Active Layer Temperatures from Crescent Stream banks, Taylor Valley Antarctica

Abstract: As a part of the project titled "Collaborative Research: The McMurdo Dry Valleys: A landscape on the threshold of change", we measured ground temperatures from 0-20cm at three stream bank positions (base, mid-slope, and top) at 4 locations along Crescent Stream in Taylor Valley - 2 on the east bank, 2 on the west bank. The goal was to evaluate differences in thermal conduction and temperature dynamics of the active layers of these locations, in particular, in a stream that has undergone extensive bank erosion since 2012 due to permafrost degradation. One of the datalogging stations had significant technical problems and has very little data compared to the almost 2 years of temperature date from the other 3 stations (2015-2017).