On glacial drift mapped as Vida Till approximately .5km S of Lake Vashka; a gently undulating moderately bouldery moraine surface 50m away from a low rise; the site was sampled primarily for soil monolith collection but brown soil material near the base of the profile was collected for weathering examination
Altitude:
575 m
Aspect:
Nil
Slope:
0 °
Location Data
Observer
IBC
GPS
No
Latitude Longitude DMS
77° 25.4' S 161° 27' E
Latitude Longitude DD
-77.4233 161.450
Latitude longitude precision DD
0.0008 0.008
Locality
Victoria Land, Trans-antarctic Mountains; in Upper Victoria 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 mountain
Estimated mean annual temperature:
-23
°C
Frozen ground depth:
0 cm
Frozen type:
Frozen comment:
Geology
Geological setting:
The surface has Vida Drift over the valley floor
Patterned ground:
Moderately developed network of large polygons with active troughs
Surface weathering or surface features:
Surface boulders 1-2m diameter; mainly subangular and weakly stained
Soil
Soil parent material:
Bouldery gravelly till with fine silty layers near the bottom of the profile; ablation tills are often subject to reworking as subsurface ice thaws and this may result in some fluvial sorting
Previous disturbance:
Nil
Soil weathering stage:
Soil moisture status:
Xerous to subxerous; the site is dry with no permanent snow banks and little available water