Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Victoria University Antarctic Research Expedition Science and Logistics Reports 1994-95: VUWAE 39

Camp 1: Table Mountain, 77°58′S, 160°E, 18-23 November

Camp 1: Table Mountain, 77°58′S, 160°E, 18-23 November

This was the first site for sampling the Sirius tillites. We established camp within metres of the upper end of the deposit. This was not a planned palaeomagnetic sampling site so all three of us worked on the Sirius programme. We surveyed the page 5 deposits and found them to be draped for about 2 km along the edge of the slope facing the Ferrar Gl.; more extensive than previously reported. Exposures were good at the upper end but were sparse in the middle and became more continuous towards the lower end. It was misty for most of the time so we flagged a route along the ridge. There were frequent snow showers so we had to clear the rocks before commencing to take samples. Considerable effort was needed, at times even to loosen a few cm depth of deposit. Fifteen samples were taken in the top section and seven in the bottom section. The in situ fabric (ie the orientation and size distribution of the pebbles) was measured to find the mean flow direction of the glacier which deposited the moraine. For all but one day, when the survey was carried out, conditions were misty and it frequently snowed. Temperatures were between −22° and −27° so despite the effort of hammering, working conditions were a little cool and slowed progress. Nevertheless our objectives were achieved.