Seasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

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dc.contributor.authorEveland, J. W.en
dc.contributor.authorGooseff, Michael N.en
dc.contributor.authorLampkin, D. J.en
dc.contributor.authorBarrett, John E.en
dc.contributor.authorTakacs-Vesbach, Cristina D.en
dc.contributor.departmentBiological Sciencesen
dc.date.accessed2014-06-09en
dc.date.accessioned2014-06-09T19:08:58Zen
dc.date.available2014-06-09T19:08:58Zen
dc.date.issued2013en
dc.description.abstractAccumulated snow in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, while limited, has great ecological significance to subnivian soil environments. Though sublimation dominates the ablation process in this region, measurable increases in soil moisture and insulation from temperature extremes provide more favorable conditions with respect to subnivian soil communities. While precipitation is not substantial, significant amounts of snow can accumulate, via wind transport, in topographic lees along the valley bottoms, forming thousands of discontinuous snow patches. These patches have the potential to act as significant sources of local meltwater, controlling biogeochemical cycling and the landscape distribution of microbial communities. Therefore, determining the spatial and temporal dynamics of snow at multiple scales is imperative to understanding the broader ecological role of snow in this region. High-resolution satellite imagery acquired during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 austral summers was used to quantify the distribution of snow across Taylor and Wright valleys. Extracted snow-covered area from the imagery was used as the basis for assessing inter-annual variability and seasonal controls on accumulation and ablation of snow at multiple scales. In addition to landscape analyses, fifteen 1 km(2) plots (3 in each of 5 study regions) were selected to assess the prevalence of snow cover at finer spatial scales, referred to herein as the snow-patch scale. Results confirm that snow patches tend to form in the same locations each year with some minor deviations observed. At the snow-patch scale, neighboring patches often exhibit considerable differences in aerial ablation rates, and particular snow patches do not reflect trends for snow-covered area observed at the landscape scale. These differences are presumably related to microtopographic influences acting on individual snow patches, such as wind sheltering and differences in snow depth due to the underlying topography. This highlights the importance of both the landscape and snow-patch scales in assessing the effects of snow cover on biogeochemical cycling and microbial communities.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programsen
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Science Foundation 0830050, 0838879, 0838922, ANT-1043681en
dc.description.sponsorshipRaytheon Polar Servicesen
dc.description.sponsorshipPetroleum Helicoptersen
dc.description.sponsorshipMcMurdo Long Term Ecological Research projecten
dc.identifier.citationEveland, J. W., Gooseff, M. N., Lampkin, D. J., Barrett, J. E., and Takacs-Vesbach, C. D.: Seasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, The Cryosphere, 7, 917-931, doi:10.5194/tc-7-917-2013, 2013.en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-917-2013en
dc.identifier.issn1994-0416en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/48617en
dc.identifier.urlhttp://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/917/2013/tc-7-917-2013.htmlen
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.publisherCopernicus Publicationsen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectcold desert ecosystemen
dc.subjectmicrobial activityen
dc.subjectTaylor Valleyen
dc.subjectpolar deserten
dc.subjectColoradoen
dc.subjectmoistureen
dc.subjectterrainen
dc.subjecttundraen
dc.subjectwindsen
dc.subjectWateren
dc.subjectgeography, physicalen
dc.subjectgeosciences, multidisciplinaryen
dc.titleSeasonal controls on snow distribution and aerial ablation at the snow-patch and landscape scales, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarcticaen
dc.title.serialCryosphereen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden

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