Physical and Biogeochemical Processes in Antarctic Lakes

219 Pages·2012·6.39 MB·English

Physical and B iogeochemical
Processes in Antarctic Lakes
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTARCTIC RESEARCH I
Physical Sciences
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BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XIX
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BIOLOGY OF THE ANTARCTIC SEAS XX
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ANTARCTIC
Volume 59 RESEARCH
SERIES
Physical and Biogeochemical
Processes in Antarctic Lakes
William J. Green
E. Imre Friedmann
Editors
(cid:127) AmericaGne ophysiUcanli on
Washington, D.C.
1993
ANTARCTIC
Volume 59 RESEARCH
SERIES
PHYSICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN ANTARCTIC LAKES
William J. Green and E. Imre Friedmann, Editors
Published under the aegis of the
Board of Associate Editors, Antarctic Research Series
David H. Elliot, Chairman
John B. Anderson, Robert Bindschadler,
StephenD . Cairns, Rodney l(cid:127)I. Feldmann,S tanleyJ acobs,
John Priscu, Charles R. Stearns
Library of CongressC ataloging-in-PublicationD ata
Physical and biogeochemicalp rocessesi n Antarctic lakes / William J. Green and
E. Imre Friedmann, editors.
p. cm.- (Antarctic research series; v. 59)
1. Limnology--Antarctic regions. 2. Biogeochemistry(cid:127)Antarctic regions.
I. Green, W. J. (William J.) II. Friedmann, E. Imre. III. Series.
GB 1797.P49 1993 551.48'2'099894c20 93-7383
ISBN 0-87590-830-6 CIP
ISSN 0066-4634
ISBN 0-87590-830-6
Copyright 1993 by the American GeophysicalU nion
2000 Florida Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20009
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Published by
American Geophysical Union
With the aid of grant DPP-89-15494f rom the
National Science Foundation
Printed in the United States of America.
CONTENTS
The Antarctic Research Series: Statement of Objectives
Board of Associate Editors ix
Preface xi
Section 1: Physical Processes
Physical Hydrology of the Dry Valley Lakes
T. J. Chinn
Perennial Ice Covers and Their Influence on Antarctic Lake Ecosystems
Robert A. Wharton, Jr., Christopher P. McKay, Gary D. Clow,
and Dale T. Andersen 53
Terrigenous Clastic Sedimentation in Antarctic Dry Valley Lakes
David W. Andersen, Robert A. Wharton, Jr., and Steven W. Squyres 71
Lithology and Paleoclimatic Implications of Lacustrine Deposits Around
Lake Vanda and Don Juan Pond, Antarctica
George I. Smith and Irving Friedman 83
Section 2: Geochemical Processes
Geochemical Features of the McMurdo Dry Valley Lakes, Antarctica
Genki I. Matsumoto 95
Dissolved Organic Material in Dry Valley Lakes: A Comparison of Lake Fryxell,
Lake Hoare, and Lake Vanda
D. M. McKnight, G. R. Aiken, E. D. Andrews, E. C. Bowles, and R. A. Harnish 119
The Geochemical Evolution of Terrestrial Waters in the Antarctic: The Role of
Rock-Water Interactions
W. Berry Lyons and Paul A. Mayewski 135
Metal Transport and Release Processesi n Lake Vanda: The Role of Oxide Phases
William J. Green, Donald E. Canfield, Yu Shengsong, Keith E. Chave,
Timothy G. Ferdelman, and Gary Delanois 145
Section 3: Microbiology and Trophic State
Environmental Regulators of Microbial Activity in Continental Antarctic Lakes
George M. Simmons, Jr., J. Robie Vestal, and Robert A. Wharton, Jr. 165
The Relationship Between PhosphorusL oad and Eutrophication Response
in Lake Vanda
Anne Jones-Lee and G. Fred Lee 197
Index 215
The Antarctic Research Series'
STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES
The Antarctic Research Series provides for the presentation of detailed scientific research
results from Antarctica, particularly the results of the United States Antarctic Research Program,
including monographsa nd long manuscripts.
The series is designed to make the results of Antarctic fieldwork available. The Antarctic
Research Series encouragest he collection of papers on specific geographic areas within Antarc-
tica. In addition, many volumes focus on particular disciplines, including marine biology,
oceanology, meteorology, upper atmosphere physics, terrestrial biology, geology, glaciology,
human adaptability, engineering, and environmental protection.
Topical volumes in the series normally are devoted to papers in one or two disciplines.
Multidisciplinary volumes, initiated in 1990 to enable more rapid publication, are open to papers
from any discipline. The series can accommodate long manuscripts and utilize special formats,
such as maps.
Priorities for publication are set by the Board of Associate Editors. Preference is given to
research manuscripts from projects funded by U.S. agencies. Because the series serves to
emphasizet he U.S. Antarctic Research Program, it also performs a function similar to expedition
reports of many other countries with national Antarctic research programs.
The standards of scientific excellence expected for the series are maintained by the review
criteria establishedf or the AGU publicationsp rogram. Each paper is critically reviewed by two or
more expert referees. A member of the Board of Associate Editors may serve as editor of a
volume, or another person may be appointed. The Board works with the individual editors of each
volume and with the AGU staff to assure that the objectives of the series are met, that the best
possible papers are presented, and that publication is timely.
Proposals for volumes or papers offered should be sent to the Board of Associate Editors,
Antarctic Research Series, at 2000 Florida Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009. Publication
of the series is partially supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Board of Associate Editors
Antarctic Research Series
ix
FrontispiecTeh.e K ukriH illsr eflecitn them oaot f LakeF ryxelli,n TayloVr alley.
PREFACE
The complexr elationshipb etweenc limatea nd lake level, the role of permanenitc e
coversin regulatingla ke ecologya nds edimentatiopna tternst,h e charactearn df unction
of microbialc ommunitiest,h e naturea ndd istributiono f dissolvedo rganicm atter,a nd the
origin of brine compositionar e amongt he diverser angeo f topicsa ddressedin this
volumeo n thed ry valleyl akeso f AntarcticaR. eadersw ill find that,f ar fromb einge xotic
limnologicalc uriositiest, heseb odies of water are settingsi n which processesa nd
problemso f generals cientifici nterestc an be effectivelyi nvestigatedG. eochemists,
hydrologistbsi,o logistso,c eanographelrism, nologistsa,n ds tudentosf theses ubjectws ill
find mucho f interestin thesep agesT. he papersin cludedh erem ovet he discussioonf the
dry valley lakes well beyondt he merely descriptiveto warda richer explorationo f
physicaal ndb iogeochemicaplr ocesses.
The McMurdo Dry Valleysa re amonga smallg roupo f ice-freea reast hat lie along
the coastalr egionso f the Antarcticc ontinentT. hese valleys extend from the high
snowfieldso f the polarp lateaue astwardto the marginso f the RossS ea,a ndt heyo ccupy
ana reao f some4 000k mz . ForA ntarctictah, esev alleysa reh ighlya typicalal ndscapoefs
exposedm etamorphiacn dg raniter ocko verlainb y sandstoneasn df requentlyin trudedb y
dolerites ills. Strongk atabaticw indsh elp to keept he relativeh umidityl ow or very low,
at times even below 20%. These remote and austerelyb eautifule nvironmentsa re the
improbables ettingsf or a groupo f closed-basinp,e rmanentlyic e-coveredm, erometic
lakesa ndt he glacialm eltwaters treamsth atf eedt hem.
While theseb odieso f water haveb eent he subjectso f severale xcellentr ecentw orks,
thisi s the first collectiono f paperst o deale xclusivelyw ith the lakeso f ther egion.G iven
thatn early3 decadeso f researchh avec ontributetdo our understandinogf theses ystems
and havep roduceda voluminousb ut somewhawt idely scatteredlit erature--mucho f it
derivingf rom thep ast1 0 years--it seemeda n appropriatteim et o devotea singlev olume
to this subject.
By bringingt ogethert hesea rticlesa nd reviewsa nd their accompanyinbgi bliog-
raphiesw ithin a singlev olume,w e hopet o stimulateo theri nvestigatorisn a varietyo f
disciplinetso pursueth eiro wnl ineso f researcho n thesef ascinatinsgy stemasn dt o bring
thesel akest o the attentiono f a wider audienceA. s a numbero f authorss uggestt,h e lakes
of the McMurdo Dry Valleys havem ucht o teachu s yet.
We are extremelyg ratefult o the many reviewersw ho read and commentedo n these
papersa ndt o theN ationalS cienceF oundation'Ds ivisiono f PolarP rogramfso r funding
mucho f the researchre portedh ere.W e are indebtedto the seriese ditor,D avid Elliot, for
his patiencea nd encouragemenWt. e, of course,t hank the authorst hemselvesw, hose
effortsm adet hisv olumep ossiblein the first place.
We dedicatet his volume to the memory of our friend and Antarctic colleague,J .
Robie Vestal.
William J. Green
E. Irnre Friedmann
PHYSICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN ANTARCTIC LAKES
ANTARCTIC RESEARCH SERIES, VOLUME 59, PAGES 1-51
PHYSICAL HYDROLOGY OF THE DRY VALLEY LAKES
T. J. CHINN
Instituteo f Geologicala ndN uclearS cienceLs imited,C hristchurch4 , New Zealand
This paperp resentsth e resultso f 20 yearso f studieso f the water levelsa ndp ermanenitc e coverso f
the dry valley lakesb y New ZealandA ntarcticR esearchP rogrammete amsb aseda t Vanda Stationi n
Wright Valley. The different hydrologicalt ypes of lakes and their relationshipsw ith climate are
discussedS. inces ystematicle vel recordsc ommenceddu ringt he 1968-1969 summers easont,h e levelso f
all of the enclosedl akes have risen by varying amounts.A 1903 level available from Lake Bonney
indicatesth at thisr isingt rendh asb eenc ontinuings incet hatt ime. So sensitiveis the balanceb etweent he
highly variables ummeri nflowsa nd the relativelyc onstanat nnuals ublimationlo ssest hat therea re only
poor correlationsb etweent he level changeso f different lakes and betweenl ake-level changesa nd
measuredc limate parametersA. ll of the lakes have permanenti ce coversw hich undergoa vertical
turnovero n approximately1O -yearc yclesa s ablationlo ssf rom the surfaceis replacedb y winter freezing
onto the undersideT. he 2- to 5-m thicknesso f the permanenti ce cover varies from lake to lake and is
controlledb y the annuala blationr ate. The highert he ablationr ate is, the thinnert he ice coveri s. Seasonal
cycleso f ice thicknessr eacha maximuma t the end of winter in mid-November,a nd summerl ossest hin
ices heetbsy 12t o3 0%b yt hee ndo f JanuarSyu. rfacaeb latiolno sseasv erag0e.3 m a-l; lossra teso f 5.0
mm d- 1 in summelro wert o 0.6 mm d- 1 in winter.B ottomm elt accountfso r some4 5 to 55% of the total
summert hinningo f the ice cover.L evel measurementms ade over winter at the hypersalineD on Juan
Pond indicatet hat this lake receivesg roundwateirn flow. The behavioro f sedimentsc arriedb y the ice
coversi s discussedt,o getherw ith the behavioro f lakesi n contactw ith glaciers.
INTRODUCTION supraglaciaTl.h osew ith a streamo utlet usuallya re
freshwater lakes, but enclosed lakes where inflow is
The dry valleysr egioni s unusuali n havinga large balancedb y ablationa reb rackisht o extremelys aline.
numbero f meromicticl akes within enclosedh ydro- Internally,t he majorityo f the enclosedl akes have
logicals ystemsH. owever,t hee xtremea riditya ndl ow remarkablyh igh temperaturesw, ith stratificationo f
temperaturems ake thesel akesu niqueb ecauseo nly a internal temperaturesa nd salinity, and they have
few placesa re so cold and arid that summera blation intriguing properties of chemical evolution,
and melt cannot exceed more than a fraction of winter geochemistrys, aline and thermal stratification,a nd
freezing,l eavingt he lakesw ith a permanenitc e cover. ecosystemsd, escribede lsewhere in this volume.
The limited melt durings ummerf ormso nly a narrow Variations in levels of the numerousp erennially
moat of meltwater. Rare hypersalinep onds remain frozen lakes and ponds distributed throughoutt he
unfrozen even in winter. McMurdo Sound area provide a sensitiver ecord of
The dark rocky surfaceo f the regiong ivest he area climaticc hange.
a significantlyl ower albedo than the remaindero f The earliestt reatiseo n the dry valley lakes was
snow-coveredA ntarctica. As a consequencem, ean given in a chapter by Taylor [1922], where he
temperaturaerse 5ø to 7øC warmerin summearn d recognizedt hree different types of lakes: those in
5øCc oolerin wintert hant hoseo f othere quivalent land-lockedb asins,t hoseo n glacieri ce, and thosei n
coastal areas [Thompsone t al., 1971]. The same areas where both land and ice are involve:& One of the
albedod ifferenceis alsor esponsiblfeo r strongd iurnal earliest reviews of the lakes of the McMurdo Sound
easterly" seab reezes"w hich are a persistenfte ature region was by Wilson [1967], and Heywood[ 1972]
duringt he summers[ Sansore1, 984]. gavea n overviewo f limnologyf or the entireA ntarctic
Although many lakes have stream outlets, of continent.T he chemistry,p hysics,a nd evolutiono f
particular interest are those climatically sensitive the Antarctic saline lakes was reviewed by Burton
enclosed lakes which have no surface outflow. Most [ 1981]. Wilson[ 1981] succintlyr eviewedt he current
lie within depressionsa nd some are dammed by understandinogf the physicala nd chemicals ystems
glacier tongues, while others are proglacial or operating in the lakes. Vincent [1987] gave a
Publishiend 1 993b yt heA mericaGne ophysiUcnailo n.