The chemical composition of glacial melt water ponds and streams on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Abstract

Melt waters cover c. 20% of the McMurdo Ice Shelf during the austral summer. The streams, ponds, and lakes up to 10⁴ m² in area occur in two types of terrain systems with differing morphological, chemical, and biological characteristics: pinnacled ice (PI) areas with sparse sediment cover, low relief, and little biomass; and ice-cored moraine (ICM) areas with 10–20 cm sediment cover, hummocky topography with up to 20 m relief, occasional mirabilite deposits, and dense benthic cyanobacterial mats. Pond water composition in the two areas is markedly different. PI area melt waters have low salinities, <2270 mg 1⁻¹ total dissolved salts (TDS), and near neutral pH, mean = 7.8. The chemical composition of PI waters closely follows that of diluted sea water, suggesting that the release of ions from the sea ice matrix of the ice shelf is the major solute source. In contrast, ICM area melt waters have a wide range of salinities, up to 60 400 mg 1⁻¹ TDS and alkaline pH, mean = 9.3. The chemical composition in c. 40% of the ICM ponds investigated did not resemble that of sea water, but had higher relative abundances of SO²⁻₄, Na⁺, K⁺ and Ca²⁺. Leaching of local salt deposits, particularly mirabilite, weathering of surficial sediments, and morphological features promoting closed-basin brine evolution are possible contributing factors to the enrichments.