The study of the abundance and occurence of salts in the soils of the Wright Valley

Soil samples were collected and analysed from three profiles across the Wright Valley, to determine the abundance of sodium, magnesium, calcium, potassium, chloride and some minor elements in the salts in soil. Samples were analysed for ionic abundance (mgm/cm2) and ionic ratios. In all, 123 samples were collected with a 2cm2 corer and 650 analyses were performed on 80 of these. The aim of this project was to be able to explain why there are drastic differences in water chemistry between the lakes in the the Taylor Valley and Wright Valley. It was hoped to be able to determine the mechanism for separating the sodium chloride from the calcium chloride or some mechanism for exchanging sodium for calcium.