ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to determine the relative abundance of Mollisols and other nonacidic soils in the Kuparuk basin, the location of the Arctic Research Consortium of the US carbon dioxide and methane flux study. It also aims to compare key soil properties in moist nonacidic tundra and moist acidic tundra, and to elucidate the mechanisms accounting for differences in the depth-distribution of carbon between these two landcover types. The depth-distribution of carbon in soils of arctic Alaska is controlled largely by the presence or absence of an organic mat and its effect on the degree of cryoturbation. Detailed soil descriptions were taken at all sites, and bulk samples were collected from each horizon and placed in water-tight bags. The soils were classified according to Soil Taxonomy and Gelisol order. There were comparable differences in morphological and chemical properties in nonacidic and acidic shrublands; however, there were an insufficient number of sites to do meaningful statistical comparisons.
