Journal ArticleDOI
Permafrost properties, patterns and processes in the Transantarctic Mountains region
TLDR
The properties, distribution patterns and thermal processes that influence the active layer and permafrost in the Transantarctic Mountains region of Antarctica, as deduced from soil investigations since 1964 and drilling investigations since 1990, are outlined in this paper.Abstract:
The properties, distribution patterns and thermal processes that influence the active layer and permafrost in the Transantarctic Mountains region of Antarctica, as deduced from our soil investigations since 1964 and drilling investigations since 1990, are outlined. The active layer depth varies from around 80 cm thick in coastal areas to <5 cm in inland and upland regions, due to the effect of the adiabatic lapse rate. Saline, ice-bonded, dry permafrost and transitional types of permafrost all occur. Ice content is highest in ice-bonded permafrost of the coastal regions and lowest in inland dry permafrost where values may be <1%. At the regional scale, ice-bonded permafrost most commonly occurs at lower elevations and beneath younger land surfaces but with increasing elevation, distance inland and land surface age, dry permafrost becomes predominant. At the local scale (<1 m) there are large variations in the depth to the permafrost table due to variations in ground surface features. Permafrost properties are largely governed by solar energy receipt, but albedo, air temperature cooling and available soil moisture strongly modulate the conversion of solar energy receipt into soil heating. These factors account for the considerable broad-scale and local variability in permafrost properties that exists. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Antarctic climate change and the environment
Peter Convey,Robert Bindschadler,G. di Prisco,Eberhard Fahrbach,Julian Gutt,Dominic A. Hodgson,Paul Andrew Mayewski,Colin Summerhayes,John Turner +8 more
TL;DR: The Southern Hemisphere climate system varies on timescales from orbital, through millennial to sub-annual, and is closely coupled to other parts of the global climate system as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Antarctic dry valleys: Microclimate zonation, variable geomorphic processes, and implications for assessing climate change on Mars
David R. Marchant,James W. Head +1 more
TL;DR: The Antarctic Dry Valleys (ADV) is a hyper-arid, cold-polar desert region as mentioned in this paper, which contains a suite of landforms at macro-, meso-, and microscales that closely resemble those occurring on the martian surface.
Journal ArticleDOI
Thermal state of permafrost and active-layer monitoring in the Antarctic: advances during the International Polar Year 2007-2009
Gonçalo Vieira,James G. Bockheim,Mauro Guglielmin,Megan R. Balks,Andrey Abramov,Jan Boelhouwers,Nicoletta Cannone,Lars Ganzert,David Gilichinsky,Sergey Goryachkin,Jerónimo López-Martínez,Ian Meiklejohn,Rossana Raffi,Miguel Ramos,Carlos Ernesto Gonçalves Reynaud Schaefer,Enrique Serrano,Felipe Nogueira Bello Simas,Ronald S. Sletten,Dirk Wagner +18 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the thermal state of permafrost and active layer in the Antarctic was investigated during the International Polar Year (IPY) and results obtained during the ANTPAS (Antarctic Permafrost, Active Layer and Active Layer) were presented.
Journal ArticleDOI
Astrobiology through the ages of Mars: the study of terrestrial analogues to understand the habitability of Mars.
Alberto G. Fairén,Alfonso F. Davila,Darlene Lim,N. Bramall,Rosalba Bonaccorsi,J. Zavaleta,Esther R. Uceda,Carol R. Stoker,Jacek Wierzchos,James M. Dohm,Ricardo Amils,Dale T. Andersen,Christopher P. McKay +12 more
TL;DR: Through the study of Mars terrestrial analogues, the habitability conditions for each of these stages, the geochemistry of the surface, and the likelihood for the preservation of organic and inorganic biosignatures are assessed and constrained.
Journal ArticleDOI
Terrestrial ecosystem processes of Victoria Land, Antarctica
John E. Barrett,Ross A. Virginia,David Hopkins,Jackie Aislabie,Roberto Bargagli,James G. Bockheim,I.B. Campbell,W. B. Lyons,Daryl L. Moorhead,Johnson Nkem,Ronald S. Sletten,Heidi Steltzer,Diana H. Wall,Matthew D. Wallenstein +13 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed examples of ecosystem processes from several sites in North and South Victoria Land and developed a regional synthesis accounting for variation in the availability of soil resources (i.e. liquid water, organic matter, inorganic nutrients).
References
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Book
Antarctica: Soils, weathering processes and environment
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the influence of organisms in soil development in Antarctica and the importance of underlying geology to soil formation, and present an alternative approach to Antarctic soil classification.
Journal ArticleDOI
Past and future grounding-line retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
TL;DR: Current grounding-line retreat may reflect ongoing ice recession that has been under way since the early Holocene, and if so, the WAIS could continue to retreat even in the absence of further external forcing.
Journal ArticleDOI
Reconstructing the Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Last Glacial Maximum.
TL;DR: A reconstruction of the Antarctic Ice Sheet at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) constrained by geologic data, showed expansion across continental shelves accompanied by little inland change as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
East Antarctic Ice Sheet sensitivity to Pliocene climatic change from a Dry Valleys perspective
George H. Denton,David E. Sugden,David R. Marchant,David R. Marchant,Brenda L. Hall,Thomas I. Wilch,Thomas I. Wilch +6 more
TL;DR: In this article, a case was made for the stability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet during Pliocene time from landscape development and surficial sediments in the Dry Valleys sector of the Transantarctic Mountains.