Factors affecting the water clarity of ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica
The clarity of 39 meltwater ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf was determined as the horizontal viewing range of a black disc. Visual ranges varied widely from pond to pond from 0.14–5 m; so did the concentrations of optically-active constituents, including the suspended particulates, phytoplankton (10-...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102095000204 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102095000204 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102095000204 2024-03-03T08:38:21+00:00 Factors affecting the water clarity of ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica Pridmore, R.D. Vant, W.N. Cummings, V.J. 1995 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102095000204 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102095000204 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 7, issue 2, page 145-148 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 1995 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102095000204 2024-02-08T08:33:50Z The clarity of 39 meltwater ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf was determined as the horizontal viewing range of a black disc. Visual ranges varied widely from pond to pond from 0.14–5 m; so did the concentrations of optically-active constituents, including the suspended particulates, phytoplankton (10-fold variation) and inorganic suspensoids (> 100-fold), and dissolved yellow substance (10-fold). In six of the ponds the ratio of beam attenuation coefficient to total suspended solids concentration was low (< 0.6 m 2 g −1 ) compared to that in the others (0.7–2.0 m 2 g −1 , suggesting that generally larger particles were present suspended in the water in these ponds. In both groups, relationships between beam attenuation and constituent concentrations indicated that much of the attenuation was due to inorganic suspensoids. Organic detritus also appeared to be important in many ponds, while phytoplankton and dissolved yellow substance were generally less important. Even though the clarity of many of the ponds was poor, their relative shallowness meant levels of underwater light were probably generally adequate for benthic plant growth. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Ice Shelf McMurdo Ice Shelf Cambridge University Press McMurdo Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(166.500,166.500,-78.000,-78.000) Antarctic Science 7 2 145 148 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography Pridmore, R.D. Vant, W.N. Cummings, V.J. Factors affecting the water clarity of ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
The clarity of 39 meltwater ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf was determined as the horizontal viewing range of a black disc. Visual ranges varied widely from pond to pond from 0.14–5 m; so did the concentrations of optically-active constituents, including the suspended particulates, phytoplankton (10-fold variation) and inorganic suspensoids (> 100-fold), and dissolved yellow substance (10-fold). In six of the ponds the ratio of beam attenuation coefficient to total suspended solids concentration was low (< 0.6 m 2 g −1 ) compared to that in the others (0.7–2.0 m 2 g −1 , suggesting that generally larger particles were present suspended in the water in these ponds. In both groups, relationships between beam attenuation and constituent concentrations indicated that much of the attenuation was due to inorganic suspensoids. Organic detritus also appeared to be important in many ponds, while phytoplankton and dissolved yellow substance were generally less important. Even though the clarity of many of the ponds was poor, their relative shallowness meant levels of underwater light were probably generally adequate for benthic plant growth. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pridmore, R.D. Vant, W.N. Cummings, V.J. |
author_facet |
Pridmore, R.D. Vant, W.N. Cummings, V.J. |
author_sort |
Pridmore, R.D. |
title |
Factors affecting the water clarity of ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_short |
Factors affecting the water clarity of ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_full |
Factors affecting the water clarity of ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Factors affecting the water clarity of ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Factors affecting the water clarity of ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica |
title_sort |
factors affecting the water clarity of ponds on the mcmurdo ice shelf, antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1995 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102095000204 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102095000204 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(166.500,166.500,-78.000,-78.000) |
geographic |
McMurdo Ice Shelf |
geographic_facet |
McMurdo Ice Shelf |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Ice Shelf McMurdo Ice Shelf |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica Ice Shelf McMurdo Ice Shelf |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 7, issue 2, page 145-148 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102095000204 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
145 |
op_container_end_page |
148 |
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1792506729470099456 |