Lake Fryxell
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Lake Fryxell is a frozen
lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
long, between
Canada Glacier Canada Glacier is a small glacier flowing south-east into the northern side of Taylor Valley in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It is in the Ross Dependency. Its melting season is in the summer. Description The glacier receives less than 10 c ...
and
Commonwealth Glacier Commonwealth Glacier is a glacier which flows in a southeasterly direction and enters the northern side of Taylor Valley immediately west of Mount Coleman, in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was charted by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910†...
s at the lower end of
Taylor Valley Taylor Valley is the southernmost of the three large McMurdo Dry Valleys in the Transantarctic Mountains, Victoria Land, Antarctica, located west of McMurdo Sound at approximately . The valley extends from Taylor Glacier in the west to McMurdo So ...
in
Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. It ...
,
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
. It was mapped in the early 1900s and named during
Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There w ...
in the 1950s. There are several forms of algae living in the waters and a weather station located at the lake.


Geography

Lake Fryxell is deep, making it so the deepest portion of the lake is below sea level. The lake is dammed by Canada Glacier, making it so that it has no natural outflow. It is covered with about of ice, but during the summer months, the ice can clear along the shoreline. There are a few small islands as well as several shallow areas. The average annual
ablation Ablation ( la, ablatio – removal) is removal or destruction of something from an object by vaporization, chipping, erosion, erosive processes or by other means. Examples of ablative materials are described below, and include spacecraft materi ...
is between and , which is significantly lower when compared to other nearby frozen water bodies, such as the waters adjacent to
Ross Island Ross Island is an island formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea near the continent of Antarctica, off the coast of Victoria Land in McMurdo Sound. Ross Island lies within the boundaries of Ross Dependency, an area of Antarctica claimed by New ...
.


Watershed

The watershed contains thirteen streams flowing into the lake, forming a watershed that has an area roughly in size. Where a few of the streams enter the lake there are well-developed deltas. The streams flow for about 4–12 weeks out of the year. Nearly half of the water flowing into the lake comes from Canada, Lost Seal, and Von Guerard streams.


Climate

Lake Fryxell is located within the
McMurdo Dry Valleys The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of largely snow-free valleys in Antarctica, located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The Dry Valleys experience extremely low humidity and surrounding mountains prevent the flow of ice from nearby ...
, which experience an exceptionally dry climate partially due to
katabatic winds A katabatic wind (named from the Greek word κατάβασις ''katabasis'', meaning "descending") is a drainage wind, a wind that carries high-density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds are sometim ...
descending from the nearby mountains. These winds can exceed under certain conditions and can raise the temperature, melting snow and evaporating water. Average precipitation in the area surrounding the valley is equivalent to about of rain a year and a mean annual temperature of with summer temperatures getting above freezing.


Lake Fryxell Camp

Mapped by the British Antarctic Expedition under
Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 â€“ c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...
, 1910–13, the lake was visited by Professor T.L. Péwé during Operation Deep Freeze, 1957–58, who named it for Dr. Fritiof M. Fryxell, glacial geologist of Augustana College,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. Lake Fryxell is a focus of scientific research and contains a semi-permanent camp containing four labs and two other buildings. Electricity is generated at the camp using solar panels and a wind turbine. The four labs are used for experimenting with radioactive materials, electronics, chemicals and other materials. When staying at the camp, researchers sleep in tents, some of which are the same style as those used in some Antarctic expeditions in the early 20th century. There is internet and phone access at the camp. Research activities largely deal with the lake itself and can include scientists diving into the water. The camp has existed since at least 1984.


Ecology

There are multiple forms of algae within the lake, including a sizable population of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Some samples of these bacteria live in very specific areas, such as specific water depths or locations causing them to experience differing physiochemical conditions. There are also a few archaea living in the anoxic zone, that contribute to the methane pockets under 12 m below the surface. There is a lack of oxygen within Lake Fryxell, which is unique when compared to other lakes in the region because the euphotic zone only extends to below the lake surface. This creates an environment similar to the planet about 2.4 billion years ago. Within anoxic areas, scientists have found microbial mats that create small pockets saturated with oxygen.


See also

*
Andrews Creek Andrews Creek () is a glacial meltwater stream which flows south along the east margin of Canada Glacier into the west end of Lake Fryxell, in Taylor Valley, Victoria Land. The name was suggested by hydrologist Diane McKnight, leader of a United S ...
*
Coral Ridge Coral Ridge () is a ridge trending north-south, transverse to the axis of Taylor Valley, Victoria Land. It forms a divide above sea level between Lake Fryxell and Explorers Cove, McMurdo Sound. A large number of solitary fossil corals have been fou ...
*
List of Antarctic field camps Many Antarctic research stations support satellite field camps which are, in general, seasonal camps. The type of field camp can vary – some are permanent structures used during the annual Antarctic summer, whereas others are little more than te ...
*
Lake Washburn (Antarctica) Lake Washburn is a lake that formerly existed in the Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. It formed when climatic changes and an expansion of ice caused the flooding of the valley, between 23,000 and 8,340 radiocarbon years ago. Its exte ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fryxell Lakes of Victoria Land Meromictic lakes Saline lakes of Antarctica Endorheic lakes of Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys