@article {4994, title = {The hydrologic and geochemical contributions from snow to streamflow in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica}, journal = {Hydrological Processes}, volume = {38}, year = {2024}, month = {06/2024}, pages = {e15195}, abstract = {

The glacial meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs), Antarctica only flow during the austral summer and contain abundant algal mats which grow at the onset of flow. Their relative abundance in stream channels of this polar desert make the streams biogeochemical hot spots. The MDVs receive minimal precipitation as snow, which is redistributed by wind and deposited in distinct locations, some of which become persistent snow patches each year. Previous studies identified that MDV streamflow comes from a combination of glacier ice and snow, although snow was assumed to contribute little to the overall water budget. This study uses a combination of satellite imagery, terrain analysis, and field measurements to determine where snow patches accumulate and persist across MDV watersheds, and to quantify the potential hydrologic and biogeochemical contributions of snow patches to streams. Watersheds near the coast have the highest snow-covered area and longest snow persistence. Many of these snow patches accumulate within the stream channels, which results in the potential to contribute to streamflow. During the summer of 2021\–2022, stream channel snow patches had the potential to contribute anywhere between \<1\% and 90\% of the total annual discharge in Lake Fryxell Basin streams, and may increase with different hydrometeorological conditions. On average the potential inputs from snow patches to streamflow was between 12\% and 25\% of the annual discharge during the 2021\–2022 season, as determined by snow area and SWE. Snow patches in the majority of the watersheds had higher nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations than stream water, and six streams contained snow with higher N:P ratios than the average N:P in the stream water. This suggests that if such patches melt early in the summer, these nutrient and water inputs could occur at the right time and stoichiometry to be crucial for early season algal mat growth.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctica, ephemeral stream, polar desert hydrology, runoff generation, snow patch, snowmelt}, issn = {0885-6087}, doi = {10.1002/hyp.v38.610.1002/hyp.15195}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hyp.15195}, author = {Wright, Anna T. and Michael N. Gooseff and Bergstrom, Anna J. and Kathleen A. Welch} } @article {4373, title = {The hydroecology of an ephemeral wetland in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences}, year = {2019}, month = {11/2019}, abstract = {

The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) is a polar desert on the coast of East Antarctica where ephemeral wetlands become hydrologically active during warm and sunny summers when sub-surface flows are generated from melting snowfields. To understand the structure and function of polar wetland ecosystems, we investigated the hydroecology of one such wetland, the Wormherder Creek wetland, during the warm and sunny summer of 2008 \– 2009, when the wetland was hydrologically reactivated. Conservative tracer (LiCl) was injected for a 2-hour period into a stream above the wetland to determine flow path orientations and hydrologic residence times. Tracer results indicated that surface water is rapidly exchanged with wetland groundwater and wetland residence times may exceed two austral summers. Major ion concentrations were uniform in samples from surface water and shallow groundwater throughout the wetland. Microbial mats in the wetland had high autotrophic index values (the ratios of chlorophyll a [Chl-a]/ash-free dry mass [AFDM]), ranging from 9-38 μg Chl-a/mg AFDM, indicative of actively photosynthesizing mat communities. The diatom communities in the mats were relatively uniform compared to those in mats from regularly flowing MDV streams, with four endemic and one widespread diatom taxa of the genus Luticola accounting for an average of 86\% of the community. These results indicate that the hydrologic characteristics of the wetland contribute to uniform geochemical conditions. In turn, uniform geochemical conditions may explain the high autotrophic index values of the microbial mats and relatively low spatial variation of the diatom community.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctica, desert hydrology, diatom biodiversity, hyporheic interactions, wetlands}, doi = {10.1029/2019JG005153}, url = {https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019JG005153}, author = {Wlostowski, Adam and Schulte, Nicholas O. and Byron Adams and Ball, Becky and Rhea M.M. Esposito and Michael N. Gooseff and W. Berry Lyons and Uffe N. Nielsen and Ross A. Virginia and Diana H. Wall and Kathleen A. Welch and Diane M. McKnight} } @article {1121, title = {Hypersaline {\textquotedblleft}wet patches{\textquotedblright} in Taylor Valley, Antarctica}, journal = {Geophysical Research Letters}, volume = {39}, year = {2012}, month = {03/2012}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1029/2012GL050898}, author = {Joseph S. Levy and Andrew G Fountain and Kathleen A. Welch and W. Berry Lyons} } @article {1300, title = {Halogen geochemistry of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Lakes, Antarctica: clues to the origin of solutes and lake evolution}, journal = {Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta}, volume = {69}, year = {2005}, pages = {305-323}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, author = {W. Berry Lyons and Kathleen A. Welch and Snyder, G and Olesik, J and Graham, E and G. M. Marion and Robert J. Poreda} } @article {1460, title = {History of McMurdo Dry Valley Lakes, Antarctica, from stable chlorine isotope data}, journal = {Geology}, volume = {27}, year = {1999}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {LTER}, author = {W. Berry Lyons and Frape, S and Kathleen A. Welch} }