Patterned Ground, Dry Valleys, Antarctica: An Evaluation of the Scientific Merit of >30 Year-Old Study Sites

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This award supports a rare opportunity to search for manifestations of decadal climate change in the Dry Valleys, a remote and eqsentially un-instrumented region of the world, and to examine the long-term dynamics of active polygonal patterned ground. The opportunity hinges on extensive arrays of soil displacement markers installed over 30 years ago by Robert F. Black; whether these marker arrays have considerable scientific promise depends on their current state, and on the ability to find them. Assessing their scientific merit is particularly timely in view of the current intensification of research activity in Antarctica combined with the increasing concern for minimizing environmental impacts on research activities, past and present. In this context, it is natural to question the merit of maintaining monitoring sites established long ago, and to remove traces of past activities, including soil displacement markers provided they are no longer useful. ***