Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
799000
799
10-Jan-1995
IBC, GGC
Coombs Hills, northern Dry Valley region and to the north of Mt Brooke
Permafrost and soil moisture investigations
not recorded
Lscp & CS Profile
No
159.9680
-76.8050
76deg 48.3'S
-159deg -58.1'E
Approximately 2.4km NE of Mt Brooke on the eastern side of a valley on a broad ridge within the valley, about 200m above the valley floor; near a broad snow filled basis
4
W
2,200
cf. Notes for GEOLAND below
Xerous; several snowfalls but little thawing or soil moistening; a snow basin is located some |
30m away |
-32
Central Mountain
Dominantly dolerite till, on ice-cemented ground near the surface, but with the fine fraction from the more erodible haloclastite; shallow till cover over ice-cemented ground
nil observed at site
indistinct and weakly developed
SURFACE WEATHERING or |
SURFACE FEATURES |
Doleritic clasts are subrounded and weakly ventiform; some deep fine pitting on larger boulders; surface polish well developed; well developed pavement of |
granules, pebbles and cobbles; exfoliation or cavernous weathering is absent |
nil
799a 2-0cm
101
surface pebbles, cobbles and occasional boulders
102
well developed pavement
103
rock particles subrounded and non to strongly stained
104
salt accumulations beneath some stones,
799b 0-10cm
201
strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) sandy gravel
202
loose
203
rock particles subrounded and partly stained and altered
204
sharp boundary,
799c 10-27cm
301
pale yellow (dry 2.5Y 7/4) gravel (drill core)
302
hard ice- cemented ground
303
rock particles subangular and unstained with some partly altered,
799d 27-33cm
401
pale yellow (dry 2.5Y 7/4) ice-cemented gravel (drill core)
402
rock particles subangular and unstained,
799e 33-50cm
501
pale yellow (dry 2.5Y 7/4) ice-cemented gravel (drill core)
502
rock particles subangular and unstained
503
some salt accumulations in the oven-dried sample,
799f 50-61cm
601
pale yellow (dry 2.5Y 7/4) ice-cemented gravel (drill core)
602
rock particles subangular and unstained
603
some salt accumulations in the oven-dried sample,
799g 61-72cm
701
pale yellow (dry 2.5Y 7/4) ice-cemented gravel (drill core)
702
rock particles subangular and unstained
703
some salt accumulations in the oven-dried sample,
799h 72-80cm
801
pale yellow (dry 2.5Y 7/4) ice-cemented gravel (drill core)
802
rock particles subangular and unstained,
799i 80-90cm
901
pale yellow (dry 2.5Y 7/4) ice-cemented gravel (drill core)
902
rock particles subangular and unstained,
799j 90-104cm
1001
pale yellow (dry 2.5Y 7/4) ice-cemented gravel (drill core)
1002
rock particles subangular and unstained
yes
hard ice-cemented
0
4
(ice cement at 10cm)
Geoland
Rocks of the area are dominantly dolerite/volcanic (doleritic but dark coloured, fine grained and with a somewhat vesicular form compared with usual dolerite) |
and softer haloclastite", (earlier described as tillite); the haloclastite contains basement rocks, dolerite and sandstone clasts with sedimentary structures in places; |
it is softer and more erodible than the dolerite; the till cover across the area is quite variable and is generally thinner towards Mt Brooke and towards the higher |
ridges; the till mantle has an undulating surface across the landscape with a mega-ripple appearance which may relate to the manner in which the ice sheets have |
retreated and ablated, rather than to subsequent landscape modification by wind",, |
Soluble Salt |
Concentration |
79900001
799a
2-0cm
-2
0
5.05
0.58
none
79900002
799b
0-10cm
0
10
1.55
47.39
2.77
none
79900003
799c
10-27cm
10
27
69.19
25.45
none
79900004
799d
27-33cm
27
33
74.40
27.74
none
79900005
799e
33-50cm
33
50
62.62
21.56
none
79900006
799f
50-61cm
50
61
55.10
20.78
none
79900007
799g
61-72cm
61
72
63.63
21.81
none
79900008
799h
72-80cm
72
80
40.87
12.02
none
79900009
799i
80-90cm
80
90
43.66
18.10
none
79900010
799j
90-104cm
90
104
54.78
19.26
none
79900001
5.00
0.58
79900002
47.40
2.77
79900003
69.20
25.45
79900004
74.40
27.74
79900005
62.60
21.56
79900006
55.10
20.78
79900007
63.60
21.81
79900008
40.90
12.02
79900009
43.70
18.10
79900010
54.80
19.26
79900001
79900002
79900003
79900004
79900005
79900006
79900007
79900008
79900009
79900010
79900001
79900002
79900003
79900004
79900005
79900006
79900007
79900008
79900009
79900010
12-Dec-2005
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