659

Site number:

659

Authors:

IBC, GGC, MRB

Date recorded:

1991/12/13

Reason Sampled:

Leaching experiment using lithium chloride tracer to determine rate of leaching; a wet site compared with a dry site

Description:

Approximately 350m northwest of the western end of Scott Base in the floor of a shallow gully; 20m NW of site 657 and approximately 3-4m lower in altitude; about 50m N of the Scott base to McMurdo Station walking track; at this site, 4 contiguous 1m X 1m plots were set out and 3 irrigated with LiCl, the 4th (northernmost) with H2O; this was the second plot resampling series; the site is 2.7m below the application plot

Altitude:

50 m

Aspect:

E

Slope:

3 °

Climate

Soil climate zone:

Coastal Antarctic

Estimated mean annual temperature:

-18 °C

Frozen ground depth:

20 cm

Frozen type:

Hard ice-cemented

Frozen comment:

20cm

Geology

Geological setting:

Rocks are predominantly scoria flows of the McMurdo Volcanics; Last Glaciation Ross 1 ice covered the site and traces of rocks (sandstone and granite granules and small pebbles) probably from the Royal Society Range can be found; the drift mantle is thin and patchy with bedrock a little below the surface

Patterned ground:

Weakly developed frost heave polygons

Surface weathering or surface features:

Scattered basaltic boulders; unweathered

Soil

Soil parent material:

Bouldery till and slope detritus with minor accessions of sedimentary and granitic rocks

Previous disturbance:

Probably some occasional treading

Soil weathering stage:

1 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)

Soil moisture status:

Oceanic subxerous; a wet site; surface water from recent snow thaw

Biological activity:

Nil at site; some yellow lichen and moss in the vicinity