Oceanographic Investigations in Mcmurdo Sound, Antarctica

Author(s):  
Jack L. Littlepage
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
E.J. Chamberlain ◽  
A.J. Christ ◽  
R.W. Fulweiler

Abstract Ice-covered lakes in Antarctica preserve records of regional hydroclimate and harbour extreme ecosystems that may serve as terrestrial analogues for exobiotic environments. Here, we examine the impacts of hydroclimate and landscape on the formation history of Lake Eggers, a small ice-sealed lake, located in the coastal polar desert of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (78°S). Using ground penetrating radar surveys and three lake ice cores we characterize the ice morphology and chemistry. Lake ice geochemistry indicates that Lake Eggers is fed primarily from local snowmelt that accreted onto the lake surface during runoff events. Radiocarbon ages of ice-encased algae suggest basal ice formed at least 735 ± 20 calibrated years before present (1215 C.E.). Persisting through the Late Holocene, Lake Eggers alternated between periods of ice accumulation and sublimation driven by regional climate variability in the western Ross Sea. For example, particulate organic matter displayed varying δ15N ratios with depth, corresponding to sea ice fluctuations in the western Ross Sea during the Late Holocene. These results suggest a strong climatic control on the hydrologic regime shifts shaping ice formation at Lake Eggers.


2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 6-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Kooyman

The history of animal-borne instrumentation is reviewed from the first basic depth gauge invented in the late 1800s, to the complex animal-borne imagery and archival systems of the present day. A major breakthrough occurred in 1964 when the first time-depth recorder was deployed on a Weddell Seal in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. The next phase in the study of animals at sea was the use of microprocessors as archival recorders in the mid-1980s. These also were first attached to Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound. Microprocessor technology made possible the next major step of attaching a video camera housed in a submersible case (Crittercam) to a loggerhead turtle. Since the 1990s the field of “Biologging” has flourished, with new additions of satellite and GPS tracking, and resulted in three major international symposiums in the past four years (2003-2007).


1962 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth B. Armitage ◽  
Hugh B. House
Keyword(s):  

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G Ainley ◽  
Nadav Nur ◽  
Joseph T Eastman ◽  
Grant Ballard ◽  
Claire L Parkinson ◽  
...  

2001 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 339-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Fox ◽  
Tim G. Haskell ◽  
Hyuck Chung

AbstractWe present a method for measuring the characteristic length of sea ice based on fitting to a recently found solution for the flexural response of a floating ice sheet subject to localized periodic loading. Unlike previous techniques, the method enables localized measurements at single frequencies of geophysical interest, and since the measurements may be synchronously demodulated, gives excellent rejection of unwanted measurement signal (e.g. from ocean swell). The loading mechanism is described and we discuss how the effective characteristic length may be determined using a range of localized measurements. The method is used to determine the characteristic length of the sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.


1968 ◽  
Vol 7 (51) ◽  
pp. 449-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Nichols

AbstractWell-developed elevated beaches. deltaic deposits, marine-boulder pavements and wave-washed bedrock surfaces are found from Cape Bernacchi north to Granite Harbour. The highest measured marine feature, an elevated beach at Dunlop Island, is 20 m (67 ft) above sea-level. The highest beaches at Marble Point and Cape Roberts, about 48 km (30 miles) apart, are about 20 m (66 ft) above sea-level. The marine limit between these two points is, therefore, essentially horizontal. The highest beach at Cape Bernacchi. approximately 4.8 km (3 miles) south of Marble Point, is about 12 m (40 ft) above sea-level, Well-developed elevated beaches disappear about 3.2 km (2 miles) south of Cape Bernacchi and are not found between this point and Koettlitz Glacier.These beaches post-date the youngest glaciation recognized in the lower Wright Valley. A 14C analysis of an elephant seal buried in a 13 m (44 ft) beach at Marble Point indicates that this beach is 4450 ± 150 years old. As sea-level at this time was approximately 3 m (10 ft) lower than at present. the Marble Point area has risen isostatically about 16 m (54 ft) during the last 4450 ± 150 years.Pitted beaches, beaches deposited on ice, a buried elephant seal and gravel ridges deposited by ice indicate that all of the beaches were formed in a climate like that now found in the area.


2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1749-1760
Author(s):  
C. L. Stevens ◽  
P. Sirguey ◽  
G. H. Leonard ◽  
T. G. Haskell

Abstract. The Erebus Glacier Tongue, a~small floating glacier in southern McMurdo Sound, is one of the best-studied ice tongues in Antarctica. Despite this, its calving on the 27 February 2013 (UTC) was around 10 yr earlier than previously predicted. The calving was likely a result of ocean currents and the absence of fast ice. The subsequent trajectory of the newly-created iceberg supports previous descriptions of the surface ocean circulation in southern McMurdo Sound.


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