We have developed an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) capable of generating for the first time 3-D biogeochemical datasets in the extreme environment of perennially ice-covered Antarctic dry valley lakes. The ENDURANCE (Environmentally Non-Disturbing Under-ice Robotic ANtarctic Explorer) is in the middle of a two year campaign to map the under-ice lake dimensions of West Lake Bonney in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, and is equipped to measure a comprehensive suite of physical and biogeochemical indices in the water column. These parameters include: temperature, conductivity, pH, redox, chlorophyll-a, turbidity, dissolved organic matter, photosynthetically active radiation, and imagery of the lake bottom and underside of the ice. Sonar mapping of the bathymetry and lake ice thickness and imaging of the underwater glacier face of Taylor Glacier is also part of the suite of measurements. The AUV is specifically designed to minimize impact on the environment it is working in.

We are testing two central hypotheses:

H1: The low kinetic energy of the system (diffusion dominates the spatial transport of constituents) produces an ecosystem and ecosystem limits that vary significantly in three dimensions.

H2: The whole-lake physical and biogeochemical structure remains static from year to year

This poster will provide an overview of the ENDURANCE project and a review of data from the first field season