on the floor of a gently sloping small gully; a small nivation cirque formed in the volcanic deposits and situated about 250m upslope and to the NW of Scott Base; this site is situated 1m downslope from the initial 1989/90 site of application of LiCl
Altitude:
95 m
Aspect:
SE
Slope:
4 °
Location Data
Observer
GGC
IBC
GPS
No
Latitude Longitude DMS
77° 51' S 166° 48' E
75° 50' S 166° 45' E
Latitude Longitude DD
-77.850 166.800
-75.83 166.75
Latitude longitude precision DD
0.008 0.008
0.08 0.04
Locality
Pram Point near Scott Base
Survey
not recorded
Climate
Soil climate zone:
coastal mountain
Estimated mean annual temperature:
-18
°C
Frozen ground depth:
20 cm
Frozen type:
hard ice-cemented
Frozen comment:
20
Geology
Geological setting:
the deposit comprises old scoria flows of the McMurdo Volcanics with the surface rock being fragmented mainly into cobble and boulder sized clasts; commonly found are small rounded pebbles of granitic and sedimentary rocks and these are probably derived from the mainland, having been transported by the former expanded Ross Sea Glacier, and deposited as it retreated from Ross Island
Patterned ground:
weakly developed
Surface weathering or surface features:
non to weakly developed
Soil
Soil parent material:
predominantly fragmented basaltic scoria, probably with minor inclusions of glaciogenic detritus
Previous disturbance:
the site is in an area which is subject to relatively high human impact from walking, cable laying etc; there have been previous disturbances at the sample locality from establishing the leaching trial and subsequent samplings from adjacent plots; the site earlier had a semi-permanent snow cover but this has disappeared as a result of human activity
xerous to subxerous; the site receives annual snowfall and also a considerable accumulation of drift snow which lies until early January before thawing; thaw results in the site becoming wet with surface water flowsfor short periods
Biological activity:
nil at site but some lichen and small moss patches in the general area
Profile Description
Horizon
Depth
Description
717a
-1
–
0
cm
olive grey (5Y 5/2) sandy pebble to boulder gravel; loose; moist; some salts precipitated at the surface; rock particles subrounded, subangular and unweathered; sharp boundary,
717b
0
–
5
cm
olive (5Y 5/3) sandy pebble to cobble gravel gravel; moderately cohesive; moist; rock particles subrounded, subangular and unweathered; indistinct boundary,
717c
5
–
10
cm
pale olive (5Y 6/3) silty to sandy cobbly gravel; moderately cohesive; moist; rock particles subrounded, subangular and unweathered; indistinct boundary,
717d
10
–
20
cm
pale olive (5Y 6/3) silty to sandy cobbly gravel; moderately cohesive; moist; rock particles subangular, subrounded and unweathered; sharp boundary,
717e
20
–
25
cm
pale olive (5Y 6/3) silty to sandy cobbly gravel; very hard; ice cemented; rock particles subangular and unweathered;
717f
25
–
36
cm
] drill core; darg grey (2.5Y N4/) scoriaceous basalt with