Soil and salt samples and geological observations from high altitude sites in the Upper Taylor Valley to determine the history of the Antarctic environment through the composition of salts in soils

Samples of salts from beneath surface stones and boulders were sampled. Thin sections were cut along the axis of some of the pits and the mineral alteration and weathering textures were examined. Three sites in New Valley, immediately east of New Mountain, 12-14 km west of Aztec Ridge were sampled with pits excavated 1.7 m, 1.2 m and 0.7 m deep.

Description and pedological samples were taken and samples for salt extraction and analysis were taken over measured intervals. Samples of surface and subsurface rocks with attached salt layers (up to 2 cm thick) were taken for examination. Surveys of surface stones along traverses and measurements of physical parameters which might influence the accumulation of salts beneath them were also completed.