702

Site number:

702

Authors:

IBC, GGC

Date recorded:

1993/12/30

Reason Sampled:

assessment of environmental impacts from past human activities at Vanda Station; this site was sampled to give an indication of possible contamination seepages from the greywater gully disposal area into the lake

Description:

60m north-northeast of the Vanda Station Mess building and 35m north-northwest of the met screen at the northern end of a narrow shallow gully, 14.5m from the edge of the lake

Altitude:

92 m

Aspect:

NE

Slope:

3 °

Climate

Soil climate zone:

coastal mountain

Estimated mean annual temperature:

-20 °C

Frozen ground depth:

35 ~

Frozen type:

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:

a weakly developed sandy gravel pavement; the site is within the wetting zone associated with capillary moistening from the lake waters

Soil

Soil parent material:

wind and water sorted pebbly sand over granodiorite bedrock

Previous disturbance:

mainly foot traffic disturbance but the site may also be influenced by seepages of greywater contaminants

Soil weathering stage:

6 1 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)

Soil moisture status:

subxerous; the soil is being influenced by rising lake waters and the site was moist as a result of capillary water movement from Lake Vanda

Biological activity: