Browse Data | 1972 - Wright Valley / Taylor Dry Valley

Site Information

Site number:
324
Authors:
IBC, GGC
Date recorded:
1972/11/23
Reason Sampled:
Soil weathering examination
Description:
Near a dolerite knoll, about 1km W of the Rhone Glacier and 4.5km S of Taylor Glacier; a residual well weathered dolerite surface with scattered rounded bedrock outcrops separated by small flattish surfaces in between; this site is 20m from site 323 and from a rock cleft with more strongly weathered soil
Altitude:
1550 m
Aspect:
Nil
Slope:
0 °
Location Data
Observer IBC GGC
GPS No
Latitude Longitude DMS 77° 41.5' S 162° 1.9' E 77° 41.5' S 162° 08' E
Latitude Longitude DD -77.692 162.0320 -77.692 162.133
Latitude longitude precision DD 0.004 0.0008 0.004 0.008
Locality Taylor Dry Valley, McMurdo Dry Valley region, Rhone Glacier
Survey USGS 1:50,000 Antarctic Topo. Ser. Lake Bonney Quadrangle

Climate

Soil climate zone:
Inland Mountain
Estimated mean annual temperature:
-27 °C
Frozen ground depth:
25 > cm
Frozen type:
Dry frozen
Frozen comment:
>25cm

Geology

Geological setting:
Higher altitude surfaces west of the Rhone Glacier are very old and show strong weathering; bedrock ventiforms are present with exfoliation and wind removal of up to 1m of bedrock; erratics are absent indicating there has been no ice cover for a long time; patches of more strongly weathered soil are preserved in clefts between bedrock
Patterned ground:
Nil
Surface weathering or surface features:
Surface dolerite boulders are well rounded and fine textured dolerite is distinctly pitted; coarse dolerite shows, surface exfoliation; distinct surface staining

Soil

Soil parent material:
Weathering dolerite bedrock; soil from in a rock cleft
Previous disturbance:
Nil
Soil weathering stage:
6 5 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)
Soil moisture status:
Dry soil but some snow patches nearby; soil is probably moistened occasionally
Biological activity:
Nil observed
Profile Description
HorizonDepthDescription
324a 0 – 10 cm brown to dark brown yellowish red (7.5YR4/4 - 5YR 4/6) sandy to silty gravel; moderately cohesive; few diffuse salts; fine particles subangular to subrounded, strongly stained and moderately to strongly altered; some clasts disaggregating; bedrock angular and moderately stained; indistinct boundary,
324b 10 – 20 cm strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy to silty gravel; moderately cohesive; abundant salts; rock particles angular and non to moderately stained; some particles disaggregating, sharp boundary, on fractured bedrock

Sample Data

Physical Data
Sample nameDepth descriptionTop (cm)Base (cm)Bulk DensityDry Bulk DensityGravimetric MoistureVol. Moisture (BD=2)
324a 0-10cm 0.0 10.0 No
324b 10-20cm 10.0 20.0 No
Sample solution chemistry
Sample namepHNa meq/100gCa meq/100gMg meq/100gK meq/100gCl meq/100gSO4 meq/100gNO3 meq/100gEC mmho/cmSoluble SaltNotes
324a 7.6 23.2 5.8 5.2 0.1 18.2 10.4 5.5 5.9 .  
324b 7.6 39.0 18.5 18.5 0.3 53.0 7.3 11.3 13.0 .  
Particle size distribution
Sample name< 2 mm2 - 0.5 mm0.5 - 0.25 mm0.25 - 0.1 mm0.1 - 0.05 mm0.05 - 0.02 mm0.02 - 0.002 mm< 0.002 mmFe2O3CaCO3Notes
324a 42.1 21.3 14.0 3.1 4.2 3.9 10.9 0.27 .
324b 17.4 11.7 14.1 6.7 10.3 10.6 28.6 0.42 .
Clay Mineralogy
Sample nameMicaIHMHIV - IHMICHLVTHIVCHLSMCHL SMFE - CHLHTQTZFLDHBCALNotes
324a 60.0 . . . 10.0 . . 20.0 . 5.0 . . . . :
324b 60.0 . . . 15.0 . . 20.0 . 5.0 . . . . :
National Soil Archive Samples
Sample nameNSA Sample IdContainer typeFraction type
324a M22/1764 White lid small coarse
324a M22/7253 Glass vial metal lid
324b M22/1765 medium coarse
324b M22/1766 medium fine
324b M22/7254 Glass vial metal lid

Photos

Photo record:
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