575

Site number:

575

Authors:

IBC, GGGC, MRB

Date recorded:

1990/01/22

Reason Sampled:

Permafrost investigations, and environmental impact study; examination of a recent fuel spill

Description:

6m northeast of the southernmost building at the Marble Point air facility, and 4m from the site of a recent spill of DFA; the site was investigated to determine the depth to which the spilt fuel had migrated

Altitude:

75 m

Aspect:

Nil

Slope:

0 °

Climate

Soil climate zone:

Coastal Antarctic

Estimated mean annual temperature:

-18 °C

Frozen ground depth:

90 cm

Frozen type:

ice-cemented

Frozen comment:

90cm

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

Patterned ground:

Nil

Surface weathering or surface features:

N/A; the ground surface is continuously disturbed from logistical activity, no fuel obvious fuel contamination at the surface at this site

Soil

Soil parent material:

Old runway surface construction fill contaminated with recently spilt DFA

Previous disturbance:

Heavily disturbed from 1958 runway and subsequent surface modification and ongoing logistical site activity; adjacent fuel spill has spread across the top of the ice-cemented ground

Soil weathering stage:

6 1 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)

Soil moisture status:

Oceanic subxerous,

Biological activity:

Nil observed at site