Nutrient and Thermal Regime, Microbial Biomass, and Vegetation of Antarctic Soils in the Windmill Islands Region of East Antarctica (Wilkes Land)

2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lothar Beyer ◽  
Manfred Bolter ◽  
Rod D. Seppelt
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Thermal Regime ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Antarctic Soils ◽  
Wilkes Land ◽  
Windmill Islands

scholarly journals The seafloor geomorphology of the Windmill Islands, Wilkes Land, East Antarctica: Evidence of Law Dome ice margin dynamics

Geomorphology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 292 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.J. Carson ◽  
A.L. Post ◽  
J. Smith ◽  
G. Walker ◽  
P. Waring ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
East Antarctica ◽  
Wilkes Land ◽  
Windmill Islands

Glacio-isostasy and Glacial Ice Load at Law Dome, Wilkes Land, East Antarctica

2000 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian D. Goodwin ◽  
Christopher Zweck
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
Ice Load ◽  
Wilkes Land ◽  
Windmill Islands ◽  
The Law ◽  
Level Lowering

AbstractThe Holocene sea-level high stand or “marine limit” in Wilkes Land, East Antarctica, reached ∼30 m above present sea level at a few dispersed sites. The most detailed marine limit data have been recorded for the Windmill Islands and Budd Coast at the margin of the Law Dome ice cap, a dome of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). Relative sea-level lowering of 30 m and the associated emergence of the Windmill Islands have occurred since 6900 14C (corr.) yr B.P. Numerical modeling of the Earth's rheology is used to determine the glacio-isostatic component of the observed relative sea-level lowering. Glaciological evidence suggests that most of EAIS thickening occurred around its margin, with expansion onto the continental shelf. Consequently, a regional ice history for the last glacial maximum (LGM) was applied in the glacio-isostatic modeling to test whether the observed relative sea-level lowering was primarily produced by regional ice-sheet changes. The results of the modeling indicate that the postglacial (13,000 to 8000 14C yr B.P) removal of an ice load of between 770 and 1000 m from around the margin of the Law Dome and adjacent EAIS have produced the observed relative sea-level lowering. Such an additional ice load would have been associated with a 40- to 65-km expansion of the Law Dome to near the continental shelf break, together with a few hundred meters of ice thickening on the adjoining coastal slope of the EAIS up to 2000 m elevation. Whereas the observed changes in relative sea level are shown to be strongly influenced by regional ice sheet changes, the glacio-isostatic response at the Windmill Islands results from a combination of regional and to a lesser extent, Antarctic-wide effects. The correspondence between the Holocene relative sea-level lowering interpreted at the margin of the Law Dome and the lowering interpreted along the remainder of the Wilkes Land and Oates Land coasts (105°–160° E) suggests that a similar ice load of up to 1000 m existed along the EAIS margin between Wilkes Land and Oates Land.

scholarly journals Characterization of heavy metals resistant heterotrophic bacteria from soils in the Windmill Islands region, Wilkes Land, East Antarctica

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iva Tomova ◽  
Margarita Stoilova−Disheva ◽  
Evgenia Vasileva−Tonkova
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Heterotrophic Bacteria ◽  
Hydrolytic Enzymes ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Toxic Heavy Metals ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
Solid Media ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Wilkes Land ◽  
Windmill Islands

AbstractIn this study, selected heavy metals resistant heterotrophic bacteria isolated from soil samples at the Windmill Islands region, Wilkes Land (East Antarctica), were characterized. Phylogenetic analysis revealed affiliation of isolates to genera Bacillus, Lysinibacillus, Micrococcus and Stenotrophomonas. The strains were found to be psychrotolerant and halotolerant, able to tolerate up to 10% NaCl in the growth medium. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of the seven heavy metals Cr, Cu, Ni, Co, Cd, Zn, and Pb was determined in solid media for each bacterial strain. Gram−positive Vi−2 strain and Gram−negative Vi−4 strain showed highest multiply heavy metals resistance, and Vi−3 and Vi−4 strains showed multi−antibiotic resistance to more than a half of the 13 used antibiotics. Plasmids were detected only in Gram−negative Vi−4 strain. The bacteria were able to produce different hydrolytic enzymes including industrially important proteases, xylanases, cellulases, and β−glucosidases. High heavy metals resistance of the Antarctic bacteria suggests their potential application for wastewater treatment in cold and temperate climates. Highly sensitive to Cd and Co ions Vi−1, Vi−5 and Vi−7 strains would be promising for developing biosensors to detect these most toxic heavy metals in environmental samples.

Radiocarbon Age of Soils in Oases of East Antarctica

Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 489-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Zazovskaya ◽  
N Mergelov ◽  
V Shishkov ◽  
A Dolgikh ◽  
V Miamin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
Antarctic Soils ◽  
Larsemann Hills ◽  
Arctic Soils ◽  
Organic Horizons

AbstractThis article discusses radiocarbon dating results for soils and soil-like systems in the East Antarctic oases, including Schirmacher, Thala Hills, and Larsemann Hills. The organic matter of endolithic and hypolithic systems, soils of wind shelters, and soils under moss-algae vegetation were dated along with micro- and macroprofiles. Organic matter pools formed under extreme climatic conditions and originated not from vascular plants but from cryptogamic organisms, and photoautotrophic microbes have been identified within the oases of the East Antarctica. The organic matter of the most of East Antarctic soils is young and cannot reach a steady state because of the high dynamism in the soil cover due to active erosion. The oldest soil organic matter in East Antarctica was found in the soils formed in wind shelters and endolithic soil-like systems under the protection of consolidated rock surfaces. According to our data, the maximal duration for the formation of organic matter profiles within the oases of East Antarctica is ~500 yr, which is similar to the age determined for High Arctic soils in Eurasia. The absence of older soils, comparable with the Holocene deglaciation, can be due to the extreme conditions resulting in occasional catastrophic events that destroyed the soil organic horizons.

scholarly journals 50 years of ice-front changes between the Adélie and Banzare Coasts, East Antarctica

2002 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 235-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Frezzotti ◽  
Marco Polizzi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Regional Climate Change ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
Wilkes Land ◽  
Fast Ice ◽  
Cyclical Behaviour ◽  
General Reduction

AbstractIce-front change may well be a sensitive indicator of regional climate change. We studied the coastal sector of Wilkes Land, East Antarctica, along the Adélie and Banzare Coasts, extending from Buchanan Bay (67°05’ S, 144°30’ E) to Porpoise Bay (67°S, 128°E). The glaciers in this area drain the northern part of Dome C (area 270 000 km2). A comparison of maps, photographs and satellite images, dated several years apart, led to an estimation of the fluctuations of 18 ice fronts over the 50 years 1947–97 .The area of the floating glaciers in 1963 was 3035 km2, and in 1989, 2785 km2. The main glaciers in the area are Zélée, Astrolabe, du Français, Commandant Charcot and Pourquoi Pas for the Adélie Coast, and Dibble, May, Sandford and Frost Glaciers for the Clarie and Banzare Coasts. Most of the floating glaciers have shown cyclical behaviour without a marked trend, but a general reduction since 1947. The reduction in the area of floating glaciers since the 1950s may be linked to changes in ice–ocean interaction, as noted for the floating glaciers of the George V Coast and the Cape Adare area, and sea-ice extent. The calving behaviour of the main glacier tongues is characterized by an accumulation of icebergs projecting from the coast to form iceberg tongues, held in place by grounding and joined together by annual or perennial fast ice.

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