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Title: Spatiotemporal dynamics of wetted soils across a polar desert landscape

Journal Article · · Antarctic Science
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Computer Science and Mathematics Division. Climate Change Science Inst.; Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  2. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  3. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
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Liquid water is scarce across the landscape of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica, a 3800 km2 ice-free region, and is chiefly associated with soils that are adjacent to streams and lakes (i.e. wetted margins) during the annual thaw season. However, isolated wetted soils have been observed at locations distal from water bodies. The source of water for the isolated patches of wet soil is potentially generated by a combination of infiltration from melting snowpacks, melting of pore ice at the ice table, and melting of buried segregation ice formed during winter freezing. In this paper, high resolution remote sensing data gathered several times per summer in the MDV region were used to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of wet soils. The spatial consistency with which the wet soils occurred was assessed for the 2009–10 to 2011–12 summers. The remote sensing analyses reveal that cumulative area and number of wet soil patches varies among summers. The 2010–11 summer provided the most wetted soil area (10.21 km2) and 2009–10 covered the least (5.38 km2). Finally, these data suggest that wet soils are a significant component of the MDV cold desert land system and may become more prevalent as regional climate changes.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
1286739
Journal Information:
Antarctic Science, Vol. 27, Issue 02; ISSN 0954-1020
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 8 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Water tracks intensify surface energy and mass exchange in the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys journal January 2019
Soil Moisture Controls the Thermal Habitat of Active Layer Soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica journal January 2018
Water tracks intensify surface energy and mass exchange in the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys text January 2019

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
McMurdo Dry Valleys
remote sensing
snow
soil moisture
streams
water tracks