Overview: It
is
generally
held
that
"where there is water, there is life". We
are investigating the control of discontinuous seasonal
snow cover on
microbial structure and
biogeochemical cycling in soils across the valley
bottoms of the
McMurdo
Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Very little snow falls in the
Dry Valleys
during the summer. In the winter, snow is blown in
from the polar
plateau, and it collects in topographic low points
(behind ridges, in
streambeds, etc.). We expect that these snow packs are
important local
controls of soil microbiology and biogeochemical cycling
because they
occupy approximately the same locations each year.
These snow
packs then slowly ablate during the austral spring and
summer.
Most snow appears to be lost to sublimation, and some
lost to melt that
infiltrates the underlying soils.
Subnivian soils (soils under the snow pack) are likely
influenced in
several ways by the presence of the snow pack: 1)
potential moisture
source, 2) insulation during the winter and spring, 3)
disconnection
from the atmosphere during the winter. We expect
that these
factors influence the microbial communities under these
snow packs,
possibly selecting for specfic species, and that the
associated
biogeochemical cycles within the soils are different
than in adjacent
soils that are rarely covered by snow.
Location: Our
field
sites
will
be
within
Taylor
Valley and Wright Valley, Antarctica.
Project
Links: (links will be
come live as we generate these products)
Published
Results
from
this
Project: (* indicates student lead
author; I
indicates
invited
talk)
Publications:
Forthcoming...
Conference
Presentations:
*Altrichter, AE, KM Geyer, JE Barrett, MN Gooseff, and
C
Takacs-Vesbach. 2010. Influence of snow packs on soil
biota and
biogeochemical cycling in polar desert soils. 95th
Ecological Society
of America Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA.
*Geyer, KM, JE Barrett, MN Gooseff, and C
Takacs-Vesbach. 2010.
Geochemical controls over biotic communities in
melt-water ponds of
Wright Valley, Antarctica. 95th Ecological Society of
America Annual
Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA.
*Eveland, JW, MN Gooseff, DJ Lampkin, JE Barrett, and
CD
Takacs-Vesbach. 2010. Snow
Dynamics
in a Polar Desert, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.
American Geophysical
Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA (C33C-0542).
Theses/Dissertations:
Forthcoming...
Postdoctoral
Scholars:
Graduate
Students:
- Adam
Altrichter
(VT)
- Kevin
Geyer
(VT)
- Jeff
Eveland (PSU)
Related
Links:
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Images
from a previous study of snow distribution on
soil biology and
biogeochemistry. This is a discontinuous
snow pack studied on the
south shore of Lake Hoare.
22-Oct-1999:
07-Nov-1999:
22-Nov-1999:
07-Dec-1999:
25-Dec-1999:
04-Jan-2000:
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