Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T06:11:20.301Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sediment transport dynamics on an ice-covered lake: the ‘floating’ boulders of Lake Hoare, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2014

Phillip P. Allen ,
Richard Hewitt ,
Maciej K. Obryk  and
Peter T. Doran
Phillip P. Allen*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD 21532-2303, USA
Richard Hewitt
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Alcalá, Calle Colegios 2, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
Maciej K. Obryk
Affiliation:
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Peter T. Doran
Affiliation:
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
*
ppallen@frostburg.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Between 1995 and 2011 a global positioning system survey of 13 boulders and three ablation stakes (long stakes frozen in the ice) on the frozen surface of Lake Hoare was undertaken. Data interpretation illustrates complexities of post-depositional transport dynamics of boulders. Earlier studies on comparable datasets have suggested linear ‘conveyor’ type transport mechanisms for lake surface boulders. Yet explanations for non-linear boulder displacements or ‘walks’ and the mechanisms responsible for movements are inadequate. Two modes of boulder specific movement were observed. First, localized changes in the ice surface promote individual boulder movement (rolling). Second, ice rafting, which indicates the displacement of ‘plates’ of lake ice on which the boulder is located. Ablation stakes used as fixed survey control points support the hypothesis that ice cover moves as discrete plates rather than as a single homogenous mass. Factors that create the conditions to generate either of the two modes of movement may be related to location specific energy budgets. A relationship between average orientations and prevailing wind direction was also observed. The investigation describes the local-scale behaviour of surveyed boulders, and offers methodologies and interpretive frameworks for additional studies of modern and ancient sediment transportation dynamics in Antarctic lacustrine environments.

Keywords

lake icenon-linearplateraftingrolling
Type
Physical Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , April 2015 , pp. 173 - 184
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, D.W., Wharton, R.A. & Squyres, S.W. 1993. Terrigenous clastic sedimentation in Antarctic Dry Valley lakes. Antarctic Research Series, 59, 71–81.Google Scholar
Bell, R.A.I. 1967. Lake Miers, south Victoria Land, Antarctica. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 10, 540–556.Google Scholar
Bernatchez, J.A. 2010. Taphonomic implications of orientation of plotted finds from Pinnacle Point 13B (Mossel Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa). Journal of Human Evolution, 59, 274–288.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bogdan, M., Bogdan, K. & Futschik, A. 2002. A data driven smooth test for circular uniformity. Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, 54, 29–44.Google Scholar
Bradley, J. & Palmer, D.F. 1967. Ice-cored moraines and ice diapirs, Lake Miers, Victoria Land, Antarctica. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 10, 599–623.Google Scholar
Chinn, T.J. 1993. Physical hydrology of the Dry Valley lakes. Antarctic Research Series, 59, 1–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doran, P.T., Wharton, R.A. & Lyons, W.B. 1994. Paleolimnology of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Journal of Paleolimnology, 10, 85–114.Google Scholar
Doran, P.T., Wharton, R.A., Lyons, W.B., Des Marais, D.J. & Andersen, D.T. 2000. Sedimentology and geochemistry of a perennially ice-covered epishelf lake in Bunger Hills Oasis, East Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 12, 131–140.Google Scholar
Doran, P.T., McKay, C.P., Clow, G.D., Dana, G.L., Fountain, A.G., Nylen, T. & Lyons, W.B. 2002b. Valley floor climate observations from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, 1986–2000. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 107, 10.1029/2001JD002045.Google Scholar
Doran, P.T., Priscu, J.C., Lyons, W.B., Walsh, J.E., Fountain, A.G., McKnight, D.M., Moorhead, D.L., Virginia, R.A., Wall, D.H., Clow, G.D., Fritsen, C.H., McKay, C.P. & Parsons, A.N. 2002a. Antarctic climate cooling and terrestrial ecosystem response. Nature, 415, 517–520.Google Scholar
Dugan, H.A., Obryk, M.K. & Doran, P.T. 2013. Lake ice ablation rates from permanently ice covered Antarctic lakes. Journal of Glaciology, 59, 491–498.Google Scholar
Fisher, N.I. 1995. Statistical analysis of circular data. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 296 pp.Google Scholar
Henderson, R.A., Prebble, W.M., Hoare, R.A., Popplewell, K.B., House, D.A. & Wilson, A.T. 1966. An ablation rate for Lake Fryxell, Victoria Land, Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology, 6, 129–133.Google Scholar
Hendy, C.H, Selby, M.J. & Wilson, A.T. 1972. Deep Lake, Cape Barne, Antarctica. Limnology and Oceanography, 17, 356–362.Google Scholar
Hendy, C.H. 2000. The role of polar lake ice as a filter for glacial lacustrine sediments. Geografiska Annaler - Physical Geography, 82A, 271–274.Google Scholar
Holcombe, R. 2013. Structural geology – mapping/GIS software: GEOrient© v9.x. Available at: http://www.holcombe.net.au/software/rodh_software_georient.htm#conditions.Google Scholar
Hornik, K. 2010. Frequently asked questions on R. Version 2.11. Available at: http://horacio9573.no-ip.org/R-doc/R-FAQ.html.Google Scholar
Lewis, D.W. 1984. Practical sedimentology. Stroudsburg, PA: Hutchinson: Ross, 229 pp.Google Scholar
Mardia, K.V. & Jupp, P.E. 1999. Directional statistics. Chichester: John Wiley, 414 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKay, C.P., Clow, G.D., Wharton, R.A. & Squyres, S.W. 1985. Thickness of ice on perennially frozen lakes. Nature, 313, 561–562.Google Scholar
Nedell, S.S., Andersen, D.W., Squyres, S.W. & Love, F.G. 1987. Sedimentation in ice-covered Lake Hoare, Antarctica. Sedimentology, 34, 1093–1106.Google Scholar
Pickard, J. & Adamson, D.A. 1983. Perennially frozen lakes at glacier/rock margins, East Antarctica. In Oliver, R.L., James, P.R. & Jago, J.B. eds. Antarctic earth science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 470–472.Google Scholar
Squyres, S.W., Andersen, D.W., Nedell, S.S. & Wharton, R.A. 1991. Lake Hoare, Antarctica: sedimentation through a thick perennial ice cover. Sedimentology, 38, 363–379.Google Scholar
Wand, U. & Perlt, J. 1999. Glacial boulders ‘floating’ on the ice cover of Lake Untersee, East Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 11, 256–260.Google Scholar
Welch, K.A., Lyons, W.B., Whisner, C., Gardner, C.B., Gooseff, M.N., McKnight, D.M. & Priscu, J.C. 2010. Spatial variations in the geochemistry of glacial meltwater streams in the Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 22, 662–672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, N.A. 2000. Are there better alternatives to standard rose diagrams? Journal of Sedimentary Research, 70, 37–46.Google Scholar