Origin of salts in pond waters of the Ladyrinth in Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica: A study on lithium and boron abundances

Abstract

Lithium and boron contents in pond waters of the Labyrinth (77°33′S, 160°50′E) of the Dry Valleys region in Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica were determined to elucidate the origin of dissolved salts. Also Lakes Vanda, Fryxell and Bonney, and Don Juan Pond in the Dry Valleys region as well as Deep and Ace Lakes in the Vestfold Hills were studied for comparison. The contents and enrichment factors of Li and B in both freshwater and saline ponds in the Labyrinth reveal that major ionic components in the pond waters originate mainly from atmospheric salts, rather than from trapped seawater and/or hydrothermal waters. These results support that the saline pond waters in the Labyrinth can be formed by the successive concentration through evaporation of pond waters supplied from glacial ice and/or snow containing atmospheric salts. The decrease of B/Cl ratios with the increase of chloride ion contents implies strongly that B is transported into ice during freezing of pond water, then volatilizes gradually to the atmosphere under frigid conditions.