LOCATION SALCHAKET               AK

Established Series
Rev. JPM/DLM
02/2022

SALCHAKET SERIES

Depth class: very deep
Drainage class: well drained
Parent material: stratified silty and sandy alluvium
Landform: floodplains
Slopes: 0 to 4 percent
Mean annual temperature: about 26 degrees F., --3.3 C.
Mean annual precipitation: about 12 inches, 305 mm

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid Typic Cryofluvents

TYPICAL PEDON: Salchaket very fine sandy loam - on a 1 percent slope under forest vegetation. (All colors are for moist soil)

Oi--0 to 3 inches, (0 to 8 cm); very dark brown (10YR 2/2) mat of slightly decomposed forest litter and moss; many roots; mycelia; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)

A1--3 to 4 inches, (8 to 10 cm); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many roots; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)

A2--4 to 7 inches, (10 to 18 cm); brown (10YR 4/3) and dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)

C1--7 to 16 inches, (18 to 41 cm); dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) very fine sandy loam; weak thin platy structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few roots; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (6 to 19 inches thick)

C2--16 to 19 inches, (41 to 48 cm); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) fine sandy loam stratified with few thin lenses of dark yellowish brown silt loam; weak medium platy structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few roots; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)

C3--19 to 60 inches9 48 to 152 cm); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) fine sandy loam stratified with lenses of silt loam, and very fine sand; weak thin platy structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; streaks of brown (10YR 4/3) and olive gray (5Y 4/2); individual strata range from 1/4 to 2 inches thick; few roots to 30 inches; moderately acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Salcha-Big Delta Area, Alaska; about 7 miles north of Delta Junction; in the SW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 18, T.9S., R.10E., Fairbanks Meridian.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of the organic mat: 0 to 7 inches, 0 to 18 cm
Particle-size control section (weighted average): greater than 15 percent fine sand or coarser and less than 18 percent clay
Mica content: substantial but less than 25 percent
Organic carbon: decreases irregularly with depth
Thin buried horizons: may occur throughout the profile
Depth to sands and gravel: 40 to greater than 60 inches, 102 to 152 cm

O horizon:
Matrix color: hue of 7.5YR or 10YR; value of 2 or 3, chroma of 1 to 3
Texture: slightly or moderately decomposed plant material
Reaction class: very strongly acid to moderately acid

A horizon (where present):
Matrix color: hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y; value of 2 to 4; chroma of 1 to 4
Texture: silt loam or very fine sandy loam
Reaction class: strongly acid or moderately acid.

C horizons:
Matrix color: hue of 10YR to 5Y; value of 3 to 5; chroma of 2 to 4
Texture: silt loam stratified with silt, loam, fine sandy loam, and very fine sand.
Reaction class: moderately acid to neutral

2C horizon (where present):
Matrix color: variegated
Texture: sands and gravel
Reaction class: moderately acid to neutral

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Kluna, Petrof, Susitna, and Takotna series. Kluna, Petrof, and Susitna soils do not contain substantial amounts of mica in the control section. Takotna soils are calcareous in the lower part of the profile.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: stratified silty and sandy alluvium
Landform: floodplains
Slopes: 0 to 4 percent
Climate: subarctic continental with long, cold winters and short, warm summers
Mean annual temperature: about 26 degrees F., --3.3 C.
Mean annual precipitation: about 12 inches, 305 mm

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include Chena, Jarvis, Goldstream, and Tanana soils. These soils are all on similar landforms. Chena and Jarvis soils are shallow and moderately deep to sandy or sandy skeletal material. Goldstream and Tanana soils are perennially frozen and very poorly drained.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, runoff is low, saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high within the control section. These soils are subject to occasional flooding.

USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas have been cleared and are used for grasses, small grains, and vegetable crops. Salchaket soils have native vegetation of white spruce, paper birch, and quaking aspen.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 229 Interior Alaska Lowlands. The series is extensive.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Yukon-Tanana Region, Alaska, 1914.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this profile include: Irregular decrease of organic carbon: based on stratification and colors is presumed
Particle size control section (weighted average): of coarse-loamy from 10 to 40 inches, 2t to 102 cm from mineral soil surface
Soil Reaction: greater than 5.5 (1:1, H2O) from 4 to 60 inches, (10 to 152 cm) Temperature regime: cryic

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.