Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
450000
450
22-Nov-1978
IBC, GGC
Hatherton Glacier, Transantarctic Mountains
Soil weathering examination
United States Geological Survey 1966; 1:250,000 Turnstile Ridge, Antarctica
CP Pro
No
155.2670
-79.9000
79deg 54.0'S
-155deg -16.0'E
cf. Notes for DESCR below
0
Nil
1,550
cf. Notes for GEOLAND below
No snow cover or soil moistening
-30
Inland Mountain
Drift from dolerite and sandstone; posibly some sediment
Nil observed
Nil
| SURFACE WEATHERING or |
| SURFACE FEATURES |
cf. Notes for SURFWEA below
Nil
450a 0-2cm
101
brown to dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy granular gravel
102
moderately cohesive
103
moderately developed vessicular structure
104
rock particles subangular, moderately stained and moderately altered
105
sharp boundary,
450b 2-10cm
201
light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) gravelly silty sand
202
soft and pulverulent
203
abundant diffuse salts
204
rock particles subangular to subrounded, weakly stained and moderately altered
205
some ghosts
206
some rock particles with black centres
207
distinct boundary,
450c 10-20cm
301
light grey (2.5Y 7/2) gravelly silty sand
302
firm
303
rock particles subangular and unstained
304
some rock particles crumbly with blackish centres
Yes
20
3
(>20cm)
Descr
| On the southeast side of the upper reaches of the Hatherton Glacier and to the SE of Turnstile Ridge; approximately 5.5km east of Pk 2421; on the floor of an |
| old valley formed by former ice advances of the Polar Plateau; a salty hollow on the valley floor; possibly a former wet site |
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 valleys on the SW side of the Hatherton Glacier appear to form an old landscape; moraine sequences reflect the |
| advances from the Hatherton Glacier; some depressions in the landscape may have been former salty wet hollows |
Surfwea
| A well developed surface pavement of small cobbles, pebbles and granular sand; coarser clasts are unstained; a soft soil surface, typical of that often associated |
| with salty hollow soils; salts precipitated at the soil surface; many clasts have very dark coloured staining; well developed ventiforms; some sandstone clasts are |
| whitish and disaggregating |
| Soluble Salt |
| Concentration |
45000001
60.00
34.00
20.40
15.30
5.70
3.80
10.10
10.10
0.36
45000002
75.00
21.90
21.40
0.50
0.70
10.20
24.50
20.20
0.15
45000003
61.00
22.40
13.50
13.90
9.80
11.10
19.60
9.20
0.10
45000001
8.50
4.40
7.60
3.00
10.70
6.79
1.42
17.00
45000002
9.30
7.00
15.20
10.00
20.90
11.20
10.20
2.50
45000003
9.30
5.90
12.40
13.00
15.50
8.88
14.40
17.00
45000001
60
10
5
25
45000002
50
5
45
45000003
45
10
10
35
12-Dec-2005
Page 407 of 896
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