Brief communication: The hidden labyrinth: deep groundwater in Wright Valley, Antarctica

Since the 1960s, a deep groundwater system in Wright Valley, Antarctica, has been the hypothesized source of brines to hypersaline Don Juan Pond and Lake Vanda, both of which are rich in calcium and chloride. Modeling studies do not support other possible mechanisms, such as evaporative processes, t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Cryosphere
Main Authors: H. A. Dugan, P. T. Doran, D. Grombacher, E. Auken, T. Bording, N. Foged, N. Foley, J. Mikucki, R. A. Virginia, S. Tulaczyk
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2022
Subjects:
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Geology
QE1-996.5
Vanda
Wright Valley
Labyrinth
Lake Vanda
North Fork
Don Juan Pond
Antarc*
Antarctica
The Cryosphere
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4977-2022
https://doaj.org/article/c2614cb54e364c31b9d9fd93ecec0022
Description
Summary:Since the 1960s, a deep groundwater system in Wright Valley, Antarctica, has been the hypothesized source of brines to hypersaline Don Juan Pond and Lake Vanda, both of which are rich in calcium and chloride. Modeling studies do not support other possible mechanisms, such as evaporative processes, that could have led to the current suite of ions present in both waterbodies. In 2011 and 2018, an airborne electromagnetic survey was flown over Wright Valley to map subsurface resistivity (down to 600 m) in exploration of liquid water. The surveys revealed widespread unfrozen brine in the subsurface near Lake Vanda, Don Juan Pond, and the North Fork of Wright Valley. While our geophysical survey can neither confirm nor deny deep groundwater connectivity between Lake Vanda and Don Juan Pond, it does point to the potential for deep valley-wide brine, likely within the Ferrar Dolerite formation.

Similar Items