As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program (MCM LTER), meteorological data is collected from various locations throughout the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. This dataset compiles the locations and history of the meteorological stations maintained by MCM LTER.
Dataset Results
Investigation of the effect of elevation and topography on soil biota and soil properties was part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project. The number of soil organisms (nematodes, rotifers and tardigrades), divided by species, sex and maturity was monitored at 3 elevations, initially in Taylor Valley (1993) then Garwood and Miers Valleys (2012) in order to accomplish this.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program, meteorological data are collected from various locations throughout the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. This data package contains monthly measurement summaries derived from 15-minute data generated by the Lake Hoare Meteorological Station (HOEM), located in Taylor Valley.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program, meteorological data are collected from various locations throughout the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. This data package contains daily measurement summaries derived from 15-minute data generated by the Taylor Glacier Meteorological Station (TARM), located in Taylor Valley. TARM was established in 1994, during the 94/95 field season.
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We performed a field survey to assess changes in biomass, nutrient ratios, and isotopic signatures of three different microbial mat types in two glacial meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Samples were taken in January 2013 from pre-existing transects over Von Guerard Stream and the Relict Channel, and stretched from near the Von Guerard Glacier terminus to the stream outlets at Lake Fryxell.
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Lake Bonney (McMurdo Dry Valleys, east Antarctica) represents a year-round refugia for life adapted to extreme conditions. Lake level has risen by more than 3 m since 2004, but impacts of rapid lake level rise on phytoplankton community structure is also poorly understood.
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As part of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, a systematic sampling program has been undertaken to monitor the glacial meltwater streams in that region. This package contains daily summaries derived from 15-minute measurements of water quality and quantity parameters measured with automatic recording devices on streams in this region. Specifically, this metadata record describes the daily hydrological summaries for the McMurdo Dry Valley's Onyx River, located in the Wright Valley.
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This dataset contains a series of grab samples collected from nutrient tracer injection experiments conducted in supraglacial streams on Canada Glacier in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. The purpose of these experiments was to measure potential nutrient uptake in supraglacial stream networks. We chose three reaches and co-injected nutrient tracer(s) and a conservative tracer (NaCl). Tracers were injected at the top of each reach, allowed to mix with the stream water, and move downstream.
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Surface water and hyporheic porewater samples were collected at high frequency during the 2017-18 (01/20/2018-01/21/2018) and 2018-19 (01/10/2019-01/12/2019) flow seasons, and opportunistically throughout the 2019-20 flow season (12/17/2019-1/25/2020) from the lower reaches of Von Guerard Stream, Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Porewater samples were collected using plastic tubing inserted to depths of 15 or 30 cm and drawn out by syringe.
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This package contains data collected from microbial mat surveys (i.e., percent cover, ash-free dry mass (AFDM), and pigment concentrations – chlorophyll-a, scytonemin, and carotenoids) associated with satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values from the Lake Fryxell Basin of Taylor Valley, located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program, continuous stage (lake level) and ice surface ablation were collected at Lake Hoare, located in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. This package contains data measured at 1-minute intervals from Nov 2012 to Apr 2013, Nov 2013 to Feb 2014, and Nov 2014 to Oct 2016.
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In this data package, we present chlorophyll concentrations, percent loss-on-ignition organic matter, sorbed ammonium concentrations, and percent biogenic silica for hyporheic sediments collected in January 2019 from nine transects across Von Guerard Stream, Taylor Valley, Antarctica. These samples were collected to address questions about the retention and processing of particulate organic matter in the hyporheic zone of McMurdo Dry Valley streams.
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In this data package, we present diatom community assemblages from hyporheic sediments collected in January 2019 from six transects across Von Guerard Stream, Taylor Valley, Antarctica. These samples were collected to address questions about the retention and processing of particulate organic matter in the hyporheic zone of McMurdo Dry Valley streams. The six transects were located at pools, riffles, and meanders (three of each geomorphology type) along Von Guerard Stream and extended across the stream channel to the edges of the wetted zone, ranging from 6.6 to 13.6 m in length.
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This data package provides analytic results for a laboratory assay on sediment samples collected in January 2019 from a transect (“P2”) across Von Guerard Stream (as described by Heindel et al. 2021), located in Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. We used excess sample from that study in a laboratory desorption assay to assess conductivity dependent desorption of ammonium.
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This data package includes measurements pertaining to the spatial distribution and multi-annual persistence of cryoconite holes on Canada and Commonwealth Glaciers in Taylor Valley, Antarctica during two consecutive austral summers (2013-14 and 2014-15). Four circular sampling zones were established on each glacier and multiple measurements of the surface shape and absolute location of all cryoconite holes within the sampling zones were recorded.
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As part of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, a systematic sampling program has been undertaken to monitor the glacial meltwater streams in that region. This package contains daily summaries derived from 15-minute measurements of water quality and quantity parameters measured with automatic recording devices on streams in this region. Specifically, this metadata record describes the daily hydrological summaries for the McMurdo Dry Valleys' Bohner Stream at the B5 streamgage, located in the Bonney Basin of Taylor Valley.
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This data package contains chemical and sediment characteristics of ice cores collected from the ablation zones of five glaciers in Taylor Valley, located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica, during the 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 austral summers. Specifically, shallow ice cores were collected from the ablation zones of Hughes, Howard, Seuss, Commonwealth, and Canada Glaciers in order to characterize the spatial and temporal evolution of ice chemistry and sediment concentration across Taylor Valley.
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This data package contains chemical characteristics of water samples collected along four supraglacial streams on Canada Glacier, located in Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Samples were collected during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 austral summers in order to characterize the spatial and temporal evolution of glacial meltwater as it travels over and off Canada Glacier. Samples from the 2015-16 austral summer have been fully analyzed and those data are included here.
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This data package contains chemical and other relevant characteristics for several waterfalls situated along the terminus of two glaciers in Taylor Valley, located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica, during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 austral summers. Specifically, water samples were collected from terminal waterfalls along Canada and Seuss Glaciers as part of a larger study characterizing the geochemical evolution of glacier ice to meltwater.
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This data package contains chemical characteristics of snow in the ablation zone of Canada Glacier, located in Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica during the 2016-17 austral summer. Specifically, snow samples were collected from the ablation zones of Canada and Commonwealth Glaciers to characterize the chemistry of recent snowfall in the ablation zones of these glaciers.
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Populations of Plectus murrayi, a mesophilic nematode, have been increasing in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica over the past three decades. In contrast, most other Antarctic nematode species, including Scottnema lindsayae, have experienced constant population declines over the same time period due to climate change related increases in summer temperatures and wetting occurrences. To determine why P.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, we investigated relationships between wind conditions and barotropic seiches within Lake Hoare, located in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, during the 2012-2013 austral summer. Temporal changes in the water column were measured using a rugged, handheld, CastAway CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth probe, manufactured by SonTek), deployed through the Lake Hoare Limno Hole (note, this is a separate instrument from the SeaBird CTD used as part of the MCM LTER core limnological monitoring program).
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Elemental stoichiometry is a useful theoretical framework for understanding the sources and controls on nutrient availability that can structure the composition, diversity, and life history of biotic communities. One such relationship, as postulated by the growth rate hypothesis (GRH), is that organismal development rate is positively linked to cellular phosphorus (P).
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A study was conducted to examine soil microbial communities and associated geochemical parameters at potential glacial refugia and glaciated control sites throughout the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. Soil samples were collected as part of ongoing long-term monitoring efforts by the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program (MCM LTER). The oldest samples used in this study were collected during the 1993-1994 austral summer, and the newest from the 2018-2019 austral summer.
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To evaluate the role of Antarctic aeolian transport in surface chemistry homogenization, fifty-three samples of aeolian material from the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica were collected and analyzed for water-soluble major ions and nutrients at a 1:5 sediment:water ratio. Samples were collected seasonally from Alatna Valley, Victoria Valley, Miers Valley, and Taylor Valley (Taylor Glacier, East Lake Bonney, F6 (Lake Fryxell), and Explorer’s Cove) at five heights (~5, 10, 20, 50, 100 cm) above the surface between 2013 and 2015.
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Climate warming in polar regions is associated with thawing of permafrost, resulting in significant changes in soil hydrology, biogeochemical cycling, and in the activity and composition of soil communities. While ongoing directional climate warming presses can elicit such responses over decadal time scales, their manifestation typically occurs as discrete thawing pulses. Indeed, in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, abrupt changes in community structure and biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems following a summer warming event (Jan.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, five Active Layer Monitoring Stations (ALMSs) were established throughout Taylor Valley, Antarctica to support new research foci around the thermal-moisture dynamics of soils that may control habitat conditions and faunal responses to seasonal and annual freezing cycles in this ecosystem. Two ALMSs were established adjacent to streams (Green Creek, Von Guerard Stream), with sensors installed through the active layer from the thalweg out to the shoreline and dry soil beyond.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, five Active Layer Monitoring Stations (ALMSs) were established throughout Taylor Valley, Antarctica to support new research foci around the thermal-moisture dynamics of soils that may control habitat conditions and faunal responses to seasonal and annual freezing cycles in this ecosystem. Two ALMSs were established adjacent to streams (Green Creek, Von Guerard Stream), with sensors installed through the active layer from the thalweg out to the shoreline and dry soil beyond.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, five Active Layer Monitoring Stations (ALMSs) were established throughout Taylor Valley, Antarctica to support new research foci around the thermal-moisture dynamics of soils that may control habitat conditions and faunal responses to seasonal and annual freezing cycles in this ecosystem. Two ALMSs were established adjacent to streams (Green Creek, Von Guerard Stream), with sensors installed through the active layer from the thalweg out to the shoreline and dry soil beyond.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, five Active Layer Monitoring Stations (ALMSs) were established throughout Taylor Valley, Antarctica to support new research foci around the thermal-moisture dynamics of soils that may control habitat conditions and faunal responses to seasonal and annual freezing cycles in this ecosystem. Two ALMSs were established adjacent to streams (Green Creek, Von Guerard Stream), with sensors installed through the active layer from the thalweg out to the shoreline and dry soil beyond.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, five Active Layer Monitoring Stations (ALMSs) were established throughout Taylor Valley, Antarctica to support new research foci around the thermal-moisture dynamics of soils that may control habitat conditions and faunal responses to seasonal and annual freezing cycles in this ecosystem. Two ALMSs were established adjacent to streams (Green Creek, Von Guerard Stream), with sensors installed through the active layer from the thalweg out to the shoreline and dry soil beyond.
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To examine temporal and spatial variability in snow chemistry during the 2000-2001 austral summer, snow samples were collected from the accumulation zones of Canada, Commonwealth, and Rhone Glaciers, located in Taylor Valley in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. Snowpits were excavated to a depth of 2 meters at each location and samples were collected using a depth interval of 3 cm utilizing clean sampling techniques. Snow density was measured in the field at the time of sample collection. Samples were analyzed for major ions in the Crary Lab at McMurdo Station.
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As part of an ongoing long-term sampling effort conducted by the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, the top 10 cm of soil was collected from sampling sites across the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. A subset of these samples representing each valley and a differing disturbance legacy from the last glacial maximum were analyzed for this data package. Samples were collected between 1995 and 2022.
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We conducted a field survey to quantify the biomass (chlorophyll-a and ash-free dry mass), nutrient ratios (molar C:N:P), and isotopic signatures (δ13C and δ15N) of four microbial mat types (green, orange, black, and red) in the glacial meltwater streams of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. All samples were taken from late December to late January during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 austral summers, and included sites from Taylor, Miers, Garwood, and Wright valleys. Most collection sites were located at the lake outlet of streams, but for a subset (e.g.
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Long-term ecological field surveys from the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program (MCM LTER) have documented the abundance and diversity of microbial mat types across ephemeral glacial meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. However, field surveys are limited and are incapable of being performed across the entirety of streams within a field season.
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An intensive field campaign was conducted during the 2018-2019 austral summer to assess spectral and biological characteristics of multiple microbial mat types, as well as mosses, across nine ephemeral glacial meltwater streams in the Fryxell Basin of Taylor Valley, located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica.
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Snow patches within and adjacent to stream channels in the Fryxell Basin of Taylor Valley, Antarctica were sampled during the 2021-2022 austral summer as part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program. This data package includes snow pit measurements (snow temperature, depth, density, and water equivalent) as well as chemical characteristics of snow samples that were analyzed for nutrient, cation, and anion concentrations.
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This data package includes shapefiles for selected glacier, stream watershed, and stream channel boundaries in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. A combination of satellite imagery and digital elevation models were used to delineate watershed and stream channel outlines, while glaciers were outlined by hand. Watershed boundaries provide an estimate of the overall topographic contributing area for each stream in Fryxell Basin, whereas stream channel boundaries provide a topographic area estimate for stream channel, beyond the wetted margin, for each stream.
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This data package includes ecological parameters of biocrust and soil from samples collected in-situ within the Lake Fryxell Basin of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica during December of 2019. Parameters include biological (ash-free dry mass, pigment concentration, and counts of soil invertebrates), physical (water content, electrical conductivity, and pH), and chemical properties (inorganic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorous, total nitrogen, and total organic carbon) of the surface soil, biocrust, and underlying soil.
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This data package consists of microplankton counts from discrete water column samples collected at various depths in Lake Fryxell and Lake Hoare in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. Samples were collected and preserved during the austral summer-autumn transition in 2007-2008 and in addition to routine McMurdo Dry Valley Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) core limnological sampling in November and December of 2008, 2010, and 2011. Data were imaged using flow cytometry (FlowCam VS-IV) and classified with statistical image-based software (Visual Spreadsheet, v4.17.14).
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This data package consists of particle diameter and biovolume data for haptorian ciliates classified from discrete water column samples collected at various depths in Lake Fryxell and Lake Hoare in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. Samples were collected and preserved between November 2007 and January 2020 in Lake Fryxell and between November 2007 and March 2008 in Lake Hoare. Samples were collected and analyzed as part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) core limnological sampling.
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This data package includes biophysicochemical properties of biocrust and soil samples collected in-situ within the Lake Fryxell basin of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica during December 2022 at 64 different terrestrial locations. These parameters include biological (ash-free dry mass, pigment concentration, soil invertebrate counts), physical (gravimetric water content, electrical conductivity, pH), and chemical (inorganic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorous, total nitrogen, soil organic carbon) properties of the surface soil, biocrust, and underlying soil.