A Late Holocene desiccation of Lake Hoare and Lake Fryxell, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

1998 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.B. Lyons ◽  
S.W. Tyler ◽  
R.A. Wharton ◽  
D.M. McKnight ◽  
B.H. Vaughn
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Mcmurdo Dry Valleys ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Dry Valleys ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
The Past ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lake Fryxell ◽  
Climatic History

Stable isotope data from waters of lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica are presented in order to establish the climatic history of this region over the past two millennia. New data from Lake Fryxell and Lake Hoare in Toylor Valley, along with previously published data from Lake Vanda, Wright Valley and Lake Bonney, Taylor Valley are used to infer the recent climatic history of MDV. Lakes Vanda, Fryxell and Bonney appear to have lost their ice covers and evaporated to small, hypersaline ponds by 1000 to ~1200 yr BP. Lake Hoare either desiccated or did not exist prior to 1200 yr BP. These data indicate a major lowering of lake level prior to ~1000 yr BP, followed by a warmer and/or more humid climate since then.

The Holocene environmental history of Lake Hoare, Taylor Valley, Antarctica, reconstructed from sediment cores

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Wagner ◽  
Sabrina Ortlepp ◽  
Peter T. Doran ◽  
Fabien Kenig ◽  
Martin Melles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Sedimentary Characteristics ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Taylor Valley ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lake Fryxell

AbstractUp to 2.3 m long sediment sequences were recovered from the deepest part of Lake Hoare in Taylor Valley, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Sedimentological, biogeochemical, and mineralogical analyses revealed a high spatial variability of these parameters in Lake Hoare. Five distinct lithological units were recognized. Radiocarbon dating of bulk organic carbon samples from the sediment sequences yielded apparently too old ages and significant age reversals, which prevented the establishment of reliable age-depth models. However, cross correlation of the sedimentary characteristics with those of sediment records from neighbouring Lake Fryxell indicates that the lowermost two units of the Lake Hoare sediment sequences were probably deposited during the final phase of proglacial Lake Washburn, which occupied Taylor Valley during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. High amounts of angular gravel and the absence of fine-grained material imply a complete desiccation with subaerial conditions in the Lake Hoare basin in the middle of the Holocene. The late Holocene (< c. 3300 calendar yr bp) is characterized by the establishment of environmental conditions similar to those existing today. A late Holocene desiccation event, such as proposed in former studies, is not indicated in the sediment sequences recovered.

The origin of salts in water bodies of the McMurdo Dry Valleys

1998 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuki Takamatsu ◽  
Naoyuki Kato ◽  
Genki I. Matsumoto ◽  
Tetsuya Torii
Keyword(s):  
Saline Water ◽  
Pond Water ◽  
Mcmurdo Dry Valleys ◽  
Dry Valleys ◽  
Atmospheric Fallout ◽  
Soil Weathering ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
Bottom Waters ◽  
History Of ◽  
Surface Ice

Lithium distributions in lake and pond waters of the McMurdo Dry Valleys of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica were studied to elucidate the origin of dissolved salts and the evolutionary history of the lakes and ponds. The EfLi [(Li/Cl)sample/(Li/Cl)seawater] values of the bottom waters in Lakes Bonney and Fryxell were higher than unity (EfLi=4–7), indicating that the salts originated from sea salts (probably relict seawater) and have been subsequently modified by the contribution of meltwaters containing atmospheric fallout and/or rock and soil weathering products. In contrast, extremely high Li concentrations with high EfLi values in the Don Juan Pond water (EfLi = 180) and the bottom waters of Lake Vanda (EfLi = 40) suggest that the salts originated from deep groundwaters influenced mainly by saline water-rock interactions, as supported by the dissolution experiments of granite in NaCl solution. The low Li concentrations of pond waters with high EfLi values in the Labyrinth indicate that the salts are derived from atmospheric fallout. The decrease of the EfLi values with the increase of Cl concentrations can be explained by the repeated cycles of the migration of Li into the ice phase and subsequent ablation of surface ice, as indicated by seawater freezing experiments.

scholarly journals High-resolution elevation mapping of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, and surrounding regions

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 435-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew G. Fountain ◽  
Juan C. Fernandez-Diaz ◽  
Maciej Obryk ◽  
Joseph Levy ◽  
Michael Gooseff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
Mcmurdo Dry Valleys ◽  
Dry Valleys ◽  
The Past ◽  
Detailed Surface ◽  
Mcmurdo Station ◽  
Coastal Margin ◽  
Lidar Return ◽  
Combined Data

Abstract. We present detailed surface elevation measurements for the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica derived from aerial lidar surveys flown in the austral summer of 2014–2015 as part of an effort to understand geomorphic changes over the past decade. Lidar return density varied from 2 to > 10 returns m−2 with an average of about 5 returns m−2. Vertical and horizontal accuracies are estimated to be 7 and 3 cm, respectively. In addition to our intended targets, other ad hoc regions were also surveyed including the Pegasus flight facility and two regions on Ross Island, McMurdo Station, Scott Base (and surroundings), and the coastal margin between Cape Royds and Cape Evans. These data are included in this report and data release. The combined data are freely available at https://doi.org/10.5069/G9D50JX3.

scholarly journals Climatology of katabatic winds in the McMurdo dry valleys, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica

2004 ◽  
Vol 109 (D3) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas H. Nylen ◽  
Andrew G. Fountain ◽  
Peter T. Doran
Keyword(s):  
Mcmurdo Dry Valleys ◽  
Dry Valleys ◽  
Katabatic Winds ◽  
Victoria Land

Vanda Station, Antarctica: a biography of the Anthropocene

2021 ◽  
Vol 9s6 ◽  
pp. 61-89
Author(s):  
Adrian Howkins ◽  
Stephen Chignell ◽  
Andrew Fountain
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Mcmurdo Dry Valleys ◽  
Dry Valleys ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Political Status ◽  
Geological Age ◽  
Partial Adaptation ◽  
Biographical Approach ◽  
History Of

This article uses the history of New Zealand�s Vanda Station in Antarctica as a case study of the inseparability of human history and environmental change in the age of the Anthropocene. Vanda Station was built in the late 1960s to promote New Zealand�s sovereignty claims to Antarctica and to promote scientific research in the predominantly ice-free McMurdo Dry Valleys region. Over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, the levels of the nearby Lake Vanda rose dramatically, and in the early 1990s the decision was taken to close the station. Rather than seeing the closure of Vanda simply as a consequence of the rising lake levels, this article suggests instead that it was the result of a number of interconnected social, political, scientific, and environmental factors. Although the concept of the Anthropocene is not unproblematic, a biographical approach to the history of Vanda Station can add depth and nuance to our understanding of the geological age of humans. In the McMurdo Dry Valleys, the �birth�, �life� and �death� of Vanda Station helps to demonstrate how the political status quo maintained itself through a partial adaptation to the new realities of the Anthropocene. This political adaptation, however, relies on maintaining human-nature dichotomies and resisting the full implications of viewing the region as an eco-social system.

Evidence for regional climate change in the recent evolution of a high latitude pro-glacial lake

1996 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Webster ◽  
Ian Hawes ◽  
Malcolm Downes ◽  
Michael Timperley ◽  
Clive Howard-Williams
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Regional Climate Change ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Mcmurdo Dry Valleys ◽  
Dry Valleys ◽  
The North ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
Upper Mixed Layer

Lake Wilson, a perennially ice-capped, deep (>100 m) lake at 80°S in southern Victoria Land was investigated in January 1993. Water chemistry and physical structure showed three distinct layers; an upper c. 35 m mixed layer of low salinity, moderately turbid water; a less turbid mid layer, 20 m thick of slightly higher salinity and supersaturated with oxygen; and a deep 20 m brackish layer (conductivity c. 4000 μS cm−1) with anoxic conditions in the lower 5 m. Extreme supersaturation of N2O (up to 400 times air saturation) together with high nitrate concentration (4000 mg m−3) was recorded in the deep layer. Phytoplankton biomass and photosynthetic activity was confined to the upper mixed layer and the band of supersaturated dissolved oxygen located at 40–55 m appears to represent a relict layer from when the lake level was lower. The evidence from a comparison of profiles between 1975 and 1993 suggests that Lake Wilson has risen 25 m since 1975, synchronous with a period of lake level rise in the McMurdo Dry Valleys lakes to the north at 77°S. Geochemical diffusion models indicate that Lake Wilson had evaporated to a smaller brine lake about 1000 yrs BP, which also fits the pattern shown by the McMurdo Dry Valleys lakes. Climate changes influencing lake levels have thus covered a wide area of southern Victoria Land.

Appraisal of the Future Climate of the Holocene in the Rocky Mountains

1972 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald M. Richmond
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Holocene Climate ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Climatic History

Consideration of the history of Holocene climate in the Rocky Mountains indicates that the over-all trend during the past 2500 yr has been toward increasing warmth, interrupted by cooler times of minor advances of cirque glaciers. Comparison of Holocene climatic history with the record of past interglacials in the region suggests that the present interglacial is not complete and that the climate may become first warmer and subsequently wetter before it is completed. Correlation of the timing of the regional glacial-interglacial record for the past 140,000 yr with the record of major sea level changes and with the calculated changes in the earth's insolation suggest that the present interglacial may be completed within a few millenia and that it may be followed by a significant cooling of the climate.

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