Chemical and biological characterization of soils from the Antarctic east coast

Abstract.

In a study of pedogenesis, soil samples from five sites were taken along an almost 6,000-km-long zone of coast in the northeast Antarctic continent (between 70°46′S–11°50′E and 66°33′S–93°01′E). A poor microflora (bacteria, fungi and algae) was evidenced. Indicators of vital and enzymatic activities, as well as the Biological Synthetic Indicator, show the existence of certain potentials of mineralization and biosynthesis, capable of soil-forming processes, but the almost year-round frost and the scarcity of weathered rock accumulated in the small depressions under the stone shelter do not permit the humification of organic material.