@article {4413, title = {The seasonal evolution of albedo across glaciers and the surrounding landscape of Taylor Valley, Antarctica}, journal = {The Cryosphere}, volume = {14}, year = {2020}, month = {03/2020}, pages = {769-788}, abstract = {

The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) of Antarctica are a polar desert ecosystem consisting of alpine glaciers, ice-covered lakes, streams, and expanses of vegetation-free rocky soil. Because average summer temperatures are close to 0\ oC, the MDV ecosystem in general, and glacier melt dynamics in particular, are both closely linked to the energy balance. A slight increase in incoming radiation or change in albedo can have large effects on the timing and volume of meltwater. However, the seasonal evolution or spatial variability of albedo in the valleys has yet to fully characterized. In this study, we aim to understand the drivers of landscape albedo change within and across seasons. To do so, a box with a camera, GPS, and shortwave radiometer was hung from a helicopter that flew transects four to five times a season along Taylor Valley. Measurements were repeated over three seasons. These data were coupled with incoming radiation measured at six meteorological stations distributed along the valley to calculate the distribution of albedo across individual glaciers, lakes, and soil surfaces. We hypothesized that albedo would decrease throughout the austral summer with ablation of snow patches and increasing sediment exposure on the glacier and lake surfaces. However, small snow events (\<6\ mm water equivalent) coupled with ice whitening caused spatial and temporal variability of albedo across the entire landscape. Glaciers frequently followed a pattern of increasing albedo with increasing elevation, as well as increasing albedo moving from east to west laterally across the ablation zone. We suggest that spatial patterns of albedo are a function of landscape morphology trapping snow and sediment, longitudinal gradients in snowfall magnitude, and wind-driven snow redistribution from east to west along the valley. We also compare our albedo measurements to the MODIS albedo product and found that overall the data have reasonable agreement. The mismatch in spatial scale between these two datasets results in variability, which is reduced after a snow event due to albedo following valley-scale gradients of snowfall magnitude. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the spatial and temporal variability in albedo and the close coupling of climate and landscape response. This new understanding of landscape albedo can constrain landscape energy budgets, better predict meltwater generation on from MDV glaciers, and how these ecosystems will respond to changing climate at the landscape scale.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.5194/tc-14-769-2020}, url = {https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/769/2020/}, author = {Bergstrom, Anna J. and Michael N. Gooseff and Myers, Madeline and Peter T. Doran and Cross, Julian M.} } @article {4403, title = {Subglacial brine flow and wind-induced internal waves in Lake Bonney, Antarctica}, journal = {Antarctic Science}, year = {2020}, month = {02/2020}, abstract = {

Brine beneath Taylor Glacier has been proposed to enter the proglacial west lobe of Lake Bonney (WLB) as well as from Blood Falls, a surface discharge point at the Taylor Glacier terminus. The brine strongly influences the geochemistry of the water column of WLB. Year-round measurements from this study are the first to definitively identify brine intrusions from a subglacial entry point into WLB. Furthermore, we excluded input from Blood Falls by focusing on winter dynamics when the absence of an open water moat prevents surface brine entry. Due to the extremely high salinities below the chemocline in WLB, density stratification is dominated by salinity, and temperature can be used as a passive tracer. Cold brine intrusions enter WLB at the glacier face and intrude into the water column at the depth of neutral buoyancy, where they can be identified by anomalously cold temperatures at that depth. High-resolution measurements also reveal under-ice internal waves associated with katabatic wind events, a novel finding that challenges long-held assumptions about the stability of the WLB water column.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Dry valleys, hypersalinity, lakes, proglacial, temperature}, doi = {10.1017/S0954102020000036}, url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102020000036}, author = {Lawrence, Jade and Peter T. Doran and Winslow, Luke A. and John C. Priscu} } @mastersthesis {4365, title = {Spatiotemporal impact of snow on underwater photosynthetically active radiation in Taylor Valley, East Antarctica}, volume = {M.S.}, year = {2019}, month = {08/2019}, school = {Louisiana State University}, type = {masters}, address = {Baton Rouge, LA}, abstract = {

The role of snow on underwater photosynthetically active radiation (UW PAR) in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) has been understudied due to lack of a detailed snowfall record. Research has shown that a relationship between snow cover and UW PAR exists, but the extent has never been evaluated in great detail. Although annual snowfall values in the MDVs are low (3 to 50 mm water equivalent annually), trends of increasing snowfall on the continent under future warming conditions could lead to an increased role for snow in regulating UW PAR (and associated primary productivity). Here, I discuss evidence from the snowfall record, surface PAR, and UW PAR, of the influence of snowfall on UW PAR in the major lakes of Taylor Valley. This study aims to quantify the spatiotemporal impact of lake ice snow packs on UW PAR in Taylor Valley from field surveys, long-term UW PAR, and meteorological data. Lake Fryxell has the strongest seasonality to precipitation, which decreases inland. On average, Lake Fryxell also has the most days with snow cover on the lake ice. Lake Hoare is experiencing an increase in Fall snow persistence since the 2007 snow year. Snow less than 0.5 mm snow water equivalent (SWE) can suppress UW PAR by 40\%. The calendar day that snow falls often determines whether phototrophs will switch from photosynthesis to respiration, which suggests the importance to seasonality in determining the impact of snow on photoautotrophs and lake-wide carbon budget.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, url = {https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/4965}, author = {Myers, Madeline and Peter T. Doran} } @article {1063, title = {Sediment transport dynamics on an ice-covered lake: The {\textquotedblleft}floating{\textquotedblright} boulders of Lake Hoare, Antarctica}, journal = {Antartic Science}, volume = {firstview}, year = {2015}, month = {04/2015}, pages = {1-12}, chapter = {1}, abstract = {

Between 1995 and 2011 a global positioning system survey of 13 boulders and three ablation stakes (long stakes frozen in the ice) on the frozen surface of Lake Hoare was undertaken. Data interpretation illustrates complexities of post-depositional transport dynamics of boulders. Earlier studies on comparable datasets have suggested linear \‘conveyor\’ type transport mechanisms for lake surface boulders. Yet explanations for non-linear boulder displacements or \‘walks\’ and the mechanisms responsible for movements are inadequate. Two modes of boulder specific movement were observed. First, localized changes in the ice surface promote individual boulder movement (rolling). Second, ice rafting, which indicates the displacement of \‘plates\’ of lake ice on which the boulder is located. Ablation stakes used as fixed survey control points support the hypothesis that ice cover moves as discrete plates rather than as a single homogenous mass. Factors that create the conditions to generate either of the two modes of movement may be related to location specific energy budgets. A relationship between average orientations and prevailing wind direction was also observed. The investigation describes the local-scale behaviour of surveyed boulders, and offers methodologies and interpretive frameworks for additional studies of modern and ancient sediment transportation dynamics in Antarctic lacustrine environments.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, issn = {1365-2079}, doi = {10.1017/S0954102014000558}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954102014000558}, author = {P. P. Allen and R. Hewitt and Maciek K. Obryk and Peter T. Doran} } @inbook {1175, title = {Saline lakes and ponds in the McMurdo Dry Valleys: ecological analogs to martian paleolake environments}, booktitle = {Life in Antarctic Deserts and other Cold Dry Environments}, year = {2010}, pages = {160 - 194}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, organization = {Cambridge University Press}, address = {Cambridge}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, isbn = {9780521889193}, doi = {10.1017/CBO9780511712258.006}, url = {http://ebooks.cambridge.org/chapter.jsf?bid=CBO9780511712258\&cid=CBO9780511712258A013}, author = {Jill A. Mikucki and W. Berry Lyons and Ian Hawes and Brian D. Lanoil and Peter T. Doran} } @article {1153, title = {Single-grain and multigrain luminescence dating of on-ice and lake-bottom deposits at Lake Hoare, Taylor Valley, Antarctica}, journal = {Quaternary Geochronology}, volume = {5}, year = {2010}, month = {12/2010}, pages = {679 - 690}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1016/j.quageo.2010.05.003}, author = {G. W. Berger and Peter T. Doran and Thomsen, K.J.} } @article {1223, title = {SPME-GCMS study of the natural attenuation of aviation diesel spilled on the perennial ice cover of Lake Fryxell, Antarctica}, journal = {Science of the Total Environment}, volume = {407}, year = {2008}, pages = {250-262}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, author = {Jaraula, C and Kenig, Fabien and Peter T. Doran and John C. Priscu and Kathleen A. Welch} } @mastersthesis {1250, title = {Stable Carbon Isotope Analyses of Sediments from Lake Fryxell, Antarctica}, volume = {M.S.}, year = {2007}, school = {University of Illinois, Chicago}, type = {masters}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {LTER}, author = {Moore-Topinka, N} } @article {1343, title = {Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of benthic and pelagic organic matter in four polar lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica}, journal = {Aquatic Geochemistry}, volume = {10}, year = {2004}, pages = {269-301}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, author = {Lawson, J and Peter T. Doran and Kenig, Fabien and David J. DesMarais and John C. Priscu} } @article {1376, title = {Snow patch influence on soil biogeochemical processes and invertebrate distribution in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica}, journal = {Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research}, volume = {35}, year = {2002}, month = {02/2003}, pages = {91-99}, type = {Journal}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Biggie}, doi = {10.1657/1523-0430(2003)035[0091:SPIOSB]2.0.CO;2}, url = {http://instaar.metapress.com/content/r086455ju7213711/}, author = {Michael N. Gooseff and John E. Barrett and Peter T. Doran and Andrew G Fountain and W. Berry Lyons and Andrew N. Parsons and Porazinska, D and Ross A. Virginia and Diana H. Wall} } @article {1408, title = {Spectrofluorometric characterization of aquatic fulvic acid for determination of precursor organic material and general structural properties.}, journal = {Limnology and Oceanography}, volume = {46}, year = {2001}, pages = {38-48}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, author = {Diane M. McKnight and Elizabeth W. Boyer and Paul K. Westerhoff and Peter T. Doran and Thomas Kulbe and Dale T. Andersen} }