Seasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Accumulated snow in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, while limited, has great ecological significance to subnivian soil environments. Though sublimation dominates the ablation process in this region, measurable increases in soil moisture and insulation from temperature extremes provide more favorable condit...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-917-2013 https://doaj.org/article/b40805a3253e417d9a10aac3c63ce1c8 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b40805a3253e417d9a10aac3c63ce1c8 2023-05-15T14:03:22+02:00 Seasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica J. W. Eveland M. N. Gooseff D. J. Lampkin J. E. Barrett C. D. Takacs-Vesbach 2013-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-917-2013 https://doaj.org/article/b40805a3253e417d9a10aac3c63ce1c8 EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/917/2013/tc-7-917-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-7-917-2013 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/b40805a3253e417d9a10aac3c63ce1c8 The Cryosphere, Vol 7, Iss 3, Pp 917-931 (2013) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-917-2013 2022-12-31T12:38:10Z Accumulated snow in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, while limited, has great ecological significance to subnivian soil environments. Though sublimation dominates the ablation process in this region, measurable increases in soil moisture and insulation from temperature extremes provide more favorable conditions with respect to subnivian soil communities. While precipitation is not substantial, significant amounts of snow can accumulate, via wind transport, in topographic lees along the valley bottoms, forming thousands of discontinuous snow patches. These patches have the potential to act as significant sources of local meltwater, controlling biogeochemical cycling and the landscape distribution of microbial communities. Therefore, determining the spatial and temporal dynamics of snow at multiple scales is imperative to understanding the broader ecological role of snow in this region. High-resolution satellite imagery acquired during the 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 austral summers was used to quantify the distribution of snow across Taylor and Wright valleys. Extracted snow-covered area from the imagery was used as the basis for assessing inter-annual variability and seasonal controls on accumulation and ablation of snow at multiple scales. In addition to landscape analyses, fifteen 1 km 2 plots (3 in each of 5 study regions) were selected to assess the prevalence of snow cover at finer spatial scales, referred to herein as the snow-patch scale. Results confirm that snow patches tend to form in the same locations each year with some minor deviations observed. At the snow-patch scale, neighboring patches often exhibit considerable differences in aerial ablation rates, and particular snow patches do not reflect trends for snow-covered area observed at the landscape scale. These differences are presumably related to microtopographic influences acting on individual snow patches, such as wind sheltering and differences in snow depth due to the underlying topography. This highlights the importance of both the landscape and ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Austral McMurdo Dry Valleys The Cryosphere 7 3 917 931 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 J. W. Eveland M. N. Gooseff D. J. Lampkin J. E. Barrett C. D. Takacs-Vesbach Seasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Accumulated snow in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, while limited, has great ecological significance to subnivian soil environments. Though sublimation dominates the ablation process in this region, measurable increases in soil moisture and insulation from temperature extremes provide more favorable conditions with respect to subnivian soil communities. While precipitation is not substantial, significant amounts of snow can accumulate, via wind transport, in topographic lees along the valley bottoms, forming thousands of discontinuous snow patches. These patches have the potential to act as significant sources of local meltwater, controlling biogeochemical cycling and the landscape distribution of microbial communities. Therefore, determining the spatial and temporal dynamics of snow at multiple scales is imperative to understanding the broader ecological role of snow in this region. High-resolution satellite imagery acquired during the 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 austral summers was used to quantify the distribution of snow across Taylor and Wright valleys. Extracted snow-covered area from the imagery was used as the basis for assessing inter-annual variability and seasonal controls on accumulation and ablation of snow at multiple scales. In addition to landscape analyses, fifteen 1 km 2 plots (3 in each of 5 study regions) were selected to assess the prevalence of snow cover at finer spatial scales, referred to herein as the snow-patch scale. Results confirm that snow patches tend to form in the same locations each year with some minor deviations observed. At the snow-patch scale, neighboring patches often exhibit considerable differences in aerial ablation rates, and particular snow patches do not reflect trends for snow-covered area observed at the landscape scale. These differences are presumably related to microtopographic influences acting on individual snow patches, such as wind sheltering and differences in snow depth due to the underlying topography. This highlights the importance of both the landscape and ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. W. Eveland M. N. Gooseff D. J. Lampkin J. E. Barrett C. D. Takacs-Vesbach |
author_facet |
J. W. Eveland M. N. Gooseff D. J. Lampkin J. E. Barrett C. D. Takacs-Vesbach |
author_sort |
J. W. Eveland |
title |
Seasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_short |
Seasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full |
Seasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_sort |
seasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, mcmurdo dry valleys, antarctica |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-917-2013 https://doaj.org/article/b40805a3253e417d9a10aac3c63ce1c8 |
geographic |
Austral McMurdo Dry Valleys |
geographic_facet |
Austral McMurdo Dry Valleys |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 7, Iss 3, Pp 917-931 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/917/2013/tc-7-917-2013.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-7-917-2013 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/b40805a3253e417d9a10aac3c63ce1c8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-917-2013 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
917 |
op_container_end_page |
931 |
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1766274013531734016 |