The Dry Valleys don't have ice because they are in a desert that is very dry. There is not enough snow fall each year to cover the ground completely. No glaciers remain to cover the ground.
The soils of Antarctica are not like those that you're used to seeing. Antarctic soils are very rocky and loose. There's no tree or plant roots to hold the soil together, so it is soft and loose to walk on. It's like walking on the beach, where the sand smooshes around your foot. Except here, there's a lot of rocks, pebbles, and boulders, not just sand. The rocks come from all sorts of different origins. Some of them are from volcanoes. Some of them are from the bedrock.
Mike and I came back to the field today. We are now at Lake Bonney, which is a different lake basin in Taylor Valley. While we're here, we'll hike some more elevation transects for soil samples, plus measure carbon dioxide respiration from several different plots. Unfortunately, the internet at this camp is not very good, and I am not able to upload many pictures. I will upload more when I can!
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Thanks for the information!I'm using it for a report I'm doing on Antarctica.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the soil i need this for a weathering report.
ReplyDeleteis there any crop production in antarctica
ReplyDeleteThere's no crop production in a traditional sense, no. The soil there is not a very good "nutritious" environment for plants. In the dry valleys where we work, there aren't even any vascular plants- only mosses. There are also no farmers in Antarctica. No country is allowed to have a colony of people officially living in Antarctica, which means no farmers. But, there is a greenhouse at McMurdo station that uses hydroponics to grow some salad greens and other small vegetable plants. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat is the soil order in Antarctica?
ReplyDeleteSoils in the dry valleys are Gelisols, which is an order of "permafrost-affected" soils. There are a few different subgroups within the Gelisols represented here, including Turbels, Orthels, and Histels.
ReplyDeletethanks for this information. im using it for a repot =)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the infomation, a third grader (Caleb) and I (the art teacher) are researching soils of the earth for a book we are making.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information on soil! I am doing a biome project on Antarctica. =)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the information, doing a report on gellisols for pedology and was curious about antarctic soils.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I needed some info on Antarctic soil and this was a big help.
ReplyDeleteThis was sooo much help. Thank-you!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was really informative. I have an assignment on Antarctica.
Ačiū jūsų informacija man tikrai labai pagelbėjo darai skaidres apie antarktį. :)
ReplyDeleteJūs esate laukiami!
ReplyDeleteHello Dr. Becky,
ReplyDeleteI am also working on Antarctic Environment, Please provide some info on soil quality of Antarctica.
Thanx.
gurupawanbharti@gmail.com
Hellow! I have one question - is it right to affirm that the friable layer in Dry Valleys - is "soil" (- a natural body consisting of layers (soil horizons) that are primarily composed of minerals which differ from their parent materials in their texture, structure, consistency, color, chemical, biological and other characteristics as told) because in it's true definition soil is the body made from lifeless rock and living organisms with high content of organic matter. Just differentiated rock layers are called "residual soil" formed primery by physicochemical influences. How can You prove that this subsurface layer is just "soil"?
ReplyDeleteI saw the wet sand under the mosses in Larsemann Hills wich pedologists called "soils" but for me it is just wet sand with some organic matter...
For me in continental Antarctic there is no soils. Maybe on it's Nord Islands.
Thank You for the notice,
Katya
Hi Katya,
ReplyDeleteYes, the McMurdo Dry Valleys are considered to have soil. It is published in the scientific literature as such (for example, you may refer papers describing the soils classifications, such as Bockheim & McLeod (2008) Geoderma 144: 43–49). On the philosophical side, there are several definitions of "soil" that each incorporate varying degrees of biological processing, and people can debate the symantics of when a pedon goes from "weathered parent material" to "soil" for ages. It depends on how you subjectively determine when it's "different looking" or when organic matter is "high enough" or how many of the classified horizons are enough. In the Dry Valleys, there is indeed weathered parent material that has been biologically processed. It is much less developed than in other places, of course, given the conditions and time since exposure. But, if your chosen definition of soil is that it needs to have high organic matter content, all of the visible horizons in the textbook, and be a different color than the original rock, then yes, the world has a lot fewer soils than the classification guides would suggest. It's certainly not a new debate. But, whatever we call it, the Dry Valleys' weathered-parent-material has biology and biogeochemical cycling, and therefore I find it very interesting to study!
thank u sooooooo much for all the juicy facts about Antarctica they were very useful,cuz I am doing a science project on Antarctica and I needed facts quick and u totally helped me get an a+ on my project so thank u soooooooo much once again and this page made it fun doing my report :D
ReplyDeleteHi, is it not possible to combine antarctic soil with fertilizers and good soil from other continent, to create good soil for growing plants?
ReplyDeleteThank you
In theory, yes, it's possible. If you mix it with other soil that contains more organic matter and nutrients, you're creating a mix that has what is necessary for growing a lot of plants. (This is why many people buy topsoil for their lawn and gardens.) However, we can't do this in real life. The Antarctic is very environmentally regulated, and we can't mix the soil!
ReplyDeletehi peopl who has a blogs 4 soils thats just funny
ReplyDeleteHey, is there any way possible someone can hook me up with some Antarctic soil? I will be willing to buy at a reasonable price.
ReplyDeleteWe are only able to collect Antarctic soil according to a very strict permitting process, and the soils are only able to be imported according to my permits through the USDA and under specific transport and laboratory requirements. One of the criteria for these permits is that we can't redistribute the soil. So, unfortunately, none of the scientists collecting soil in Antarctica are able to send any to other people. I hope you enjoy reading about them, nonetheless!
ReplyDeleteThanks I need this for a school assignment
ReplyDeleteHey Dr Becky. Would you happen to know the permeability and porosity for Antarctic soil? I'm doing a report and I really need it. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI have not made those measurements in Antarctica, so I don't have values I can give you. You might be able to estimate it from the texture of the soil and bulk density measurements.
DeleteI need to know what he layers of soil are in Antarctica but I cant find it anywhere, could you please inform me?
ReplyDeleteIt depends where you are in Antarctica, but in general, the soils in Antarctica are very young. They are still early in their development, so don't have well-developed horizons like an older soil you might find in other places in the world. In the Dry Valleys, it's pretty much just one mineral horizon that goes down to the permafrost.
DeleteSo if antaAntarca melts now, what would happen to the world? God forbid anyways.
ReplyDeleteAntarctica's ice melt is already contributing to sea level rise. (This article does a nice job summarizing a recent scientific study about it: https://www.carbonbrief.org/sea-level-rise-due-antarctic-ice-melt-has-tripled-over-past-five-years) There's enough water stored in Antarcica's ice to raise sea level by over 60 meters. But whether all of it will melt and how quickly that would happen is tough to say. This is an article that summarizes that: http://www.antarcticglaciers.org/question/ice-antarctica-melt-much-global-sea-level-rise-quickly-likely-happen/
DeleteCan you tell me what is the approximate temperature profile of the soil in Antarctica whwere you are working and what is the latitude. Depths from 0 to two metres would be most interesting to me in the work I am doing on such profiles in soils at different locations. My best email is jonicol18 at bigpond.com
ReplyDeleteThanks very much. John Nicol, Forest Lake, Brisbane, Qld Australia.