WHAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN IN A MILLION YEARS? LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION IN THE SOUTHERN TRANSANTARCTIC MOUNTAINS

We are studying long term erosion rates in Moraine Canyon and Ong Valley, located at 86 and 83 degrees south in the Southern Transantarctic Mountains (STAM). Compared to the relatively well-studied coastal McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) located at 77 degrees south, the STAM are poorer in biota, are probably colder and drier, and lack liquid water; a condition that is very rare on Earth. These colder and dryer conditions are expected to facilitate some of the slowest erosion rates on Earth. The STAM may also provide a close terrestrial analogue to surficial processes on Mars.

We present observations from our 2010/2011 field season along with exposure age dating techniques of quartz and pyroxene from depth profiles of sample pits and glacial erratics. Be¹⁰, Al²⁶ and He³ exposure ages are used to model rates of environmental change and timing of glacial retreat in these interior valleys over the last several million years. Data from soil traps, temperature probes and anemometers will characterize current environmental processes and also provide first records of hourly environmental conditions.