Windows on Antarctic soil-landscape relationships: Compariso
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TitleWindows on Antarctic soil-landscape relationships: Comparison across selected regions of AntarcticaAbstractThis paper brings together topographic cross-section wÌindows Ìfrom across Antarctica to illustrate soil-landscapes from the margins of the polar plateau in the Transantarctic Mountains and McMurdo Dry Valleys, through East Antarctic coastal areas, to the northern Antarctic Peninsula Region. Soils identified range from Gelisols in the Ross Sea Region, through Gelisols and ntisols in coastal East Antarctica, to a mixture of Gelisols, Entisols, Spodosols and Inceptisols in the northern Antarctic Peninsula Region where permafrost is not ubiquitous. The relative impacts of the soil-forming factors are considered. At a continental scale climate is the main driver of the ifferences observed between soils in different areas. At local scales strong soil-topographic relationships are observed. Organisms, time and parent material are dominant influences on soil roperties only in relatively localized situations. Organisms dominate in areas of organic matter or guano accumulation and time is a dominant influence on exceptionally old upland surfaces in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The US Department of AgricultureÅ› Soil Taxonomy gives a useful overall appraisal of Antarctic soils; however, for detailed work, there is a need to introduce some new categories at subgroup level to better capture the range of soils described. Copyright The Geological Society of London 2013.AcknowledgementsThis research has been carried out thanks to research projects funded by Antarctic Programmes from Brazil, New Zealand, Spain and Russia. The paper has been undertaken within the ANTPAS project supported by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research and the International Permafrost Association.
TypeArticleCitationBalks, M., Lopez-Martinez, J., Goryachkin, S., Mergelov, N., Schaefer, C., Simas, F., Almond, P., Claridge, G., Mcleod, M. and Scarrow, J. (2013). Windows on Antarctic soil-landscape relationships: Comparison across selected regions of Antarctica. Geological Society Special Publication, 381(1): 397-410 IdentifierBalks2013Relevancerank5
