LOCATION SIKINIK AK
Established Series
SAS/TJR
02/2022
SIKINIK SERIES
Landscape--plains
Landform--loess covered volcanic field
Slope--1 to 4 percent
Parent material--organic material over loess
Mean annual precipitation- - about 530 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about -3 degrees C
Depth class --very deep (moderately deep to permafrost)
Drainage class--poorly drained
Soil moisture regime--aquic
Soil temperature regime--gelic
Soil moisture subclass--typic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, acid, subgelic Typic Historthels
TYPICAL PEDON: Sikinik peat on an east facing linear, linear plain talf, on a slope of 4 percent at an elevation of 394 m (The soil was moist throughout when described on June 20, 2016.)
Oi--0 to 12 cm; peat , light brown (7.5YR 6/4) dry, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; nonsticky, nonplastic; common very fine, fine, and medium roots throughout; extremely acid (pH 3.7); clear smooth boundary
Oe--12 to 25 cm; mucky peat, brown (7.5YR 5/2) dry, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; nonsticky, nonplastic; common very fine, fine, and medium roots throughout; extremely acid (pH 4.3); abrupt smooth boundary
C--25 to 55 cm; silt loam, 90 percent brown (10YR 5/3) dry, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist and 10 percent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) dry, strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) moist; massive; friable, slightly sticky, nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots throughout; few fine tubular pores; 5 percent subrounded fine gravel; strongly acid (pH 5.3); clear smooth boundary
Cf--55 to 150 cm; permanently frozen silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; massive; very rigid, slightly sticky, nonplastic; 5 percent subrounded fine gravel; strongly acid (pH 5.3)
TYPE LOCATION: Nome Census Area County, Alaska, latitude 63.3111600 degrees, longitude - 161.6264500 degrees, datum WGS84 (Coordinates determined with a GPS unit)
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature-- -2 to -1 degrees C
Soil moisture control section--saturated between 0 and 25 cm during the growing season (aquic moisture regime)
Thickness of histic epipedon--20 to 40 cm
Depth to permafrost contact--50 to 75
Depth to gelic materials (segregated ice)--20 to 50 cm
Particle Size Control Section:
*Clay--10 to 18 percent
*Total fragments--0 to 30 percent basalt gravels, cobbles, and/or stones
Oi horizon
Thickness--5 to 20 cm
Oe horizon
Thickness--5 to 30 cm
C horizon
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--3 to 4 moist, 5 to 6 dry
Chroma--1 to 3
Fine-earth texture--silt loam, silt
Clay--10 to 18 percent
Sand--5 to 20 percent
Organic carbon--1 to 6 percent
Total rock fragment content--0 to 15 percent
Basalt gravel content--0 to 15 percent
Basalt cobble content--0 to 15 percent
Basalt stone content--0 to 15 percent
Reaction--5.0 to 5.5
Thickness--10 to 55 cm
Cf horizon
Hue--10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y
Value--3 to 5 moist, 5 to 7 dry
Chroma--1 to 3
Fine-earth texture--permanently frozen silt loam, permanently frozen silt
Clay--10 to 18 percent
Sand--5 to 20 percent
Organic carbon--0 to 2 percent
Total rock fragment content--0 to 30 percent
Basalt gravel content--0 to 30 percent
Basalt cobble content--0 to 30 percent
Basalt stone content--0 to 30 percent
Reaction--5.3 to 6.4
COMPETING SERIES: none
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
*Elevation--50 to 450 m
*Climate--warm, moist summers; cold, dry winters
*Mean annual precipitation--400 to 650 mm
*Mean annual air temperature-- -5 to -1 degrees C
*Frost-free period--55 to 90 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
*
Runkelscreek--aquic conditions at the soil surface, drainageways; organic layers total thickness greater than 40 cm
*
Penguquq--aquic conditions below 50 cm, mounds in drainageways
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
*Drainage class--poorly drained
*Saturation during normal years--saturated throughout the year beginning at a depth between 0 and 25 cm
*Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--very high in the surface layer, moderately high to high in the unfrozen mineral layers, very low in the permafrost layer
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--wildlife habitat, recreation, subsistence
Potential native vegetation--reindeer lichen, Bigelow's sedge, marsh Labrador tea, dwarf birch, cup lichen, star reindeer lichen, cloudberry, cetraria lichen
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Nulato Hills-Southern Seward Peninsula Highlands, Alaska; MLRA 240; 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 50 to 125 cm
*Histic epipedon--zone from 0 to 25 cm
*Depth to permafrost--55 cm
*Aquic conditions--zone from 0 to 55 cm
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.