The Soils of Antarctica

A brief history of the study of soils in Antarctica is provided beginning with Jensen (1916) who analyzed soil samples collected during the 1907–09 Shackleton expedition and continuing through ongoing efforts by several nations throughout Antarctica. Challenges to studying soils in Antarctica revolve around logistics, a lack of support for mapping, and limitations of current soil classification schemes.

Only 0.35 %, or 45,000 km², of Antarctica is ice-free, with the largest areas in the Transantarctic Mountains (25,700 km²) and the Antarctic Peninsula (10,000 km²). Antarctica is divided by the Transantarctic Mountains into what is commonly known as East Antarctica, which contains the massive East Antarctic ice sheet (EAIS) over bedrock, and West Antarctica, which contains the marine-based West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS). This chapter addresses the climate, biota (plants and animals), and bedrock and surficial geology of Antarctica. The Antarctic soils database contains more than 2,300 pedons. The history of soil classification from genetic systems to those base on soil properties is considered.

This chapter describes the soils of Queen Maud Land (QML). This is the part of Antarctica between longitudes 20° W and 45° E. QML is the fourth largest ice-free territory of Antarctica, comprising 3,400 km2 (6.9 % of total ice-free area). The most studied areas of QML in terms of soils include the Sør Rondane Mountains and Schirmacher Oasis (35 km2). QML is underlain by continuous permafrost. The mountains are underlain by thick permafrost; and active layer ranges from 8 to 40 cm in depth to from 30 to 120 cm in depth in the Schirmacher Oasis. The dominant soil taxa include Typic Haploturbels-Haplorthels and Lithic Haploturbels-Haplorthels under moss cover, Typic Aquorthels Haplorthels in soils along lake margins and those influenced by algae, Typic Haploturbels in areas of patterned ground, Typic Haplorthels in dry areas, and Typic and Lithic Anhyorthels-Anhyturbels in the mountains. Soils of Queen Maud Land are less developed than those elsewhere in East Antarctica because they are more distant from the coast and have not been influenced by penguins and other birds.

Enderby Land is that portion of Antarctica extending from Shirase Glacier and Lutzow-Holm Bay from the west (38°30’E) to Wilma Glacier and Edward VIII Bay to the east (57°E). Enderby Land is bordered by the Cosmonauts Sea in the west and by the Sea of Cooperation in the east, both are part of the Southern Ocean. Nearly 1,500 km² of Enderby Land is ice-free. Two research stations—Molodezhnaya (Russia, 67º40' S, 45º51' E) and Syowa (Japan, 69°00’S, 39°35’E)—are established in Enderby Land. The dominant soil taxa along the coast are Haploturbels/Haplorthels, Aquiturbels/Aquorthels, and previously unclassified ornithogenic soils and endolithic microsoils. Lithic subgroups both for Haploturbels and Gelorthents (permafrost > 1 m without cryoturbations) are predominant in the territories with shallow rock contact.

MacRobertson Land is the portion of Antarctica lying south of the Mawson Coast between 59° 34′ E and 72° 35′ E. At 5,400 km², MacRobertson Land constitutes the third largest ice-free area in Antarctica, accounting for 11 % of the total ice-free area. Less than 10 % of the ice area occurs along the coast. It has five major ice-free areas: (i) the Northern Prince Charles Mountains, including the Amery Oasis, (ii) the Southern Prince Charles Mountains, including the Mawson Escarpment, (iii) the Grove Mountains, (iv) a series of small coastal oases and inland Framnes Mountains along the Mawson Coast, and (v) the Vestfold Hills, Rauer-Bolingen Islands, and Larsemann Hills along the Ingrid Christensen Coast. Elevation differences of over 3,000 m and distances of ice-free areas from the coast up to 650 km inland create sharp contrasts in climatic conditions and have a marked impact on pedogenesis. Permafrost is continuous in MacRobertson Land. Active-layer depths range from 25 cm in the Grove Mountains to 110 cm or more on the coast. Patterned ground is ubiquitous in the areas with frost-susceptible parent materials throughout the region. Soil-forming processes can be examined along an elevational-longitudinal gradient from the Vestfold-Larsemann Hills to the southern Prince Charles and Grove Mountains. Salinization, manifested in salt efflorescence, carbonation, and permafrost development are expected to increase from the coast inland; pervection, and soil organic matter accumulation are greatest along the coast. Desert pavement formation and rubification are important processes along the entire gradient. Unlike Wilkes Land and South Shetland Islands, podzolization has not been reported in MacRobertson Land. The dominant soil taxa along the coast are Aquiturbels, Haploturbels, previously unclassified ornithogenic and limnogenic soils, and endo- and epi-lithic soil-like bodies. Lithic Anhyorthels are predominant in the inland mountains.

The Windmill Islands and surrounding area constitute the largest ice-free area in Wilkes Land at 500 km² (Table 2.​1). There are three scientific bases in Wilkes Land, including Mirnyy (Russia), Casey (Australia), and Dumont D’Urville (France).

North Victoria Land (NVL) is that portion of the 3,500 km long Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) that extends from the Wilson Hills along the Pennell Coast at approximately 69° 30′ S to the Mawson Glacier at about 76° S (Fig. 7.1).

Central Victoria Land is considered here to extend from the Mawson Glacier (76° S) to the Mulock Glacier (79° S), which constitutes the largest ice-free area (6,692 km²) in Antarctica: the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) (Fig. 8.1). The vegetation, surficial geology, climate, soils, and other resources of the McMurdo Dry Valleys have been studied intensively and summarized by Tedrow and Ugolini (1966) and Campbell and Claridge (1987).

In this book we consider the southern Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) to include that portion of the TAM from the Mulock Glacier (79° S) to the southernmost part of the range, Mt. Howe (87° 19′ S).

The Ellsworth Mountains occur along the southern edge of the Ronne-Filchner Ice Shelf in West Antarctica (Fig. 2.​1) and are subdivided by the Minnesota Glacier into the Heritage Range to the east and the Sentinel Range to the west (Fig. 10.1).

The whole area of the Marie Byrd Land (MBL) is more than 200,000 km².

This chapter deals with the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) exclusive of the South Shetland and South Orkney Islands, which will be considered in Chap. 13, and the Joinville and James Ross Island group along the east coast of the AP, which will be considered in Chap. 14. It is disconcerting that so few soil investigations have been conducted along the AP, especially in view of the rapid warming along the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), which is expanding the ice-free area. The WAP is unique from other areas in Antarctica, because of its relatively temperate climate and the strong influence that biology plays in soil-forming processes.

The present Chapter presents an overview on soils from Maritime Antarctica, comprising ice-free areas distributed along the South Orkney (SOI) and South Shetland Islands (SSI). Published and novel data were compiled, with focus on pedogenesis and soils geography, in a total of 365 pedons, of which 71 % are from King George Island. Seven soil-forming processes occur, including cryoturbation, gleization, melanization, podzolization, paludization, and phosphatization. Six soil orders have been reported in the SOI and SSI, including Gelisols, Entisols, Inceptisols, Histosols, Mollisols, and Spodosols, which represent half of the orders in ST. Gelisols are predominant at altitudes above 30 m.a.s.l. to 100 m.a.s.l., where discontinuous permafrost exists. The most abundant great group is the Haploturbels, illustrating the importance of cryoturbation. We conclude with a summary of the current knowledge on soil formation and distribution in the SOI and SSI, and a prospect of future research needs and questions.

The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) marks the climatic transition between maritime and dry subpolar Antarctica. The western side of the AP has a mean annual air temperature (MAAT) between –2.7 and –3.4 °C, with up to 2 months with temperatures above freezing, and a mean annual precipitation (MAP) ranging from 400 to 800 mm, with some of the precipitation falling as rain.

Antarctic soils are vulnerable to disturbance due to their physical properties and naturally slow recovery rates that are suppressed by low temperatures and low availability of liquid moisture.

The magnitude and potential causes of historical climate warming in Antarctica are discussed, based on an analysis of the published literature and the editor’s personal observations over the past 45 years. The potential impacts of continued warming on Antarctic soils is discussed.

Detailed soils investigations from all eight ice-free regions of Antarctica suggest that permafrost is continuous on the continent, but it is discontinuous in the South Orkney Islands (SOI) and South Shetland Islands (SSI), occurring primarily below an elevation of 30 m a.s.l.