17
Soils in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica
Way down south in Antarctica
is where the icy Cryosols are.
With permafrost and desert pavement
some of the soils are truly ancient.
Abstract
The Ross Sea region of Antarctica contains the largest
ice-free areas in Antarctica (about 6700 km
2 ). Soils in the
Ross Sea region have a mean annual temperature of about
−15 to −25 °C and so all contain permafrost. Antarctic
soils generally comprise: a stony desert pavement from
which fine material has been removed, predominantly by
wind erosion; an active layer that freezes and thaws each
year; and underlying permafrost in which temperatures
remain below 0 °C. The McMurdo Dry Valleys,
described as a ‘cold desert’, are Antarctica’s largest
continuous ice-free area, formed where evaporation
exceeds precipitation. In some of the driest areas, there
is not enough soil moisture to form ice-cement and the
soils are described as having ‘dry permafrost’. However,
in coastal areas, and areas where there is some input of
snow or meltwater, the permafrost is ice-cemented,
patterned ground features form at the land surface, and
soils may contain lenses or wedges of ice. Soils range
from having minimal weathering and soil development on
active surfaces, such as wind-blown sand dunes and sites
of fluvial activity, through to ancient soils on stable, older,
higher altitude surfaces, with highly weathered desert
pavements, and salt-rich layers in the soil.
17.1 Important Features of Antarctic Soils
17.1.1 Concept and Key Features of Antarctic
Soils
The question of whether the materials on the ice-free surfaces in Antarctica should be regarded as soils or just loose
geological materials has been much discussed. In many past
definitions of soil, the presence of organic matter and ability
to support higher plants were considered integral features of
soils. However, the weathered land surface materials in
profiles in Antarctica are now accepted as ‘soil’. Ongoing
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. E. Hewitt et al., The Soils of Aotearoa New Zealand, World Soils Book Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64763-6_17
267
Soils in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica
Way down south in Antarctica
is where the icy Cryosols are.
With permafrost and desert pavement
some of the soils are truly ancient.
Abstract
The Ross Sea region of Antarctica contains the largest
ice-free areas in Antarctica (about 6700 km
2 ). Soils in the
Ross Sea region have a mean annual temperature of about
−15 to −25 °C and so all contain permafrost. Antarctic
soils generally comprise: a stony desert pavement from
which fine material has been removed, predominantly by
wind erosion; an active layer that freezes and thaws each
year; and underlying permafrost in which temperatures
remain below 0 °C. The McMurdo Dry Valleys,
described as a ‘cold desert’, are Antarctica’s largest
continuous ice-free area, formed where evaporation
exceeds precipitation. In some of the driest areas, there
is not enough soil moisture to form ice-cement and the
soils are described as having ‘dry permafrost’. However,
in coastal areas, and areas where there is some input of
snow or meltwater, the permafrost is ice-cemented,
patterned ground features form at the land surface, and
soils may contain lenses or wedges of ice. Soils range
from having minimal weathering and soil development on
active surfaces, such as wind-blown sand dunes and sites
of fluvial activity, through to ancient soils on stable, older,
higher altitude surfaces, with highly weathered desert
pavements, and salt-rich layers in the soil.
17.1 Important Features of Antarctic Soils
17.1.1 Concept and Key Features of Antarctic
Soils
The question of whether the materials on the ice-free surfaces in Antarctica should be regarded as soils or just loose
geological materials has been much discussed. In many past
definitions of soil, the presence of organic matter and ability
to support higher plants were considered integral features of
soils. However, the weathered land surface materials in
profiles in Antarctica are now accepted as ‘soil’. Ongoing
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. E. Hewitt et al., The Soils of Aotearoa New Zealand, World Soils Book Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64763-6_17
267