Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
447000
447
21-Nov-1978
IBC, GGC
Hatherton Glacier, Britannia Range, Transantarctic Mountains
Soil weathering examination
United States Geological Survey 1966; 1:250,000 Mount Olympus, Antarctica
CS Pro & Lscp
No
156.3500
-80.0833
80deg 5.0'S
-156deg -21.0'E
On the south side of the Hatherton Glacier in the Britannia Range; on a high altitude ridge to the west of Derrick Peak; an old bedrock feldsenmeer surface with an extensive |
boulder cover; the site is a cleft between bedrock boulder outcrops |
0
Nil
2,000
cf. Notes for GEOLAND below
Extensive snow cover but no thaw observed or soil moistening
-35
Inland Mountain
Disaggregated and exfoliated dolerite accumulated in a rock cleft
Nil observed
Nil; bedrock blockfield probably formed by ice wedging
SURFACE WEATHERING or |
SURFACE FEATURES |
cf. Notes for SURFWEA below
Nil
447a 0-5cm
101
reddish brown (5YR 4/4) granular gravel
102
loose
103
rock particles angular, strongly stained and strongly altered
104
distinct boundary,
447b 5-10cm
201
strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy granular gravel
202
loose
203
rock particles angular, strongly stained and many strongly altered
204
some red (2.5YR 4/8) amorphous intergranular fillings
Yes
10
5
(>10cm)
Geoland
Ferrar Dolerite caps the ridges and forms a prominent escarpment marking the edge of the Polar Plateau; a former more extensive Polar Ice Sheet would have |
extended in icefalls over the escarpment; the surfaces and the soils around the edge of the escarpment at Derrick Peak provide an indication of when the Polar |
Ice Sheet last extended across the escarpment and into the valleys of the Hatherton Glacier |
Surfwea
Bedrock tors extend up to 1m in a blockfield landscape formed by weathering along the joint planes in the dolerite; clasts have well rounded upper surfaces with |
weak sculptured forms; upper surfaces are strongly oxidised and weathering rhinds are exfoliating; at clifftop edges, rocks are strongly smoothed because of |
greatly increased windflows |
Soluble Salt |
Concentration |
44700001
62.00
44700002
73.00
44700001
44700002
44700001
44700002
12-Dec-2005
Page 404 of 896
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