assessment of environmental impacts from past human activities at Vanda Station; sampled to determine the extent of urine contamination in soils around Vanda Station
Description:
4m directly opposite and to the northwest of the Vanda Station Mess hut; on the upper part of the sloping surface between the hut and Lake Vanda below
Altitude:
95 m
Aspect:
NW
Slope:
70 °
Location Data
Observer
IBC
GGC
GPS
No
Latitude Longitude DMS
77° 31.6' S 161° 40.14' E
77° 0.0' S 161° 40.0' E
Latitude Longitude DD
-77.5267 161.66900
-77.000 161.667
Latitude longitude precision DD
0.0008 0.00008
0.008 0.008
Locality
Vanda Station, Wright Valley at the eastern end of Lake Vanda
Survey
not recorded
Climate
Soil climate zone:
central mountain
Estimated mean annual temperature:
-20
°C
Frozen ground depth:
35 ~
Frozen type:
ice-cemented
Frozen comment:
~35
Geology
Geological setting:
the rocks of the area are granodiorites that have been cut with lamprophyre dykes and form a strongly undulating ridge and gully topography as a result of ice over riding from down-valley and up-valley glaciations and to a lesser extent, subaerial weathering; subsequent to glaciation, the terrain has been subjected to drowning and emergence from fluctuating lake levels from Lake Vanda with some sorting or resorting of surficial materials
Patterned ground:
Surface weathering or surface features:
surface cover is angular granodiorite boulders and loose sand
Soil
Soil parent material:
fractured granodiorite partly covered and infiltrated with aeolian sand; a wide range of foreign material is present (fibres, pine needles, asbestos, metals, vermiculite, wood fragments etc.)
Previous disturbance:
heavily disturbed from waste disposal and domestic and construction activities