots; few medium roots; slightly acid (pH 6.5); clear wavy boundary.
Bw--7 to 11 inches (17 to 26 cm); brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam: weak medium platy structure; friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; 1 percent gravels; common fine and very fine roots; slightly acid (pH 6.5); clear smooth boundary.
2Bw--11 to 15 inches (26 to 38 cm); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; 1 percent gravel; common fine and very fine roots; slightly acid (pH 6.5); clear smooth boundary. (Thickness of this horizon ranges from 0 to 5 inches)
3C1--15 to 19 inches (38 to 47 cm); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) extremely gravelly loamy coarse sand; single grain; loose; nonsticky and nonplastic; 80 percent gravel; many fine and very fine roots; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); clear wavy boundary.
3Ck--19 to 60 inches (47 to 152 cm); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) extremely gravelly loamy coarse sand; single grain; loose; nonsticky and nonplastic; 85 percent gravel; 2 percent cobbles; many fine and very fine roots; many carbonate coats and nodules on the underside of coarse fragments; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0).
TYPE LOCATION: The Greater Delta Soil Survey Area, Alaska; about 20 miles
southwest of Delta Junction; in the NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4, section 34, T. 11 S.,
R. 13E; Mt. Hayes D-3 1:63,360 quad; Fairbanks Meridian; UTM north 7089944 and
UTM east 589602, zone 6.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Particle-size control (section weighted average):
Percent clay in the control section: 3 to 7 percent
Total coarse fragments in the upper part of the control section: 0 to 5 percent
Total coarse fragments in the lower part of the control section: 60 to 90
percent
Soil moisture regime: Udic
Mean annual soil temperature: 30 degrees F, -1.1 C.
Thickness of organic materials: 0 to 3 inches, 0 to 8 cm
Depth to glacial till: 10 to 20 inches, 25 to 50 cm
Depth to carbonates: 16 to 30 inches, 41 to 76 cm
Ap horizon:
Matrix color: value 2 to 4, chroma 2 to 4
Texture: silt loam or very fine sandy loam
Coarse Fragments: 0 to 1 percent
Reaction Class: moderately acid or slightly acid
Bw horizon:
Matrix color: hue 7.5YR or 10YR, value 3 to 4, chroma 4 to 6
Texture: silt loam or very fine sandy loam
Coarse Fragments: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction Class: moderately acid or slightly acid
2Bw or 2BC horizon (where present):
Matrix color: hue 10YR value 5, chroma 4
Texture: fine sandy loam or sandy loam
Coarse Fragments: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction Class: slightly acid or neutral
3C horizon:
Matrix color: hue 10YR or 2.5Y, value 3 to 5, chroma 4 to 6
Texture: loamy coarse sand, sandy loam, loamy sand,
Coarse Fragments: 60 to 85 percent
Reaction Class: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
3Ck horizon (where present):
Matrix color: hue 10YR or 2.5Y, value 3 to 5, chroma 4 to 6
Texture: loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, or coarse sand
Coarse Fragments: 70 to 90 percent
Calcium carbonate: 1 to 10 percent
Reaction Class: neutral to moderately alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Lupine, and
Maclaren series. Lupine and
Maclaren series do not contain free carbonates.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: loess over calcareous glacial outwash
Landform: alluvial fans
Slopes: 0 to 2 percent
Mean annual temperature: 28 to 30 degrees F., - 2.2 to 1.1 C.
Mean annual precipitation: 8 to 14 inches, 203 cm to 356 mm
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the
Progress,
Gerstle,
Nenana,
Volkmar, and
Moosehead. All these soils occur on similar landscapes. Progress, Gerstle, Nenana, Volkmar and Moosehead do not contain free carbonates.
Gerstle,
Volkmar, and
Moosehead soils are moderately well drained.
Progress, Gerstle, and Volkmar do not have coarse fragments above 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, low runoff, Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the loamy mantle and high in the glacial outwash.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for farmland, pasture, hay and small grains. The native vegetation includes white spruce, black spruce, birch and aspen.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 229, Interior Alaska Lowlands, Alaska. The series is of minor extent.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: WASILLA, ALASKA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: The Greater Nenana Soil Survey, Alaska, 2005
REMARKS: Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this profile include:
Ochric epipedon: from 0 to 7 inches, 0 to 18
Cambic horizon: from 7 to 15 inches, 18 to 38 cm
Free carbonates: from 15 to 60 inches, 38 to 152 cm
Temperature regime: Cryic
Moisture regime: Udic
ADDITIONAL DATA: National Soil Survey Laboratory data S04AK-068-001 from Denali Borough, Alaska, samples by SSL Lincoln, NE, 07/2004
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.