Stream Chemistry

Ion concentrations in glacial meltwater streams, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica (1993-2023, ongoing)

Abstract: 

As part of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, a systematic aqueous geochemical sampling program has been undertaken. A series of terrestrial water samples have been collected and analyzed for major ion chemistry by ion chromatography. The concentrations of ions cover a wide range of total dissolved solids from the stream waters. This dataset shows concentrations of lithium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, chlorine, bromine, silicon, fluorine, sulfate, and hydrogen ions found in various streams of the McMurdo Dry Valleys.

LTER Core Areas: 

Dataset ID: 

20

Associated Personnel: 

1142
1143
676
675

Related publications: 

McMurdo LTER: Inorganic geochemical studies with special reference to calcium carbonate dynamics
Determination of major element chemistry in terrestrial waters from Antarctica by ion chromatography
Lithium in waters of a polar desert
Determination of rare earth elements in Antarctic lakes and streams of varying ionic strengths
Geochemical Linkages Among Glaciers, Streams, and Lakes Within the Taylor Valley, Antarctica
Mercury speciation and distribution in a polar desert lake (Lake Hoare, Antarctica) and two glacial meltwater streams
Mercury in aquatic systems in Antarctica

Related links: 

McMurdo Dry Valleys Gage Map

Short name: 

STREAM_IONS

Locations: 

Adams Stream at Weir
Aiken Creek at F5
Andersen Creek at H1
Andrews Creek at mouth
Bartlette Creek at mouth
Bohner stream at lower site
Bohner Stream at mouth
Bowles Creek at mouth
Canada Stream at F1
Commonwealth Stream at C1
Crescent Stream at F8
Delta Stream at F10
Garwood River below confluence
Garwood Stream at Lake Colleen
Garwood River at flats
Green Creek at F9
Harnish Creek Tributary at F11
Harnish Creek at F7
House Stream at H2
Lawson Creek at B3
Lizotte Creek at mouth
Lost Seal Stream at F3
Lyons Creek at B4
Lyons tributary at confluence
Mariah Creek at mouth
Mason Creek at Mouth
McKay Creek at mouth
McKnight Creek at mouth
Onyx River at Lower Wright Weir
Onyx River at Lake Vanda Weir
Priscu Stream at B1
Red River at Blood Falls
Santa Fe Stream at B2
Sharp Creek at mouth
Von Guerard Stream at F6
Von Guerard stream at lower site
Von Guerard stream at upper site
Vincent Creek at mouth
Wharton Creek at mouth

Data sources: 

STREAM_IONS

Methods: 

A Dionex DX-300 ion chromatographic system was used for the major ion analyses. Please see the following citation for complete methods: Welch, K.A., Lyons, W.B., Graham, E., Neumann, K., Thomas, J.M., and D. Mikesell. 1996. Determination of major element chemistry in terrestrial waters from Antarctica by ion chromatography. Journal of Chromatography A 739: 257-263.

Instrumentation: 

Dionex DX-300 ion chromatographic system

Maintenance: 

Metadata improved in 2016, San Gil.

The original iterations of the 'strmchem' file (stream chemistry data) were created by Kathy Welch, and submitted to Denise Steigerwald (the data manager) at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR). These files are currently located on the PC in the data manager's office at INSTAAR. Following discussions between Kathy Welch and Denise Steigerwald, it was decided to remove some fields (eg., dilution factor), and add others (eg. strmgageid, collection date, comments for each type of measurement) to these files in order to make them more consistent and relational for future references. Following these revisions, they were imported into Microsoft Access and saved in a table named "Stream Chemistry / Ion Concentrations". This table was exported as an ascii, text, comma delimited file (strmchem.dat) and as an MS-DOS text, table layout file (strmchem.txt), to present on the MCM LTER web site. Both of these files are linked to this web page above.

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