Browse Data | 1988 - Convoy Range/Taylor Valley/Royal soc. Range

Site Information

Site number:
544
Authors:
IBC, GGC
Date recorded:
1988/01/14
Reason Sampled:
Soil weathering examination
Description:
New Valley, approximately 3km south of Taylor Glacier and 1.5km west of New Mountain; a narrow high altitude valley on a gently sloping valley floor
Altitude:
1800 m
Aspect:
WNW
Slope:
2 °
Location Data
Observer IBC GGC
GPS No
Latitude Longitude DMS 77° 51.4' S 161° 4.1' E 77° 51.2' S 161° 04' E
Latitude Longitude DD -77.8567 161.0680 -77.8533 161.067
Latitude longitude precision DD 0.0008 0.0008 0.0008 0.008
Locality Taylor Valley region, Transantarctic Mountains
Survey Ross Island & Vicinity, Antarctica, 1:250 000 US Geological Survey, 1986

Climate

Soil climate zone:
Central Mountain
Estimated mean annual temperature:
-30 °C
Frozen ground depth:
95 > cm
Frozen type:
Dry frozen
Frozen comment:
>95cm

Geology

Geological setting:
Local rocks are Beacon Sandstone and Ferrar Dolerite; the till in the valley floor is probably local valley drift; the deposits may being at a higher elevation than the lower part on New Valley may be appreciably older
Patterned ground:
Nil
Surface weathering or surface features:
A well developed pebble and cobble pavement with no upstanding boulders; well developed ventiforms; strong staining on dolerite and sandstone clasts; well rounded and some distinct pitting

Soil

Soil parent material:
Dolerite and sandstone till
Previous disturbance:
Nil
Soil weathering stage:
6 4/5 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)
Soil moisture status:
Xerous to subxerous; occasional light summer snow falls with brief surface soil moistening; some small snow patches nearby
Biological activity:
Nil at site
Profile Description
HorizonDepthDescription
544a -4 – 0 cm surface cobble pavement; clasts subrounded, very strongly stained and polished; some clasts strongly disaggregating; some smaller particles strongly altered with red (2.5Y 4/8) amorphous intergranular fillings,
544b 0 – 3 cm strong brown to dark brown (7.5YR 4/4 - 5/4) sandy gravel; diffuse salts; weakly cohesive; moderately developed vesicular structure; some thin vertical sand wedges penetrating to 14cm; rock particles subrounded and moderately to strongly stained with some partly altered; distinct boundary,
544c 3 – 9 cm strong brown to yellowish red (7.5YR 5/6 - 5YR 5/6) sandy gravel; cohesive; diffuse salts and some concentrations around stones; some ghosts; larger rock particles subangular and weakly to moderately stained; smaller particles strongly stained with some partly altered; diffuse boundary,
544d 9 – 15 cm dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4 moist - strongly hygroscopic) sandy gravel; moderately cohesive; salt cemented; irregular boundary,
544e 15 – 20 cm yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sandy to silty gravel with strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) oxidised patches around larger clasts; moderately cohesive; rock particles subangular and moderately stained with some particles distinctly altered; distinct wavy boundary,
544f 20 – 60 cm yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sandy bouldery gravel; weakly cohesive; a few scattered salt accumulations around stones; rock particles mainly subangular and non to weakly stained; indistinct boundary,
544g 60 – 95 cm brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sandy bouldery gravel; loose; rock particles subangular and unstained

Sample Data

Physical Data
Sample nameDepth descriptionTop (cm)Base (cm)Bulk DensityDry Bulk DensityGravimetric MoistureVol. Moisture (BD=2)
544a 4-0cm -4.0 0.0 No
544b 0-3cm 0.0 3.0 No
544c 3-9cm 3.0 9.0 No
544d 9-15cm 9.0 15.0 No
544e 15-20cm 15.0 20.0 No
544f 20-60cm 20.0 60.0 No
544g 60-95cm 60.0 95.0 No
Sample solution chemistry
Sample namepHNa meq/100gCa meq/100gMg meq/100gK meq/100gCl meq/100gSO4 meq/100gNO3 meq/100gEC mmho/cmSoluble SaltNotes
544a                      
544b 6.5 9.7 38.0 10.5 2.1 0.4 14.0 0.2 0.44 .  
544c 7.48 43.0 34.0 63.5 2.6 3.8 27.0 3.9 5.5 .  
544d 7.74 430.0 50.0 500.0 9.5 5.2 160.0 107.0 32.0 .  
544e 7.87 250.0 45.0 120.0 9.0 5.3 40.0 71.0 18.0 .  
544e(2) 7.97 44.1 18.0 56.0 3.0 5.9 15.0 9.3 5.4 .  
544f 7.54 24.6 25.0 26.0 2.2 3.0 13.0 5.0 3.2 .  
544g 7.3 17.8 5.0 10.1 1.9 2.6 4.0 1.6 1.5 .  
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
544a
544b 29.5 29.6 20.5 4.6 4.1 8.4 2.2 1.2 .
544c 23.0 33.8 23.9 4.5 4.3 6.3 2.9 1.3 .
544d 37.8 28.6 15.9 3.6 3.2 5.0 4.7 1.2 .
544e 25.4 33.8 22.4 3.9 3.4 6.9 3.5 0.7 .
544e(2) 31.9 26.6 15.3 3.7 4.9 10.1 6.0 1.5 .
544f 39.1 33.8 17.1 2.6 1.7 2.7 1.9 1.1 .
544g 29.3 25.9 18.4 2.7 3.4 7.0 2.1 1.1 .
Clay Mineralogy
Sample nameMicaIHMHIV - IHMICHLVTHIVCHLSMCHL SMFE - CHLHTQTZFLDHBCALNotes
544a :
544b 54.0 . . . 43.0 . . 3.0 . 5.0 . 5.0 30.0 . :
544c 49.0 . . . 2.0 . . 2.0 . 6.0 . 12.0 27.0 . mica-smectite 2:
544d 48.0 . . . 8.0 . . 15.0 . 7.0 . 7.0 15.0 . :
544e 37.0 . . . 3.0 . . 17.0 . 5.0 . 11.0 18.0 . mica-smectite 10:
544e(2) 31.0 . . . 8.0 . . 18.0 . 5.0 . 14.0 24.0 . :
544f :
544g :
National Soil Archive Samples
Sample nameNSA Sample IdContainer typeFraction type
544a M22/4025 large sq coarse
544a M22/7990 Glass vial metal lid
544b M22/4026 White lid small coarse
544b M22/4027 medium fine
544b M22/7991 Glass vial metal lid
544c M22/4028 White lid small coarse
544c M22/4029 medium fine
544c M22/7992 Glass vial metal lid
544d M22/4030 medium coarse
544d M22/4031 medium fine
544d M22/7993 Glass vial metal lid
544e M22/4033 White lid small coarse
544e M22/4034 large sq fine
544e M22/7994 Glass vial metal lid
544f M22/4037 White lid small coarse
544f M22/4038 large sq fine
544f M22/7996 Glass vial metal lid
544g M22/4039 White lid small coarse
544g M22/4040 large sq fine
544g M22/7998 Glass vial metal lid

Photos

Photo record:
Loading...