Cryoconite hole connectivity on the Wright Lower Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
ABSTRACT Cryoconite holes can be important sources and stores of water and nutrients on cold and polythermal glaciers, and they provide a habitat for various forms of biota. Understanding the hydrological connectivity of cryoconite holes may be the key to understanding the transport of nutrients and...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.62 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143016000629 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/jog.2016.62 2024-09-09T19:10:48+00:00 Cryoconite hole connectivity on the Wright Lower Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica MACDONELL, SHELLEY SHARP, MARTIN FITZSIMONS, SEAN 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.62 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143016000629 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Glaciology volume 62, issue 234, page 714-724 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 2016 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.62 2024-06-19T04:04:11Z ABSTRACT Cryoconite holes can be important sources and stores of water and nutrients on cold and polythermal glaciers, and they provide a habitat for various forms of biota. Understanding the hydrological connectivity of cryoconite holes may be the key to understanding the transport of nutrients and biological material to the proglacial areas of such glaciers. This paper aims to characterize and explain spatial variability in the connectivity of ice-lidded cryoconite holes on a small, piedmont glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys through geochemical analysis of cryoconite hole waters. Solute concentrations in both surface and near-surface ice and cryoconite holes, vary greatly along the glacier centerline, and all sample types displayed similar spatial patterns of variability. Using chloride as a tracer, we estimated variations in cryoconite hole connectivity along the glacier centerline. We found that a previously used mass transfer method did not provide reliable estimates of the time period for which cryoconite hole waters had been isolated from the atmosphere. We attribute this to spatial variability in both the chloride content of the surface ice and surface ablation rates. The approach may, however, be used to qualitatively characterize spatial variations in the hydrological connectivity of the cryoconite holes. These results also suggest that ice-lidded cryoconite holes are never truly isolated from the near-surface drainage system. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Wright Lower Glacier Cambridge University Press McMurdo Dry Valleys Wright Lower Glacier ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.417,-77.417) Journal of Glaciology 62 234 714 724 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT Cryoconite holes can be important sources and stores of water and nutrients on cold and polythermal glaciers, and they provide a habitat for various forms of biota. Understanding the hydrological connectivity of cryoconite holes may be the key to understanding the transport of nutrients and biological material to the proglacial areas of such glaciers. This paper aims to characterize and explain spatial variability in the connectivity of ice-lidded cryoconite holes on a small, piedmont glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys through geochemical analysis of cryoconite hole waters. Solute concentrations in both surface and near-surface ice and cryoconite holes, vary greatly along the glacier centerline, and all sample types displayed similar spatial patterns of variability. Using chloride as a tracer, we estimated variations in cryoconite hole connectivity along the glacier centerline. We found that a previously used mass transfer method did not provide reliable estimates of the time period for which cryoconite hole waters had been isolated from the atmosphere. We attribute this to spatial variability in both the chloride content of the surface ice and surface ablation rates. The approach may, however, be used to qualitatively characterize spatial variations in the hydrological connectivity of the cryoconite holes. These results also suggest that ice-lidded cryoconite holes are never truly isolated from the near-surface drainage system. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
MACDONELL, SHELLEY SHARP, MARTIN FITZSIMONS, SEAN |
spellingShingle |
MACDONELL, SHELLEY SHARP, MARTIN FITZSIMONS, SEAN Cryoconite hole connectivity on the Wright Lower Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
author_facet |
MACDONELL, SHELLEY SHARP, MARTIN FITZSIMONS, SEAN |
author_sort |
MACDONELL, SHELLEY |
title |
Cryoconite hole connectivity on the Wright Lower Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_short |
Cryoconite hole connectivity on the Wright Lower Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full |
Cryoconite hole connectivity on the Wright Lower Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Cryoconite hole connectivity on the Wright Lower Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cryoconite hole connectivity on the Wright Lower Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_sort |
cryoconite hole connectivity on the wright lower glacier, mcmurdo dry valleys, antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.62 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143016000629 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.417,-77.417) |
geographic |
McMurdo Dry Valleys Wright Lower Glacier |
geographic_facet |
McMurdo Dry Valleys Wright Lower Glacier |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Wright Lower Glacier |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Journal of Glaciology McMurdo Dry Valleys Wright Lower Glacier |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 62, issue 234, page 714-724 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2016.62 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
62 |
container_issue |
234 |
container_start_page |
714 |
op_container_end_page |
724 |
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1809826425638748160 |