assessment of environmental impacts from past human activities at Vanda Station; sampled to give indications of the extent of fuel contamination present
Description:
6.2m due northeast of the doorway of the Vanda Station Mess hut, and 4m from the diesel storage tank, in the yard area between the station building
Altitude:
96 m
Aspect:
NE
Slope:
2 °
Location Data
Observer
IBC
GGC
GPS
No
Latitude Longitude DMS
77° 31.64' S 161° 40.26' E
77° 0.0' S 161° 40.0' E
Latitude Longitude DD
-77.52730 161.67100
-77.000 161.667
Latitude longitude precision DD
0.00008 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 cobbles, pebbles and loose sand
Soil
Soil parent material:
fractured granodiorite partly covered and infiltrated with aeolian sand; a range of foreign material is present
Previous disturbance:
the ground surface has been heavily disturbed by vehicle and foot traffic and also some excavation for cable laying; some leekage of fuel from the nearby fuel tank has occured