Spatial variability of soil nutrients in Punta Fort William, Greenwich Island, maritime Antarctic

• Main Authors: Hii, Yii Siang, Alias, Siti Aisyah, Riofrío, Monica, Ordóñez, Nadia, Moreano, Hernán
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Research Institute of China - PRIC 2013
• Subjects: Terrestrial; Advances in Polar Science; Antarc*; Antarctic; Greenwich Island; Polar Science; Quito Glacier
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/2508/; http://library.arcticportal.org/2508/1/A20130411.pdf

This study aims to report baseline soil nutrients, specifically the organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus profile, in soil samples collected from Punta Fort William on Greenwich Island in maritime Antarctic. Samples were collected along two transect lines during the early summer of 2008. Ward’s method of hierarchical agglomerative clustering was employed to group the sampling points based on their physico-chemical properties. In this context, the soil samples can be grouped into three major clusters: (1) Samples with intensive biological activities, (2) samples from the area recently exposed by glacial retreat and (3) samples from barren and dried areas. Nutrient contents in Punta Fort William are driven by the intensity of biological activities as well as melt water from the Quito glacier.