Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Soils of Central Victoria Land, the McMurdo Dry Valleys

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Soils of Antarctica

Part of the book series: World Soils Book Series ((WSBS))

Abstract

Central Victoria Land is considered here to extend from the Mawson Glacier (76° S) to the Mulock Glacier (79° S), which constitutes the largest ice-free area (6,692 km2) in Antarctica: the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) (Fig. 8.1). The vegetation, surficial geology, climate, soils, and other resources of the McMurdo Dry Valleys have been studied intensively and summarized by Tedrow and Ugolini (1966) and Campbell and Claridge (1987).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ackert RF, Kurz MD (2004) Age and uplift rates of sirius group sediments in the dominion range, Antarctica, from surface exposure dating and geomorphology. Global Planet Change 42:207–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adlam LS, Balks MR, Seybold CA, Campbell DI (2010) Temporal and spatial variation in active layer depth in the McMurdo Sound region, Antarctica. Antarct Sci 22:45–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beilke AJ, Bockheim JG (2013) Carbon and nitrogen trends in soil chronosequences of the Transantarctic Mountains. Geoderma 197–198:117–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG (1979a) Relative age and origin of soils in eastern Wright Valley, Antarctica. Soil Sci 128:142–152

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG (1979b) Ice core and ice cement effects on soil development, eastern Wright Valley, Antarctica. N Z J Geol Geophys 22:487–493

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG (1980) Properties and classification of some desert soils in coarse-textured glacial drift in the arctic and antarctic. Geoderma 24:45–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG (1982) Properties of a chronosequence of ultraxerous soils in the Transantarctic Mountains. Geoderma 28:239–255

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG (1990) Soil development rates in the Transantarctic Mountains. Geoderma 47:59–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG (1997) Properties and classification of Cold Desert soils from Antarctica. Soil Sci Soc Am J 61:224–231

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG (2002) Landform and soil development in the McMurdo Dry Valleys: a regional synthesis. Arct Antarct Alp Res 34:308–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG (2007) Soil processes and development rates in the Quartermain Mountains, upper Taylor Glacier region, Antarctica. Geogr Ann 89A:153–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG (2010a) Evolution of desert pavements and the vesicular layer in soils of the Transantarctic Mountains. Geomorphology 118:433–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG (2010b) Soil preservation and ventifact recycling from dry-based glaciers in Antarctica. Antarct Sci 22:409–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG (2013) Soil formation in the Transantarctic Mountains from the middle Paleozoic to the Anthropocene. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 381–382:98–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, McLeod M (2006) Soil formation in Wright Valley, Antarctica since the late Neogene. Geoderma 137:109–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, McLeod M (2008) Soil distribution in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Geoderma 144:43–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, Wilson SC (1993) Soil-forming rates and processes in cold desert soils of Antarctica. In: Gilichinsky DG (ed) Cryosols: the effects of cryogenesis on the processes and pecularities of soil formation. Proceedings of 1st international conference on cryopedology. Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, pp 42–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, McLeod M (2013) Glacial geomorphology of the Victoria Valley system, Ross Sea Region, Antarctica. Geomorphology 193:14–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, Campbell IB, McLeod M (2007) Permafrost distribution and active-layer depths in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Permafr Periglac Process 18:217–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, Kurz MD, Soule SA, Burke A (2009) Genesis of active sand-filled polygons in lower and central Beacon Valley, Antarctica. Perm Periglac Process 20:295–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, Prentice ML, McLeod M (2008a) Distribution of glacial deposits, Soils and permafrost in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Arct Antarct Alpine Res 40:279–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, Campbell IB, McLeod M (2008b) Use of soil chronosequences for testing the existence of high-water-level lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Catena 74:144–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, Tarnocai C (1998) Recognition of cryoturbation for classifying permafrost-affected soils. Geoderma 81:281–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, Wilson SC, Denton GH, Andersen BG, Stuiver M (1989) Late quaternary ice-surface fluctuations of Hatherton Glacier, Transantarctic Mountains. Quat Res 31:229–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brook EJ, Kurz MD, Ackert R Jr, Denton GH, Brown ET, Raisbeck GM, Yiou E (1993) Chronology of Taylor Glacier advances in Arena Valley, Antarctica, using in-situ cosmogenic 3He and 10Be. Quat Res 39:11–23

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Buntley GJ, Westin FC (1965) A comparative study of developmental color in a Chestnut-Chernozem-Brunizem soil climosequence. Soil Sci Soc Am J 29:579–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calkin PE (1971) Glacial geology of the Victoria Valley system, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Antarctic Research Series, vol 16. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp 363–412

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell IB, Claridge GGC (1975) Morphology and age relationships of Antarctic soils. In: Suggate RP, Cresswell MM (eds) Quaternary studies. Royal Society of New Zealand, Wellington, pp 83–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell IB, Claridge GGC (1987) Antarctic soils, weathering and environment. Elsevier, Amsterdam, p 368

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell IB, Claridge GGC (2006) Permafrost properties, patterns and processes in the Transantarctic Mountains Region. Permafr Periglac Process 17:215–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denton GH, Prentice ML, Burkle LH (1991) Cenozoic history of the Antarctic ice sheet. In: Tingey RJ (ed) The geology of Antarctica. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 365–433

    Google Scholar 

  • Denton GH, Bockheim JG, Wilson SC, Leide JE, Andersen BG (1989) Late quaternary ice-surface fluctuations of Beardmore Glacier, Transantarctic Mountains. Quat Res 3:189–209

    Google Scholar 

  • Doran PT, McKay CP, Clow GD, Dana GL, Fountain AG, Nylen T, Lyons WB (2002) Valley floor climate observations from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, 1986–2000. J Geophys Res 107(D24):4772. doi:10.1029/2001JD002045

  • Hall BL, Denton GH (2005) Surficial geology and geomorphology of eastern and central Wright Valley, Antarctica. Geomorphology 64:25–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall BL, Denton GH, Lux DR, Bockheim JG (1993) Late Tertiary Antarctic paleoclimate and ice-sheet dynamics inferred from surficial deposits in Wright Valley. Geogr Ann 75A:238–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall BL, Denton GH, Hendy CH (2000) Evidence from Taylor Valley for a grounded ice sheet in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Geogr Ann 82A:275–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall BL, Denton GH, Overturf B (2001) Glacial Lake Wright, a high-level Antarctic lake during the LGM and early Holocene. Antarct Sci 13:53–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall BL, Denton GH, Overturf B, Hendy CH (2002) Glacial Lake Victoria, a high-level Antarctic lake inferred from lacustrine deposits in Victoria Valley. J Quat Sci 17:697–706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins SM, Hendy CH, Denton GH (2000) Geochronology of Bonney drift, Taylor Valley, Antarctica: evidence for interglacial expansions of Taylor Glacier. Geogr Ann 82:391–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLeod M (2012) Soil and permafrost distribution, soil characterization and soil vulnerability to human foot trampling, Wright Valley, Antarctica. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Google Scholar 

  • McLeod M, Bockheim JG, Balks MR (2008a) A fifth-order reconnaissance soil map of ice-free areas of the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica. In: Cooper AK, Barrett PJ, Stagg H, Story B, Stump E, Wise W (eds) Antarctica: a keystone in a changing world. Proceedings 10th international association of Antarctic earth sciences, Santa Barbara, California. .The National Academy Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • McLeod M, Bockheim JG, Balks MR (2008b) A provisional 1:50,000 scale soil map of the Wright Valley, Antarctica. In: Kane DL, Hinkel KM (eds) Proceedings of the 9th international conference on permafrost, Fairbanks, Alaska. Extended Abstracts, vol II, pp 207–208

    Google Scholar 

  • McLeod M, Bockheim JG, Balks MR (2008c) Glacial geomorphology, soil development and permafrost features in central-upper Wright Valley, Antarctica. Geoderma 144:93–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Marchant DR, Head JW III (2007) Antarctic dry valleys: microclimate zonation, variable geomorphic processes, and implications for assessing climate change on Mars. Icarus 192:187–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marchant DR, Denton GH, Bockheim JG, Wilson SC, Kerr AR (1994) Quaternary changes in level of the upper Taylor Glacier, Antarctica: implications for paleoclimate and East Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics. Boreas 23(1):29–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Marchant DR, Denton GH, Swisher CC III (1993a) Miocene-Pliocene Pleistocene glacial history of Arena Valley, Quartermain Mountains, Antarctica. Geografiska Ann 75A:269–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marchant DR, Denton GH, Sugden DE, Swisher CC III (1993b) Miocene glacial stratigraphy and landscape evolution of the western Asgard Range, Antarctica. Geogr Ann 75A:303–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prentice ML, Denton GH, Bockheim JG, Wilson SC, Burckle LH, Hodell DA, Kellogg DE (1993) Late Neogene glacial history: evidence from central Wright Valley. In: Kennett J, Warnke D (eds) The Antarctic paleoenvironment: a perspective on global change. Antarctic Research Series, vol 60. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp 207–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Soil Survey Staff (1999) Soil taxonomy: a basic system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil surveys, 2nd edn. Agricultural Handbook No. 436, USDA

    Google Scholar 

  • Soil Survey Staff (2004) Soil survey laboratory methods manual. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil Survey Invest, Report No 42. Version 4.0

    Google Scholar 

  • Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, DC. http://soils.usda.gov/technical/classification/taxonomy/

  • Soil Survey Staff (2010) Keys to soil taxonomy, 11th edn. United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. http://www.soils.usda.gov/technical/classification/tax_keys/keysweb.pdf

  • Tedrow JCF, Ugolini FC (1966) Antarctic soils. In: Tedrow JFC (ed) Antarctic soils and soil forming processes. Antarctic Research Series, vol 8. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp 161–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilch TI, Denton GH, Lux DR, McIntosh WC (1993) Limited Pliocene glacier extent and surface uplift in middle Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Geogr Ann 75A:331–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs (JGB) and the New Zealand Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MM).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706-1299, USA

    James G. Bockheim

  2. Landcare Research, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Malcolm McLeod

Authors
  1. James G. Bockheim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Malcolm McLeod
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James G. Bockheim .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Soil Science Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    James G. Bockheim

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Bockheim, J.G., McLeod, M. (2015). Soils of Central Victoria Land, the McMurdo Dry Valleys. In: Bockheim, J. (eds) The Soils of Antarctica. World Soils Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05497-1_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation