144 soil samples were collected from a chronosequence of moraines in the Darwin Mountains near Lake Wellman, Antarctica, ranging from 10,000 to 900,000 years old. The dataset includes GPS location, soil physical properties, chemical analyses, and USDA Soil Taxonomy classification. It was created by SCIOPS and last updated in 2008.
Use Cases
- Model soil development over time based on weathering stage and depth of oxidation.
- Correlate microbial community diversity with soil age and chemical properties like pH and EC.
- Map soil characteristics across a 6km radius based on GPS location data.
- Classify Antarctic soils using USDA Soil Taxonomy classification and parent material.
Strengths
- 144 samples collected from a chronosequence spanning 10,000 to 900,000 years.
- Each sample includes data from three depths and three faces, providing multi-dimensional profiles.
- Data includes GPS location, physical soil properties, chemical analyses, and microbial data.
Limitations
- Last updated 2008-01-18 23:59:59.999000; freshness should be verified.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- SCIOPS
- Collection Method
- Samples taken from three depths and three faces of four pedons on each of four drifts.
- Time Range
- Soil ages range from early Holocene (10 ky) to mid Quaternary (ca 900 ky).
- Geography
- Samples taken from a 6km radius of Lake Wellman (79° 55' 16.2" S, 156° 55' 30.7" E) in the south-eastern Darwin Mountains, Antarctica.