915

Site number:

915

Authors:

IBC

Date recorded:

1999/12/14

Reason Sampled:

Long Term Ecological Research (nematode experimental area) site investigation of soil properties; this site is adjacent to LTER 9 and was on a 'moist' gully floor surface

Description:

Adjacent to the westernmost plot, approximately 225m from Lake Hoare; the site is on the floor of an elongated depression between moraine ridges about 15m to the east of the LTM Algae plot; the surface is smooth with a pebble pavement

Altitude:

75 m

Aspect:

North

Slope:

2 °

Climate

Soil climate zone:

Coastal mountain;

Estimated mean annual temperature:

-20 °C

Frozen ground depth:

0 Nd

Frozen type:

Nd

Frozen comment:

Nd

Geology

Geological setting:

The deposit is unweathered Ross I till, possibly derived from the Canada Glacier but almost certainly with an up-valley influence because of the presence of marble clasts from basement rocks; the tills may be fluvio-glacial owing to complex depositional ice-marginal processes as the sand % generally increases downwards while there are noticeably more coarse clasts at the surface; depressions typically have sandy pebble deposits

Patterned ground:

Nil

Surface weathering or surface features:

A well developed pebble pavement with some surface salt precipitations

Soil

Soil parent material:

Pebbly sandy gravel

Previous disturbance:

Site probably disturbed by foot traffic activity during biological research activities near the site

Soil weathering stage:

1 (Campbell & Claridge 1975)

Soil moisture status:

Xerous to subxerous; the soils in the depression are moist to the surface; the increased moisture content may partly be a function on higher salinity

Biological activity:

Nil observed at site, nematodes present in adjacent soil; some green algae beneath marble clasts in the general area