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Wetland Classification and Mapping of the Kenai Lowland, Alaska
Map Unit Descriptions Ecosystem: Kettle Map Unit: K1-4
Extent: 27 wetland polygons; 218.6 ha; 0.15% of wetland area; 0.16% of wetland polygons. |
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 A K1-4 unit near the Kasilof River (polygon 9569).
A mixed K1-4 wetland near Anchor Point (polygon 28046). |
Wetland Indicators Type: Peat Average depth to water table: K1: n/a K2: 9.1 cm; n=39 K3: 28.1 cm; n=60 K4: 30.2 cm; n=32 Organic layer thickness: K1: n/a K2: 136.0 cm; n=41 K3: 98.8 cm; n=60 K4: 74.9 cm; n=32 Average depth to redoximorphic features: K1: n/a K2: 18.0 cm; n=6 K3: 19.0 cm; n=3 K4: 46.7 cm; n=6 Common Soils: K1: pond K2: STARICHKOF, DOROSHIN, SALAMATOF K3: STARICHKOF, DOROSHIN, TRUULI, NIKOLAI, SALAMATOF, CHUNILNA K4: STARICHKOF, SLIKOK, DOROSHIN, CLAM GULCH Common Plant communities: K1 Component: Tall cottongrass - Livid sedge K2 Component: Sphagnum moss / Tall cottongrass Tufted bulrush - Tall cottongrass Sphagnum moss - Creeping sedge K3 Component: Sphagnum moss - Ericaceous shrub Sphagnum moss – Manyflower sedge
K4 Component: |
| Accuracy assessment: 4 polygons interpreted as K1-4 on aerial photographs were field checked. 3 remained K1-4; 1 was revised to K2-4. | |
K1-4 complexes span the entire range of Kettle Ecosystem map components from open water ponds (K1) to forested peatlands with a deeper water table (K4). They occur in smaller kettle units where the individual, usually concentric, components occur on a scale too fine to delineate at 1:25,000. K1-4 can occur as a mixed assemblage of small pools, sedge flarks, shrubby hummocks and woodland islands. The forest is typically dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana).
K1-4 units are most common on the re-worked glacial moraines between Nikiski and Sterling on the central and northern Kenai Lowlands. Others occur on the broad moraine south of Kasilof, along the Old Sterling Highway south of Anchor Point, and around Caribou Lake, north of Kachemak Bay.
