428

Site number:

428

Authors:

IBC, GGC

Date recorded:

1978/11/15

Reason Sampled:

Soil weathering examination

Description:

Near an un-named peak to the SE of Turnstile Ridge at the head of the Hatherton Glacier (Pk 2421); a high dolerite remnant plateau surface approximately 400m above the edge of the Polar Plateau ice; the site is near the top of Pk 2421 in a broad depression where a till deposit is present; much of the plateau surface is devoid of till and has dolerite bedrock outcropping

Altitude:

2375 m

Aspect:

Nil

Slope:

0 °

Climate

Soil climate zone:

Inland Mountain

Estimated mean annual temperature:

-40 °C

Frozen ground depth:

90 > cm

Frozen type:

Dry-frozen over bedrock

Frozen comment:

>90cm

Geology

Geological setting:

Ferrar Dolerite outcrops on the high surfaces; this site being 400m above the Polar Plateau ice is probably an old surface that has remained unglaciated for a long period; the site forms part of an escarpment which drops 800m to the NE to the Hatherton Glacier; the landforms are probably part of ancient land surface

Patterned ground:

Nil; the soil site may be an ancient patterned ground crack

Surface weathering or surface features:

A well developed cobble pavement surface of dolerite clasts; most surface clasts subrounded to rounded; moderate to strong surface staining and reddening; weak ventiforms; non pitted; some exfoliation into smaller angular fragments

Soil

Soil parent material:

Weathered dolerite drift from local bedrock over old doleritic till

Previous disturbance:

Nil

Soil weathering stage:

6 5/6 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)

Soil moisture status:

Small patches of snow but no thaw or soil moistening

Biological activity:

Nil observed