Evidence for Pathways of Concentrated Submarine Groundwater Discharge in East Antarctica from Helicopter-Borne Electrical Resistivity Measurements
The Southern Ocean receives limited liquid surface water input from the Antarctic continent. It has been speculated, however, that significant liquid water may flow from beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and that this subglacial flow carries that water along with dissolved nutrients to the coast. The...
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MDPI AG
2019-06-01
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author | Neil Foley Slawek M. Tulaczyk Denys Grombacher Peter T. Doran Jill Mikucki Krista F. Myers Nikolaj Foged Hilary Dugan Esben Auken Ross Virginia |
author_facet | Neil Foley Slawek M. Tulaczyk Denys Grombacher Peter T. Doran Jill Mikucki Krista F. Myers Nikolaj Foged Hilary Dugan Esben Auken Ross Virginia |
author_sort | Neil Foley |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The Southern Ocean receives limited liquid surface water input from the Antarctic continent. It has been speculated, however, that significant liquid water may flow from beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and that this subglacial flow carries that water along with dissolved nutrients to the coast. The delivery of solutes, particularly limiting nutrients like bioavailable iron, to the Southern Ocean may contribute to ecosystem processes including primary productivity. Using a helicopter-borne time domain electromagnetic survey along the coastal margins of the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, we detected subsurface connections between inland lakes, aquifers, and subglacial waters. These waters, which appear as electrically conductive anomalies, are saline and may contain high concentrations of biologically important ions, including iron and silica. Local hydraulic gradients may drive these waters to the coast, where we postulate they emerge as submarine groundwater discharge. This high latitude groundwater system, imaged regionally in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, may be representative of a broader system of Antarctic submarine groundwater discharge that fertilizes the Southern Ocean. In total, it has the potential to deliver tens of gigagrams of bioavailable Fe and Si to the coastal zone. |
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issn | 2306-5338 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-19T04:32:37Z |
publishDate | 2019-06-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
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spelling | doaj.art-4307bd0d2e064fac8960503b67924aec2022-12-21T20:35:51ZengMDPI AGHydrology2306-53382019-06-01625410.3390/hydrology6020054hydrology6020054Evidence for Pathways of Concentrated Submarine Groundwater Discharge in East Antarctica from Helicopter-Borne Electrical Resistivity MeasurementsNeil Foley0Slawek M. Tulaczyk1Denys Grombacher2Peter T. Doran3Jill Mikucki4Krista F. Myers5Nikolaj Foged6Hilary Dugan7Esben Auken8Ross Virginia9Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95061, USADepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95061, USADepartment of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, 8000 Midtjylland, DenmarkGeology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USADepartment of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USAGeology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USADepartment of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, 8000 Midtjylland, DenmarkCenter for Limnology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USADepartment of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, 8000 Midtjylland, DenmarkEnvironmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USAThe Southern Ocean receives limited liquid surface water input from the Antarctic continent. It has been speculated, however, that significant liquid water may flow from beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and that this subglacial flow carries that water along with dissolved nutrients to the coast. The delivery of solutes, particularly limiting nutrients like bioavailable iron, to the Southern Ocean may contribute to ecosystem processes including primary productivity. Using a helicopter-borne time domain electromagnetic survey along the coastal margins of the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, we detected subsurface connections between inland lakes, aquifers, and subglacial waters. These waters, which appear as electrically conductive anomalies, are saline and may contain high concentrations of biologically important ions, including iron and silica. Local hydraulic gradients may drive these waters to the coast, where we postulate they emerge as submarine groundwater discharge. This high latitude groundwater system, imaged regionally in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, may be representative of a broader system of Antarctic submarine groundwater discharge that fertilizes the Southern Ocean. In total, it has the potential to deliver tens of gigagrams of bioavailable Fe and Si to the coastal zone.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/6/2/54subglacialAntarctica time-domain electromagneticssubmarine groundwater dischargeresistivity |
spellingShingle | Neil Foley Slawek M. Tulaczyk Denys Grombacher Peter T. Doran Jill Mikucki Krista F. Myers Nikolaj Foged Hilary Dugan Esben Auken Ross Virginia Evidence for Pathways of Concentrated Submarine Groundwater Discharge in East Antarctica from Helicopter-Borne Electrical Resistivity Measurements Hydrology subglacial Antarctica time-domain electromagnetics submarine groundwater discharge resistivity |
title | Evidence for Pathways of Concentrated Submarine Groundwater Discharge in East Antarctica from Helicopter-Borne Electrical Resistivity Measurements |
title_full | Evidence for Pathways of Concentrated Submarine Groundwater Discharge in East Antarctica from Helicopter-Borne Electrical Resistivity Measurements |
title_fullStr | Evidence for Pathways of Concentrated Submarine Groundwater Discharge in East Antarctica from Helicopter-Borne Electrical Resistivity Measurements |
title_full_unstemmed | Evidence for Pathways of Concentrated Submarine Groundwater Discharge in East Antarctica from Helicopter-Borne Electrical Resistivity Measurements |
title_short | Evidence for Pathways of Concentrated Submarine Groundwater Discharge in East Antarctica from Helicopter-Borne Electrical Resistivity Measurements |
title_sort | evidence for pathways of concentrated submarine groundwater discharge in east antarctica from helicopter borne electrical resistivity measurements |
topic | subglacial Antarctica time-domain electromagnetics submarine groundwater discharge resistivity |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/6/2/54 |
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