Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
649000
649
6-Dec-1991
IBC, GGC, MRB
Marble Point, western McMurdo Sound
Soil weathering examination
USGS Antarctica Topographic Series 1:50,000; Marble Point, Antarctica
Yes
Yes
163.6740
-77.4183
77deg 25.10'S
-163deg -40.44'E
| 450m E of the Wilson Piedmont Glacier and 300m S of the Marble Point Air facility Buildings; on a low rocky bedrock knoll near the crest of the knoll and on a flat surface in |
| a slight hollow |
0
Nil
65
| The basement rocks at Marble Point are complex and included with the granodiorite and gneiss outcrops; in places these appear to have undergone distinct weathering which |
| may represent the residual parts of an earlier weathering landscape |
Dry site with no adjacent snow patches
-18
Coastal Antarctic
Weathered gneissic rock
Nil at site but moss and cyanobacteria common in the area
Nil
| SURFACE WEATHERING or |
| SURFACE FEATURES |
| A weakly developed pavement with strongly altered material just beneath the ground surface; the weathering appears to be zoned with mixed red and |
| brownish patches, suggesting that it may be related to mineralogical differences within the basement rock |
Vehicle traffic route nearby; intermittent human visits
649a 0-5cm
101
yellowish red (5YR 5/6) sandy to silty granule gravel
102
moderately cohesive
103
weakly developed vesicular structure
104
rock particles subangular, some partly altered
105
indistinct boundary,
649b 5-15cm
201
brown to light olive brown (10YR 5/3 - 2.5Y 5/4) sandy to silty gravel
202
weakly cohesive
203
rock particles mainly angular, some distinctly stained and partly altered
Yes
a,b
0
5
| Soluble Salt |
| Concentration |
64900001
13.60
18.90
20.30
13.30
11.70
13.40
4.30
4.60
64900002
6.70
13.90
31.70
19.00
11.00
9.10
1.90
6.70
64900001
8.60
0.90
4.05
0.24
0.10
0.12
3.10
0.50
0.14
64900002
7.80
0.76
2.69
0.49
0.24
0.12
2.90
0.40
0.14
64900001
64900002
12-Dec-2005
Page 607 of 896
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