Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
778000
778
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
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
778 NoDsc
101
hard ice-cemented
0
5
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; this site is at the same location as site 777 |
but is 2m away and in a patterned ground crack; if there has been ongoing accumulation of weathering material in the polygon crack, a stronger possibility exists |
for the preservation of endolithic algae |
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 |
77800001
77800001
77800001
12-Dec-2005
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