Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
641000
641
4-Dec-1991
IBC, GGC, MRB
Marble Point, western McMurdo Sound
Soil moisture & permafrost investigations; toposequence and landscape relationship differences; third in |
sequence |
USGS Antarctica Topographic Series 1:50,000; Marble Point, Antarctica
Cs Pro & Lscp
Yes
163.6640
-77.4130
77deg 24.78'S
-163deg -39.84'E
About 20m to the west of the northern end of the Marble Point runway and east of a small lake; a flat dry hollow, possibly water filled at times; about 10m from the northern |
edge and about 15m SE from site 640; the hollow may be an old kettle hole |
0
Nil
70
cf. Notes for GEOLAND below
138
-10.3
The soil is slightly moist; the site probably becomes ponded at times from thawing of snow |
patches as dried cyanobacterial mats are common on the soil surface |
-18
Coastal Antarctic
Slightly gravelly silty sand
Dried cyanobacterial mat residues over much of the soil surface
Nil
SURFACE WEATHERING or |
SURFACE FEATURES |
Surface rocks are angular and unstained; some fragmenting and partly crumbled
Extensive construction, earthmoving and human activity in the late 1950's in the general area; some nearby bulldozer tracks
641a 2-0cm
101
surface cobbly sandy gravel
102
rock particles angular to subrounded
103
abundant black dried algal material
104
some carbonate coatings,
641b 0-2cm
201
olive (5Y 5/3) gravelly sand
202
loose to weakly cohesive
203
rock particles angular to subrounded
204
some dried algal particles
205
some carbonate coatings
206
sharp boundary,
641c 2-14cm
301
olive (5Y 4/3) gravelly sand
302
moderately cohesive
303
moist
304
rock particles angular to subrounded, some partly stained
305
a few carbonate coatings
306
sharp boundary,
641d 14-30cm
401
olive (5Y 4/3) gravelly sand
402
firmly cohesive
403
moist
404
rock particles subangular to subrounded
405
some silt coatings
406
sharp boundary,
641e 30-35cm
501
olive (5Y 5/3) sandy gravel
502
firmly frozen
503
rock particles subrounded
504
sharp boundary,
641f 35-44cm
601
drill core
602
light grey (5Y 7/2) sandy to silty gravel,
641g 44-57cm
701
drill core
702
light grey (5Y 7/2) sandy to silty gravel,
641h 57-68cm
801
drill core
802
light grey (5Y 7/2) sandy to silty gravel,
641i 68-73cm
901
drill core
902
light grey (5Y 7/2) sandy to silty gravel,
641j 73-84cm
1001
drill core
1002
pale yellow (5Y 7/3) sandy to silty gravel,
641k 84-98cm
1101
drill core
1102
pale yellow (5Y 7/3) sandy to silty gravel,
641l 98-108cm
1201
drill core
1202
pale yellow (5Y 7/3) sandy to silty gravel,
641m 108-127cm
1301
drill core
1302
pale yellow (5Y 7/3) sandy to silty gravel,
641n 127-138cm
1401
drill core
1402
pale yellow (5Y 7/3) sandy to silty gravel,
Yes
Hard ice-cemented
35
1
(35cm)
Geoland
The surface is undulating with deposits of till; the region is an old landscape of granite and granodiorite, gneiss and marble rocks; there are some old weathering |
and phillipsite deposits in the region; the till has probably come from the Wilson Piedmont Glacier and includes granodiorite, gneiss, marble and some dolerite; |
the till is silty in places and this may have resulted from postglacial fluvial activity |
Soluble Salt |
Concentration |
64100011
21.00
25.53
64100012
13.00
47.99
64100013
17.00
28.22
64100001
7.00
64100002
88.00
6.41
64100003
77.00
7.38
64100004
66.00
8.97
64100005
50.00
5.07
64100006
36.00
16.43
64100007
9.00
4.01
64100008
50.00
10.29
64100009
36.00
8.55
64100010
32.00
12.74
64100014
36.00
30.00
64100011
64100012
64100013
64100001
64100002
64100003
64100004
64100005
64100006
64100007
64100008
64100009
64100010
64100014
64100011
64100012
64100013
64100001
64100002
64100003
64100004
64100005
64100006
64100007
64100008
64100009
64100010
64100014
12-Dec-2005
Page 599 of 896
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