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Soil Characteristics along a Transect on Raised Marine Surfaces on Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands

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Abstract

This paper presents the results of a soil survey carried out in Byers Peninsula to characterize some of the main features of soils and processes involved in soil development in the largest ice-free area in the South Shetland Islands. Soils were sampled in four different sites at altitudes between 24 and 88 m a.s.l., along a transect of about 1.5 km in the southwestern sector of the peninsula. The sampling sites are located on different geomorphological units from the Holocene raised beaches to the pre-Holocene upper marine platforms. It was found that general soil properties and elemental composition differ among the distinctive edaphic environments that conform the soils on the platforms and on the raised beaches. From the platform to the beach, pH and electrical conductivity values decrease, as well as the clay and silt percentages. Increases in carbonate and sand contents were observed along the transect. The variability in some elements (K, Fe, Al, Ca, Sr) appears to be related to mineralogy and parent materials. In the studied soils, the main factors affecting soil development are related to cryogenic processes. Lixiviation and other weathering processes also play a role in soil evolution although their influence is restricted because water circulation is limited to the summer period.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estación Experimental de Aula Dei, CSIC, Apartado 202, 50080, Zaragoza, Spain

    Ana Navas & Javier Machín

  2. Departamento de Química Agrícola, Geología y Geoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Jerónimo López-Martínez & José Casas

  3. Centro de Ciencias Medioambientales, CSIC, Serrano 115, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    José Casas

  4. Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Ríos Rosas 23, 28003, Madrid, Spain

    Juan José Durán

  5. Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Valladolid, 47011, Valladolid, Spain

    Enrique Serrano

  6. Escuela Politécnica Superior de Huesca, Universidad de Zaragoza, 22071, Huesca, Spain

    José-Antonio Cuchi

Authors
  1. Ana Navas
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  2. Jerónimo López-Martínez
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  3. José Casas
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  4. Javier Machín
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  5. Juan José Durán
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  6. Enrique Serrano
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  7. José-Antonio Cuchi
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, P.O. Box 12 01 61, 27515, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Dieter Karl Fütterer

  2. Federal Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Stilleweg 2, 30655, Hannover, Germany

    Detlef Damaske

  3. Institute for Geology and Paleontology, J.W.-Goethe-University, Senckenberganlage 32, 60054, Frankfurt a. M., Germany

    Georg Kleinschmidt

  4. Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Section Geology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Luisenstr. 37, 80333, München, Germany

    Hubert Miller

  5. Lindenring 6, 29352, Adelheidsdorf, Germany

    Franz Tessensohn

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© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Navas, A. et al. (2006). Soil Characteristics along a Transect on Raised Marine Surfaces on Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands. In: Fütterer, D.K., Damaske, D., Kleinschmidt, G., Miller, H., Tessensohn, F. (eds) Antarctica. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-32934-X_60

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