First year-round record of Antarctic Dry Valley soil CO₂ flux

Abstract

The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are home to unique soil microbial communities. Using a specially designed Forced Diffusion flux chamber, we logged the first year-round record of soil surface CO2 flux in Hidden Valley. We observed low but positive fluxes during two sustained events, and conclude that the observed variability was clearly driven by both biotic and abiotic factors.