TY - THES T1 - Noble Gas Radioisotope Constraints on Water Residence Time and Solvent Sources in Lake Bonney T2 - Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Y1 - 2016 A1 - Cronin, Kyle D. A1 - Peter T. Doran KW - Antarctica KW - noble gas KW - radioargon KW - radiokrypton KW - residence time AB -

A noble gas radionuclide analysis of perennially ice covered West Lake Bonney was performed in order to determine water residence time and ice cover timing. Bulk gas samples were collected at four depths in the lake. Krypton and argon gases were selectively isolated from the bulk gas and measurements of 81Kr, 85Kr and 39Ar were made. Radiokrypton and radioargon analyses yielded lower limit ages of 78 to 285 years, significantly younger than expected based on previous dating efforts. It was determined that these new data do not invalidate previous work, but instead offer new insight into the timing of the most recent episode of direct communication between the atmosphere and West Lake Bonney waters.

JF - Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences PB - University of Illinois CY - Chicago, IL VL - M.S. UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10027/21570 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Autonomous Year-Round Sampling and Sensing to Explore the Physical and Biological Habitability of Permanently Ice-Covered Antarctic Lakes JF - Marine Technology Society Journal Y1 - 2014 A1 - Winslow, Luke A. A1 - Hilary A. Dugan A1 - Heather N. Buelow A1 - Cronin, Kyle D. A1 - John C. Priscu A1 - Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach A1 - Peter T. Doran AB -

The lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, are some of the only systems on our planet that are perennially ice-covered and support year-round metabolism. As such, these ecosystems can provide important information on conditions and life in polar regions on Earth and on other icy worlds in our solar system. Working in these extreme environments of the Dry Valleys poses many challenges, particularly with respect to data collection during dark winter months when logistical constraints make fieldwork difficult. In this paper, we describe the motivation, design, and challenges for this recently deployed instrumentation in Lake Bonney, a lake that has been the subject of summer research efforts for more than 40 years. The instrumentation deployed includes autonomous water, phytoplankton, and sediment samplers as well as cable-mounted profiling platforms with dissolved gas and fluorometry sensors. Data obtained from these instruments will allow us, for the first time, to define the habitability of this environment during the polar night. We include lessons learned during deployment and recommendations for effective instrument operation in these extreme conditions.

VL - 48 UR - http://openurl.ingenta.com/content/xref?genre=article&issn=0025-3324&volume=48&issue=5&spage=8http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mts/mtsj/2014/00000048/00000005/art00002 IS - 5 JO - mar technol soc j ER -