(Table 1) Moisture content of buried snowpack deposit samples from Pearse Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, supplement to: Heldmann, J L; Marinova, M; Williams, K E; Lacelle, Denis; McKay, Christopher P; Davila, A; Pollard, W; Andersen, D T (2012): Formation and evolution of buried snowpack deposits in Pearse Valley, Antarctica, and implications for Mars. Antarctic Science, 24(03), 299-316

• Main Authors: Heldmann, J L, Marinova, M, Williams, K E, Lacelle, Denis, McKay, Christopher P, Davila, A, Pollard, W, Andersen, D T
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2012
• Subjects: Sample ID; DATE/TIME; Date/time end; Site; Sample type; Water content, wet mass; Excavation; International Polar Year 2007-2008 IPY; Arctic; Antarctic; The Antarctic; McMurdo Dry Valleys; Pollard; Pearse Valley; Marinova; Antarc*; Antarctica; International Polar Year; IPY; polar desert
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.810715; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.810715

Buried snowpack deposits are found within the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, which offers the opportunity to study these layered structures of sand and ice within a polar desert environment. Four discrete buried snowpacks are studied within Pearse Valley, Antarctica, through in situ observations, sample analyses, O-H isotope measurements and numerical modelling of snowpack stability and evolution. The buried snowpack deposits evolve throughout the year and undergo deposition, melt, refreeze, and sublimation. We demonstrate how the deposition and subsequent burial of snow can preserve the snowpacks in the Dry Valleys. The modelled lifetimes of the buried snowpacks are dependent upon subsurface stratigraphy but are typically less than one year if the lag thickness is less than c. 7 cm and snow thickness is less than c. 10 cm, indicating that some of the Antarctic buried snowpacks form annually. Buried snowpacks in the Antarctic polar desert may serve as analogues for similar deposits on Mars and may be applicable to observations of the north polar erg, buried ice at the Mars Phoenix landing site, and observations of buried ice throughout the martian Arctic. Numerical modelling suggests that seasonal snows and subsequent burial are not required to preserve the snow and ice on Mars. : Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150