Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
811000
811
25-Jan-1995
IBC, GGGC
Marble Point, western McMurdo Sound
Soil temperature recording site; continuous 2 year record at 6 depths; site sampled for soil moisture at the |
time of recovery of the recording equipment |
US Geological Survey Antarctica Topo Ser 1:50,000; Marble Point, Antarctica
Yes
Yes
166.6710
-77.4155
77deg 24.93'S
-166deg -40.26'E
cf. Notes for DESCR below
3
SW
75
cf. Notes for GEOLAND below
(3o)
0
0.0
The site is presently dry with no adjacent snow
-18
Coastal Antarctic
till with 70-80% coarse material from predominantly granitic rocks
Mosses in moist hollows and incipient water channels; cyanobacteria in ponded areas; nil observed at the site
Weakly developed 12-15m nets with 10cm troughs; cracks are open
SURFACE WEATHERING or |
SURFACE FEATURES |
Coarse clasts angular but with slight abrasion; coarse grained granite and marble are crumbly; some basement rocks with distinct surface oxidation
Extensive mechanical and human activity in the region since the mid-1950's; the site was disturbed in 1991 when soil temperature recording began
811a 3-0cm
101
surface granular to bouldery gravel
102
angular and dominantly unstained
103
some light grey (2.5Y 7/2) carbonate coatings,
811b 0-3cm
201
pale olive (5Y 6/3) sandy pebble and cobble gravel
202
loose
203
rock particles angular and unstained but some with light pre-oxidation
204
distinct boundary,
811c 3-15cm
301
pale olive (5Y 6/3) sandy pebble and cobble gravel
302
loose
303
a few carbonate coatings and some silt coatings
304
rock particles angular and unstained
305
indistinct boundary,
811d 15-35cm
401
pale olive (5Y 6/3) cobbly gravel
402
weakly cohesive
403
some silt coatings
404
rock particles angular to subangular and unstained
405
distinct boundary,
811e 35-50cm
501
pale olive (5Y 6/3) bouldery gravel
502
weakly cohesive
503
some silt coatings
504
rock particles angular and unstained
505
sharp boundary
506
811f 50-65cm
601
pale olive (5Y 6/3) bouldery gravel
602
weakly cohesive
603
rock particles angular and unstained, sharp boundary, on ice-cemented ground
Yes
a,b
Hard ice-cemented
65
1
Descr
Approximately 4.2km NW of Marble Point peninsula and approximately 300m W of the Marble Point Air Facility; about 400m from the Wilson Piedmont |
Glacier; a slightly hummocky moraine surface with low knolls up to about 2m high; the site is on a gentle slope below the crest of the knoll |
Geoland
The surface is a gently undulating till plain formed by retreat of the Wilson Piedmont Glacier; the Marble Point region is an old landscape, with deposits of |
phillipsite, buried soils and oxidised gneiss, which have been covered by advances of the grounded Ross Ice Shelf; later ice retreat and glaciological features |
have been controlled by changes in the stranded Wilson Piedmont Glacier; the till mantle is patchy and dominated largely by locally occurring rocks; |
granodiorite, granite, marble, gneiss, and dolerite are the main rock types present |
Soluble Salt |
Concentration |
81100001
68.50
4.24
81100002
39.20
3.10
81100003
41.40
3.34
81100004
38.60
3.92
81100005
6.80
4.55
81100006
48.80
6.34
81100001
81100002
81100003
81100004
81100005
81100006
81100001
81100002
81100003
81100004
81100005
81100006
12-Dec-2005
Page 788 of 896
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