Ross Sea Region Soil Sites

628000

628

28-Nov-1991

IBC, GGC, MRB

Marble Point, western McMurdo Sound

SITE KEY

SITE NO

REASON SAMPLED

DATE RECORDED

AUTHORS

Soil moisture and permafrost investigation

DESCRIPTION

USGS Antarctica Topographic Series 1:50,000; Marble Point, Antarctica

MAP / SURVEY

CS Lscp & Pro

PHOTO RECORD

Yes

163.6850

-77.4127

LAT / LONG

77deg 24.76'S

-163deg -41.10'E

[ Lat/Long (deg)

]

Approximately 350m NNE of the Marble Point Air facility buildings; on the lower slopes of a marble ridge outcrop, a few metres above a till plane surface; the site is a low

mound about 1m high

ALTITUDE (m)

GEOLOGICAL

SETTING

SLOPE (deg)

Nil

ASPECT

cf. Notes for GEOLAND below

TEMPERATURE (degC)

DEPTH (cm)

0.0

-9.9

A dry site with no thaw seepages; residual snow 10m away; no soil moistening evident

SOIL MOISTURE STATUS

-18

Est MAT (degC)

Coastal Antarctic

SOIL CLIMATE ZONE

Granitic and dioritic till over dioritic bedrock

SOIL PARENT MATERIAL

Nil at site; moss patches and cyanobacteria are common locally

BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY

Nil

PATTERNED GROUND

SURFACE WEATHERING or

SURFACE FEATURES

A well developed pebble and cobble pavement with some boulders; larger clasts subrounded and subangular; surface staining on some clasts; some clasts

partly crumbled

PREVIOUS DISTURBANCE

Nil at site but the site is adjacent to a bulldozed track 10m away

PROFILE DESCRIPTION

628a 2-0cm

101

surface pebbles and granular sand

Part

102

subangular to subrounded

Part

103

some surface staining,

Part

628b 0-5cm

201

light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) gravelly sand

Part

202

loose

Part

203

a few carbonate coatings

Part

204

rock particles sub angular

Part

205

some weak surface staining

Part

206

distinct boundary,

Part

628c 5-29cm

301

olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) sandy gravel

Part

302

weakly cohesive

Part

303

rock particles angular and unstained

Part

304

distinct boundary,

Part

628d 29-32cm

401

brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sandy gravel

Part

402

frosted

Part

403

weakly developed vesicular structure, rock particles angular, some weakly stained and partly altered

Part

404

some silty clay coatings

Part

405

distinct boundary,

Part

628d1 29-32cm

501

olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) sandy gravel patches

Part

502

rock particles subangular and unstained

Part

503

distinct boundary,

Part

628d2 29-32cm

601

brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sandy to silty gravel patches

Part

602

rock particles subangular, some weakly stained and partly altered,

Part

628e 32-52cm

701

olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) sandy to silty gravel

Part

702

weakly cohesive

Part

703

rock particles angular to subangular and some weakly altered

Part

704

sharp boundary,

Part

628f 52-74cm

801

drill core

Part

802

light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) sandy gravel,

Part

628g 74-87cm

901

drill core

Part

902

pale olive (5Y 6/3) sandy gravel,

Part

628h 87-94cm

1001

drill core

Part

1002

light grey (2.5Y 7/2) sandy gravel

Part

Yes

SAMPLES

a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h

Med

a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h

Med

Hard ice-cemented

FROZEN TYPE

FROZEN GROUND DEPTH(cm)

SOIL WEATHERING STAGE

(52cm)

Notes:

Geoland

Above the till plane surface, till deposits are scarce and marble outcrops extensively; small pockets of shallow drift are present; the marble bedrock is crumbly

with active granular disintegration; at the site, the soil shows some strong oxidation below a thin drift cover and may be part of a former weathering landscape

Seive

Size

Vol. Moisture

Drill Vol

Vol. Moisture

(BD=2)

Soluble Salt

Concentration

Gravimetric

Moisture

Particle

Size

Dry Bulk

Density

Bulk

Density

Base

(cm)

Top

(cm)

Depth

description

Sample

name

Sample

Key

Physical Data:

Notes

Grav.

M. Cont

Fe2O3

Part. Size

<0.002

Part. Size

0.02-0.002

Part. Size

0.05-0.02

Part. Size

0.1-0.05

Part. Size

0.25-0.1

Part. Size

0.5-0.25

Part. Size

2-0.5

Part. Size

<2mm

Sample

Key

Particle Size:

62800001

14.00

30.00

20.60

26.10

15.60

5.10

1.70

0.70

0.30

62800002

76.00

18.20

22.50

31.90

19.30

6.40

1.10

0.40

0.30

0.78

62800003

43.00

27.00

18.80

20.50

13.30

10.90

7.70

1.10

0.60

2.98

62800004

49.00

30.50

16.50

16.80

10.80

10.90

10.40

2.30

1.80

4.43

62800054

68.00

26.20

27.00

23.10

9.60

5.60

5.50

1.40

1.70

4.55

62800004

45.00

31.10

16.50

16.00

10.10

9.60

3.10

4.10

5.03

62800005

52.00

24.40

21.00

21.70

12.30

10.10

7.30

2.80

0.40

4.36

62800006

67.00

22.50

24.50

22.40

11.00

6.80

7.30

4.80

0.80

29.39

62800007

57.00

13.80

12.80

15.30

11.10

15.10

18.20

12.80

0.80

29.37

62800008

25.00

10.90

8.10

9.90

9.40

16.70

28.20

16.10

0.80

10.39

Notes

NO3

meq/100g

SO4

meq/100g

mmho/cm

Solution Chemistry:

Sample

Key

62800001

8.30

3.10

2.82

0.30

0.23

0.08

14.20

1.60

0.10

62800002

8.90

2.30

2.45

0.09

0.06

0.05

10.20

1.60

0.07

62800003

9.30

0.50

5.14

0.19

0.12

0.13

1.00

0.20

0.01

62800004

9.00

0.38

6.40

0.21

0.14

0.12

0.70

0.20

0.01

62800054

8.10

0.37

1.05

0.98

0.60

0.22

3.30

0.40

62800004

8.90

0.77

2.22

0.22

0.08

0.04

1.00

0.20

62800005

8.00

0.37

5.28

0.20

0.09

1.40

0.40

0.01

62800006

8.40

0.48

6.11

0.31

0.20

0.11

1.95

0.40

62800007

8.70

0.65

3.58

0.24

0.14

0.10

2.25

0.60

62800008

9.10

0.46

5.45

0.74

0.71

0.35

1.65

0.40

CAL

FLD

QTZ

FE -

CHL

HIV

ICHL

HIV -

IHM

MICA

Notes

Sample

Key

Clay Mineralogy:

62800001

62800002

62800003

smectite well-ordered

62800004

62800054

62800004

62800005

62800006

smectite well-ordered

62800007

62800008

12-Dec-2005

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