Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
738000
738
6-Jan-1994
IBC, GGC, DS
Pram Point, Scott Base
For determination of sources and levels of soil contaminants around Scott Base
not recorded
Pro CS & Lscp
No
166.7670
-77.8500
77deg 51.0'S
-166deg -46.0'E
SS3 T1; the site is in the floor of a shallow depression or gully which carries a small amount of melt water from an adjacent snow patch; the location is 13.5m west from the SE |
corner of the old Scott Base lab building |
7
E
16
cf. Notes for GEOLAND below
(7o)
Xerous to subxerous; the site is wet and the soil moist throughout due to up slope runoff |
water |
-18
Coastal mountain
Fragmented coarse bouldery volcanic bedrock possibly derived largely as slope drift
Green algae in the runoff water
Patterned ground cracks are 20cm deep and 50cm wide; cracks may be due to frozen ground shrinkage following earlier ground disturbances
SURFACE WEATHERING or |
SURFACE FEATURES |
Unweathered surface with coarse angular fractured scoria flow rock; some scattered surface small salt efflorescences
Probably no previous mechanical disturbance of this site; probably limited human activity being within the geomagnetic area but there may be influences |
from the adjacent building and associated wires etc. |
738a 0-8cm
101
very dark grey to very dark greyish brown (10YR 2/1-2/2) cobble and boulder gravel with little fine fraction
102
moist
103
loose
104
distinct boundary,
738b 8-18cm
201
olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) sandy gravel
202
wet
203
weakly cohesive
204
sharp boundary, on ice-cemented ground.
Yes (IGNS)
Ice-cemented
18
1
Geoland
The materials comprise volcanics of the McMurdo Volcanics Formation mainly as scoriaceous lava flows; the surface materials are a thin cover of mainly |
fractured bedrock with addition of some glacially derived granular and pebble clasts from outside the immediate area; the volcanic bedrock has been |
considerably fractured by patterned ground freeze thaw; the surface age is probably very late Pleistocene (Ross Sea Glaciation) having been modified by |
McMurdo Sound filling glacial ice |
Soluble Salt |
Concentration |
73800001
738a
0-8cm
0
8
none
73800002
738b
8-18cm
8
18
none
73800001
85.00
7.50
73800002
76.00
8.90
73800003
65.00
9.40
73800004
77.00
3.40
73800001
9.50
0.22
73800002
9.40
0.10
73800003
9.40
0.09
73800004
9.20
0.14
73800001
73800002
73800003
73800004
12-Dec-2005
Page 696 of 896
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