Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
340000
340
1-Dec-1972
IBC, GGC
Wright Valley, McMurdo Dry Valley region
Soil weathering examination
USGS 1:50,000 Antarctic Topo. Ser. Labyrinth Quadrangle
CS Lsc
No
160.8300
-77.6117
77deg 36.7'S
-160deg -49.8'E
The flat topped surface of Mt Freya in the Asgard Range; an uneven undulating rocky dolerite sill surface; bedrock outcrops are rounded with hollows along joint plains
0
Nil
2,025
cf. Notes for GEOLAND below
(0o)
| Scattered small snow pockets amongst rock outcrops; some snow thawing against warmed |
| rock surfaces |
-35
Inland Mountain
Joint plane weathering material, possibly a fracture zone
Nil observed
Nil
| SURFACE WEATHERING or |
| SURFACE FEATURES |
cf. Notes for SURFWEA below
Nil
340 1-0cm
101
surface granular gravel
102
rock particles strongly stained,
340a 0-15cm
201
red to dark red (2.5YR 4/6 - 3/6) granular sandy gravel
202
loose moderately cohesive
203
few to many salt flecks and some acicular crystalline
204
rock particles strongly stained, subangular and very strongly altered
205
soil material forms a lateral zone in the bedrock crack and passes laterally into less red soil material
206
indistinct boundary,
340b 0-15cm
301
yellowish red (5YR 5/8) granular sandy gravel
302
loose to moderately cohesive
303
few to many distinct salt flecks, some acicular and crystalline
304
rock particles subangular, strongly stained and very strongly altered
305
the soil material forms a lateral zone in the bedrock crack,
Yes
a,b
Bedrock frozen
15
6
(>15cm)
Geoland
| Ferrar Dolerite forms prominent sills which because of its hardness persists as ridge top remnants; it has a strong columnar jointed form and joint plain |
| weathering results in a very knobbly or boulder like surface; the surface is old and clearly has not been glaciated for a long time |
Surfwea
| Rock surfaces are rounded, strongly stained and exfoliating; some occasional patchy salt precipitations on a few rock surfaces; between bedrock clasts, there is a |
| crumbly thin veneer of fragmental weathering debris with some strongly oxidised material in joint planes |
| Soluble Salt |
| Concentration |
34000001
64.00
42.90
15.70
14.80
0.90
12.50
5.30
3.20
4.10
34000002
76.00
36.70
19.20
14.80
0.30
12.80
8.00
3.40
4.30
0.48
34000001
5.00
5.50
18.00
15.00
14.70
0.03
13.00
28.00
6.90
34000002
5.00
5.70
23.00
11.50
13.00
0.04
15.00
26.00
8.10
34000001
80
20
34000002
5
95
12-Dec-2005
Page 297 of 896
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