Silicon Isotopes Reveal a Non-glacial Source of Silicon to Crescent Stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
In high latitude environments, silicon is supplied to river waters by both glacial and nonglacial chemical weathering. The signal of these two end-members is often obscured by biological uptake and/or groundwater input in the river catchment. McMurdo Dry Valleys streams in Antarctica have no deep gr...
Published in: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/231959 https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00229 |
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ftunivlouvain:oai:dial.uclouvain.be:boreal:231959 2024-05-12T07:56:39+00:00 Silicon Isotopes Reveal a Non-glacial Source of Silicon to Crescent Stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica Hirst, Catherine Opfergelt, Sophie Gaspard, François Hendry, Katharine R. Hatton, Jade E. Welch, Susan McKnight, Diane M. Berry Lyons, W. UCL - SST/ELI/ELIE - Environmental Sciences 2020 http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/231959 https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00229 eng eng Frontiers Media SA boreal:231959 http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/231959 doi:10.3389/feart.2020.00229 urn:EISSN:2296-6463 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol. 8 (2020), p. article 229 (2020) silicon isotopes hyporheic zone permafrost weathering Antartica info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2020 ftunivlouvain https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00229 2024-04-17T16:43:53Z In high latitude environments, silicon is supplied to river waters by both glacial and nonglacial chemical weathering. The signal of these two end-members is often obscured by biological uptake and/or groundwater input in the river catchment. McMurdo Dry Valleys streams in Antarctica have no deep groundwater input, no connectivity between streams and no surface vegetation cover, and thus provide a simplified system for us to constrain the supply of dissolved silicon (DSi) to rivers from chemical weathering in a glacial environment. Here we report dissolved Si concentrations, germanium/silicon ratios (Ge/Si) and silicon isotope compositions (d30SiDSi) in Crescent Stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys for samples collected between December and February in the 2014ô€€€2015, 2015ô€€€2016, and 2016ô€€€2017 austral seasons. The d30SiDSi compositions and DSi concentrations are higher than values reported in wet-based glacial meltwaters, and form a narrow cluster within the range of values reported for permafrost dominated Arctic Rivers. High d30SiDSi compositions, ranging from C0.90h to C1.39h, are attributed to (i) the precipitation of amorphous silica during freezing of waters in isolated pockets of the hyporheic zone in the winter and the release of Si from unfrozen pockets during meltwater-hyporheic zone exchange in the austral summer, and (ii) additional Si isotope fractionation via long-term Si uptake in clay minerals and seasonal Si uptake into diatoms superimposed on this winter-derived isotope signal. There is no relationship between d30SiDSi compositions and DSi concentrations with seasonal and daily discharge, showing that stream waters contain DSi that is in equilibrium with the formation of secondary Si minerals in the hyporheic zone. We show that d30SiDSi compositions can be used as tracers of silicate weathering in the hyporheic zone and possible tracers of freeze-thaw conditions in the hyporheic zone. This is important in the context of the ongoing warming in McMurdo Dry Valleys and the supply of more meltwaters ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica antartic* Arctic McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost DIAL@UCLouvain (Université catholique de Louvain) Arctic Austral McMurdo Dry Valleys Crescent Stream ENVELOPE(163.183,163.183,-77.617,-77.617) Frontiers in Earth Science 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DIAL@UCLouvain (Université catholique de Louvain) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivlouvain |
language |
English |
topic |
silicon isotopes hyporheic zone permafrost weathering Antartica |
spellingShingle |
silicon isotopes hyporheic zone permafrost weathering Antartica Hirst, Catherine Opfergelt, Sophie Gaspard, François Hendry, Katharine R. Hatton, Jade E. Welch, Susan McKnight, Diane M. Berry Lyons, W. Silicon Isotopes Reveal a Non-glacial Source of Silicon to Crescent Stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
silicon isotopes hyporheic zone permafrost weathering Antartica |
description |
In high latitude environments, silicon is supplied to river waters by both glacial and nonglacial chemical weathering. The signal of these two end-members is often obscured by biological uptake and/or groundwater input in the river catchment. McMurdo Dry Valleys streams in Antarctica have no deep groundwater input, no connectivity between streams and no surface vegetation cover, and thus provide a simplified system for us to constrain the supply of dissolved silicon (DSi) to rivers from chemical weathering in a glacial environment. Here we report dissolved Si concentrations, germanium/silicon ratios (Ge/Si) and silicon isotope compositions (d30SiDSi) in Crescent Stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys for samples collected between December and February in the 2014ô€€€2015, 2015ô€€€2016, and 2016ô€€€2017 austral seasons. The d30SiDSi compositions and DSi concentrations are higher than values reported in wet-based glacial meltwaters, and form a narrow cluster within the range of values reported for permafrost dominated Arctic Rivers. High d30SiDSi compositions, ranging from C0.90h to C1.39h, are attributed to (i) the precipitation of amorphous silica during freezing of waters in isolated pockets of the hyporheic zone in the winter and the release of Si from unfrozen pockets during meltwater-hyporheic zone exchange in the austral summer, and (ii) additional Si isotope fractionation via long-term Si uptake in clay minerals and seasonal Si uptake into diatoms superimposed on this winter-derived isotope signal. There is no relationship between d30SiDSi compositions and DSi concentrations with seasonal and daily discharge, showing that stream waters contain DSi that is in equilibrium with the formation of secondary Si minerals in the hyporheic zone. We show that d30SiDSi compositions can be used as tracers of silicate weathering in the hyporheic zone and possible tracers of freeze-thaw conditions in the hyporheic zone. This is important in the context of the ongoing warming in McMurdo Dry Valleys and the supply of more meltwaters ... |
author2 |
UCL - SST/ELI/ELIE - Environmental Sciences |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hirst, Catherine Opfergelt, Sophie Gaspard, François Hendry, Katharine R. Hatton, Jade E. Welch, Susan McKnight, Diane M. Berry Lyons, W. |
author_facet |
Hirst, Catherine Opfergelt, Sophie Gaspard, François Hendry, Katharine R. Hatton, Jade E. Welch, Susan McKnight, Diane M. Berry Lyons, W. |
author_sort |
Hirst, Catherine |
title |
Silicon Isotopes Reveal a Non-glacial Source of Silicon to Crescent Stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_short |
Silicon Isotopes Reveal a Non-glacial Source of Silicon to Crescent Stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full |
Silicon Isotopes Reveal a Non-glacial Source of Silicon to Crescent Stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Silicon Isotopes Reveal a Non-glacial Source of Silicon to Crescent Stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Silicon Isotopes Reveal a Non-glacial Source of Silicon to Crescent Stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_sort |
silicon isotopes reveal a non-glacial source of silicon to crescent stream, mcmurdo dry valleys, antarctica |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/231959 https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00229 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.183,163.183,-77.617,-77.617) |
geographic |
Arctic Austral McMurdo Dry Valleys Crescent Stream |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Austral McMurdo Dry Valleys Crescent Stream |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica antartic* Arctic McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica antartic* Arctic McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol. 8 (2020), p. article 229 (2020) |
op_relation |
boreal:231959 http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/231959 doi:10.3389/feart.2020.00229 urn:EISSN:2296-6463 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00229 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
8 |
_version_ |
1798836849630773248 |