Directory

Start date:
Mid December
End date:
Mid February
Locations:
Dry Valleys, Taylor Valley, F6, Lake Hoare, Wright Valley, Garwood Valley, Miers Valley
Principle Investigator:
Dr Michael Gooseff
Organisation:
University of Colorado
State
Colorado
Initially funded in 1980, the U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network is a collaborative effort of more than 1,800 scientists and students. The McMurdo LTER program is a multi-disciplinary aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems study in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. It is one of 26 LTER sites where researchers study ecological processes over long temporal and broad spatial scales. Geochemistry researchers monitor the inorganic geochemistry of water and solid samples collected from Dry Valleys' glaciers, streams, ponds, lakes, and landscape. They also study upland seeps and ponds to gain a better understanding of their hydrologic and geochemical controls. This six-year award cycle comprises seven collaborative projects: C-504-M (Gooseff), C-505-M (Priscu), C-506-M (Gooseff), C-507-M (Adams), C-508-M (Takacs-Vesbach), C-509-M (Gooseff), and C-511-M (Doran).
Two participants will deploy between 30 December and 5 February. The group will spend 3-4 weeks of January working out of F6 and Lake Hoare fixed camps. They will survey and sample established algal transects in the Taylor, Wright, Garwood, and Miers Valleys. Some sites will be accessed on foot, others will be accessed by helicopter day trips. The group will use laboratory space at field camps to filter and process samples. Following field deployment, the group will continue to process samples and prepare them for shipment in Crary Laboratory.