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Title:	Soils of the Okpilak River region, Alaska
Authors:	Arctic Institute of North America United States. Office of Naval Research Rutgers University Brown, Jerry, 1936-
Keywords:	Soils Frozen soils Frozen ground Permafrost Arctic regions Arctic soils Frost Frost action Glacial geology Patterned ground Ice wedges Okpilak River watershed EPOLAR
Publisher:	Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.) Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.)
Series/Report no.:	Research report (Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.)) ; 188.
Description:	Research Report Abstract: Concepts of Arctic pedology are applied to the glaciated and unglaciated terrains in the vicinity of the Okpilak River, northeastern Alaska. Two types of frost action in Arctic soils are considered: (1) the surficial configurations or patterned ground, and (2) the morphological characteristics of the seasonally thawed soil and the upper zone of perennially frozen ground. About 55 types of soil conditions and surface features are described and mapped in an area encompassing both the northern Brooks Range and the southern Foothill Provinces. These include the genetic soils of Arctic Alaska, numerous soil conditions, and many of the common sorted and nonsorted circles, nets, polygons, steps, and stripes: In the glaciated and periglacial areas, sorted features predominate on the coarse-textured substrata. The Arctic brown soils are distributed on the well-drained sites along valley traverses and across mountain gradients. On a sequence of valley moraines, acid parent material is considered more important than time and mesoenvironments in influencing the depth and development .of the characteristic brown solum. Weakening of the soil-forming processes with increasing altitude is suggested in the mountains. In the valleys, a podzol-like soil is observed in close proximity to the Arctic brown soils and in association with acid parent materials, dwarf birch-heath vegetation and protected microrelief positions. A combination of peaty soils associated with ice-wedge polygons constitutes an organic terrain. The developments of these soils under the Arctic environment are discussed.
Rights:	Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/11681/5823
Appears in Collections:	Research Report