02254nas a2200217 4500008004100000245009400041210006900135260001200204300000600216490000700222520158800229653002601817653002401843653001901867653002401886653001801910100002301928700002101951700002201972856004201994 2025 eng d00aRethinking the lake history of Taylor Valley, Antarctica during the Ross Sea I glaciation0 aRethinking the lake history of Taylor Valley Antarctica during t c01/2025 a90 v153 a

The Ross Sea I glaciation, marked by the northward advance of the Ross Ice Sheet (RIS) in the Ross Sea, east Antarctica, corresponds with the last major expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during the last glacial period. During its advance, the RIS was grounded along the southern Victoria Land coast, completely blocking the mouths of several of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs). Several authors have proposed that very large paleolakes, proglacial to the RIS, existed in many of the MDVs. Studies of these large paleolakes have been key in the interpretation of the regional landscape, climate, hydrology, and glacier and ice sheet movements. By far the most studied of these large paleolakes is Glacial Lake Washburn (GLW) in Taylor Valley. Here, we present a comprehensive review of literature related to GLW, focusing on the waters supplying the paleolake, signatures of the paleolake itself, and signatures of past glacial movements that controlled the spatial extent of GLW. We find that while a valley-wide proglacial lake likely did exist in Taylor Valley during the early stages of the Ross Sea I glaciation, during later stages two isolated lakes occupied the eastern and western sections of the valley, confined by an expansion of local alpine glaciers. Lake levels above ~140 m asl were confined to western Taylor Valley, and major lake level changes were likely driven by RIS movements, with climate variables playing a more minor role. These results may have major implications for our understanding of the MDVs and the RIS during the Ross Sea I glaciation.

10aGlacial Lake Washburn10aMcMurdo Dry Valleys10aRoss Ice Sheet10aRoss Sea glaciation10aTaylor Valley1 aStone, Michael, S.1 aDoran, Peter, T.1 aMyers, Krista, F. uhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/15/1/902186nas a2200313 4500008004100000022001400041245009000055210006900145260001200214300001800226490000700244520123000251653002201481653002401503653002001527653001701547653001501564100002201579700002101601700002101622700002201643700002201665700002401687700002101711700002501732700002101757700002501778856006901803 2024 eng d a2328-427700aResponse of a terrestrial polar ecosystem to the March 2022 Antarctic weather anomaly0 aResponse of a terrestrial polar ecosystem to the March 2022 Anta c08/2024 ae2023EF0043060 v123 a

Record high temperatures were documented in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, on 18 March 2022, exceeding average temperatures for that day by nearly 30°C. Satellite imagery and stream gage measurements indicate that surface wetting coincided with this warming more than 2 months after peak summer thaw and likely exceeded thresholds for rehydration and activation of resident organisms that typically survive the cold and dry conditions of the polar fall in a freeze-dried state. This weather event is notable in both the timing and magnitude of the warming and wetting when temperatures exceeded 0°C at a time when biological communities and streams have typically entered a persistent frozen state. Such events may be a harbinger of future climate conditions characterized by warmer temperatures and greater thaw in this region of Antarctica, which could influence the distribution, activity, and abundance of sentinel taxa. Here we describe the ecosystem responses to this weather anomaly reporting on meteorological and hydrological measurements across the region and on later biological observations from Canada Stream, one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems within the McMurdo Dry Valleys.

10aatmospheric river10aclimate variability10aextreme weather10apolar desert10asoil biota1 aBarrett, John, E.1 aAdams, Byron, J.1 aDoran, Peter, T.1 aDugan, Hilary, A.1 aMyers, Krista, F.1 aSalvatore, Mark, R.1 aPower, Sarah, N.1 aSnyder, Meredith, D.1 aWright, Anna, T.1 aGooseff, Michael, N. uhttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023EF00430602505nas a2200325 4500008004100000022001400041245012700055210006900182260001200251300001800263490000800281520146500289653001701754653003701771653002401808653002401832100002701856700002101883700002301904700002201927700002201949700002501971700002001996700002202016700002202038700002202060700002202082700001402104856006102118 2023 eng d a2169-900300aCauses and characteristics of electrical resistivity variability in shallow (<4 m) soils in Taylor Valley, East Antarctica0 aCauses and characteristics of electrical resistivity variability c02/2023 ae2022JF0066960 v1283 a

Airborne electromagnetic surveys collected in December 2011 and November 2018 and three soil sampling transects were used to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of shallow (<4 m) soil properties in lower Taylor Valley (TV), East Antarctica. Soil resistivities from 2011 to 2018 ranged from ∼33 Ωm to ∼3,500 Ωm with 200 Ωm assigned as an upper boundary for brine-saturated sediments. Elevations below ∼50 m above sea level (masl) typically exhibit the lowest resistivities with resistivity increasing at high elevations on steeper slopes. Soil water content was empirically estimated from electrical resistivities using Archie's Law and range from ∼<1% to ∼68% by volume. An increase in silt- and clay-sized particles at low elevations increases soil porosity but decreases hydraulic conductivity, promoting greater residence times of soil water at low elevations near Lake Fryxell. Soil resistivity variability between 2011 and 2018 shows soils at different stages of soil freeze-thaw cycles, which are caused predominantly by solar warming of soils as opposed to air temperature. This study furthers the understanding of the hydrogeologic structure of the shallow subsurface in TV and identifies locations of soils that are potentially prone to greater rates of thaw and resulting ecosystem homogenization of soil properties from projected increases in hydrological connectivity across the region over the coming decades.

10aactive layer10aairborne electromagnetic surveys10aMcMurdo Dry Valleys10apermafrost dynamics1 aGutterman, William, S.1 aDoran, Peter, T.1 aVirginia, Ross, A.1 aBarrett, John, E.1 aMyers, Krista, F.1 aTulaczyk, Slawek, M.1 aFoley, Neil, T.1 aMikucki, Jill, A.1 aDugan, Hilary, A.1 aGrombacher, Denys1 aBording, Thue, S.1 aAuken, E. uhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022JF00669600724nas a2200229 4500008004100000022001400041245005500055210005100110260001200161300000800173490000700181653001200188653001200200653001600212653001600228653001200244100002100256700002200277700002700299700002000326856014800346 2023 eng d a0954-102000aExtreme cold (-69.1°C) in the McMurdo Dry Valleys0 aExtreme cold 691°C in the McMurdo Dry Valleys c03/2023 a1-40 v3010aclimate10aextreme10ameteorology10atemperature10aweather1 aDoran, Peter, T.1 aMyers, Krista, F.1 aMcKay, Christopher, P.1 aBromwich, David uhttps://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antarctic-science/article/extreme-cold-691c-in-the-mcmurdo-dry-valleys/3516874750E5EF96365A26E8D49CA4EC01961nas a2200217 4500008004100000245010100041210006900142260001200211300001200223490000700235520124400242653003001486653001101516653002401527653001501551653002101566100002001587700002101607700002201628856009301650 2022 eng d00aValley-floor snowfall in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, from 1995 to 2017: Spring, summer and autumn0 aValleyfloor snowfall in Taylor Valley Antarctica from 1995 to 20 c08/2022 a325-3350 v343 a

We present an analysis of the 20 year snowfall dataset in Taylor Valley and the results of a new snow cover monitoring study. Snowfall has been measured at four sites in Taylor Valley from 1995 to 2017. We focus on valley-floor snowfall when wind does not exceed 5 m s-1, and we exclude winter from our analysis due to poor data quality. Snowfall averaged 11 mm water equivalent (w.e.) from 1995 to 2017 across all stations and ranged from 1 to 58 mm w.e. Standard deviations ranged from 3 to 17 mm w.e., highlighting the strong interannual variability of snowfall in Taylor Valley. During spring and autumn there is a spatial gradient in snowfall such that the coast received twice as much snowfall as more central and inland stations. We identified a changepoint in 2007 from increasing snowfall (3 mm w.e. yr-1) to decreasing snowfall (1 mm w.e. yr-1), which coincides with a shift from decreasing temperature to no detectable temperature trend. Daily camera imagery from 2007 to 2017 augments the snowfall measurements. The camera imagery revealed a near tripling of the average number of days with snow cover from 37 days between 2006 and 2012 to 106 days with snow cover between 2012 and 2017.

10aautomated weather station10acamera10aMcMurdo Dry Valleys10asnow cover10asnow persistence1 aMyers, Madeline1 aDoran, Peter, T.1 aMyers, Krista, F. uhttps://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0954102022000256/type/journal_article02981nas a2200253 4500008004100000022001400041245011200055210006900167260001200236300001400248490000700262520216600269653002102435653002602456653002602482100002802508700002202536700002202558700002102580700002202601700001802623700001502641856007102656 2021 eng d a1523-043000aThe magnitude and climate sensitivity of isotopic fractionation from ablation of Antarctic Dry Valley lakes0 amagnitude and climate sensitivity of isotopic fractionation from c12/2021 a352 - 3710 v533 a

There has been extensive research on the effects of evaporation on the isotopic ratio of lacustrine and marine water bodies; however, there are limited data on how ablation or sublimation from lake or sea ice influences the isotopic ratio of the residual water body. This is a challenging problem because there remains uncertainty on the magnitude of fractionation during sublimation and because ablation can involve mixed-phase processes associated with simultaneous sublimation, melting, evaporation, and refreezing. This uncertainty limits the ability to draw quantitative inferences on changing hydrological budgets from stable isotope records in arctic, Antarctic, and alpine lakes. Here, we use in situ measurements of the isotopic ratio of water vapor along with the gradient diffusion method to constrain the isotopic ratio of the ablating ice from two lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. We find that during austral summer, the isotopic fractionation of ablation was insignificant during periods of boundary layer instability that are typical during midday when latent heat is highest. This implies that the loss of mass during these periods did not yield any isotopic enrichment to the residual lake mass. However, fractionation increased after midday when the boundary layer stabilized and the latent heat flux was small. This diurnal pattern was mirrored on synoptic timescales, when following warm and stable conditions latent heat flux was low and dominated by higher fractionation for a few days. We hypothesize that the shifting from negligible to large isotopic fractionation reflects the development and subsequent exhaustion of liquid water on the surface. The results illustrate the complex and nonlinear controls on isotopic fractionation from icy lakes, which implies that the isotopic enrichment from ablation could vary significantly over timescales relevant for changing lake volumes. Future work using water isotope fluxes for longer periods of time and over additional perennial and seasonal ice-covered lake systems is critical for developing models of the isotopic mass balance of arctic and Antarctic lake systems.

10aDry Valley lakes10aisotope fractionation10astable water isotopes1 aBellagamba, Anthony, W.1 aBerkelhammer, Max1 aWinslow, Luke, A.1 aDoran, Peter, T.1 aMyers, Krista, F.1 aDevlin, Shawn1 aHawes, Ian uhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15230430.2021.200189902152nas a2200253 4500008004100000245012600041210006900167260001200236300001600248490000700264520133900271100002201610700002101632700002501653700002001678700002201698700001701720700002201737700002201759700001901781700002201800700002301822856005301845 2021 eng d00aThermal legacy of a large paleolake in Taylor Valley, East Antarctica, as evidenced by an airborne electromagnetic survey0 aThermal legacy of a large paleolake in Taylor Valley East Antarc c08/2021 a3577 - 35930 v153 a

Previous studies of the lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys have attempted to constrain lake level history, and results suggest the lakes have undergone hundreds of meters of lake level change within the last 20 000 years. Past studies have utilized the interpretation of geologic deposits, lake chemistry, and ice sheet history to deduce lake level history; however a substantial amount of disagreement remains between the findings, indicating a need for further investigation using new techniques. This study utilizes a regional airborne resistivity survey to provide novel insight into the paleohydrology of the region. Mean resistivity maps revealed an extensive brine beneath the Lake Fryxell basin, which is interpreted as a legacy groundwater signal from higher lake levels in the past. Resistivity data suggest that active permafrost formation has been ongoing since the onset of lake drainage and that as recently as 1500–4000 years BP, lake levels were over 60 m higher than present. This coincides with a warmer-than-modern paleoclimate throughout the Holocene inferred by the nearby Taylor Dome ice core record. Our results indicate Mid to Late Holocene lake level high stands, which runs counter to previous research finding a colder and drier era with little hydrologic activity throughout the last 5000 years.

1 aMyers, Krista, F.1 aDoran, Peter, T.1 aTulaczyk, Slawek, M.1 aFoley, Neil, T.1 aBording, Thue, S.1 aAuken, Esben1 aDugan, Hilary, A.1 aMikucki, Jill, A.1 aFoged, Nikolaj1 aGrombacher, Denys1 aVirginia, Ross, A. uhttps://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/3577/2021/02753nas a2200325 4500008004100000022001400041245011500055210007300170260001200243300001800255490000800273520178400281653001002065653001402075653001602089653000802105653001002113653001002123653001402133653001102147100002802158700002102186700003302207700002202240700002202262700002402284700002902308700002102337856006902358 2021 eng d a2169-895300aYear‐round and long‐term phytoplankton dynamics in Lake Bonney, a permanently ice‐covered Antarctic lake0 aYear‐round and long‐term phytoplankton dynamics in Lake Bonney a c04/2021 ae2020JG0059250 v1263 a

Lake Bonney (McMurdo Dry Valleys, east Antarctica) represents a year‐round refugium for life adapted to permanent extreme conditions. Despite intensive research since the 1960s, due to the logistical constraints posed by 4‐months of 24‐h darkness, knowledge of how the resident photosynthetic microorganisms respond to the polar winter is limited. In addition, the lake level has risen by more than 3 m since 2004: impacts of rapid lake level rise on phytoplankton community structure is also poorly understood. From 2004 to 2015 an in situ submersible spectrofluorometer (bbe FluoroProbe) was deployed in Lake Bonney during the austral summer to quantify the vertical structure of four functional algal groups (green algae, mixed algae, and cryptophytes, cyanobacteria). During the 2013–2014 field season the Fluoroprobe was mounted on autonomous cable‐crawling profilers deployed in both the east and west lobes of Lake Bonney, obtaining the first daily phytoplankton profiles through the polar night. Our findings showed that phytoplankton communities were differentially impacted by physical and chemical factors over long‐term versus seasonal time scales. Following a summer of rapid lake level rise (2010–2011), an increase in depth integrated chlorophyll a (chl‐a) occurred in Lake Bonney caused by stimulation of photoautotrophic green algae. Conversely, peaks in chl‐a during the polar night were associated with an increase in mixotrophic haptophytes and cryptophytes. Collectively our data reveal that phytoplankton groups possessing variable trophic abilities are differentially competitive during seasonal and long‐term time scales owing to periods of higher nutrients (photoautotrophs) versus light/energy limitation (mixotrophs).

10aalgae10aAntarctic10afluorometry10aice10alakes10alight10aprofiling10awinter1 aPatriarche, Jeffrey, D.1 aPriscu, John, C.1 aTakacs-Vesbach, Cristina, D.1 aWinslow, Luke, A.1 aMyers, Krista, F.1 aBuelow, Heather, N.1 aMorgan-Kiss, Rachael, M.1 aDoran, Peter, T. uhttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020JG00592502633nas a2200133 4500008004100000245016300041210006900204260005700273490000900330520205900339100002202398700002102420856005802441 2018 eng d00aGroundwater and thermal legacy of a large paleolake in Taylor Valley, East Antarctica as evidenced by airborne electromagnetic and sedimentological techniques0 aGroundwater and thermal legacy of a large paleolake in Taylor Va aBaton Rouge, LAbLouisiana State Universityc07/20180 vM.S.3 a

During the Last Glacial Maximum, grounded ice in the Ross Sea extended into the otherwise ice-free McMurdo Dry Valleys, creating a series of large ice dammed paleolakes. Grounded ice within the mouth of Taylor Valley allowed for lake levels to reach elevations not possible at modern day and formed what is known as Glacial Lake Washburn (GLW). GLW extended from the eastern portion of Taylor Valley roughly 20 km west to a level ~300 m higher than modern day Lake Fryxell. The formation and existence of GLW has been debated, though previous studies correlate the timing of GLW with early Holocene grounded ice. Evidence of GLW has largely been constrained to the interpretation of glacial deposits and fluvial features such as lacustrine deposits, strandlines, and preserved paleodeltas. GIS and remote sensing techniques paired with regional resistivity data provide new insight into the paleohydrology of the region.

To quantify the extent of GLW, paleodelta locations were mapped using high resolution LiDAR digital elevation models and satellite imagery. Delta topset elevations were correlated between three streams in Fryxell basin to determine paleolake levels. Additionally, mean resistivity maps generated from airborne electromagnetic survey data (SkyTEM) reveal an extensive groundwater system within Fryxell basin which is interpreted as a legacy groundwater signal from GLW. Resistivity data suggests that active permafrost formation has been ongoing since onset of lake drainage, and that lake levels were over 60 m higher than modern only 1,000 – 2,000 yr BP. This coincides with a warmer than modern paleoclimate inferred by ice core records, indicating a dynamic hydrological system that is highly sensitive to small changes in climate. As global temperatures increase, Lake Fryxell will continue to experience highly variable lake levels. Lakes and groundwater within the McMurdo Dry Valleys are critical to understanding impacts on the broader ecosystem which is largely driven by the availability of liquid water.

1 aMyers, Krista, F.1 aDoran, Peter, T. uhttps://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/4776