Trapping of aeolian sediments and build-up of the ice cover of a dry-based Antarctic lake

Among the perennially frozen lakes of the Dry Valleys of South Victoria Land (Antarctica), some are dry-based, i.e. frozen to the bottom. One of these is studied here by a multiparametric investigation (isotopic composition in δD and δ¹⁸O, ions, gas and ice texture analyses). A sediment layer about 10 cm thick appearing at a depth of 3.5 m is also studied by grain size, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope analyses. The information retrieved indicates that this ice-block lake results from a build-up in two steps and explains how acolian sediments were included as a layer into the ice.