02885nas a2200241 4500008004100000245006300041210006200104260004100166300001200207520209300219653003102312653003602343653002402379653001902403653002402422100001602446700001702462700002302479700001702502700002402519700002502543856007502568 2021 eng d00aChemical weathering in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica0 aChemical weathering in the McMurdo Dry Valleys Antarctica aHoboken, NJbJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc. a205-2163 a

While chemical weathering has not always been considered an active process in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica, long‐term geochemical and hydrological investigations have provided an overall better understanding of chemical weathering in this polar desert environment. Liquid water on the landscape is limited to stream channels as well as shallow subsurface melt features, as there is no overland flow. Stream total suspended sediment loads are low, with the sources of sediment from stream channels, aeolian input, and/or from the surfaces of glaciers. MDV soils contain high concentrations of soluble salts with little clay material, but since absent of water, these soils are a minimal location of chemical weathering. Hyporheic zones exchange water during streamflow, and these areas control the stream geochemistry over various temporal scales. Hyporheic zones promote rapid aluminosilicate weathering by moving dilute glacial meltwater into intimate contact with sediment surfaces. Rapid weathering of the aluminosilicates in the streambed and hyporheic zones is the most plausible explanation for chemostasis observed in these streams, indicating that little to no catchment processes are necessary to explain the observed chemostasis in the MDV. Shallow subsurface waters with distinct geochemical signatures have much higher dissolved Si concentrations than the stream waters and indicate that they are responsible for enhanced aluminosilicate weathering in this polar desert environment. The dissolution of CaCO3 is also a major process in the hyporheic zones as generally the streams are unsaturated with respect to calcite. Cation‐exchange reactions are also important in the evolution from Na‐Cl brines to Ca‐Cl brines within the soil column, while authigenic CaCO3 can both dissolve and precipitate depending on the condition of the system. Recently, stream channel landscapes are changing due to the melting of buried ice, creating thermokarst and water track features, resulting in a sediment and solute influx to the stream.

10aaluminosilicate weathering10aCaCO3 dissolution/precipitation10achemical weathering10ahyporheic zone10aMcMurdo Dry Valleys1 aHunt, Allen1 aEgli, Markus1 aFaybishenko, Boris1 aLyons, Berry1 aLeslie, Deborah, L.1 aGooseff, Michael, N. uhttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119563952.ch1102603nas a2200181 4500008004100000245007200041210006900113260001200182300001200194490000800206520196600214100002402180700002402204700001702228700002402245700002402269856012802293 2021 eng d00aGeochemistry of contrasting stream types, Taylor Valley, Antarctica0 aGeochemistry of contrasting stream types Taylor Valley Antarctic c01/2021 a425-4480 v1333 a

The McMurdo Dry Valley region is the largest ice-free area of Antarctica. Ephemeral streams flow here during the austral summer, transporting glacial meltwater to perennially ice-covered, closed basin lakes. The chemistry of 24 Taylor Valley streams was examined over the two-decade period of monitoring from 1993 to 2014, and the geochemical behavior of two streams of contrasting physical and biological character was monitored across the seven weeks of the 2010–2011 flow season. Four species dominate stream solute budgets: HCO3, Ca2+, Na+, and Cl, with SO42–, Mg2+, and K+ present in significantly lesser proportions. All streams contain dissolved silica at low concentrations. Across Taylor Valley, streams are characterized by their consistent anionic geochemical fingerprint of HCO3 > Cl > SO4, but there is a split in cation composition between 14 streams with Ca > Na > Mg > K and 10 streams with Na > Ca > Mg > K.


Andersen Creek is a first-order proglacial stream representative of the 13 short streams that flow <1.5 km from source to gage. Von Guerard is representative of 11 long streams 2–7 km in length characterized by extensive hyporheic zones. Both streams exhibit a strong daily cycle for solute load, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH, which vary in proportion to discharge. A well-expressed diurnal co-variation of pH with dissolved oxygen is observed for both streams that reflects different types of biological control. The relative consistency of Von Guerard composition over the summer flow season reflects chemostatic regulation, where water in transient storage introduced during times of high streamflow has an extended opportunity for water-sediment interaction, silicate mineral dissolution, and pore-water exchange.

1 aHarmon, Russell, S.1 aLeslie, Deborah, L.1 aLyons, Berry1 aWelch, Kathleen, A.1 aMcKnight, Diane, M. uhttps://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article/133/1-2/425/587799/Geochemistry-of-contrasting-stream-types-Taylor