McMurdo Dry Valleys Nitrogen and Phosphorus Dynamics in Green Creek, January 1995. Field and Modeling data

McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, contain numerous glacial meltwater streams that drain into lakes on the valley floors. Many of the streams have abundant perennial mats of filamentous cyanobacteria. The algal mats grow during streamflow in the austral summer and are in a dormant freeze-dried state during the rest of the year. NO3 and soluble reactive P (SRP) concentrations were lower in streams with abundant algal mats than in streams with sparse algal mats.  Here we describe and distribute the data associated with this study: An experimental injection of LiCl, NaNO3, and K3PO4 was conducted in Green Creek, which has abundant algal mats. Substantial hyporheic exchange occurred.  A model in which PO4 uptake occurred only in the main channel and NO3 uptake occurred in the main channel and in the hyporheic zone.  Green Creek (Gooseff, 2015) aerial flowing into Fryxell