Profile descriptions, mapping and analysis of soils in the Wright Valley, Antarctica and assessment of soil disturbance by foot traffic

Soil profile descriptions from the Lower Wright Valley, West Wright Valley (including north and south forks), Labyrinth and Dais was carried out over three field seasons (2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07) to relate soil development to age of surficial material. The data includes colour, texture, salt stage, weathering stage, depth of coherence, depth of oxidation, depth of visible salts, depth of rock ghosts, parent material and landform following USDA Soil Taxonomy classification. All profiles sampled for chemical (pH, EC, 1:5 extract for Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cl, NO3, SO4) and particle-size analyses. Soil disturbance by foot traffic was assessed by scoring disturbance of boot prints. Soil maps are deposited on the online Ross Sea Region GIS.