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Distribution of depth to ice-cemented soils in the high-elevation Quartermain Mountains, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2013

Margarita M. Marinova ,
Christopher P. Mckay ,
Wayne H. Pollard ,
Jennifer L. Heldmann ,
Alfonso F. Davila ,
Dale T. Andersen ,
W. Andrew Jackson ,
Denis Lacelle ,
Gale Paulsen  and
Kris Zacny
Margarita M. Marinova*
Affiliation:
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Sonoma, CA 95476, USA Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Christopher P. Mckay
Affiliation:
Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Wayne H. Pollard
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, H3A 2K6, Canada
Jennifer L. Heldmann
Affiliation:
Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Alfonso F. Davila
Affiliation:
Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
Dale T. Andersen
Affiliation:
SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
W. Andrew Jackson
Affiliation:
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79401, USA
Denis Lacelle
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Canada
Gale Paulsen
Affiliation:
Honeybee Robotics, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
Kris Zacny
Affiliation:
Honeybee Robotics, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

We report on 475 measurements of depth to ice-cemented ground in four high-elevation valleys of the Quartermain Mountains, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. These valleys have pervasive ice-cemented ground, and the depth to ice-cemented ground and the ice composition may be indicators of climate change. In University Valley, the measured depth to ice-cemented ground ranges from 0–98 cm. There is an overall trend of increasing depth to ice-cemented ground with distance from a small glacier at the head of the valley, with a slope of 32 cm depth per kilometre along the valley floor. For Farnell Valley, the depth to ice-cemented ground is roughly constant (c. 30 cm) in the upper and central parts of the valley, but increases sharply as the valley descends into Beacon Valley. The two valleys north of University Valley also have extensive ice-cemented ground, with depths of 20–40 cm, but exhibit no clear patterns of ice depth with location. For all valleys there is a tendency for the variability in depth to ice-cemented ground at a site to increase with increasing depth to ice. Snow recurrence, solar insolation, and surface albedo may all be factors that cause site to site variations in these valleys.

Keywords

dry permafrostMarsUniversity Valleyvapour diffusion
Type
Physical Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 25 , Issue 4 , August 2013 , pp. 575 - 582
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2013 

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