On the south side of the Hatherton Glacier in the Britannia Range; a slight hollow in a saddle on the ridge to the northeast of Derrick Peak
Altitude:
1800 m
Aspect:
N
Slope:
4 °
Location Data
Observer
IBC
GGC
GPS
No
Latitude Longitude DMS
80° 4.5' S 156° 21' E
80° 4.5' S 156° 21' E
Latitude Longitude DD
-80.075 156.350
-80.075 156.350
Latitude longitude precision DD
0.004 0.008
0.004 0.008
Locality
Hatherton Glacier, Britannia Range, Transantarctic Mountains
Survey
United States Geological Survey 1966; 1:250,000 Mount Olympus, Antarctica
Climate
Soil climate zone:
Inland Mountain
Estimated mean annual temperature:
-35
°C
Frozen ground depth:
75 > cm
Frozen type:
Dry frozen
Frozen comment:
>75cm
Geology
Geological setting:
Ferrar Dolerite caps the ridges and forms a prominent escarpment marking the edge of the Polar Plateau; a former more extensive Polar Ice Sheet would have extended in icefalls over the escarpment; the surfaces and the soils around the edge of the escarpment at Derrick Peak provide an indication of when the Polar Ice Sheet last extended across the escarpment and into the valleys of the Hatherton Glacier; till at this site includes some sandstone
Patterned ground:
Very weakly developed
Surface weathering or surface features:
Coarse grained dolerite boulders well rounded and upstanding to 40cm; some cavernously weathered; staining is strong with active surface and weathering rhind exfoliation; fine grained rocks strongly stained and pitted; sandstone clasts stained and case hardened; some moderately developed ventiforms; salts beneath a few surface stones; a strongly developed pavement
Soil
Soil parent material:
Stony till predominantly from dolerite but with some sandstone
Extensive snow cover but no thaw observed or soil moistening
Biological activity:
Nil observed
Profile Description
Horizon
Depth
Description
448a
-2
–
0
cm
surface small cobbles, pebbles and granular sand; rock particles strongly stained and many pitted; some particles with red (2.5Y 4/8) amorphous intergranular fillings; salts beneath stones,
448b
0
–
8
cm
brown (7.5YR 5/4) sandy granular gravel; loose; rock particles subangular, moderately stained and moderately altered; sharp boundary,
448c
8
–
15
cm
strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy gravel; firmly cohesive; abundant diffuse salts forming a continuous horizon; larger rock particles angular and unstained but partly crumbly; smaller particles subangular, moderately stained and partly altered; indistinct boundary,
448d
15
–
30
cm
strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy cobbly to bouldery gravel; moderately to strongly cohesive; scattered salt flecks; larger rock particles angular and unstained; smaller particles subangular to subrounded, weakly stained and weakly altered; indistinct boundary,
448e
30
–
62
cm
strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy bouldery gravel; loose to weakly cohesive; salt precipitations on a few rock faces; larger rock particles angular to subangular and unstained but smaller particles subrounded; indistinct boundary,
448f
62
–
75
cm
strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) bouldery sandy gravel; loose; pulverulent