Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
126000
126
14-Jan-1965
IBC, GGC
Victoria Land, Trans-antarctic Mountains; in Barwick Valley, part of the McMurdo Sound Dry Valley system
Soil characterisation
USGS 1:250 000 1986; Ross Island and Vicinity, Antarctica
No
161.9920
-77.3467
77deg 20.8'S
-161deg -59.5'E
Approximately 1km E of Webb Lake; on the valley floor on a young moraine surface; the site is on the floor of a small moist salty hollow
0
Nil
675
cf. Notes for GEOLAND below
(0o)
70
-2.5
Xerous to subxerous; the site is moist, probably for a period of 6-8 weeks each summer |
because of local snow melt |
-23
Central mountains
Fluvially reworked till forming a sandy sediment in a moist depression
Nil observed
Hummocky terrain is probably related to ablation and patterned ground formation
SURFACE WEATHERING or |
SURFACE FEATURES |
A thin salt precipitation over much of the surface
Nil
126a 0-3cm
101
dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4 moist) sandy fine gravel
102
moderately cohesive
103
salts precipitated at the surface
104
indistinct boundary,
126a 3-5cm
201
dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4 moist) sandy gravel
202
moderately cohesive
203
some salts distributed through the horizon
204
rock particles subrounded to subangular, moderately stained and some weakly altered
205
indistinct boundary,
126b 5-40cm
301
dark brown (10YR 3/3 moist) gravelly sand
302
cohesive and sticky
303
rock particles subrounded to subangular and weakly to moderately stained
304
indistinct boundary,
126c 40-70cm
401
olive brown (2.5Y 4/4 wet) sandy gravel
402
cohesive and sticky
403
rock particles subrounded and unstained
404
indistinct boundary,
126d
501
on wet sandy gravel
Yes
a,b,c
0
2
Geoland
Webb Glacier in the upper Barwick Valley has retreated and left a series of till deposits and moraine surfaces of differing ages; the site is on moraines mapped |
by Calkin as Packard Drift (youngest); the main rock types in the area are dolerite, granite, granodiorite and Beacon Group sediments and the tills have these |
rocks in them; incipient stream channels connect a number of small frozen lakes and the tills in them have been fluvially reworked |
Soluble Salt |
Concentration |
12600001
126a
0-3cm
0
3
none
12600002
126b
3-5cm
3
5
none
12600003
126c
30-38cm
30
38
none
12600004
126d
71-75cm
71
75
none
12-Dec-2005
Page 126 of 896
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