This data package includes the abundance of microbial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for samples collected during the austral summer of 2012-2013 in the Lake Hoare and Goldman Glacier Basins of Taylor Valley, Antarctica. A total of twenty samples from on- and off-water track soils were collected and analyzed. Samples were collected from the Lake Hoare Basin on 27 December 2012 and from the Goldman Glacier Basin on 4 January 2013.
Dataset Results
We performed a field survey to assess changes in biomass, nutrient ratios, and isotopic signatures of three different microbial mat types in two glacial meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Samples were taken in January 2013 from pre-existing transects over Von Guerard Stream and the Relict Channel, and stretched from near the Von Guerard Glacier terminus to the stream outlets at Lake Fryxell.
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Mineral apatite is the ultimate source of the essential nutrient phosphorus to the soil ecosystem. In order to assess the biogeochemical weathering of apatite grains in the dry, basic soils of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, we collected nine surface soil samples from the Fryxell and Bonney Basins of Taylor Valley. After separating more than 50 individual soil apatite grains from each sample, we used scanning electron microscopy to quantify the morphology and surface etching of apatite grains to determine the degree of weathering.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, we investigated relationships between wind conditions and barotropic seiches within Lake Hoare, located in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, during the 2012-2013 austral summer. Temporal changes in the water column were measured using a rugged, handheld, CastAway CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth probe, manufactured by SonTek), deployed through the Lake Hoare Limno Hole (note, this is a separate instrument from the SeaBird CTD used as part of the MCM LTER core limnological monitoring program).
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We conducted a field survey to quantify the biomass (chlorophyll-a and ash-free dry mass), nutrient ratios (molar C:N:P), and isotopic signatures (δ13C and δ15N) of four microbial mat types (green, orange, black, and red) in the glacial meltwater streams of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. All samples were taken from late December to late January during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 austral summers, and included sites from Taylor, Miers, Garwood, and Wright valleys. Most collection sites were located at the lake outlet of streams, but for a subset (e.g.
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This data set includes the deployment of anchored thermistors Lake Vanda, Wright Valley, as part of an Antarctica New Zealand project. Thermistors were positioned at the sediment-water interface and 10 cm above the lake bottom within the thermocline at 24 m depth.