Soils of the Barrow region, Alaska¹

The authors appreciate the cooperation of the Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp. for administrative assistance and the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC) for facilitating research in the Barrow Environmental Observatory. The research was supported by NSF awards OPP‐9318528 to K. R. Everett and F. E. Nelson, OPP‐9612647 to F. E. Nelson, and OPP‐9529783 to K. M. Hinkel. L. R. Everett, J. D. O'Brien, and J. Mun‐roe assisted in the field. J. Brown kindly read an early draft of this manuscript.

Abstract

Soils have been studied near Barrow, Alaska for nearly 50 years. Since 1995 we have described, sampled, and characterized 26 pedons in the Barrow region, primarily within the Barrow Experimental Observatory, as part of a legacy soils database. The soils occur on land cover types that range from dry to wet acidic tundra. Cryoturba‐tion is the dominant process that affects most of the soils, but other processes include paludization, gleization, melanization, base‐cation leaching, and anthrosolization. In general, the soils have high levels of total organic carbon, total N, and silt. The cation‐exchange capacity is high but is dominated by exchangeable acidity. Twelve soil subgroups were recognized in the region, of which four were classified as Turbels, four as Orthels, and four as Histels. There is considerable spatial variability in the soils due to the presence of low‐, flat‐, and high‐centered frost polygons. The thaw‐lake cycle is of special importance in the Barrow region.

Notes

The authors appreciate the cooperation of the Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp. for administrative assistance and the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC) for facilitating research in the Barrow Environmental Observatory. The research was supported by NSF awards OPP‐9318528 to K. R. Everett and F. E. Nelson, OPP‐9612647 to F. E. Nelson, and OPP‐9529783 to K. M. Hinkel. L. R. Everett, J. D. O'Brien, and J. Mun‐roe assisted in the field. J. Brown kindly read an early draft of this manuscript.