Analysis of soils from King George Island and Casey station, Antarctica

A comparative study was carried out on soils of the maritime (Arctowski, King George Island) and the continental (Casey, Wilkes Land) Antarctic. Soil sampIes are described for surface layers (0-10 cm) by their in situ temperature profiles as well as by field and laboratory analyses of grain sizes, pH and nutrient contents. Active cryoturbation is a main factor of mixing processes in surfaces with high silt and clay content. In both regions processes of podzolisation were recognized. Microclimatic conditions show the importance of small scale processes which are of special importance for freeze-thaw cycles. The distribution of nutrients and other inorganic components is rather homogeneous in regosols and leptosols. But in soils with organic top layers by lichen and moss cushions (crusts) accumulation occurs as well as displacement of metal ions into deeper layers (>10 cm). Histosols show patterns of brown soils. Special attention is given to the origin of nitrogen compounts and the different ways of import of other components (e.g. chloride) into the Antarctic system are discussed.

Supplement to: Bölter, Manfred; Blume, Hans-Peter; Kappen, Ludger (1997): Bodenbiologische Untersuchungen in der maritimen und kontinentalen Antarktis (King George Island und Windmill Islands). Teil 1. Umweltparameter und anorganische Nährstoffe. Polarforschung, 65(1), 41-61

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.764029
PID https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.29740.d001
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.764029
Provenance
Creator Bölter, Manfred; Blume, Hans-Peter; Kappen, Ludger
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2011
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Resource Type Supplementary Publication Series of Datasets; Collection
Format application/zip
Size 2 datasets
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (-58.469W, -66.283S, 110.533E, -62.153N); King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula; Indian Ocean
Temporal Coverage Begin 1977-01-01T12:00:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 1999-12-31T00:00:00Z