The Grain-Size Behaviour and Morphoscopy of Supraglacial Sediments, South of Schirmacher Oasis, E. Antarctica

The present study embodies the description of textural characteristics and quartz grain morphology (under SEM) of sediments occurring in three micro-environments on the polar ice sheet. Coarse to fine grained, largely ill-sorted sediments with a polymodal distribution reflect a varying magnitude in the velocity of the transporting medium. A dominant saltation population with little suspension and lack of rolling population is revealed by cumulative curves which suggests transportation of these supraglacial sediments by wind. The quartz grains bear two generations of mechanical textures and a third phase of chemical textures attributed to glacial and aeolian environments.