312

Site number:

312

Authors:

IBC, GGC

Date recorded:

1972/11/19

Reason Sampled:

Soil weathering examination

Description:

On the north side of Lake Bonney on the lower valley surface between Matterhorn and La Croix Glaciers on a broad sloping gravelly surface with patches of damp ground surface; approximately .5km from the NE end of Lake Bonney; the soil was sampled at the left side of the exposed pit and soil 313 1m away on the right side where the soil was damp

Altitude:

150 m

Aspect:

SE

Slope:

5 °

Climate

Soil climate zone:

Central Mountain

Estimated mean annual temperature:

-23 °C

Frozen ground depth:

55 cm

Frozen type:

Hard ice-cemented

Frozen comment:

55cm

Geology

Geological setting:

The lower valley sides are covered with tills derived from local granite and dolerite; The valley has a complex history of glacial advances and retreats and probably also fluctuating lake levels; patches of ground with apparently moist soil surfaces suggest the possibility of subsurface moisture flow but there is little evidence for this; the moist patches may relate to salinity differences within the regolith and hygroscopic moistening of salty soils

Patterned ground:

Nil

Surface weathering or surface features:

Scattered upstanding dolerite boulders, rounded to subrounded, some partly fragmented, non to weakly stained; weakly to moderately developed pebble pavement; granite boulders exfoliating and crumbling; a weakly developed cobble pavement

Soil

Soil parent material:

Sandy to silty gravelly till

Previous disturbance:

Nil

Soil weathering stage:

6 2 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)

Soil moisture status:

Surface dry with damp patches; dampness may be influenced by soil salinity

Biological activity:

Nil observed