The Alaska Soil Geography Field Class.

Study soil geography and soil forming factors such as parent material, landform, vegetation, climate, time, permafrost, and fire along ecological transect from boreal forest in subarctic to alpine zones along the Brooks Range, to arctic tundra on Arctic Foothills and Coastal Plains in northern Alaska. The class emphasizes hands-on experiences on excavating and sampling permafrost-affected soils and diagnosing soil morphological properties. At each site, soil classification and land use interpretations will be discussed. Most soils have ice-cemented permafrost exhibit hydric soils properties even the annual soil temperature at 50 cm is below 5C.