Soil temperature recording site; continuous 2 year record at 6 depths; site sampled for soil moisture at the time of recovery of the recording equipment
Description:
Approximately 4.2km NW of Marble Point peninsula and approximately 300m W of the Marble Point Air Facility; about 400m from the Wilson Piedmont Glacier; a slightly hummocky moraine surface with low knolls up to about 2m high; the site is on a gentle slope below the crest of the knoll
Altitude:
75 m
Aspect:
SW
Slope:
3 °
Location Data
Observer
GGC
IBC
GPS
Yes
Latitude Longitude DMS
76° 46.6' S 160° 44.5' E
77° 24.93' S 166° 40.26' E
Latitude Longitude DD
-76.7767 160.742
-77.41550 166.67100
Latitude longitude precision DD
0.0008 0.004
0.00008 0.00008
Locality
Marble Point, western McMurdo Sound
Survey
US Geological Survey Antarctica Topo Ser 1:50,000; Marble Point, Antarctica
Climate
Soil climate zone:
Coastal Antarctic
Site temperature profile
Depth (cm)
Soil temp (°C)
Notes
0
0
Estimated mean annual temperature:
-18
°C
Frozen ground depth:
65 cm
Frozen type:
Hard ice-cemented
Frozen comment:
65
Geology
Geological setting:
The surface is a gently undulating till plain formed by retreat of the Wilson Piedmont Glacier; the Marble Point region is an old landscape, with deposits of phillipsite, buried soils and oxidised gneiss, which have been covered by advances of the grounded Ross Ice Shelf; later ice retreat and glaciological features have been controlled by changes in the stranded Wilson Piedmont Glacier; the till mantle is patchy and dominated largely by locally occurring rocks; granodiorite, granite, marble, gneiss, and dolerite are the main rock types present
Patterned ground:
Weakly developed 12-15m nets with 10cm troughs; cracks are open
Surface weathering or surface features:
Coarse clasts angular but with slight abrasion; coarse grained granite and marble are crumbly; some basement rocks with distinct surface oxidation
Soil
Soil parent material:
till with 70-80% coarse material from predominantly granitic rocks
Previous disturbance:
Extensive mechanical and human activity in the region since the mid-1950's; the site was disturbed in 1991 when soil temperature recording began
Mosses in moist hollows and incipient water channels; cyanobacteria in ponded areas; nil observed at the site
Profile Description
Horizon
Depth
Description
811a
3-0cm;
surface granular to bouldery gravel; angular and dominantly unstained; some light grey (2.5Y 7/2) carbonate coatings,
811b
0-3cm;
pale olive (5Y 6/3) sandy pebble and cobble gravel; loose; rock particles angular and unstained but some with light pre-oxidation; distinct boundary,
811c
3-15cm;
pale olive (5Y 6/3) sandy pebble and cobble gravel; loose; a few carbonate coatings and some silt coatings; rock particles angular and unstained; indistinct boundary,
811d
15-35cm;
pale olive (5Y 6/3) cobbly gravel; weakly cohesive; some silt coatings; rock particles angular to subangular and unstained; distinct boundary,
811e
50-65cm
pale olive (5Y 6/3) bouldery gravel; weakly cohesive; some silt coatings; rock particles angular and unstained; sharp boundary;
811f
pale olive (5Y 6/3) bouldery gravel; weakly cohesive; rock particles angular and unstained, sharp boundary, on ice-cemented ground