373

Site number:

373

Authors:

IBC, GGC

Date recorded:

1972/12/18

Reason Sampled:

Soil biological examination

Description:

Near the crater rim at the summit of Mt Erebus on the West side; a patch of warm ground with a salty surface

Altitude:

3750 m

Aspect:

W

Slope:

12 °

Climate

Soil climate zone:

Coastal Mountain

Estimated mean annual temperature:

-40 °C

Frozen ground depth:

0 cm

Frozen type:

Thermally heated ground

Frozen comment:

Geology

Geological setting:

Mt Erebus is an active volcano with a lava crater which periodically has mild eruptions; the volcano has a distinctive petrology with kenyite, an olivine bearing phonolite with large phenocrysts; thermally heated ground is common on the upper slopes and possibly provides a habitat for some soil biological species

Patterned ground:

Nil

Surface weathering or surface features:

Soil is unweathered; the colour of the volcanic material varies from black to red

Soil

Soil parent material:

Kenyite volcanic ejecta, ash and rock

Previous disturbance:

Nil

Soil weathering stage:

6 1 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)

Soil moisture status:

Moist soil, many adjacent snow patches

Biological activity:

Nil observed; results of biological examination not reported