288

Site number:

288

Authors:

IBC, GGC

Date recorded:

1970/01/10

Reason Sampled:

Biological sample

Description:

Older moraine deposits near glacier ice

Altitude:

270 m

Aspect:

Nil

Slope:

0 °

Climate

Soil climate zone:

Coastal Mountain

Estimated mean annual temperature:

-20 °C

Frozen ground depth:

0 cm

Frozen type:

Frozen comment:

Geology

Geological setting:

Rocks of this area include granites and a series of metsedimentary rocks; at Mt Rigby the rocks are mainly granites but the landscape has an old appearance on the higher surfaces which have been inundated by later ice advances, most probably from an expanded and grounded; moraine alongside glacial ice is very recent

Patterned ground:

Surface weathering or surface features:

Surface unweathered

Soil

Soil parent material:

Recent glacial moraine

Previous disturbance:

Nil

Soil weathering stage:

6 1 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)

Soil moisture status:

Scattered snow patches; some water in pools adjacent to ice edges; occasional snow thaw patches and moist soils

Biological activity:

Lichens and algae observed; some bacteria recorded in soil samples