LOCATION SPRUCECREEK AK
Established Series
MPS/SAS/TJR
02/2022
SPRUCECREEK SERIES
Landscape--valleys
Landform--terraces
Slope--0 to 8 percent
Parent material--organic material over loess over sandy alluvium
Mean annual precipitation--about 450 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about -3 degrees C
Depth class--very deep
Drainage class--well drained
Soil moisture regime--udic
Soil temperature regime--cryic
Soil moisture subclass--typic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed Folistic Dystrocryepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Sprucecreek silt loam on a west facing linear, linear tread, on a slope of 1 percent at an elevation of 146 m (The soil was moist throughout the profile when described on June 9, 2019.)
Oi--0 to 9 cm; slightly decomposed plant material, reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/6) dry, strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) moist; many very fine, fine, and medium, and common coarse roots; very strongly acid (pH 4.5); abrupt wavy boundary
Oa--9 to 18 cm; highly decomposed plant material, brown (10YR 5/3) dry, very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) moist; many very fine and common medium, fine, and coarse roots; extremely acid (pH 3.9); abrupt wavy boundary
A--18 to 28 cm; silt loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) dry, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; nonsmeary; many very fine and common fine and coarse roots; 10 percent rounded gravel by volume; strongly acid (pH 5.1); clear wavy boundary
Bw--28 to 47 cm; silt loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; nonsmeary; common very fine, fine, and coarse roots; 5 percent rounded gravel; strongly acid (pH 5.1); abrupt smooth boundary
2C--47 to 150 cm; very gravelly coarse sand, light gray (2.5Y 7/2) dry, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; single grain; nonsticky, nonplastic; nonsmeary; common very fine and fine roots; 10 percent rounded fine and medium gravel, 20 percent rounded coarse gravel; very strongly acid (pH 5.0)
TYPE LOCATION: Nome Census Area, Alaska, latitude 63.3556000 longitude -160.6416490 degrees, datum WGS84 (Coordinates determined with a GPS unit)
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--0 to 3 degrees C
Soil moisture control section--dry less than 45 consecutive days in June through October
Thickness of folistic epipedon--15 to 30 cm
Thickness of cambic horizon--15 to 40 cm
Particle Size Control Section:
*Clay--0 to 8 percent
*Total fragments--0 to 35 percent gravels, cobbles
Oi horizon
Thickness--5 to 20 cm
Oa horizon
Thickness--2 to 12 cm
A horizon
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--2 to 4 moist, 4 or 6 dry
Chroma-2 to 4
Fine-earth texture--silt, silt loam
Clay--2 to 10 percent
Sand--10 to 40 percent
Organic carbon--5 to 12 percent
Total rock fragment content--0 to 10 percent gravel
Reaction--4.8 to 5.8
Thickness--5 to 30 cm
Bw horizon
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--3 to 5 moist, 5 to 7 dry
Chroma--3 or 4
Fine-earth texture--silt loam, loam
Clay--8 to 22 percent
Sand--10 to 45 percent
Organic carbon--2 to 5 percent
Total rock fragment content--0 to 10 percent gravel
Reaction--5.1 to 6.5
Thickness--15 to 40 cm
2C horizon
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--3 to 4 moist, 5 or 6 dry
Chroma--2 to 4
Fine-earth texture--coarse sand, sand, loamy sand
Clay--0 to 8 percent
Sand--75 to 100 percent
Organic carbon--0.5 to 2 percent
Total rock fragment content--15 to 35 percent
Total gravel content--15 to 35 percent
Total cobble content--0 to 15 percent
Reaction--5.3 to 6.4
COMPETING SERIES: none
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
*Elevation--0 to 700 m
*Climate--warm, moist summers; cold, dry winters
*Mean annual precipitation--310 to 590 mm
*Mean annual air temperature-- -5 to -1 degrees C
*Frost-free period--55 to 90 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
*
Oldwomanriver--ochric epipedon, coarse loamy over sandy or sandy skeletal; floodplains
*
Ena--coarse loamy, umbric epipedon; toeslopes
*
Southriver--sandy-skeletal, ochric epipedon; floodplains
*
Nonvalnuk--aquic conditions at the surface, greater than 40 cm of organic soil layers; stream terraces
*
Jessecreek--gelic soil temperature regime, loamy alluvium over sandy and gravelly alluvium; stream terraces
*
Jacksoncreek--gelic soil temperature regime, coarse-loamy; stream terraces
*
Ponluktule--gelic soil temperature regime, permafrost, aquic conditions with in 25 cm of the soil surface; stream terraces
*
Cilla--loamy-skeletal, ochric epipedon; hillslopes
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
*Drainage class--well drained
*Saturation during normal years--none
*Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--very high in the surface organic layer and the lower part of the profile, high to moderately high throughout the rest of the profile
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--wildlife habitat, recreation, subsistence
Potential native vegetation--white spruce, quaking aspen, resin birch, bog blueberry, lingonberry, arctic raspberry, black crowberry, march Labrador tea, Richardson's willow, least willow, captaite, valerian, bluejoint, sphagnum, dicranum moss, Moss, fireweed, dwarf birch, bunchberry dogwood, field horsetail, splendid feather moss, arctic kidney lichen, Schreber's big red stem moss, polytrichum moss, Barclay's willow, tealeaf willow, beauverd spirea
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Nulato Hills-Southern Seward Peninsula Highlands, Alaska; MLRA 240; moderate 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 43 to 118 cm
*Folistic epipedon--zone from 0 to 18 cm
*Cambic horizon--zone from 28 to 47 cm
*Lithologic discontinuity-- zone from 47 to 150 cm
________________________________________
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.