Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T05:18:07.986Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

High-resolution compositional remote sensing of the Transantarctic Mountains: application to the WorldView-2 dataset

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2015

M.R. Salvatore
M.R. Salvatore*
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Mars Space Flight Facility, 201 E. Orange Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287-6305, USA
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The WorldView-2 (WV2) instrument, operated by DigitalGlobe, is the only high-resolution multispectral sensor currently capable of imaging the entirety of the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM), making it a valuable resource for remote compositional investigations. Through the utility of both field- and laboratory-based verification techniques, this study shows that biotic and abiotic chemical variations can be readily observed and mapped remotely. Within the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), primary compositional variability, intra-lithologic compositional heterogeneity and variations in surface weathering and oxidation can be successfully identified and mapped, providing confidence in both the spectral capabilities of the WV2 instrument and the methodologies associated with calibrating and correcting these data. These studies within the MDV provide confidence in extending these analyses to more remote regions of the TAM, including the vicinity of Shackleton Glacier. The identification of comparable geochemical variations in these remote locations provides valuable additions to the currently available geologic maps at much lower spatial resolutions. This work confirms the utility of the WV2 instrument to identifying, quantifying and mapping geochemical variations throughout the TAM, supporting future field work and providing geospatial context for localized field and laboratory analyses.

Keywords

biologygeochemistrygeologymappingspectroscopyweathering
Type
Earth Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 27 , Issue 5 , October 2015 , pp. 473 - 491
Check for updates
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2015 

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

Alger, A.S., McKnight, D.M., Spaulding, S.A., Tate, C.M., Shupe, G.H., Welch, K.A., Edwards, R., Andrews, E.D. & House, H.R. 1997. Ecological processes in a cold desert ecosystem: the abundance and species distribution of algal mats in glacial meltwater streams in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research - Occasional Paper, 51, 1–102.Google Scholar
Allen, C.C. & Conca, J.L. 1991. Weathering of basaltic rocks under cold, arid conditions: Antarctica and Mars. Proceedings of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 21, 711–717.Google Scholar
Barrett, P.J. 1981. History of the Ross Sea region during the deposition of the Beacon Supergroup 400 – 180 million years ago. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 11, 447–458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brook, E.J., Kurz, M.D., Ackert, R.P., Denton, G.H., Brown, E.T., Raisbeck, G.M. & Yiou, F. 1993. Chronology of Taylor Glacier advances in Arena Valley, Antarctica, using in situ cosmogenic 3He and 10Be. Quaternary Research, 39, 11–23.Google Scholar
Burns, R.G. 1993. Mineralogic applications of crystal field theory. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 551 pp.Google Scholar
Campbell, I.B. & Claridge, G.G.C. 1987. Antarctica: soils, weathering processes and environment. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 406 pp.Google Scholar
Chander, G., Markham, B.L. & Helder, D.L. 2009. Summary of current radiometric calibration coefficients for Landsat MSS, TM, ETM+, and EO-1 ALI sensors. Remote Sensing of Environment, 113, 893–903.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, R.N. 1999. Chapter 1: spectroscopy of rocks and minerals, and principles of spectroscopy. In Rencz, A., ed. Remote sensing for the earth sciences. New York, NY: John Wiley, 3–58.Google Scholar
Clark, R.N., Swayze, G.A., Wise, R., Livo, K.E., Hoefen, T.M., Kokaly, R.F. & Sutley, S.J. 2007. USGS digital spectral library splib06a. US Geological Survey, data series 231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collinson, J.W. & Hammer, W.R. 1996. New observations on the Triassic stratigraphy of the Shackleton Glacier region. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 31(1), 9–12.Google Scholar
Cox, S.C., Turnbull, I.M., Isaac, M.J., Townsend, D.B. & Smith Lyttle, B. 2012. Geology of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. 1:250 000. Lower Hutt, New Zealand: New Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Geological map 22, 1 sheet +135 pp.Google Scholar
Dickson, J.L., Head, J.W., Levy, J.S. & Marchant, D.R. 2013. Don Juan Pond, Antarctica: near-surface CaCl2-brine feeding Earth’s most saline lake and implications for Mars. Scientific Reports, 3, 10.1038/srep01166.Google Scholar
Fountain, A.G., Lyons, W.B., Burkins, M.B., Dana, G.L., Doran, P.T., Lewis, K.J., McKnight, D.M., Moorhead, D.L., Parsons, A.N., Priscu, J.C., Wall, D.H., Wharton, R.A. Jr. & Virginia, R.A. 1999. Physical controls on the Taylor Valley ecosystem, Antarctica. Bioscience, 49, 961–971.Google Scholar
Gaffey, S.J. & Bronnimann, C.E. 1993. Effects of bleaching on organic and mineral phases in biogenic carbonates. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 63, 752–754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaffey, S.J., McFadden, L.A., Nash, D. & Pieters, C.M. 1993. Ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy: laboratory spectra of geologic materials. In Pieters, C.M. & Englert, P.A.J., eds. Remote geochemical analysis: elemental and mineralogical composition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 43–77.Google Scholar
Glasby, G.P., McPherson, J.G., Kohn, B.P., Johnston, J.H., Keys, J.R., Freeman, A.G. & Tricker, M.J. 1981. Desert varnish in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 24, 389–397.Google Scholar
Gooseff, M.N., Barrett, J.E., Doran, P.T., Fountain, A.G., Lyons, W.B., Parsons, A.N., Porazinska, D.L., Virginia, R.A. & Wall, D.H. 2003. Snow-patch influence on soil biogeochemical processes and invertebrate distribution in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 35, 91–99.Google Scholar
Hammer, W.R., Hickerson, W.J. & Collinson, J.W. 1996. Preliminary analysis of Triassic vertebrates from the Shackleton Glacier region. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 31(1), 8–9.Google Scholar
Kneizys, F.X., Shettle, E.P., Abreu, L.W., Chetwynd, J.H. & Anderson, G.P. 1988. Users’ guide to LOWTRAN7. Hanscom Air Force Base, MA: Air Force Geophysics Laboratory, 146 pp.Google Scholar
Licht, K.J. & Palmer, E.F. 2013. Erosion and transport by Byrd Glacier, Antarctica during the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews, 62, 32–48.Google Scholar
Marchant, D.R. & Head III, J.W. III 2007. Antarctic dry valleys: microclimate zonation, variable geomorphic processes, and implications for assessing climate change on Mars. Icarus, 192, 187–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchant, D.R., Denton, G.H. & Swisher III, C.C. III 1993. Miocene-Pliocene-Pleistocene glacial history of Arena Valley, Quartermain Mountains, Antarctica. Geografiska Annaler - Physical Geography, 75A, 269–302.Google Scholar
Marchant, D.R., Mackay, S., Lamp, J.L., Hayden, A.T. & Head, J.W. 2013. A review of geomorphic processes and landforms in the Dry Valleys of southern Victoria Land: implications for evaluating climate change and ice sheet stability. In Hambrey, M.J., Barker, P.F., Barrett, P.J., Bowman, V., Davies, B., Smellie, J.L. & Tranter, M., eds. Antarctic paleoenvironments and earth-surface processes. Special Publication of the Geological Society of London, No. 381, 10.1144/SP381.10.Google Scholar
Marsh, B. 2004. A magmatic mush column rosetta stone: the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 85, 497–508.Google Scholar
McElroy, C.T. & Rose, G. 1987. Geology of the Beacon Heights area, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. 1:50 000. Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, miscellaneous series map 15, 1 sheet + 47 pp.Google Scholar
McGregor, V.R. & Wade, F.A. 1969. Geology of the Queen Maud Mountains. 1:1 000 000. American Geographical Society map folio series 12: sheet 16.Google Scholar
McKnight, D.M., Niyogi, D.K., Alger, A.S., Bomblies, A., Conovitz, P.A. & Tate, C.M. 1999. Dry Valley streams in Antarctica: ecosystems waiting for water. Bioscience, 49, 985–995.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLoughlin, S., Lindström, S. & Drinnan, A.N. 1997. Gondwanan floristic and sedimentological trends during the Permian-Triassic transition: new evidence from the Amery Group, northern Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 9, 281–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McManus, H.A., Taylor, E.L., Taylor, T.N. & Collinson, J.W. 2002. A petrified Glossopteris flora from Collinson Ridge, central Transantarctic Mountains: Late Permian or Early Triassic? Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 120, 233–246.Google Scholar
Morris, R.V., Golden, D.C., Bell, J.F., Lauer, H.V. & Adams, J.B. 1993. Pigmenting agents in Martian soils: inferences from spectral, Mössbauer, and magnetic properties of nanophase and other iron oxides in Hawaiian palagonitic soil PN-9. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 57, 4597–4609.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mustard, J.F. & Pieters, C.M. 1989. Photometric phase functions of common geologic minerals and applications to quantitative analysis of mineral mixture reflectance spectra. Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth and Planets, 94, 13 619–13 634.Google Scholar
Salvatore, M.R., Mustard, J.F., Head III, J.W. III, Marchant, D.R. & Wyatt, M.B. 2013a. Characterization of spectral and geochemical variability within the Ferrar Dolerite of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica: weathering, alteration, and magmatic processes. Antarctic Science, 26, 49–68.Google Scholar
Salvatore, M.R., Mustard, J.F., Head, J.W., Cooper, R.F., Marchant, D.R. & Wyatt, M.B. 2013b. Development of alteration rinds by oxidative weathering processes in Beacon Valley, Antarctica, and implications for Mars. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 115, 137–161.Google Scholar
Schäfer, M., Baur, H., Denton, G.H., Ivy-Ochs, S., Marchant, D.R., Schluchter, C. & Wieler, R. 2000. The oldest ice on Earth in Beacon Valley, Antarctica: new evidence from surface exposure dating. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 179, 91–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staiger, J.W., Marchant, D.R., Schaefer, J.M., Oberholzer, P., Johnson, J.V., Lewis, A.R. & Swanger, K.M. 2006. Plio-Pleistocene history of Ferrar Glacier, Antarctica: implications for climate and ice sheet stability. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 243, 489–503.Google Scholar
Sugden, D.E., Denton, G.H. & Marchant, D.R. 1995. Landscape evolution of the Dry Valleys, Transantarctic Mountains: tectonic implications. Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 100, 9949–9967.Google Scholar
Taylor, G. 1914. Physiography and glacial geology of East Antarctica. The Geographical Journal, 44, 365–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Updike, T. & Comp, C. 2010. Radiometric use of WorldView-2 imagery: technical note. Longmont, CO: DigitalGlobe, 16 pp.Google Scholar