Ionic composition of terrestrial surface waters in Maritime Antarctic and the processes involved in formation

Abstract

The qualitative and quantitative composition of major ions and nutrient compounds in surface waters and soils of the west coast of Admiralty Bay (King George Island, West Antarctica) was investigated together with the effect of soil-forming processes and atmospheric precipitation on the ionic composition of surface waters. In the water bodies studied, Cl- and Na+ were dominant major ions (average concentrations: 1102.2 and 930.9 μM, respectively). Average concentrations of the other major anions ranged from 2.80 μM (F-) to 81.64 μM (SO42-) and major cations ranged from 12.46 μM (K+) to 130.76 μM (Mg2+). Average concentrations of total reactive phosphorus, N-NO2-, N-NO3- and N-NH4+ amounted to 1.374, 0.410, 6.299 and 1.490 μM, respectively. Average concentrations of Ca, Mg, Na, K, N and P in the surface layer of the soil equalled 16.8, 15.9, 6.4, 3.6, 0.646 and 0.744 g kg-1, respectively. The calculated Na+/Cl-, Ca2+/Mg2+, Ca2+/Na+ and HCO3-/Cl- ratios revealed that atmospheric precipitation was the main source of major ions. We conclude that the ionic composition of the waters of the western coast of Admiralty Bay differ from surface waters of Continental Antarctica.

Electrical Conductivity and pH in Surface Water as Tool for Identification of Chemical Diversity

“…4) in waters remote from the ocean's influence were recorded in small lakes in the very young moraine zone (290 μS•cm -1 at point PTL5 near Petrel Creek) and in the non-glaciated catchment of Petrified Forest Creek (382 μS•cm -1 at point PL1) (Table 2). Obtained values are higher than presented in previous studies of surface waters in this area [20,22,25]. It is difficult to clearly determine the difference in conductivity between previous research and those presented in this article.…”

“…The SEC 25 results from measurements made for this work are similar to other authors' results for stream-mouth sections, and show generally lower values for glacially fed catchments and higher values in non-glaciated catchments, while the highest are in zones under the direct influence of aerosols or exposed to periodic influxes of sea waters. Works by Nedzarek and Pociecha [20] and Nedzarek et al [22] presenting selected chemical variables for lakes and flowing waters in the Arctowski Oasis (at a different distance from the Admiralty Bay coast), showed that increases in SEC 25 accompanied increases in concentrations of the tested ions of Cl -, Na + and SO 4 2that generally dominate in the ionic composition of waters in this area [21,25]. Furthermore, the SEC 25 in the results obtained by Nedzarek and Pociecha [20] show the largest fluctuations over time in lakes close to the bay shoreline and those in range of penguin colonies.…”

“…Water chemistry in the Antarctic has been the subject of several publications, e.g. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. However, the relation between chemical status and catchment features in Antarctic catchments is one of the less well-known, because of the lack of comprehensive information about, for example, soil patterns, permafrost occurrence, groundwater conditions and geochemistry.…”

Temporal and spatial variability of stream water chemistry on Subantarctic Marion Island

“…Na + and Cl − were the most abundant ions in the freshwaters on Signy Island (Caulkett & Ellis-Evans 1997), Livingston Island (Toro et al 2007) and King George Island (Vinocur & Unrein 2000). Nędzarek et al (2015) concluded that this pattern is typical for small streams on oceanic islands that have relatively damp climates.…”

Depositional history of sedimentary sterols around Penguin Island, Antarctica

“…Ornithogenic soils present an acidic pH and are composed of clays containing secondary aluminous and ferriferous phosphates, thus constituting a rich source of N, P and Fe to the nearby environment (Nędzarek et al . 2015). Melt processes and freshwater inputs are responsible for transporting the soils and continental OM to the marine environment surrounding the island (Zhu et al .…”