title: The Soil Geochemistry in the Beardmore Glacier Region, Antarctica: Implications for Terrestrial Ecosystem History.
abstract: Although most models suggest continental Antarctica was covered by ice during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) it has been speculated that endemic species of soil invertebrates could have survived the Pleistocene at high elevation habitats protruding above the ice sheets. We analyzed a series of soil samples from different elevations at three locations along the Beardmore Glacier in the Transantarctic Mountains (in order of increasing elevation): Ebony Ridge (ER), Cloudmaker (CM), and Meyer Desert (MD). Geochemical analyses show the MD soils, which were exposed during the LGM, were the least weathered compared to lower elevations, and also had the highest total dissolved solids (TDS). MD soils are dominated by nitrate salts (NO3/Cl ratios >10) that can be observed in SEM images. High δ(17)O and δ(18)O values of the nitrate indicate that its source is solely of atmospheric origin. It is suggested that nitrate concentrations in the soil may be utilized to determine a relative "wetting age" to better assess invertebrate habitat suitability. The highest elevation sites at MD have been exposed and accumulating salts for the longest times, and because of the salt accumulations, they were not suitable as invertebrate refugia during the LGM.
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 USA.
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Deuerling
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 USA.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Welch
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 USA.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Welch
authors.affiliation: Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Michalski
authors.affiliation: Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN USA.
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Walters
authors.affiliation: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith NSW 2751, Australia.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Colorado State University, Ft Collins, CO USA.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.affiliation: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hogg
authors.affiliation: Brigham Young University, Provo, UT USA.
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Adams
mesh_terms: D000864:Antarctic Regions; D017753:Ecosystem; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D046448:Ice Cover; D009566:Nitrates / Q000032:analysis; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D009566:Nitrates; D012987:Soil