Brief communication: The hidden labyrinth: deep groundwater in Wright Valley, Antarctica

Dugan, Hilary A.; Doran, Peter T.; Grombacher, Denys; Auken, Esben; Bording, Thue; Foged, Nikolaj; Foley, Neil; Mikucki, Jill; Virginia, Ross A.; Tulaczyk, Slawek

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4977-2022

Articles | Volume 16, issue 12

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4977-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4977-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 12

Brief communication

|

16 Dec 2022

Brief communication |

| 16 Dec 2022

Brief communication: The hidden labyrinth: deep groundwater in Wright Valley, Antarctica

Hilary A. Dugan, Peter T. Doran, Denys Grombacher, Esben Auken, Thue Bording, Nikolaj Foged, Neil Foley, Jill Mikucki, Ross A. Virginia, and Slawek Tulaczyk

Data sets

ANTAEM project airborne EM resistivity data from McMurdo Region S. Tulaczyk https://doi.org/10.15784/601373

WrightValley_AEM: Cryosphere release (v1.0.0) H. A. Dugan https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7416021

Model code and software

WrightValley_AEM: Cryosphere release (v1.0.0) H. A. Dugan https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7416021

Short summary

In the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, a deep groundwater system has been hypothesized to connect Don Juan Pond and Lake Vanda, both surface waterbodies that contain very high concentrations of salt. This is unusual, since permafrost in polar landscapes is thought to prevent subsurface hydrologic connectivity. We show results from an airborne geophysical survey that reveals widespread unfrozen brine in Wright Valley and points to the potential for deep valley-wide brine conduits.