466

Site number:

466

Authors:

IBC, GGC

Date recorded:

1979/12/14

Reason Sampled:

Soil weathering examination

Description:

Meyer Hills in the southeast of the Heritage Range, approximately 2km northeast of Beaudoin Peak on the valley floor till; a small hollow which is partly damp; this soil is unusual and appears to result perhaps from a redox reaction

Altitude:

580 m

Aspect:

Nil

Slope:

0 °

Climate

Soil climate zone:

Inland/Coastal Mountain

Estimated mean annual temperature:

-20 °C

Frozen ground depth:

20 > cm

Frozen type:

Frozen comment:

>20cm

Geology

Geological setting:

The Ellsworth Mountains comprise a thick sequence of folded metasedimentary rocks comprising limestones, conglomerates and quartzites dating to Precambrian; the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is believed to have fluctuated greatly in response to global sea level changes and evidence of these fluctuations should be present in the tills and soil weathering record; the Meyer Hills are predominantly quartzitic sandstones

Patterned ground:

Nil

Surface weathering or surface features:

Surface rocks are angular with a very tabular shaly form; there are many thick calcium carbonate coatings; the red subsoil at this site may represent some unusual weathering conditions

Soil

Soil parent material:

Argillitic till

Previous disturbance:

Nil

Soil weathering stage:

6 2 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)

Soil moisture status:

Soil in the lowest horizon is moist; it is likely that the site may have been more moist in the past

Biological activity:

Nil observed