Collaborative Research: The Timing of Holocene Climate Change in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

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This work uses geochemical techniques to study water from lakes in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica to understand their origin and climactic change over the last few thousand years. These lakes are unique in their age, stratification, perennial ice cover, and location in closed basins. The consequence of these factors is a high susceptibility to climate change, which their stratified waters record in much the same way that sedimentary rocks record geologic processes. This project will sample three lakes from varied settings. Water samples will be analyzed for major ions, dissolved gases, stable isotopes, and isotopes of helium, chlorine and iodine, each of which offers a unique perspective on the water's source, age, and recent communication with the atmosphere. Results will be coupled with information on lake levels, hypolimnia formations, and ice cover occurrence to understand lake history and Holocene climate.In terms of broader impacts, this work supports graduate and undergraduate research, and development of an on-line site describing lake chemistry and biology. The work also has application to understanding the transport of brine in polar settings, which is relevant to nuclear waste repositories.