Site Information

Site number:
711
Authors:
IBC, GGC
Date recorded:
1993/01/05
Reason Sampled:
Cape Roberts soil examination for the CEE for the proposed McMurdo Sound Stratigraphic Drilling project
Description:
The site is located at the northern end of a gently sloping, fine gravelly area and a little to the north of the site of existing NZAP huts
Altitude:
4 m
Aspect:
S
Slope:
4 °
Location Data
Observer GGC IBC
GPS No
Latitude Longitude DMS 77° 2.14' S 163° 28.3' E 77° 30' S 163° 11' E
Latitude Longitude DD -77.03567 163.4717 -77.50 163.183
Latitude longitude precision DD 0.00008 0.0008 0.08 0.008
Locality Cape Roberts, at the north western end of McMurdo Sound and at the northern end of the Wilson Piedmont Glacier
Survey not recorded

Climate

Soil climate zone:
coastal Antarctic
Estimated mean annual temperature:
-17 °C
Frozen ground depth:
52 cm
Frozen type:
ice-cemented
Frozen comment:
52

Geology

Geological setting:
The rocks of the area are granodiorites that have been largely planed by ice movement then subject to some weathering processes by beach and wave action; isostatic uplift has resulted in beach terracing with the raised beaches comprising mainly coarse boulder gravels; some schist/gneiss and occasional dolerite clasts in the beach gravels are indicative of residual tills; bedrock outcrops widely forming an in situ large bouldery surface; fine gravel deposits occupy a small area only
Patterned ground:
some weak patterned ground formation with shallow ill- defined cracks
Surface weathering or surface features:
bright oxide staining in patches on some surface rocks; some slight exfoliation; clasts mainly rounded to subrounded due to beach abrasion

Soil

Soil parent material:
unweathered sandy gravel beach deposits from dominantly granodiorite and gneissic rocks
Previous disturbance:
the site has been subjected to low levels of disturbance from previous activities at Cape Roberts;
Soil weathering stage:
6 1 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)
Soil moisture status:
oceanic subxerous
Biological activity:
not active at the profile site apart from some slight algal crusting; abundant algal and some moss accumulations in other places where water is abundant; Skuas are abundant and the ground surface has noticable accumulations of guano
Profile Description
HorizonDepthDescription
711a 0 – 1 cm light grey (5Y 7/1) granular to pebbly sand between the surface cobbles; weakly cohesive with a thin crust of strongly smalling guano; rock particles subrounded to subangular and unstained; distinct boundary,
711b 1 – 10 cm light grey (5Y 7/1) cobbly pebbly granular sand; loose; rock particles subrounded to subangular and unstained; distinct boundary,
711c 10 – 20 cm light grey (5Y 7/1) pebbly gravelly sand; loose; rock particles subangular with some moderately stained; diffuse boundary,
711d 20 – 30 cm light grey (5Y 7/1) pebbly cobbly gravelly sand; loose; rock particles subangular and unstained; diffuse boundary,
711e 30 – 52 cm light grey (5Y 7/1) pebbly to cobbly gravelly sand; moist; slightly cohesive; rock particles subangular and unstained; sharp boundary,
711f 52 – 60 cm light grey (5Y 7/1) pebbly to cobbly gravelly sand; very hard and ice cemented; rock oparticles subangular.

Sample Data

Physical Data
Sample nameDepth descriptionTop (cm)Base (cm)Bulk DensityDry Bulk DensityGravimetric MoistureVol. Moisture (BD=2)
711a 0-1 0 1 0.9
711b 1-10 1 10 1.0
711c 10-20 10 20 1.3
711d 20-30 20 30 Yes
711e 30-52 30 52 1.3
711f 52-60 52 60 4.4
Particle size distribution
Sample name< 2 mm2 - 0.5 mm0.5 - 0.25 mm0.25 - 0.1 mm0.1 - 0.05 mm0.05 - 0.02 mm0.02 - 0.002 mm< 0.002 mmFe2O3CaCO3Notes
711a 0.9
711b 1.0
711c 1.3
711d 1.5
711e 1.3
711f 4.4
Clay Mineralogy
Sample nameMicaIHMHIV - IHMICHLVTHIVCHLSMCHL SMFE - CHLHTQTZFLDHBCALNotes
711a :
711b :
711c :
711d :
711e :
711f :

Photos

Photo record:
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