A rough uneven very bouldery young surface at the north of Roberts Massif near Everett Nunatak, about 200m from the edge of a tongue of glacial ice; boulders up to 3m across
Altitude:
1900 m
Aspect:
Nil
Slope:
0 °
Location Data
Observer
IBC
GPS
No
Latitude Longitude DMS
85° 29' S 177° 10' W
Latitude Longitude DD
-85.483 -177.17
Latitude longitude precision DD
0.008 0.08
Locality
Head of Shackleton Glacier at Roberts Massif, Queen Maud Mountains, on the edge of the Polar Plateau
Survey
USGS 1:250 000 1968; Liv Glacier SV 1-10/5
Climate
Soil climate zone:
Inland mountain
Site temperature profile
Depth (cm)
Soil temp (°C)
Notes
0
-12
(sunny conditions) air temp
5
-7
30
-8
40
-9
Estimated mean annual temperature:
-45
°C
Frozen ground depth:
0 cm
Frozen type:
Dry frozen
Frozen comment:
Geology
Geological setting:
Dolerite and Beacon Group sediments outcrop on overridden surfaces while deposits of old lithified till containing Ferrar Dolerite also occur; the older lithified till may be Sirius Formation; the landscape is old but geomorphic development is complicated by the movement and retreat of ice from several directions
Patterned ground:
Nil
Surface weathering or surface features:
Mainly unstained subangular dolerite boulders but some large rounded tillite boulders; some minor exfoliation; smaller granules and pebbles at the surface may have been wind transported; some darker coloured dolerite boulders may have been reworked
Soil
Soil parent material:
Till derived from dolerite, Beacon Group sediments, reworked older lithified till and some granitic material
Ultraxerous, some patches of drift snow mainly behind larger boulders but no thawing
Biological activity:
Nil observed
Profile Description
Horizon
Depth
Description
83a
0
–
7
cm
pale yellow (5Y 7/3) sandy bouldery pebbly gravel; moderately cohesive; profuse salt flecks with some patches of concentrated salt; rock particles mainly subangular and unstained but some strongly altered; distinct boundary,
83b
7
–
40
cm
pale yellow (5Y 7/3) bouldery pebbly sand; weakly cohesive; few salt flecks; rock particles mainly subangular to angular and unstained but some strongly altered