573

Site number:

573

Authors:

IBC, GGGC, MRB

Date recorded:

1990/01/21

Reason Sampled:

Permafrost and soil moisture investigations

Description:

About 50m from the western side of the old runway, towards the northern end, adjacent to a scraped surface and about 10m S of site 571; the surface is disturbed; the surface is marked by patchy distributions on surface salt precipitations and was sampled to compare soil moisture contents at a dry and a moist 'slick spot' site; 572 is a dry site

Altitude:

75 m

Aspect:

Nil

Slope:

0 °

Climate

Soil climate zone:

Coastal Antarctic

Estimated mean annual temperature:

-18 °C

Frozen ground depth:

0 cm

Frozen type:

Frozen comment:

Geology

Geological setting:

The land surface is a gently undulating till plain formed by retreat of the Wilson Piedmont Glacier; The Marble Point region is an old landscape, as evidenced by deposits of phillipsite, buried soils and oxidised gneiss, which have been covered by advances of the grounded Ross Ice Shelf; later ice retreat and glaciological features have been controlled by changes in the stranded Wilson Piedmont Glacier; the till mantle is patchy and dominated largely by locally occurring rocks; surface salt precipitations are probably a result of ground disturbance, permafrost retreat and salt release

Patterned ground:

Nil

Surface weathering or surface features:

Patchy moist surface spots in association with dry salty patches

Soil

Soil parent material:

Moist sandy gravel 'slick spot'

Previous disturbance:

Some shallow ground scraping

Soil weathering stage:

1 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)

Soil moisture status:

Oceanic subxerous, moist surface horizons

Biological activity:

Nil observed at site