Palaeohydrological modelling of Ace Lake, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica

The major influences on the salinity and water level of an Antarctic lake are parameterized and a palaeohydrological model linking the palaeosalinity of an Antarctic lake to the palaeohydrology of the lake is developed. Climatic change in this lake is recorded in the evaporative loss trend reconstru...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Holocene
Main Authors: Roberts, Donna, Roberts, Jason L., Gibson, John A.E., McMinn, Andrew, Heijnis, Hendrik
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publications 1999
Subjects:
Paleontology
Earth-Surface Processes
Ecology
Archeology
Global and Planetary Change
Ace Lake
Antarctic
Vestfold
Vestfold Hills
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/095968399672424476
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1191/095968399672424476
Description
Summary:The major influences on the salinity and water level of an Antarctic lake are parameterized and a palaeohydrological model linking the palaeosalinity of an Antarctic lake to the palaeohydrology of the lake is developed. Climatic change in this lake is recorded in the evaporative loss trend reconstructed from water level and lakewater salinity estimates. A decrease in salinity betweeñ700 and 200 years BP corresponds with c. 5 m increase in water level over the same time period. Both water level and lakewater salinity then stabilize in the last ~200 years BP. The palaeohydrological model derived from the changes inferred in salinity and water level shows that there is no significant change in evaporation for the last ~700 years but that a lower evaporation period is evident at ~150–200 years BP suggestive of a mild ‘Little Ice Age’ event in the Vestfold Hills.

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