Contributions to Antarctic Research II

116 Pages·2016·3.58 MB·English

Contributions to Antarctic Research II
Physical Sciences
ANTARCTIC OCEANOLOGY
Joseph L. Reid, Editor
ANTARCTIC OCEANOLOGY II: THE AUSTRALIAN-
NEW ZEALAND SECTOR
Dennis E. Hayes, Editor
ANTARCTIC SNOW AND ICE STUDIES
Malcolm Melior, Editor
ANTARCTIC SNOW AND ICE STUDIES II
A. P. Crary, Editor
ANTARCTIC SOILS AND SOIL FORMING PROCESSES
J. C. F. Tedrow, Editor
DRY VALLEY DRILLING PROJECT
L. D. McGinnis, Editor
GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN NORTHERN
VICTORIA LAND
Edmund Stump, Editor
GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGYO F THE ANTARCTIC
Jarvis B. Hadley, Editor
GEOLOGY OF THE CENTRAL TRANSANTARCTIC
MOUNTAINS
Mort D. Turner and John F. Splettstoesser,
Editors
GEOMAGNETISM AND AERONOMY
A. H. Waynick, Editor
METEOROLOGICASLT UDIESA T PLATEAUS TATION,
ANTARCTICA
Joost A. Businger, Editor
OCEANOLOGYO F THE ANTARCTIC CONTINENTAL SHELF
Stanley S. Jacobs,E ditor
STUDIES IN ANTARCTIC METEOROLOGY
Morton J. Rubin, Editor
UPPER ATMOSPHERE RESEARCH IN ANTARCTICA
L. J. Lanzerotti and C.G. Park, Editors
THE ROSS ICE SHELF: GLACIOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS
C. R. Bentley and D. E. Hayes, Editors
VOLCANOESO F THE ANTARCTIC PLATE AND SOUTHERN
OCEANS
W. E. LeMasurier and J. T. Thomson, Editors
MINERAL RESOURCESP OTENTIAL OF ANTARCTICA
John F. Splettstoessera nd Gisela A.M. Dreschhoff,
Editors
CONTRIBUTIONST O ANTARCTIC RESEARCHI
David H. Elliot, Editor
ANTARCTIC
American Geophysical Union RESEARCH
SERIES
Biological and Life Sciences ANTARCTIC TERRESTRIAL BIOLOGY
George A. Llano, Editor
TERRESTRIAL BIOLOGY II
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS
Bruce Parker, Editor
Milton 0. Lee, Editor
TERRESTRIAL BIOLOGY III
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS II
Bruce Parker, Editor
George A. Llano, Editor
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS III
George A. Llano and Waldo L. Schmitt, Editors ANTARCTIC ASCIDIACEA
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS IV Patricia Kott
GeorgeA . Llano and I. Eugene Wallen, Editors ANTARCTIC BIRD STUDIES
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS V Oliver L. Austin, Jr., Editor
David L. Pawson, Editor ANTARCTIC PINNIPEDIA
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS VI William Henry Burt, Editor
David L. Pawson, Editor ANTARCTIC CIRRIPEDIA
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS VII William A. Newman and Arnold Ross
David L. Pawson, Editor BIRDS OF THE ANTARCTIC AND SUB-ANTARCTIC
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS VIII George E. Watson
David L. Pawson and Louis S. Kornicker, Editors ENTOMOLOGY OF ANTARCTICA
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS IX J. Lins]ey Gressitt, Editor
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor HUMAN ADAPTABILITY TO ANTARCTIC CONDITIONS
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS X E. K. Eric Gunderson, Editor
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor POLYCHAETA ERRANTIA OF ANTARCTICA
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XI O]ga Hartman
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor POLYCHAETA MYZOSTOMIDAE AND SEDENTIARIA OF
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XII ANTARCTICA
David L. Pawson, Editor O]ga Hartman
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XIII RECENT ANTARCTIC AND SUBANTARCTIC BRACHIOPODS
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor Merrill W. Foster
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XIV
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XV
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XVI
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XVII
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XVIII
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XIX
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XX
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor
BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XXI
Louis S. Kornicker, Editor
ANTARCTIC
Volume 53 RESEARCH
SERIES
Contributions to
Antarctic Research II
David H. Elliot, Editor
(cid:127) AmericGaneo physUicnaiol n
Washington, D.C.
1991
ANTARCTIC
Volume 53 RESEARCH
SERIES
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTARCTIC RESEARCH II
David H. Elliot, Editor
Published under the aegis of the
Board of AssociateE ditors, Antarctic ResearchS eries
David H. Elliot, Chairman
John B. Anderson, Steve Cairns
Samuel C. Colbeck, Rodney M. Feldmann,
E. Imre Friedmann, Dennis E. Hayes,
Charles R. Stearns
Library of CongressC atalogingi n PublicationD ata
(REvised for volume 2)
Contributions to Antarctic research.
(Antarctic research series, ISSN 0066-4634; v. 53)
Vol. 2 edited by David H. Elliott.
ISBN 0-87590-760-1( v. 1)
ISBN 0-87590-809-8( v. 2)
1. Antarcticr egions. I. Elliot, David H. II. AmericanG eophysicaUl nion.
III. Series: Antarctic research series; v. 53, etc.
G860. C58 1990 90-1279
998'.9 CIP
ISSN 0066-4634
Copyright1 991b y the AmericanG eophysicaUl nion
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Published by
American Geophysical Union
With the aid of grant DPP-89-15494f rom the
National Science Foundation
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
The Antarctic Research Series: Statement of Objectives
Board of Associate Editors ix
Pedogenic Linkage Between the Cold Deserts of Antarctica and the Polar Deserts
of the High Arctic
J.C.F. Tedrow
Ablation Rates of the Ice Fields in the Vicinity of the Allan Hills,
Victoria Land, Antarctica
Gunter Faure and David Buchanan 19
Contributions of Sedimentologic, Thermal Alteration, and Organic Carbon Data to
Paleoenvironmental Interpretation of Fine-grained Permian Clastics From the
Beardmore Glacier Region, Antarctica
T. C. Horner and L. A. Krissek 33
The West Antarctic Rift System: A Review of Geophysical Investigations
J. C. Behrendt, W. E. LeMasurier, A. K. Cooper, F. Tessensohn,
A. Trehu, and D. Damaske 67
The Antarctic Research Series'
STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES
The Antarctic Research Series provides for the presentation of detailed scientific research
results from Antarctica, particularly the results of the United States Antarctic Research Program,
includingm onographsa nd long manuscripts.
The series'i s designedto make the resultso f Antarcticf ieldworka vailable.T he Antarctic
Research Series encouragest he collection of papers on specificg eographica reas within Antarc-
tica. In addition, many volumes focus on particular disciplines, including marine biology,
oceanology, meteorology, upper atmosphere physics, terrestrial biology, geology, glaciology,
human adaptability, engineering,a nd environmental protection.
Topical volumes in the series normally are devoted to papers in one or two disciplines.
Multidisciplinary volumes, initiated in 1990t o enable more rapid publication,a re open to papers
from any discipline. The series can accommodatel ong manuscriptsa nd utilize special formats,
such as maps.
Priorities for publication are set by the Board of Associate Editors. Preference is given to
research manuscripts from projects funded by U.S. agencies. Because the series serves to
emphasizet he U.S. Antarctic ResearchP rogram, it also performsa function similar to expedition
reports of many other countriesw ith national Antarctic researchp rograms.
The standards of scientific excellence expected for the series are maintained by the review
criteria establishedf or the AGU publicationsp rogram. Each paper is critically reviewed by two or
more expert referees. A member of the Board of Associate Editors may serve as editor of a
volume, or another personm ay be appointed.T he Board works with the individual editors of each
volume and with the AGU staff to assure that the objectives of the series are met, that the best
possiblep apers are presented, and that publicationi s timely.
Proposals for volumes or papers offered should be sent to the Board of Associate Editors,
Antarctic Research Series, at 2000 Florida Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009. Publication
of the series is partially supportedb y a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Board of Associate Editors
Antarctic Research Series
Revised 5/13/91
ix
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTARCTIC RESEARCH II
ANTARCTIC RESEARCH SERIES, VOLUME 53, PAGES 1-17
PEDOGENIC LINKAGE BETWEEN THE COLD DESERTS OF ANTARCTICA
AND THE POLAR DESERTS OF THE HIGH ARCTIC
J. C. F. TEDROW
Departmento f EnvironmentaRl esourcesR, utgersU niversityN, ew BrunswickN, ew Jersey0 8903
The Cold Desertso f Antarcticaa nd the Polar Desertso f the High Arctic,t he latter of which includes
the Queen ElizabethI slands,n orthernG reenland,S valbard,F ranz JosefL and, SevernayaZ emlya, and a
few otherl ocalities,h ave cryogenics oilsw ith desertlikef eaturesB. oth sectorsh ave soilsw ith a mineral
appearanced, esertp avement,s mall to nonexistento rganicc omponentsa, nd low ground temperatures.
Both are underlainb y permafrosat nd are subjectt o cryogenicp rocessesW. hereasv irtually all of the soils
in Antarctica are well drained,i n the High Arctic the soil pattern consistso f a mosaic of Polar Desert
soils, as well as varioush ydric varietiesi ncluding shallow bogs. In the Polar Deserts the landforms,
especiallyt he surficiald epositsa, re muchy oungerc hronologicallyth an their Cold Desert counterparts.
PolarD eserts oilsg enerallyh avea morea cidr eactiont hanC old Deserts oils.M oisturer egimesa re quite
different in the two sectors.C old Desert soils have a dry conditione ven down to the frost table. Polar
Desert soils are moist during early summert haw, however, and are subjectedt o occasionals ummer
rainfall andp robablyr eceives omem oisturef rom condensationth; e zone abovet he recedingf rostt ablei s
usuallyq uitew et. The humusc omponenitn Cold Deserts oilsi s usuallyn il, but in the PolarD eserts oilsi t
is commonlya s much as 1% to 2% or higher,e speciallyi n medium-texturedso ils.W hether there are
enoughd istinctd ifferencesb etweent he two soilst o recognizetw o differentc ategoriesre mainss omewhat
moot. After equatinga ll informationh, owever,o ne appearsto be justified in tentativelyr ecognizingt wo
distinct soils.
INTRODUCTION areasn ortha, bou7t 6ø-78øN,a ndi ncludetsh eQ ueen
Elizabeth Islands, northern Greenland, Svalbard,
The north and the south polar regions have a FranzJ osefL and, ServernayaZ emlya,a nda few other
number of characteristicsin common, particularly islandso f the Soviet Arctic archipelago. The above
extremelyl ow seasonatl emperaturest,h e presenceo f locationgse neralleyx istw ithint he4 øCJ ulyi sotherm.
perennially frozen ground, small quantities of Earlier, NordenskjOlda nd Mecking [1928] used the
precipitatione, xistingg laciers,a nd relatedc ryogenic 5øCJ ulyi sothermfo rd elineatinthge H ighA rctic.
features.I n the far north (High Arctic) the vascular
plant cover existsm ainly as clumpsa nd patchesw ith ANTARCTIC SOIL PROCESSES AND
the remaining space having a barren, mineral ap- CLASSIFICATION
pearance. In Antarctica conditions are noticeably
coldera nd drier, however,a nd, accordinglyo, ne may Estimatesg enerally indicate that less than 3% of
travel the ice-freea reasf or miles withouta ny traceo f Antarctica is ice-free, with most of such areas
vascularp lantsb einge vident. consistingo f only exposed bedrock and boulders
A questiont hat naturallya risesi s the relationo f the (Figure 1). In usingt he term "soil" in AntarcticaI am
soil-formingp rocesseos f the High Arctic to thoseo f referring to less than 1% of the total area of the
Antarctica.P utting it anotherw ay, are the soils and continenht avinga ny form of genetics oil.
soil-formingp rocessesw ithin the two regionsm irror Jensen[ 1916] is creditedw ith the first report on
imageso f eacho ther?T his questionw asa ddressebdy Antarctics oilsi n that he madec hemicala nalyseso f
Markov [1956], McCraw [1960], Tedrow [1968, samplesf rom Cape Royds on Ross Island. He stated
1977], Everett [1976], Ugolini [1986a], Bockheim that there was no soil in the traditional sense,b ut in
[1979, 1980], Campbell and Claridge [1987], and the soillike material there was evidence of mineral
othersT. his reportr eviewst he subjecot f soil develop- alteration and an abundant supply of calcium,
menti n the High Arctic andi n Antarcticaa ndm akesa potassium,a nd phosphorus,m uch of which was
comparative analysis as to processesa nd resultant relatedt o the presenceo f local alkali trachytea nd salt
morphologieso f soils in the two regions.T he term spray.T he work of Markov [1956] in the Mimyy area
"High Arctic" is usedi n this reporti n a nonspecific of Queen Mary Coast is of special significance
sense.B ut, in general, "High Arctic" refers to land becauseh e stated that a migration of salts occurs
Copyfigh1t 991b y the AmericanG eophysicaUln ion.
2 CON'IRIBUTIONS TO ANTARCTIC RESEARCH II
OCEAN
MO )OEZHNAYA
ION
SENTINEL 90"E
MIRNYY
BYRD STATION
/
ICE RISI
SHELF
ANTARCTICA-
LOCATION MAP
Fig. 1. Map of AntarcticaT.h e shadeda reasa rel argelyic e-free(.C ourtesoy f C. R. Bentley.)
alongt emperatureg radientsw ithin the rocks,w hichi n portedth ep resencoef greenfi lmso f unicellulaarl gae,
turn releases soluble salts for redistribution in the not only in the crackso f exfoliatedr ock surfacesb ut
soils.A pparentlyM, arkov wast hef irst to uset he term alsoi n the depthso f the rocks.T he work of Avsiuke t
"ColdD esert"( factuallyh is termw as" AntarcticC old al. [1956]l argelym irroredth eC oldD esertc oncepat s
Desert").G lazovskaia[1 958] continuedin vestigations proposedin ther eportb y Markov.
relatingt o weatheringa nd primary soil formationi n J. McCraw's work in south Victoria Land marks
the Mirnyy sectoro f Antarcticaa nd,i n addition,p ro- thei nitial stepi n providingf or soil systematicisn An-
vided much evidence of physical and chemical tarcticaH. e displayeda soil mapo f TaylorV alley at
weatherings, olubles altp roductiond, esertv arnishf or- the SeventhI nternationaSl oil ScienceC ongressin
mation, and the formation of weatheringc rustso n MadisonW, isconsini,n 1960, and laterp ublishedth e
rock surfacesT. herew as alsoc onvincinge videnceo f mapa nda reports howings oilsa t thee quivalenot f the
primarym inerala lterations, ucha s feldsparw eather- seriesl evel [McCraw, 1967]. Earlier, McCraw [1960]
ing,h ornblendetus rningb rownishc,h loritebs ecoming addressetdh e problemo f a soil groupingb asedo n
discoloreadn dc overedb y ferruginoufsil ms,a ndg ar- geneticp rinciple(sT able1 ). His workr ecognizecda r-
netss plittinga nd the cracksb ecomingfi lled with an bonate accumulation, soluble salt concentrations,
iron-staineds ubstanceA. nother aspecto f Glazov- weatheringd, esertv arnishd evelopmentt,h e formation
skaia'sw ork dealsw ith biotic elements,i n that sher e- of soils tructurea,n da desert
TEDROW: PEDOGENIC LINKAGE BETWEEN ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC DESERTS 3
Continuingw ith his work mainlyi n southV ictoria 3. Protoranker soils--initial soil formation with a
Land, McCraw [1967] proposedth at the Zonal soils detectableh umus component,t he term being from
be termed" frigic," a term proposede arlierb y Clar- KubiO'na[ 1953].
idge[ 1965];a nd,a ccordinglyM, cCraws uggestetdh at 4. Ornithogenic soils--organic soils of the
theh ighert axonomicu nitsb e recognizeads f ollows: rookeriesi n which the organicc omponentis derived
Frigic (Zonal) Soils from animal droppingsf, eathers,b ones,e tc. The term
1. With accumulations of calcium carbonate and is usedi n the senseo f Syroechovsk[y1 959].
gypsuma t or near the surfacea nd the presenceo f 5. Lithosols
soluble salts. 6. Regosols
2. With calcium carbonateg, ypsum,a nd soluble Throughoutth isr eportt he term "Cold Desert"s oil
salts,f airly evenlyd istributed. is used in a restricteds ense to typify mainly the
Intrazonal Soils Ahumic( Frigic) soilso f the Cold Desert.
3. With a functionalo rganicc omponenat nd those The studieso f Campbella nd Claridge [1969] were
presenat roundf umaroles. especially important in establishing an overall
Azonal Soils classifications chemef or Antarctic soils. Following a
4. Steepa reas,w indblowna ndo therd eposits. series of preliminary reports they proposed the
About the samet ime that McCraw was developing grouping shown in Table 2. Their work not only
his classifications ystemf or Antarctics oils, Tedrow established the main qualitative soil processes
and Ugolini [1966], conductingin vestigationins the associated with Antarctica as a whole but also
dry valley systemo f southV ictoria Land, proposed recognizeds omeq uantitativef actorsa s exemplified
theiro wng eneralizedcl assificatiosnc hemeU. singt he by dividing the "Zonal" soils into Ultraxerous,
conceptosf Markova ndG lazovskaiat,h eyd esignated Xerous, and Subxerousv arieties.
all Antarctic soils as belongingt o the Cold Desert Pedologicz onation of Antarctica has been rather
zone.S ix genetics etso f soilsw ere recognizeda t the tenuous. MacNamara [1969a, b], Campbell and
highert axonomicle velsa s follows: Claridge [1969], and Everett [1976] recognized
Cold Desert soils( Antarctica) certain subzonal genetic soil varieties within the
1. Ahumic soils--somewhat analogous to continent. Korotkevich [1967] distinguishedt hree
NikiforoJ)ø[ 1937] term "abiotic"b ut with the desert subzonesfo r Antarctica:( 1) a northems ubzonew hich
processta kingp lacea t low temperatures. occupiesth e northeasct oasto f the AntarcticP eninsula
2. Evaporites oils--soilso f the closedb asinsa nd andn earbyi slands(, 2) an intermediates ubzonew hich
other low areas. coverst he coastalo asisa nd islands,a nd (3) a southern
TABLE 1. Soilso f the RossD ependencyA, ntarctica
Group Topographayn dP arenMt aterial Characteristics
I Fans,f loodplainsa,n dt erraceosf recenat lluviums; urface No secondarcya rbonatheo rizonss;o mes alt;
smoothw ith few narrowf rostc racks no stonep avements; parsem oss;s lightp hysical
weathering.
Ia Intermediatet erraces;s urfaces moothb ut well-developed Slightlyd evelopeds econdarcya rbonateh orizona t
raisedb orderp olygons surface;s lightlyd evelopeds tonep avement;
little physicalw eathering
Screer eceivingm eltwaterf rom above;m uchs olifluction; Slightlyd evelopedc arbonateh orizona t surface;n o
stones tripesn, o polygons pavement
Screer eceivingn o meltwaterm, ainlyl argeb locksw ith Slightlyd evelopedc arbonateh orizona t surface;n o
sparses oilsi n crevices pavement
Valley floorm orainesi,n cludingth inm oraineo verf ine Distincts econdaryc arbonateh orizonn ear surface;
lacustrines edimentsh; igh terracess; corias lopes( Ross well-developeds tonep avement;p laty structure
Island);s urfaceu ndulatingw ith well-developedp olygons in topsoilsa nd" silt ball" subsoilsin fine sedi-
ment;m uchp hysicalw eathering
III Lateral morainesa t intermediatele vels;p olygonsr are Weakly developedc arbonateh orizonn ears urface;
extensivep hysicalw eatheringb; ouldersm arked
by cavernousw eatheringd; esertv arnisho n
stones;n o salt
IV Morainesa t highl evels;n o polygonss; urfaces moothn, o No secondaryc arbonateh orizon;s omes alti n
largeb ouldersn, o stonep avement lowerh orizonsv; ery extensivep hysical
weathering--mostr ockse xceptd olerite
disintegratedd; esertv arnishc ommon
Source:M cCraw [