Soil characteristics of cryosols from two sites on King George Island, maritime Antarctica

Fuente: PANGAEA
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Michel, Roberto F M, Schaefer, Carlos Ernesto G R, Poelking, Everton L, Simas, Felipe N B, Fernandes Filho, Elpidio I, Bockheim, James G
Format: Dataset Open Access
Language:en
Published: PANGAEA 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867170466065547264
author Michel, Roberto F M
Schaefer, Carlos Ernesto G R
Poelking, Everton L
Simas, Felipe N B
Fernandes Filho, Elpidio I
Bockheim, James G
author_facet Michel, Roberto F M
Schaefer, Carlos Ernesto G R
Poelking, Everton L
Simas, Felipe N B
Fernandes Filho, Elpidio I
Bockheim, James G
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents This study presents soil temperature and moisture regimes from March 2008 to January 2009 for two active layer monitoring (CALM-S) sites at King George Island, Maritime Antarctica. The monitoring sites were installed during the summer of 2008 and consist of thermistors (accuracy of ±0.2 °C), arranged vertically with probes at different depths and one soil moisture probe placed at the bottommost layer at each site (accuracy of ± 2.5%), recording data at hourly intervals in a high capacity datalogger. The active layer thermal regime in the studied period for both soils was typical of periglacial environments, with extreme variation in surface temperature during summer resulting in frequent freeze and thaw cycles. The great majority of the soil temperature readings during the eleven month period was close to 0 °C, resulting in low values of freezing and thawing degree days. Both soils have poor thermal apparent diffusivity but values were higher for the soil from Fildes Peninsula. The different moisture regimes for the studied soils were attributed to soil texture, with the coarser soil presenting much lower water content during all seasons. Differences in water and ice contents may explain the contrasting patterns of freezing of the studied soils, being two-sided for the coarser soil and one-sided for the loamy soil. The temperature profile of the studied soils during the eleven month period indicates that the active layer reached a maximum depth of approximately 92 cm at Potter and 89 cm at Fildes. Longer data sets are needed for more conclusive analysis on active layer behaviour in this part of Antarctica.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_816781
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2012
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Soil characteristics of cryosols from two sites on King George Island, maritime Antarctica
Michel, Roberto F M
Schaefer, Carlos Ernesto G R
Poelking, Everton L
Simas, Felipe N B
Fernandes Filho, Elpidio I
Bockheim, James G
International Polar Year (2007-2008); IPY
This study presents soil temperature and moisture regimes from March 2008 to January 2009 for two active layer monitoring (CALM-S) sites at King George Island, Maritime Antarctica. The monitoring sites were installed during the summer of 2008 and consist of thermistors (accuracy of ±0.2 °C), arranged vertically with probes at different depths and one soil moisture probe placed at the bottommost layer at each site (accuracy of ± 2.5%), recording data at hourly intervals in a high capacity datalogger. The active layer thermal regime in the studied period for both soils was typical of periglacial environments, with extreme variation in surface temperature during summer resulting in frequent freeze and thaw cycles. The great majority of the soil temperature readings during the eleven month period was close to 0 °C, resulting in low values of freezing and thawing degree days. Both soils have poor thermal apparent diffusivity but values were higher for the soil from Fildes Peninsula. The different moisture regimes for the studied soils were attributed to soil texture, with the coarser soil presenting much lower water content during all seasons. Differences in water and ice contents may explain the contrasting patterns of freezing of the studied soils, being two-sided for the coarser soil and one-sided for the loamy soil. The temperature profile of the studied soils during the eleven month period indicates that the active layer reached a maximum depth of approximately 92 cm at Potter and 89 cm at Fildes. Longer data sets are needed for more conclusive analysis on active layer behaviour in this part of Antarctica.
title Soil characteristics of cryosols from two sites on King George Island, maritime Antarctica
topic International Polar Year (2007-2008); IPY
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.816781