McMurdo Dry Valleys Microbial mat biomass, isotopes, and nutrient ratios sampled over a longitudinal gradient of two McMurdo Dry Valley streams

We performed a field survey to assess changes in biomass, nutrient ratios, and isotopic signatures of three different microbial mat types in two glacial meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Samples were taken in January 2013 from pre-existing transects over Von Guerard Stream and the Relict Channel, and stretched from near the Von Guerard Glacier terminus to the stream outlets at Lake Fryxell. In addition to the three microbial mat types, which included Nostoc (black), Chlorophyte (green), and Oscillatorean (orange) mats, particulate organic matter (POM) was collected from Von Guerard Stream in January 2008 over a full diel cycle in order to determine the origin of material in transport by comparing its elemental and isotopic characteristics with stream mats.