Evolution of desert pavements and the vesicular layer in soils of the Transantarctic Mountains

Modeling vapor diffusion within cold and dry supraglacial tills of Antarctica: Implications for the preservation of ancient ice

“…Its maximum depth of~20 cm is uniform across the glacier and corresponds with the deepest recorded penetration of the 0°C soil isotherm (Table 1b). The weathered facies is composed of sand-to gravel-sized fragments of Ferrar dolerite (≥96%) (mostly grus) and undifferentiated sandstone (≤4%); in most places, grus, rock fragments, and isolated mineral grains (especially pyroxene) are demonstrably related to the physical disintegration of weathered cobbles and boulders of Ferrar dolerite at the ground surface (e.g., Bockheim, 2010).…”

Soil and permafrost in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica: stable or dynamic?

“…The youngest soils are generally found on deposits closest to glaciers and on young features such as beaches, sand dunes, or stream deposits. The oldest, most strongly weathered soils are often found on high, upland surfaces (Campbell and Claridge, 1987;Bockheim, 2010) which have escaped the erosive effects of subsequent glacial fluctuations.…”

Advances in permafrost and periglacial research in Antarctica: A review

“…This database has been used for understanding the glacial evolution, allowing areas characterized only by dry-based glaciers to be distinguished from areas occupied also by more ancient wet-based glaciers, revealing that Antarctic glaciers have been recycling clasts for the past c. 15 Ma (Bockheim, 2010a). Soil mapping is being widely used to reconstruct jointly with or without cosmogenic dates the glaciation history of the ice free areas, in particular of McMurdo Dry Valley (Bockheim and Ackert, 2007;Bockheim and McLeod, 2008; with important implications for the comprehension of climate change in the past.…”