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Wetland Classification and Mapping of the Kenai Lowland, Alaska
Map Unit Descriptions
Ecosystem: Kettle Map Unit: K34; K43; K34d
Extent: K34: 485 wetland polygons; 2299.4 ha; 1.62% of wetland area; 2.94% of wetland polygons. K43: 381 wetland polygons; 2102.6 ha; 1.48% of wetland area; 2.31% of wetland polygons. |
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 A segregated K34 wetland near Starisky Creek (polygon 2884).
A mixed K43 wetland near Crooked Creek (polygon 9473). |
Wetland Indicators Type: Peat Average depth to water table: K3: 28.1 cm; n=60 K4: 30.2 cm; n=32 Organic layer thickness: K3: 98.8 cm; n=60 K4: 74.9 cm; n=32 Average depth to redoximorphic features: K3: 19.0 cm; n=3 K4: 46.7 cm; n=6 Common Soils: K3: STARICHKOF, DOROSHIN, TRUULI, NIKOLAI, SALAMATOF, CHUNILNA K4: STARICHKOF, SLIKOK, DOROSHIN, CLAM GULCH Common Plant communities: K3 Component: Sphagnum moss - Ericaceous shrub Sphagnum moss – Manyflower sedge
K4 Component: |
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Accuracy assessment: 60 polygons interpreted as K34 on
aerial photographs were field checked. 25 remained K34; 9 were revised
to K2-4; 8 were revised to K43; 3 were revised to
K3; 2 each were revised to DWR
and SSL and 1 each was revised
to AMT, DW34,
DW5A3, K23,
K4, K42, LB24,
LB2-4, LB63,
SSC and upland. 52 polygons interpreted as K43 on aerial photographs were field checked. 38 remained K43; 3 were revised to LB64; 2 each were revised to K4 and upland; 1 each was revised to: AMT, D34, K24, SAC, SL, SS and SSL. |
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These are Kettle Ecosystem complexes of the forested component (K4), and the shrub or bluejoint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis) dominated component (K3). When the forested component is dominant, the unit is named K43; it is named K34 when the shrubby / bluejoint component dominates. On the northern peninsula, the K3 and K4 components are often segregated as concentric rings at the edges of a kettle, bordering the upland on the outside of the ring and a wetter, sedge-dominated plant community towards the center of the kettle.
On the interlobate moraine between Nikiski and Sterling, the transition to upland from kettle edge is narrow and abrupt. The forest is typically dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana). On the southern peninsula, on late-Wisconsin surfaces, kettle edges typically abut broad Discharge Slope Ecosystems. These units frequently consist of Lutz spruce (P. X lutzii) dominated K4 components and Barclay's willow (Salix barclayi) dominated K3 components over a mineral soil substrate. Many kettles are fine-grained mixtures of the two components.
In Homer, the name K34d refers to a wetland that was K34 but is now disturbed.
