Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
134000
134
18-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
Cs Lscp
No
161.4920
-77.3550
77deg 21.3'S
-161deg -29.5'E
On the floor of Barwick Valley, approximately .5km ESE of Lake Vashka and just below the crest of a small rise; the surface is at the eastern end of the Vida Drift till plain |
which forms a gently undulating bouldery surface with boulders up to 3m |
0
Nil
590
The till at this location was mapped by Calkin (1964) as being the eastward extent of Webb Glacier derived Vida Drift; it contains more sandstone than similar till further to the |
east; the till may be ice-cored |
(0o)
Xerous to subxerous; a dry site with no snow patches; rapid ablation of recent thin snowfalls
-23
Central mountains
Bouldery Vida Drift till derived mainly from dolerite, granite and sandstone
Nil observed
15m nets with broad 75cm troughs
SURFACE WEATHERING or |
SURFACE FEATURES |
cf. Notes for SURFWEA below
Nil
134a 0-4cm
201
very pale brown (10YR 7/4) sandy granular gravel
202
firmly cohesive forming a well developed crust
203
strongly developed vesicular structure
204
some salt flecks present
205
rock particles mainly subangular and weakly stained with some partly altered
206
distinct boundary,
134b 4-13cm
301
brown (10YR 5/3) sandy to silty cobbly gravel
302
loose
303
rock particles mainly subangular to subrounded and weakly to unstained, but some partly altered
304
distinct boundary,
134c 13-30cm
401
light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy cobbly gravel
402
moderately cohesive
403
weakly developed vesicular structure
404
scattered salt flecks
405
rock particles mainly subrounded and weakly to moderately stained
406
indistinct boundary,
134d 30-55cm
501
pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy cobbly and bouldery gravel
502
weakly cohesive
503
weakly developed vesicular structure
504
larger rock particles subangular and unstained with smaller quartz particles rounded and weakly stained
505
distinct boundary,
134e 55-70cm
601
light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy granular cobbly gravel
602
loose
603
rock particles mainly subangular and unstained
604
sharp boundary,
134f 70-75+
701
pale brown (10YR 6/3) pebbly gravel
702
very hard
703
ice cemented
704
well developed vesicular structure on drying
705
rock particles mainly subangular and unstained but some weakly stained and slightly altered.
4-0cm
101
surface boulders
102
cobbles granules and loose coarse sand
103
subangular and weakly stained,
Yes
a,b,c,d,e,f
Dry frozen over hard ice-cemented
70
2
(70cm)
Surfwea
Surface boulders are extensive, occasionally up to 3m but most less than 45cm; there is minor staining on some surfaces with slight rounding and also |
exfoliation; stone pavement development is slight but some small hollows have accumulations of sorted pebbles; salts occur beneath some surface stones |
Soluble Salt |
Concentration |
13400001
134a
0-1cm
0
1
none
13400002
134b
2-10cm
2
10
none
13400003
134c
10-25cm
10
25
none
13400004
134d
30-45cm
30
45
none
13400005
134e
55-60cm
55
60
none
12-Dec-2005
Page 134 of 896
134