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Wetland Classification and Mapping
of Seward, Alaska
Map Unit Descriptions Ecosystem: Kettle Map Units: K21; K12
Seward Area Extent: K21: 3 wetland polygons; 3.3 acres K12: 1 wetland polygon; 1.1 acre |
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The K21 portion of a K1-3 peatland near the Snow River. The pools in the center of the photo with emergent buckbean represent the K1 component, and the surrounding tufted bulrush represents the K2 component. The shrubby area in the foreground is K3.
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Wetland Indicators Type: Peatland with small pond Average depth to water table: 10 cm Organic layer thickness: 139 cm Average depth to redoximorphic features: n/a Common Soils: Typic Cryosaprists, Typic Cryohemists, Hydric Cryofibrists Common Plant communities: Fewflower sedge - tall cottongrass (Carex pauciflora - Eriophorum angustifolium) Tufted bulrush - tall cottongrass (Tricophorum caespitosum - Eriophorum angustifolium) NWI: L1UB1 or PEM2H if shallow (K1); PEM1Bg (K2) HGM: Terrene Basin groundwater-dominated Throughflow (headwater) |
These uncommon wetlands are small ponds (K1) with a sedge-dominated peatland fringe (K2). If the open water portion of the wetland is dominant it is named K12, and if a broad peatland fringe surrounds a small pond it is named K21. They are found in low spots on ice-scoured bedrock. None of the four wetlands mapped as either K21 or K12 were visited in the field.
Kettle Ecosystem wetlands are hydrologically connected at or near the surface to streams and eventually Resurrection Bay. Seward area Kettles are primarily encountered on the large rock drumlin northeast of town. They also occur in low spots on other ice-scoured bedrock knobs, especially above the South Fork of the Snow River.
