scholarly journals Discharge of groundwater flow to the Potter Cove on King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Falk ◽  
Adrián Silva-Busso
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Flow ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Marine Biota ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Hydrogeological Model ◽  
Potter Cove ◽  
Flow Discharge

Abstract. There is only a small number of recent publications discuss glacial runoff in Antarctica and even fewer of them deal with the groundwater flow discharge. This paper focuses on the groundwater flow aspects and is based on a detailed study performed on a small hydrological catchment, informally called Potter Basin, located on King George Island (KGI; Isla 25 de Mayo), South Shetland Islands, at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. This region has experienced drastic climatological changes within the past five decades. The basin is representative for the rugged coastline of the Northern Antarctic Peninsula, and is discussed as a case study for possible future evolution of similar basins further to the South. A conceptual hydrogeological model has been defined using vertical electrical soundings (VES), geological and hydrogeological surveying methods, geomorphological interpretation based on satellite imagery, permeability tests, piezometric level measurements, meteorological, geocryological and glaciological data sets. The transmissivities of the fluvial talik aquifer and suprapermafrost aquifer range from 162.0 to 2719.9 · 10−5 m2 s−1, and in basaltic fissurated aquifers from 3.47 to 5.79 · 10−5 m2 s−1. The transmissivities found in the active layer of hummocky moraines amount to 75.23 · 10−5 m2 s−1, in sea deposits to 163.0 · 10−5 m2 s−1, and in the fluvioglacial deposits they were observed between 902.8 and 2662.0 · 10−5 m2 d−1. Finally, the groundwater flow discharge was assessed to 0.47 m3 s−1 (only during January and February), and the total groundwater storage was estimated to 560 000 m3. This data can be used to adjust the local glacial mass balance and to improve the understanding of coastal sea water processes in Potter Cove and their effects on the local marine biota, as a consequence of the global climate change.

scholarly journals Discharge of groundwater flow to Potter Cove on King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 3227-3244
Author(s):  
Ulrike Falk ◽  
Adrián Silva-Busso
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Groundwater Flow ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
Freezing Point ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Flow Discharge ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. There are only a small number of recent publications discussing glacial runoff in Antarctica, and even fewer of them deal with the groundwater flow discharge. This paper focuses on the groundwater flow aspects and is based on a detailed study performed on a small hydrological catchment, informally called Potter basin, located on King George Island (KGI; Isla 25 de Mayo), South Shetland Islands, at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The basin is representative for the rugged coastline of the northern Antarctic Peninsula and is discussed as a case study for the possible future evolution of similar basins further to the south. A conceptual hydrogeological model has been defined using vertical electrical soundings (VESs), geological and hydrogeological surveying methods, geomorphological interpretation based on satellite imagery, permeability tests, piezometric level measurements, meteorological, geocryological and glaciological data sets. The transmissivities of the fluvial talik aquifer and suprapermafrost aquifer range from 162.0 to 2719.9×10-5 m2 s−1 and in basaltic fissured aquifers from 3.47 to 5.79×10-5 m2 s−1. The transmissivities found in the active layer of hummocky moraines amount to 75.23×10-5 m2 s−1 and to 163.0×10-5 m2 s−1 in the sea deposits, and in the fluvioglacial deposits, they were observed between 902.8 and 2662.0×10-5 m2 d−1. Finally, the groundwater flow discharge was assessed to 0.47 m3 s−1 (during the austral summer months of January and February), and the total groundwater storage was estimated to 560×103 m3. The Antarctic Peninsula region has experienced drastic climatological changes within the past five decades. Under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios, a further warming of the polar regions can be expected as polar amplification of our changing climate. Although the basin in consideration is small and results are valid only during austral summers with surface air temperatures above the freezing point, it serves as model study that can be regarded as representative for the western coastline of the Antarctic Peninsula further south under expected future warming, with surface air temperatures periodically surpassing freezing point. This data can be used to adjust glacial mass balance assessments in the region and to improve the understanding of coastal sea water processes, and their effects on the marine biota, as a consequence of the global climate change.

scholarly journals Recent retreat of ice cliffs, King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctic Peninsula

1998 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 633-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byong-Kwon Park ◽  
Soon-Keun Chang ◽  
Ho Il Yoon ◽  
Hosung Chung
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Regional Warming ◽  
Potter Cove ◽  
Aerial Photos ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Topographic Survey ◽  
Water Depths ◽  
Maxwell Bay

Comparison of aerial photos shows that the ice cliff in Marian Cove, Maxwell Bay, southwestern King George Island, retreated approximately 250 m between 1956 and 1986, but advanced about 40 m between December 1986 and January 1989. The advance in the late 1980s seems to be related to the cold austral winters of 1986-88. A topographic survey in January 1994 revealed that the ice cliff in Marian Cove had again retreated around 270 m since January 1989; approximately the same as from December 1956 to December 1986. in Potter Cove, the ice cliff retreated approximately 400 m from 1956-89. The more pronounced retreat here may be attributable to shallower water depths (<30m). These ice cliffs retreats are discussed as a possible consequence of recent regional warming.

Population dynamics of the bivalve Laternula elliptica from Potter Cove, King George Island, South Shetland Islands

1998 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.-Jörg Urban ◽  
Guillermo Mercuri
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Total Mortality ◽  
Growth Function ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Potter Cove ◽  
Cycle Growth ◽  
Laternula Elliptica ◽  
Complete Study

Body size, geographical distribution and biomass make Laternula elliptica one of the most important bivalve species of the Antarctic. A complete study on the population dynamics (reproduction cycle, growth, mortality and productivity) of this species from King George Island gave growth parameters for the von-Bertalanffy-growth-function of: L∞ = 112.2 mm, K = 0.160 yr 1, t0 = 0.000 yr. Total mortality was estimated as Z = 0.392 yr−1. Somatic production and mean biomass of two distinct sub-populations were 8.7 and 67.3 g AFDW m−2 yr−1 at Beach & Glacier and 20.0 and 88.6 g AFDW m−2 yr−1 at Punta Elefante. The following P / B values were calculated; Beach & Glacier = 0.129, Punta Elefante = 0.226. It is suggested that these differences are linked to mortality caused by icebergs which is expected to be higher at the shallower Punta Elefante site.

H2O2 accumulation from photochemical production and atmospheric wet deposition in Antarctic coastal and off-shore waters of Potter Cove, King George Island, South Shetland Islands

1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doris Abele ◽  
Gustavo A. Ferreyra ◽  
Irene Schloss
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Peroxide ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Wet Deposition ◽  
High Energy ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
King George Island ◽  
The South ◽  
Potter Cove ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Snowfall Event

Temporal and spatial variations of the hydrogen peroxide accumulation were measured in off-shore waters and in intertidal rockpools near Jubany Station, King George Island, South Shetland Islands. As H2O2 photoformation is mainly driven by the short wavelength radiation in the UV-B and the UV-A range of the solar spectrum, the study was conducted between the beginning of October and the end of December 1995, the period of Antarctic spring ozone depletion. Wet deposition of H2O2 containing snow was identified as a major source of hydrogen peroxide in the surface waters of Potter Cove. As the concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in Potter Cove surface waters were low (121 ± 59 μmol Cl−1), when compared to the highly eutrophicated waters on the German Wadden coast (6000–7000 μmol Cl−1), direct UV-induced DOC photo-oxidation was of only limited significance in the Antarctic sampling site. Nonetheless, under experimental conditions, H2O2 photoformation in Potter Cove surface waters amounted to 90 ± 40 nmol H2O2 h−1 l−1 under a UV-transparent quartz plate. When high energy UV-B photons were cut-off by a WG320 filter formation continued at a rate of 66 ± 29 nmol H2O2 h−1 l−1 due to UV-A and visible light photons. Samples from freshly deposited snow contained between 10 000 and 13 600 nmol H2O2 l−1, and a snowfall event in mid November resulted in a maximum concentration of 1450 nmol H2O2 l−1 in the upper 10 cm layer of Potter Cove surface waters. Maximal H2O2 concentrations in intertidal rockpools were even higher and reached up to 2000 nmol H2O2 l−1 after the snowfall event. During a grid survey on December 17 1995, H2O2 concentrations and salinity displayed a north to south gradient, with higher concentrations and PSU at the south coast of the cove. The reasons for this spatial inhomogenety are as yet unknown, but may relate to a minor local input of photo-reactive organic matter from creeks entering the cove in the south-east, as well as to waste water discharge from the station, located on the south beach.

scholarly journals Southern elephant seal movements and Antarctic sea ice

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Bornemann ◽  
M. Kreyscher ◽  
S. Ramdohr ◽  
T. Martin ◽  
A. Carlini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Mirounga Leonina ◽  
King George Island ◽  
The South ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
The Antarctic

Weaned pups and post-moult female elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) were fitted with satellite transmitters at King George Island (South Shetland Islands) between December 1996 and February 1997. Of the nine adult females tracked for more than two months, three stayed in a localized area between the South Shetland Islands and the South Orkney Islands. The other six females travelled south-west along the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula up to the Bellingshausen Sea. Two of them then moved north-east and hauled out on South Georgia in October. One female was last located north of the South Shetland Islands in March 1998. In total, eight females were again sighted on King George Island and six of the transmitters removed. The tracks of the weaners contrasted with those of the adults. In January, five juveniles left King George Island for the Pacific sector spending about four weeks in the open sea west of the De Gerlache Seamounts. Three of them returned to the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in June, of which one was last located on the Patagonian Shelf in November 1997. The juveniles avoided sea ice while the adults did not. The latter displayed behavioural differences in using the pack ice habitat during winter. Some females adjusted their movement patterns to the pulsating sea ice fringe in distant foraging areas while others ranged in closed pack ice of up to 100%. The feeding grounds of adult female elephant seals are more closely associated with the pack ice zone than previously assumed. The significance of the midwater fish Pleuragramma antarcticum as a potential food resource is discussed.

Feeding selectivity in Notothenia neglecta, Nybelin, from Potter Cove, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

1990 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.R. Barrera-Oro ◽  
R.J. Casaux
Keyword(s):  
Euphausia Superba ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Benthic Organisms ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Feeding Selectivity ◽  
Sampling Area ◽  
Gammarid Amphipod ◽  
Potter Cove ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Dominant Fish

A study of feeding selectivity in Notothenia neglecta Nybelin 1951, was carried out between October 1988 and January 1989 at Potter Cove, King George Island, where this is the dominant fish species. The abundance and biomass of benthic organisms from 0–40m were compared with their occurrence in the diet of 142 fish. The Ivlev index indicated that the food items positively selected by the fish were sedentary polychaetes, the isopod Glyptonotus antarcticus, the gammarid amphipod Paradexamine sp., the bivalve Dacrydyum sp., the gastropods Margarella antarctica and Eatoniella sp., and algae. The biomass of the benthic community in the sampling area was low, presumably due to the effects of anchor ice. Despite being pelagic, krill (Euphausia superba) was by far the main food of N. neglecta which is considered a benthic feeder.

scholarly journals Aves, Charadriiformes, Scolopacidae, Limosa haemastica (Linnaeus, 1758): first record from South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Check List ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana A. Juáres ◽  
Marcela M. Libertelli ◽  
M. Mercedes Santos ◽  
Javier Negrete ◽  
Martín Gray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
First Record ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Hope Bay

We report herein the southernmost record of the Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica), at two localities in the Antarctic: Esperanza/Hope Bay (January 2005) and 25 de Mayo/King George Island (October 2008). On both occasions a pair of specimens with winter plumage was observed.

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