Ross Sea Region Soil Sites

648000

648

6-Dec-1991

IBC, GGC, MRB

Marble Point, western McMurdo Sound

SITE KEY

SITE NO

REASON SAMPLED

DATE RECORDED

AUTHORS

Soil weathering examination

DESCRIPTION

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

MAP / SURVEY

Yes

PHOTO RECORD

Yes

163.6780

-77.4202

LAT / LONG

77deg 25.21'S

-163deg -40.68'E

[ Lat/Long (deg)

]

.5km E of the Wilson Piedmont Glacier and 100m N of the old Marble Point camp site; on a gently undulating moraine landscape and on a flat site near an old track

ALTITUDE (m)

GEOLOGICAL

SETTING

SLOPE (deg)

Nil

ASPECT

cf. Notes for GEOLAND below

TEMPERATURE (degC)

DEPTH (cm)

Dry site with no adjacent snow patches

SOIL MOISTURE STATUS

-18

Est MAT (degC)

Coastal Antarctic

SOIL CLIMATE ZONE

Weathered till material with distinct zones ranging from bluish green, grey to pale brown; zoning possibly partly due to ice thrusting or wedging processes

SOIL PARENT MATERIAL

Nil at site but moss and cyanobacteria common in the area

BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY

Nil

PATTERNED GROUND

SURFACE WEATHERING or

SURFACE FEATURES

Negligible surface weathering; greenish altered patches

PREVIOUS DISTURBANCE

Vehicle traffic route nearby; intermittent human visits

PROFILE DESCRIPTION

648a 0-6cm

101

olive (5Y 6/4) sandy gravel

Part

102

hygroscopic

Part

103

rock particles subangular, some partly altered,

Part

648b 6-40cm

201

olive (5Y 5/3) granular gravel forming a wedge shaped zone

Part

202

loose

Part

203

rock particles subangular with some partly altered,

Part

648c 6-40cm

301

light grey (2.5Y 7/2) sandy to silty gravel forming a wedge shape

Part

302

loose

Part

303

rock particles subangular to subrounded, some partly altered,

Part

648d 6-40cm

401

light brownish grey (2.5Y 6/2) sandy gravel forming a wedge shape

Part

402

weakly cohesive

Part

403

rock particles subangular, some partly altered,

Part

648e 6-40cm

501

brown (10YR 5/5) sandy gravel

Part

502

loose

Part

503

rock particles subangular, some distinctly stained and moderately altered,

Part

648f 20-40cm

601

light grey (2.5Y 7/2) sandy gravel

Part

602

weakly cohesive

Part

603

rock particles subangular, some weakly stained and partly altered,

Part

648g 40-65cm

701

pale olive (5Y 6/3) granular gravel

Part

702

moderately cohesive

Part

703

rock particles subangular,

Part

648h 65-70cm

801

pale olive (5Y 6/3) granular gravel

Part

802

moderately cohesive

Part

803

rock particles subangular, some with distinct staining and moderately altered,

Part

648i 65-70cm

901

pale olive (5Y 6/3) granular gravel

Part

902

moderately cohesive,

Part

648j 65-70cm

1001

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

Part

648k 5-10cm

1101

greenish grey (5GY 5/1) sandy gravel from 1.5m away

Part

1102

probably chloritic

Part

1103

rock particles soft and disaggregating

Part

Yes

SAMPLES

a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k

Med

a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k

Med

Ice cemented

FROZEN TYPE

FROZEN GROUND DEPTH(cm)

SOIL WEATHERING STAGE

(65cm)

Notes:

Geoland

The surface is a gently undulating till plain formed by retreat of the Wilson Piedmont Glacier; the Marble Point region is an old landscape, with deposits of

phillipsite, buried soils and oxidised gneiss, which have been covered by advances of the grounded Ross Ice Shelf; scattered patches of weathered materials with

greenish colours occur; these may be weathered granodiorite or rocks with a high micaceous content

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:

64800001

19.10

12.30

16.80

14.50

15.80

12.60

8.60

0.10

64800002

42.60

13.80

9.20

9.00

7.20

4.20

0.10

64800003

22.20

14.00

15.50

11.20

13.20

15.80

8.00

0.10

64800004

18.50

15.50

24.10

17.30

13.20

8.30

2.80

0.40

64800005

27.70

27.30

26.60

10.50

3.90

1.50

1.30

1.20

64800006

24.00

20.90

22.00

12.40

9.70

7.00

3.60

0.50

64800007

36.90

16.30

14.00

9.20

9.80

3.80

0.10

64800008

37.40

12.10

11.60

8.50

10.00

12.40

7.60

0.40

64800009

18.20

12.50

15.40

12.30

13.70

18.00

9.90

0.10

64800059

17.50

10.70

15.40

13.20

15.60

17.90

9.60

0.10

64800010

13.00

13.40

22.30

17.20

15.10

11.50

5.50

2.00

199.90

64800011

5.60

8.10

18.30

17.90

16.70

15.20

17.90

0.20

Notes

NO3

meq/100g

SO4

meq/100g

mmho/cm

Solution Chemistry:

Sample

Key

64800001

8.00

13.40

71.00

12.25

8.00

2.50

68.40

1.00

0.36

64800002

8.50

2.30

8.60

1.00

0.80

0.60

9.60

0.20

0.32

64800003

8.10

2.10

5.07

2.60

1.55

0.45

9.70

0.20

0.32

64800004

8.60

1.60

6.05

7.00

6.50

0.45

7.30

0.15

0.28

64800005

8.60

0.65

2.13

0.44

0.34

0.21

2.60

0.15

0.08

64800006

8.10

1.56

3.10

8.00

3.75

0.35

7.30

0.30

0.28

64800007

8.10

1.52

2.15

3.60

2.20

0.25

7.50

0.20

0.18

64800008

7.80

2.70

12.08

6.40

3.35

0.45

11.20

1.80

0.15

64800009

8.10

2.60

4.00

37.80

16.30

4.25

12.40

0.30

0.15

64800059

7.90

2.20

3.20

5.10

3.10

0.30

10.00

0.20

0.21

64800010

8.00

1.15

1.85

2.15

0.95

0.30

4.40

0.30

0.14

64800011

9.60

1.10

6.10

0.90

1.10

0.30

4.00

0.12

0.06

CAL

FLD

QTZ

FE -

CHL

HIV

ICHL

HIV -

IHM

MICA

Notes

Sample

Key

Clay Mineralogy:

64800001

64800002

64800003

64800004

64800005

64800006

64800007

64800008

64800009

64800059

64800010

64800011

12-Dec-2005

Printed on:

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