Ice-covered ponds in the Untersee Oasis (East Antarctica): Distribution, chemical composition, and trajectory under a warming climate

Faucher, Benoit; Lacelle, Denis; Marsh, Nicole B.; Fisher, David; Andersen, Dale T.

doi:10.1080/15230430.2021.2000566

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…2-] = 9.1 mg l -1 . This geochemical facies is similar to that of regional snow (Isaksson et al 1996, Marsh et al 2020) and of local ponds recharged by snowmelt (Faucher et al 2021). Based on the Phreeqc hydrogeochemical program, and assuming that the meltwater is in equilibrium with atmospheric CO 2 , the meltwater is undersaturated with respect to calcite (SIcal = -4.5).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…The model with nearly pure water chemistry is similar to that described in Criss (1999) and has been used in Antarctic studies (e.g. Lapalme et al 2017, Faucher et al 2021. Despite the relative humidity in the air being 42 ± 5%, the relative humidity at the ground surface is consistently higher than in the air (often > 70%; D. Lacelle et al, unpublished data).…”

Section: Origin Of the Calcite Crustsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There, a portion of the residual snow patches can melt during the summer and interact with the plagioclase rocks, and, as it wets the surfaces of clasts, the meltwater can precipitate calcite following evaporation. The snow patches contain little dissolved organic carbon (DOC) that could increase P CO2 and decrease the δ 13 C DIC in the meltwater (DOC concentration in nearby ponds recharged by snowmelt range from < 0.3 to 1 ppm; Faucher et al 2021). The Untersee Oasis, with its low relative humidity and strong winds, is dominated by intense ablation, and these conditions would favour an increase in the rate of evaporation and create a kinetic isotope effect during the precipitation of the calcite crusts.…”

Section: Origin Of the Calcite Crustsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Palaeo-environmental significance of evaporative calcite crusts in the Untersee Oasis, East Antarctica

Lacelle,

Christy,

Faucher

et al. 2024

Antarctic Science

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Secondary carbonate precipitates on the surface of clasts have rarely been reported from Antarctica. Here, we infer the origin, age and palaeo-environmental significance of the calcite crusts in the Untersee Oasis, East Antarctica. The distribution of calcite crusts, which are up to 1 mm thick, is limited to locations with residual snow patches, and they have some of the highest δ18O (up to +17.4‰ Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW)) and δ13C (up to +14.6‰ Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite (VPDB)) compositions of any carbonate deposits in terrestrial polar environments. Their δ18O and δ13C values are substantially enriched with respect to the isotopic values expected from equilibrium precipitation from the δ18O and δ13CDIC (DIC = dissolved inorganic carbon) of snow meltwater. The formation of the calcite crusts is ascribed to the evaporation of residual snow meltwater and the low relative humidity and strong winds, favouring a kinetic isotope effect. The 14C age distribution of the calcite crusts (1550 cal yr bp to modern) provides a minimum age for ice retreat and drainage of the palaeo-lake in Aurkjosen Cirque. However, in this polar desert environment in which surface melting is limited, the calcite crusts require sufficient snow accumulation and air temperatures warm enough to generate meltwater, and their age distribution corresponds to the late Holocene warm-wet climate period.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Origin Of the Calcite Crustsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Origin Of the Calcite Crustsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Palaeo-environmental significance of evaporative calcite crusts in the Untersee Oasis, East Antarctica

Lacelle,

Christy,

Faucher

et al. 2024

Antarctic Science

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“…The chemical study of ice-covered ponds is important, as to understand how climate change is impacting on their characteristics. The identification of the ponds can be guided by UAV surveys which can provide their description and of the surroundings with detailed images and elevation maps, as shown by Faucher et al (2021) [74]. In another monitoring procedure, Chen et al (2021) [75] compared aerial photos with current UAV surveys to quantify the retreat of about 12 m of the shoreline in 30 years in Inexpressible Island in the Ross Sea, and how it is impacting wildlife, by identifying the change of location of Adélie penguin colonies in the island.…”

Section: Basemapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

UAVs for Science in Antarctica

Pina

Vieira

2022

Remote Sensing

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Remote sensing is a very powerful tool that has been used to identify, map and monitor Antarctic features and processes for nearly one century. Satellite remote sensing plays the main role for about the last five decades, as it is the only way to provide multitemporal views at continental scale. But the emergence of small consumer-grade unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the past two decades has paved the way for data in unprecedented detail. This has been also verified by an increasing noticeable interest in Antarctica by the incorporation of UAVs in the field activities in diversified research topics. This paper presents a comprehensive review about the use of UAVs in scientific activities in Antarctica. It is based on the analysis of 190 scientific publications published in peer-reviewed journals and proceedings of conferences which are organised into six main application topics: Terrestrial, Ice and Snow, Fauna, Technology, Atmosphere and Others. The analysis encompasses a detailed overview of the activities, identifying advantages and difficulties, also evaluating future possibilities and challenges for expanding the use of UAV in the field activities. The relevance of using UAVs to support numerous and diverse scientific activities in Antarctica becomes very clear after analysing this set of scientific publications, as it is revolutionising the remote acquisition of new data with much higher detail, from inaccessible or difficult to access regions, in faster and cheaper ways. Many of the advances can be seen in the terrestrial areas (detailed 3D mapping; vegetation mapping, discrimination and health assessment; periglacial forms characterisation), ice and snow (more detailed topography, depth and features of ice-sheets, glaciers and sea-ice), fauna (counting penguins, seals and flying birds and detailed morphometrics) and in atmosphere studies (more detailed meteorological measurements and air-surface couplings). This review has also shown that despite the low environmental impact of UAV-based surveys, the increasing number of applications and use, may lead to impacts in the most sensitive Antarctic ecosystems. Hence, we call for an internationally coordinated effort to for planning and sharing UAV data in Antarctica, which would reduce environmental impacts, while extending research outcomes.

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The perennially ice-covered Lake Enigma, Antarctica supports unique microbial communities

Smedile,

La Cono,

Urbini

et al. 2024

Commun Earth Environ

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Ice-covered ponds in the Untersee Oasis (East Antarctica): Distribution, chemical composition, and trajectory under a warming climate

Cited by 3 publications

References 65 publications

Palaeo-environmental significance of evaporative calcite crusts in the Untersee Oasis, East Antarctica

Palaeo-environmental significance of evaporative calcite crusts in the Untersee Oasis, East Antarctica

UAVs for Science in Antarctica

The perennially ice-covered Lake Enigma, Antarctica supports unique microbial communities

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