Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
777000
777
21-Jan-1994
IBC,GGC,MRB,DIC
Beacon Heights, on the south side of Upper Taylor Glacier between East and West Beacon
| Permafrost sampled for Dr Friedman to investigate whether endolithic life forms might be present and if so, |
| whether they might still be viable |
not recorded
CS Pro & Lscp
No
160.8300
-77.8283
77deg 49.7'S
-160deg -49.8'E
cf. Notes for DESCR below
0
-
1,775
cf. Notes for GEOLAND below
| Xerous; some snow falls in winter and summer months but most is lost through ablation or by |
| blowing away; a light fall of snow covering the ground at the time of description |
-30
Central Mountain
Bouldery to cobbly gravelly sand derived from sandstone and dolerite; some finer patches of strongly oxidised material in the profile
Endolithic life forms present on nearby sandstone boulders/outcrops
Moderately developed polygons
| SURFACE WEATHERING or |
| SURFACE FEATURES |
| A dominantly bouldery surface with dark brown stained, polished and pitted dolerite rocks indicating considerable surface age; Beacon Sandstone clasts |
| have strong surface staining with patchy exfoliation on their surfaces |
Nil
777a 3-0cm
101
surface sandstone and dolerite boulders, cobbles and pebbles
102
strongly stained
103
dolerite mainly subrounded and sandstone subangular,
777b 0-5cm
201
brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) sandy cobble and pebble gravel
202
loose
203
a few fine salt flecks
204
rock particles subrounded to subangular and moderately stained
205
some ghosts mainly of crumbled sandstone
206
distinct boundary,
777c 5-12cm
301
brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) sandy cobble and pebble gravel
302
loose
303
| rock particles subangular and weakly to moderately stained but some sandstone and dolerite boulders completely |
| crumbled forming ghosts |
304
indistinct boundary,
777d 12-20cm
401
brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) sandy cobble and pebble gravel
402
loose
403
rock particles subangular and weakly to moderately stained
404
some sandstone and dolerite clasts forming ghosts
405
sharp boundary
406
drill core samples in ice-cemented ground
777e 13-23cm
501
777f 23-30cm
601
777g 30-36cm
701
777h 36-?
801
sample deep drilled but unable to be held in the tube
hard ice-cemented
18
5
(13~23)
Descr
| Approximately 1.2km southeast of West Beacon and 1.4km northeast of East Beacon towards the south end of un-named valley between East and West Beacon; |
| an undulating bouldery moraine surface, the sample site being within 3m of a 1.5m high sandstone boulder or outcrop; the sandstone has a well oxidised surface |
| with endolithic algae present |
Geoland
| Local outcropping rocks are Ferrar Dolerite and Beacon Sandstone; the till at this site is similar to most of the valley floor tills being dominated by dolerite and |
| sandstone; some foreign rocks, possibly crystalline basement, are present in the valley tills indicating a till source from outside the valley; multiple glaciations |
| are likely to have occurred and the surface may have been over ridden by ice leaving very thin or negligible till behind |
| Soluble Salt |
| Concentration |
77700001
777a
3-0cm
-3
0
none
77700002
777b
0-5cm
0
5
none
77700003
777c
5-12cm
5
12
none
77700004
777d
12-20cm
12
20
none
77700005
777e
13-23cm
13
23
none
77700006
777f
23-30cm
23
30
none
77700007
777g
30-36cm
30
36
none
77700008
777h
36-?
36
99999
none
77700001
77700002
77700003
77700004
77700005
77700006
77700007
77700008
77700001
77700002
77700003
77700004
77700005
77700006
77700007
77700008
77700001
77700002
77700003
77700004
77700005
77700006
77700007
77700008
12-Dec-2005
Page 754 of 896
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