Hypersaline “wet patches” in Taylor Valley, Antarctica
Spatially isolated patches of soil located in Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, are sites of elevated salt content and soil moisture. During Antarctic spring, in the absence of snow melt, visibly wet (reduced albedo) patches of soil are present at the surface. The soil pore fluids are...
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American Geophysical Union
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ftoregonstate:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:td96k420n 2024-04-14T08:03:36+00:00 Hypersaline “wet patches” in Taylor Valley, Antarctica Levy, Joseph S. Fountain, Andrew G. Welch, Kathy A. Lyons, W. Berry https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/td96k420n English [eng] eng unknown American Geophysical Union https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/td96k420n Copyright Not Evaluated Article ftoregonstate 2024-03-21T15:50:23Z Spatially isolated patches of soil located in Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, are sites of elevated salt content and soil moisture. During Antarctic spring, in the absence of snow melt, visibly wet (reduced albedo) patches of soil are present at the surface. The soil pore fluids are hypersaline and have average water activity of 0.74 (the water activity of a solution determines the equilibrium vapor pressure of that solution), and are an order of magnitude more saline than average soils in the Dry Valleys. These salty soils are 3–5 times more water rich than average soils. Geochemical and meteorological analyses show that these wet patches are sites of direct vapor emplacement into soil pore fluids that may ultimately be sourced by the deliquescence of soil salts. These wet patches represent a non-precipitation, non-groundwater source for water into Antarctic permafrost. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost ScholarsArchive@OSU (Oregon State University) Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) |
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Open Polar |
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ScholarsArchive@OSU (Oregon State University) |
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ftoregonstate |
language |
English unknown |
description |
Spatially isolated patches of soil located in Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, are sites of elevated salt content and soil moisture. During Antarctic spring, in the absence of snow melt, visibly wet (reduced albedo) patches of soil are present at the surface. The soil pore fluids are hypersaline and have average water activity of 0.74 (the water activity of a solution determines the equilibrium vapor pressure of that solution), and are an order of magnitude more saline than average soils in the Dry Valleys. These salty soils are 3–5 times more water rich than average soils. Geochemical and meteorological analyses show that these wet patches are sites of direct vapor emplacement into soil pore fluids that may ultimately be sourced by the deliquescence of soil salts. These wet patches represent a non-precipitation, non-groundwater source for water into Antarctic permafrost. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Levy, Joseph S. Fountain, Andrew G. Welch, Kathy A. Lyons, W. Berry |
spellingShingle |
Levy, Joseph S. Fountain, Andrew G. Welch, Kathy A. Lyons, W. Berry Hypersaline “wet patches” in Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
author_facet |
Levy, Joseph S. Fountain, Andrew G. Welch, Kathy A. Lyons, W. Berry |
author_sort |
Levy, Joseph S. |
title |
Hypersaline “wet patches” in Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
title_short |
Hypersaline “wet patches” in Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
title_full |
Hypersaline “wet patches” in Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Hypersaline “wet patches” in Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hypersaline “wet patches” in Taylor Valley, Antarctica |
title_sort |
hypersaline “wet patches” in taylor valley, antarctica |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
url |
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/td96k420n |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) |
geographic |
Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost |
op_relation |
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/td96k420n |
op_rights |
Copyright Not Evaluated |
_version_ |
1796299880814084096 |