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1. Diagnosing snow accumulation errors in a rain-snow transitional environment with snow board observations: Diagnosing Snow Accumulation Errors

   https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.11002  

   Wayand, Nicholas E. ; Clark, Martyn P. ; Lundquist, Jessica D. ( January 2017 , Hydrological Processes)
2. Impact of Snow Grain Shape and Black Carbon–Snow Internal Mixing on Snow Optical Properties: Parameterizations for Climate Models

   https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0300.1  

   He, Cenlin ; Takano, Yoshi ; Liou, Kuo-Nan ; Yang, Ping ; Li, Qinbin ; Chen, Fei ( December 2017 , Journal of Climate)
3. Bioavailability of Mineral-Bound Iron to a Snow Algal-Bacterial Coculture and Implications for Albedo-Altering Snow Algal Blooms

   https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02322-17  

   Harrold, Z. R. ; Hausrath, E. M. ; Garcia, A. H. ; Murray, A. E. ; Tschauner, O. ; Raymond, J. A. ; Huang, S. ; Löffler, Frank E. ( April 2018 , Applied and Environmental Microbiology)

   ABSTRACT Snow algae can form large-scale blooms across the snowpack surface and near-surface environments. These pigmented blooms can decrease snow albedo and increase local melt rates, and they may impact the global heat budget and water cycle. Yet, the underlying causes for the geospatial occurrence of these blooms remain unconstrained. One possible factor contributing to snow algal blooms is the presence of mineral dust as a micronutrient source. We investigated the bioavailability of iron (Fe)-bearing minerals, including forsterite (Fo 90 , Mg 1.8 Fe 0.2 SiO 4 ), goethite, smectite, and pyrite as Fe sources for a Chloromonas brevispina -bacterial coculture through laboratory-based experimentation. Fo 90 was capable of stimulating snow algal growth and increased the algal growth rate in otherwise Fe-depleted cocultures. Fo 90 -bearing systems also exhibited a decrease in the ratio of bacteria to algae compared to those of Fe-depleted conditions, suggesting a shift in microbial community structure. The C. brevispina coculture also increased the rate of Fo 90 dissolution relative to that of an abiotic control. Analysis of 16S rRNA genes in the coculture identified Gammaproteobacteria , Betaproteobacteria , and Sphingobacteria , all of which are commonly found in snow and ice environments. Archaea were not detected. Collimonas and Pseudomonas , which are known to enhance mineral weathering rates, comprised two of the top eight (>1%) operational taxonomic units (OTUs). These data provide unequivocal evidence that mineral dust can support elevated snow algal growth under otherwise Fe-depleted growth conditions and that snow algal microbial communities can enhance mineral dissolution under these conditions. IMPORTANCE Fe, a key micronutrient for photosynthetic growth, is necessary to support the formation of high-density snow algal blooms. The laboratory experiments described herein allow for a systematic investigation of the interactions of snow algae, bacteria, and minerals and their ability to mobilize and uptake mineral-bound Fe. Results provide unequivocal and comprehensive evidence that mineral-bound Fe in Fe-bearing Fo 90 was bioavailable to Chloromonas brevispina snow algae within an algal-bacterial coculture. This evidence includes (i) an observed increase in snow algal density and growth rate, (ii) decreased ratios of bacteria to algae in Fo 90 -containing cultures relative to those of cultures grown under similarly Fe-depleted conditions with no mineral-bound Fe present, and (iii) increased Fo 90 dissolution rates in the presence of algal-bacterial cocultures relative to those of abiotic mineral controls. These results have important implications for the role of mineral dust in supplying micronutrients to the snow microbiome, which may help support dense snow algal blooms capable of lowering snow albedo and increasing snow melt rates on regional, and possibly global, scales. 

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4. Impacts of El Niño and La Niña on interannual snow accumulation in the Andes: Results from a high-resolution 31 year reanalysis: El Niño Effects on Andes Snow

   https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073826  

   Cortés, Gonzalo ; Margulis, Steven ( July 2017 , Geophysical Research Letters)
5. Lake snow removal experiment snow, ice, and Secchi depth, 2019-2021

   https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/962fa57959ff9828eb6f1cbda79b82c0  

   Socha, Ellen ; Gorsky, Adrianna ( January 2022 , Environmental Data Initiative)

   Although it is a historically understudied season, winter is now recognized as a time of biological activity and relevant to the annual cycle of north-temperate lakes. Emerging research points to a future of reduced ice cover duration and changing snow conditions that will impact aquatic ecosystems. The aim of the study was to explore how altered snow and ice conditions, and subsequent changes to under-ice light environment, might impact ecosystem dynamics in a north, temperate bog lake in northern Wisconsin, USA. This dataset resulted from a snow removal experiment that spanned the periods of ice cover on South Sparkling Bog during the winters of 2019, 2020, and 2021. During the winters 2020 and 2021, snow was removed from the surface of South Sparkling Bog using an ARGO ATV with a snow plow attached. The 2019 season served as a reference year, and snow was not removed from the lake. This dataset represents the snow depths, black and white ice thickness, and Secchi depths during the period of ice cover each winter. 

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