Soil Series Atlas

Tanana soil series

Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid, subgelic Typic Aquiturbels

050100150cm1 ft2 ft3 ft4 ft5 ft6 ftOiOrganic layer · slightly decomposed0–8 cm · 0–3 inOAOrganic layer grading to topsoil8–13 cm · 3–5 inBjjgSubsoil · frost-churned, gleyed: grayfrom wetness13–43 cm · 5–17 inCjjgParent material · frost-churned, gleyed:gray from wetness43–64 cm · 17–25 inCjjgfParent material · frost-churned, gleyed:gray from wetness, frozen64–183 cm · 25–72 in050100150cmOiOrganic layer ·slightly decomposed0–8 cm · 0–3 inOAOrganic layer gradingto topsoil8–13 cm · 3–5 inBjjgSubsoil ·frost-churned, gleyed:gray from wetness13–43 cm · 5–17 inCjjgParent material ·frost-churned, gleyed:gray from wetness43–64 cm · 17–25 inCjjgfParent material ·frost-churned, gleyed:gray from wetness,frozen64–183 cm · 25–72 in
Typical pedon, to scale: 183 cm (72 in), 5 horizons.

Gelisols — soils with permafrost

Nationally Tanana is a small series: 97,235 acres, 3,575th of 24,791 by area. It is the only series in the atlas that has a subgelic temperature regime. Every mapped acre is in Alaska. For a state soil it is modest at home: 112th of 843 series in Alaska.

Depth
Shallow
Drainage
Poorly drained
Water movement
Moderately high

Compare with another seriesSimilar series in the finder

Where Tanana is mapped

97,235 acres in 7 soil survey areas, from current SSURGO data.

0.2%

of all mapped soil in Alaska is Tanana: 97,235 acres, the 112th most extensive of 843 series mapped there.

Alaska97,235 acres · 112th of 843 series

In the field

Drainage

Poorly drained

Drains fastStays wet

5 other atlas series are poorly drained, none of them Gelisols.

Soil depth

Shallow

ShallowDeep

Cabbart, Cabba, and Weikert also are classed shallow.

Water movement (Ksat)

Moderately high

SlowFast

22 other atlas series have moderately high Ksat, none of them Gelisols.

Parent material
Alluvium, loess
Landform
Terraces, flood plains
Type location
Alaska

How it is classified

  1. OrderGelisols
  2. SuborderTurbels
  3. Great groupAquiturbels
  4. SubgroupTypic Aquiturbels
  5. FamilyCoarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid, subgelic Typic Aquiturbelscoarse-loamy particle-size classmixed mineralogy classsuperactive cation-exchange activity classnonacid reaction classsubgelic soil temperature regime

Against other Gelisols

Tanana makes up 1.18% of all mapped Gelisols — the 30th largest of 123 series in the order.

Depth described

183 cm over a median of 150 cm

Horizon by horizon

HorizonLayerDepthThickness
OiOrganic layer: slightly decomposed0–8 cm0–3 in8 cm
OAOrganic layer grading to topsoil8–13 cm3–5 in5 cm
BjjgSubsoil: frost-churned, gleyed: gray from wetness13–43 cm5–17 in30 cm
CjjgParent material: frost-churned, gleyed: gray from wetness43–64 cm17–25 in21 cm
CjjgfParent material: frost-churned, gleyed: gray from wetness, frozen64–183 cm25–72 in119 cm

Sources: USDA–NRCS Official Series Description (revised 2024-02), Soil Classification database and SSURGO. Ranks computed by Soil Series Atlas. Method · Guides