Don Juan Pond, Antarctica: Near-surface CaCl₂-brine feeding Earth's most saline lake and implications for Mars
Abstract
The discovery on Mars of recurring slope lineae (RSL), thought to represent seasonal brines, has sparked interest in analogous environments on Earth. We report on new studies of Don Juan Pond (DJP), which exists at the upper limit of ephemeral water in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) of Antarctica, and is adjacent to several steep-sloped water tracks, the closest analog for RSL. The source of DJP has been interpreted to be deep groundwater. We present time-lapse data and meteorological measurements that confirm deliquescence within the DJP watershed and show that this, together with small amounts of meltwater, are capable of generating brines that control summertime water levels. Groundwater input was not observed. In addition to providing an analog for RSL formation, CaCl₂ brines and chloride deposits in basins may provide clues to the origin of ancient chloride deposits on Mars dating from the transition period from "warm/wet" to "cold/dry" climates.
Additional Information
© 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. Received 25 October 2012; Accepted 19 December 2012; Published 30 January 2013. Invaluable engineering assistance was provided by Brendan Hermalyn and John Huffman. We appreciate field assistance from Mike Wyatt, Mark Salvatore, Laura Kerber, Sylvain Piqueux, J.R. Skok, and David Hollibaugh-Baker. Infrastructure support from Raytheon Polar Services at McMurdo Station and helicopter support from Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI) are also gratefully acknowledged. Software support from Caleb Fassett expedited the analysis portion of this paper. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation Antarctic Science Division (Office of Polar Programs) through grants to James W. Head (ANT-0739702) and David R. Marchant (ANT-0944702), which are gratefully acknowledged. Logistical support for this project in Antarctica was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation through the U.S. Antarctic Program. Author Contributions: Conceived and designed the time-lapse experiments: JD. Conceived and designed the meteorological experiments: JD, JH and JL. Performed the experiments: JD, JH and JL. Wrote the paper: JD, JH, JL and DM. The authors declare no competing financial interests.Errata
The authors have noticed that in the original version of this Article, part of the Acknowledgements section was omitted. The additional acknowledgements appear below. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation Antarctic Science Division (Office of Polar Programs) through grants to James W. Head (ANT-0739702) and David R. Marchant (ANT-0944702), which are gratefully acknowledged. Logistical support for this project in Antarctica was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation through the U.S. Antarctic Program.Attached Files
Published - srep01166.pdf
Supplemental Material - srep01166-s1.mov
Supplemental Material - srep01166-s2.mov
Erratum - srep01424.pdf
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Additional details
- PMCID
- PMC3559074
- Eprint ID
- 72457
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20161130-140036166
- ANT-0739702
- NSF
- Created
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2016-11-30Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2023-06-01Created from EPrint's last_modified field