Chemical Characteristics of Antarctic Saline Lakes

Abstract

Chemical characteristics of main Antarctic saline lakes found in the oases of McMurdo. Vestfold and Syowa are reviewed. Lakes are primarily classified into the fresh and saline ones and then the latter into coastal lakes and those located in the glacial trough such as the Dry Valleys, Victoria Land. The coastal saline lakes are characterized by that the elevation of lake surface is below sea level and the chemical composition, such as M/C1 ratio, isotopic ratio of oxygen and hydrogen, and also the nutrient elements resemble those of sea water, while the saline lakes in the Dry Valleys have a complex origin. From the geochemical point of view, it is suggested that the formation of the coastal lakes is much younger than that of the lakes in the Dry Valleys.