High-Resolution Maps of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Unveil Physical Changes to Antarctica’s Polar Desert
**Not For Distribution**
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A laser mapping project conducted by scientists from Portland State University shows the effects of planetary warming on an Antarctica polar desert through high-resolution maps.
This project results will allow researchers to assess the parts of the site are susceptible to warming, says lead researcher and Portland State geologist Andrew Fountain. Researchers will be able to compare these maps to aerial surveys that were conducted 13 years ago.
“We consider these changes to be the same those to occur during climate warming. By testing our hypothesis we can anticipate the kind of landscape changes to occur when the region warms some time in the future,” said Fountain.
Portland State scientists and researchers mapped 3,564 square kilometers the McMurdo Dry Valleys, the biggest ice-free region of Antarctica, through Light Detection and Ranging, or LIDAR. This remote sensing system used pulsed laser to examine the earth’s surface and create elevated maps.
The airborne system surveyed the region during the Southern Hemisphere summer, which is the Northern Hemisphere winter, showing detailed pictures of the Dry Valleys where rapid erosion had been previously observed. The Portland State team and the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping flew instruments onboard a Twin Otter aircraft over eight weeks that began in December 2015 to map the area.
The Dry Valleys show evidence of previous glacial advance and retreat, providing insight into the history of the Antarctic ice sheets. Glacier thickness has declined by a few feet.
The subsurface ice melt is the reason behind the topography changes.
“We thought there would be more wide spread changes; however, our results were of lower resolution than anticipated such that we could not assess detailed vertical change, less than 25 cm.”
From the data, scientists can learn how prevalent and significant changes to the area might be.
One of the NSF’s Long Term Ecological Research sites is housed over the area. This research site reviews the Dry Valleys habitat, microbial life, its soil and ecosystems.
Because bedrock is exposed, the McMurdo Dry Valleys allow geologists to detect the geological history of Antarctica. This cold and dim region also happens to be one of few places on Earth that closely resembles Mars’ surface. NASA conducted research over the region to observe how microbial life survives in a cruel environment to gain understanding of what may be on Mars.
The LIDAR maps can now be publicly viewed on two of the NSF’s funded facilities. One is Open Topography and the other is the Polar Geospatial Center.
Earth System Science Data published a paper about the work done over the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
The National Science Foundation supported this work.
*mls*
EDITORS: You may contact Dr. Fountain at Andrew@pdx.edu.
