On the floor of Barwick Valley near it's eastern end, about 8.5km East of Lake Vashka; on the north side of the valley on a broad undulating till surface with low relief moraine loops
Altitude:
575 m
Aspect:
Nil
Slope:
0 °
Location Data
Observer
IBC
GPS
No
Latitude Longitude DMS
77° 21.5' S 161° 32.5' E
Latitude Longitude DD
-77.358 161.542
Latitude longitude precision DD
0.004 0.004
Locality
Victoria Land, Trans-antarctic Mountains; in Barwick Valley, part of the McMurdo Sound Dry Valley system
Survey
USGS 1:250 000 1986; Ross Island and Vicinity, Antarctica
Climate
Soil climate zone:
Central mountains
Site temperature profile
Depth (cm)
Soil temp (°C)
Notes
0
2
soil surface
3
4.5
8
3
Estimated mean annual temperature:
-23
°C
Frozen ground depth:
0 cm
Frozen type:
Dry frozen
Frozen comment:
Geology
Geological setting:
Tills on the lower Barwick Valley were mapped by Calkin as Bull Drift, the third of a sequence of glacial deposits; in Barwick Valley, Bull Drift deposits may have originated from the East, in part due to the earlier expansion of the Ross Ice Shelf and the inland invasion of it's ice into the Dry Valleys; boulders are seldom larger than 30cm
Patterned ground:
A stable surface with old subdued inactive patterned ground
Surface weathering or surface features:
Most boulders are less than 250mm; pebbles and cobbles form a well developed pavement with well formed abundant ventifacts; coarser grained rocks are very crumbly; surface staining and exfoliation are strongly developed
Soil
Soil parent material:
Bull Drift till containing much sandy/silty rock flour like material; coarse materials concentrated at the surface
Xerous to subxerous; a dry site with no moisture available from seepages, snowbanks etc.
Biological activity:
Nil observed
Profile Description
Horizon
Depth
Description
132a
0 – 5 cm
light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) pebbly gravelly sand with strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) zones (sampled separately) beneath some stones and extending deeper in places; moderately cohesive surface crust with weakly developed vesicular structure; some larger coarse grained rocks disaggregated but smaller rock particles subrounded, moderately stained and partly altered; distinct boundary,
132b
5 – 15 cm
light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) pebbly silty sand; loose to weakly cohesive; some coarse grained rocks partly disaggregated but smaller rock particles subrounded and moderately stained; distinct boundary,
132c
15 – 20 cm
pale brown (2.5Y 5/4) pebbly sandy silt; cohesive; diffuse salt flecks forming a discontinuous salt horizon; rock particles mainly subrounded and weakly stained; distinct boundary,
132d
20 – 40 cm
pale brown (10YR 6/3) bouldery sandy silt; weakly cohesive; few diffuse salt flecks, mainly around stones; rock particles mainly subangular and weakly stained,
132e
40 – 60 cm
pale brown to light brownish grey (10YR 6/3 -2.5Y 6/2) bouldery sand and silt; cohesive; rock particles angular to subangular and weakly stained, on pale olive till