Abstract ........................................................ 1
Introduction .................................................... 1
Background and Objectives ....................................... 1
Landscape Features - Ecoregions, Vegetation, and Soils .......... 2
Methods ......................................................... 4
Sample Collection ............................................... 4
Chemical Analysis and Summary Statistics ........................ 6
Data Treatment and Map Presentation ............................. 7
Results and Interpretation ...................................... 7
Map Presentations and Their Relation to Major Alaska
Landscape Features ........................................... 7
Bedrock as a Factor in Statewide Element Patterns .............. 20
Ecoregions and Vegetation Zonation ............................. 21
Latitude, Elevation, Temperature, and Precipitation ............ 25
Soils, Surficial Materials, and Geomorphology .................. 26
Landscape Controls and the Weathering Profile .................. 29
Major Cation Landscape Correlation Patterns .................... 32
Conclusions .................................................... 34
Acknowledgments ................................................ 34
References Cited ............................................... 34
Figures
1. Shaded relief map of Alaska showing the location
of 265 soil and surficial-materials sampling sites ........... 2
2. Map showing ecoregion divisions and major geographic areas
mentioned in discussions of landscape geochemistry in
Alaska ....................................................... 3
3. Simple linear regression plots of the concentration of
selected elements, soil pH, and ash yield in site-
duplicated soil samples. Coefficients of determiniation
(R2) were calculated on the basis of 171 paired
comparisons .................................................. 5
4-28. Colored surface maps of:
4. Aluminum distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska .......................................... 8
5. Barium distribution in soils and other surficial materials
of Alaska .................................................... 8
6. Calcium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska .......................................... 9
7. Chromium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska .......................................... 9
8. Colbalt distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 10
9. Copper distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 10
10.Iron distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 11
11.Lead distribution in soils and other surficial materials
of Alaska ................................................... 11
12.Lanthanum distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 12
13.Lithium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 12
14.Magnesium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 13
15.Manganese distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 13
16.Neodymium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 14
17.Nickel distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 14
18.Phosphorus distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 15
19.Potassium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 15
20.Sodium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 16
21.Strontium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 16
22.Thorium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 17
23.Uranium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 17
24.Vanadium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 18
25.Yttrium distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 18
26.Zinc distribution in soils and other surficial
materials of Alaska ......................................... 19
27.Ash yield of soils and other surficial materials of
Alaska ...................................................... 19
28.pH of soils and other surficial materials of Alaska ......... 20
29.Diagram showing the relation among the five ecoregion
divisions used in this report and polar, maritime,
and boreal climatic and environmental characteristics
of high-latitude regions .................................... 21
30.Simple linear regression plots of latitude relative to
temperature and precipitation, and elevation relative
to temperature and precipitation for the 265 soil and
surficial-materials sampling sites .......................... 23
31.Plot of the elevation of individual soil and surficial-
materials sampling sites segregated by ecoregion division ... 23
32.(A) Graph showing the number of soil and surficial-
materials sampling sites relative to elevation.(B)
Box plots of temperature at soil and surficial-materials
sampling sites segregated by ecoregion division.(C) Box
plots of precipitation at soil and surficial-materials
sampling sites segregated by ecoregion division ............. 24
33.Temperature map of Alaska with the placement of the 265
soil and surficial-materials sampling sites ................. 25
34.Precipitation map of Alaska with the placement of the
265 soil and surficial-materials sampling sites ............. 26
35.Feldspar weathering ternary plots of sampling sites
segregated by ecoregion Division.(A) Segregation of
the Arctic and Subarctic sampling sites; and (S)
segregation of the Warm Continental, Marine, and
Cold Oceanic sampling sites ................................. 27
36.Graphs showing (A) Relation between soil organic matter
and soil pH and total percent calcium in soils and
surficial materials from the Arctic and Subarctic
ecoregions; and (B) relation between soil organic
matter and soil pH and total percent calcium in
soils and surficial materials from the Warm Continental,
Marine, and Cold Oceanic ecoregions ......................... 30
37.Colored surface map of calcium in stream sediments
of Alaska ................................................... 33
Tables
1. Method of chemical analysis and summary information
on the 23 elements, pH, and ash yield plotted as
geochemical maps in figures 4-28 ............................. 4
2. Summary statistics for elements, pH, and ash yield in soil
and surficial-materials samples from Alaska used in the
plotting of figures 4-28 ..................................... 6
3. Parameter settings for computing regular grid using
Bootstrap estimates of the moving, weighted median ........... 7
4. Number of sites in this study and their distribution among
the major ecoregion groups in Alaska ........................ 22
5. Eigenvalues in a five-factor principal components
analysis using the log concentration of major soil
cations and soil organic matter, soil pH, and
regional environmental parameters including latitude ........ 28
6. Factor analysis results for 263 surficial-materials
samples using the log concentration of 10 major soil
cations, organic matter, and pH and four regional
environmental parameters including latitude ................. 28
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