Ross Sea Region Soil Sites
857000
857
2-Dec-1999
IBC
Near Lake Hoare, Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valley region, Transantarctic Mountains
cf. Notes for REASON below
Lake Bonney Quadrangle, Antarctic 1:50,000 Topographic Series, USGS 1975
CS Pro & Lscp
Yes
162.8820
-77.6332
77deg 37.99'S
-162deg -52.92'E
cf. Notes for DESCR below
2
N
90
cf. Notes for GEOLAND below
Xerous to subxerous; a moist site adjacent to retreating snow edge
-20
Coastal mountain;
Predominantly granite/gneiss/schist sandy gravel with minor amounts of dolerite, volcanic (scoria), sandstone and marble
Nil observed at site, nematodes present in adjacent soil; some green algae beneath marble clasts in the general area
Weakly developed 15m net with 30cm trough width, 10cm deep
SURFACE WEATHERING or |
SURFACE FEATURES |
A pebble pavement surface with few weathering features
Site probably disturbed by foot traffic activity during biological research activities near the site
857a 0-2cm
101
light olive grey to pale olive (5Y 6/2 - 6/3) pebbly sandy gravel
102
loose to weakly cohesive
103
moist
104
rock particles subangular to subrounded
105
some carbonate coatings
106
diffuse boundary,
857b 2-5cm
201
light olive grey to pale olive (5Y 6/2 - 6/3) pebbly sandy gravel
202
loose to weakly cohesive
203
moist
204
rock particles subangular to subrounded
205
some carbonate coatings
206
diffuse boundary
No
Nd
0
1
(Nd)
Reason
Long Term Ecological Research (nematode experimental area) site investigation of soil properties; this site (LTER 4) was selected for repeat sampling to |
measure changes in soil moisture adjacent to a retreating snow bank; the snow edge on day 3 had retreated 5 cm from its position at the time of the first sampling |
Descr
North side of the LTM Datalogger plot, approximately 100m south of Lake Hoare, on the lower slope of a shallow gully which forms part of an undulating ridge |
and gully/basin topography; the site is a fine gravelly toe slope surface and is immediately adjacent to a snow patch which was retreating; this site is |
approximately 25m to the east of LTER 1 |
Geoland
The deposit is unweathered Ross I till, possibly derived from the Canada Glacier but almost certainly with an up-valley influence because of the presence of |
marble clasts from basement rocks; the tills may be fluvio-glacial owing to complex depositional ice-marginal processes as the sand % generally increases |
downwards while there are noticeably more coarse clasts at the surface |
Soluble Salt |
Concentration |
85700001
857a
0-2cm
0
2
1.46
81.00
1.76
5.90
none
85700002
857b
2-5cm
2
5
1.46
76.00
2.44
4.50
none
12-Dec-2005
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